ABSTRACT
The efforts of contrasting the effects caused by the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic increased the disposal of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This paper reports the mechanisms and kinetics of the degradation in aqueous environments induced by 'OH of two drugs, among those most widely probed at the outbreak of coronavirus, nitazoxanide and hydroxychloroquine. The investigation exploits quantum chemistry techniques and a reaction rate theory combined with diffusion-controlled processes and quantum mechanical tunneling. The reaction rate constants are obtained in an environmentally relevant temperature range. The results show that (i) the deacetylation of nitazoxanide with formation of tizoxanide is kinetically the most favorable channel, in agreement with experimental work;(ii) for hydroxychloroquine, the present theoretical calculations show that the most favorable channel is the addition of 'OH at the aromatic ring. The half-life time degradation products are for both cases in the range between 12 to 138 days. Both drugs presented toxicities between harmful and toxic as obtained by computational toxicology calculations: The toxicity is also calculated for the degradation products: (i) in the nitazoxanide degradation process, tizoxanide was characterized as more toxic, while (ii) in the case of hydroxychloroquine, the major degradation product showed a decrease in the toxicity.
ABSTRACT
Case report Background: Delayed hypersensitivity reactions to hyaluronic acid fillers are usually self-limiting and uncommon, and spontaneous resolution is frequent. These are presumably T-lymphocyte- mediated reactions that can be caused by flu-like infections and vaccinations. A delayed hypersensitivity reaction after hyaluronic acid filler following the mRNA vaccine against coronavirus has already been described in the literature. We wish to present a case that followed the ChAdOx1-s recombinant COVID-19 vaccine produced by Oxford/ AstraZeneca. Case report: Female patient, 61 years old, submitted to filling of the nasojugal sulcus and nasolabial fold with 1 ml of cross-linked hyaluronic acid -15 mg/ml and after 5 days filling in the lips with 1 ml of cross-linked hyaluronic acid -12 mg/ml, dermatological office, under aseptic technique and using cannulas. It evolved with ecchymosis on the lips and nasolabial folds, with spontaneous resolution after about a week. Sixteen weeks after the procedure, she received the first dose of the ChAdOx1-s recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, and 11 weeks later, the second dose. After 30 days of the 2nd vaccine dose, asymptomatic nodules appeared distributed in the upper and lower portions of nasolabial folds, in melomentonian grooves, in the supralabial region, in the upper and lower lip in the right and left lateral portions and in the infralabial region in the left lateral portion, coinciding with the topographies of the populated areas. Ultrasonographic evaluation with Doppler confirmed these findings. At the time, she denied fever or previous infectious signs or symptoms. Previously, the patient had already been submitted to the filling of the nasojugal and nasolabial folds with a hyaluronic acid-based filler (1 ml), 29 months before the current procedure, without intercurrences. After the appearance of the nodules, she underwent treatment with prednisone 40mg for 15 days, with total weaning after another 15 days, in addition to the use of levoceritizine 5 mg daily for 20 days, with partial reduction in the size of the nodules. Due to aesthetic complaints on the part of the patient, an intralesional injection of hyaluronidase was scheduled, but it was not performed at the request of the patient herself, who opted for expectant management and clinical treatment. In October 2021, the patient reported that the nodules had involuted and in December 2021 she remained asymptomatic, referring to resorption of the entire filler.
ABSTRACT
Vaccines are essential for the eradication of diseases. Yet for many reasons, individuals do not embrace them completely. In the COVID-19 pandemic and with the possibility of the Brazilian population's immunization against the disease, both political and health-related dimensions might have had a role in individual COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. In two studies (n = 974), we tested the hypothesis that participants' vaccination acceptance is related to their past vote in the 2018 Brazilian presidential election (being or not being a Jair Bolsonaro voter) and their different levels of perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD). We further tested whether Bolsonaro's opposition or ambiguous messages towards vaccination (vs. control) increased vaccination rejection among those who have (vs. have not) voted for him and who are low (vs. high) in PVD. Results show that Bolsonaro (vs. non-Bolsonaro) voters accepted less vaccination, with higher rejection rates when participants expressed low (vs. high) PVD. Also, when primed either with Bolsonaro's opposed or ambiguous messages towards COVID-19 vaccination, such participants accepted less vaccines (vs. participants primed with neutral information). These findings are the first to show that the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance is related to their past vote and leadership influence but also different levels of perceived vulnerability to disease. © 2023 International Society of Political Psychology.
ABSTRACT
Lung cancer patients with COVID-19 present an increased risk of developing severe disease and, consequently, have poor outcomes. Determining SARS-CoV-2-host interactome in lung cancer cells and tissues, infected or uninfected with SARS-CoV-2, may reveal molecular mechanisms associated with COVID-19 development and severity in lung cancer patients. Here, we integrated transcriptome data of lung tumors from patients with small- or non-small cell lung cancer (SCLC and NSCLC) and normal lung and lung cancer cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to characterize molecular mechanisms potentially associated with COVID-19 development and severity in lung cancer patients and to predict the SARS-CoV-2-host cell interactome. We found that the gene expression profiles of lung cell lines infected with SARS-CoV-2 resemble more primary lung tumors than non-malignant lung tissues. In addition, the transcriptomic-based interactome analysis of SCLC and NSCLC revealed increased expression of cancer genes BRCA1 and CENPF, whose proteins are known or predicted to interact with the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and helicase, respectively. We also found that TRIB3, a gene coding a putative host-SARS-CoV-2 interacting protein associated with COVID-19 infection, is co-expressed with the up-regulated genes MTHFD2, ADM2, and GPT2 in all tested conditions. Our analysis identified biological processes such as amino acid metabolism and angiogenesis and 22 host mediators of SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication that may contribute to the development and severity of COVID-19 in lung cancers.
ABSTRACT
Different studies have been assessing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Nonetheless, in Brazil, a few studies approach the fear associated with COVID-19 as a research problem. Therefore, this article presents the process of adaptation and testing of the psychometric properties of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to the Brazilian context through two studies. In Study 1 (N = 464), we performed an exploratory factor analysis and we identified a unifatorial and reliable structure (alpha = 0.85) of the FCV-19S. In Study 2 (N = 199) a confirmatory factorial analysis reaffirmed the unifatorial structure and reliability (alpha = 0.87). In addition, evidence of convergent-discriminating validity and invariance by gender were identified. Taken together, these results suggest that FCV-19S has good psychometric properties of validity and reliability, and may be useful for studies approached in the impacts of fear associated to COVID-19 on mental health.