Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle and mental state in patients with schizophrenia: A retrospective study.

The corona virus disease 2019 pandemic's movement restrictions have an effect on people's lifestyles and mental health, and the most susceptible, such as persons with schizophrenia, are more subject to external influences. To analyze the lifestyle, anxiety, depression and stress status of inpatients with schizophrenia during corona virus disease 2019. A total of 205 patients with stable schizophrenia who were hospitalized during the epidemic period were selected. The general epidemiological information was recorded, and the depression screening scale (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7, and the perceived stress scale were used to determine the mental status and stress level of the included patients. Restricted physical activity and perceptual bias might result in decreased food intake, higher body mass index, and increased psychotropic medicine dosages. According to Pearson correlation analysis, stress perception was positively connected with anxiety and depression scores. The anxiety score was positively associated with the depression score, indicating that stress influenced the patient's emotional alterations. During the pandemic, the lifestyle and psychological load of people with schizophrenia may be impacted. Medical personnel should be alert to changes in anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with schizophrenia and take appropriate action.

Drug interactions between common dermatological medications and the oral anti-COVID-19 agents nirmatrelvir-ritonavir and molnupiravir.

INTRODUCTION: The oral antiviral agents nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (NMV/r) and molnupiravir are used to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection in outpatients. However, the use of NMV/r is complicated by significant drug-drug interactions (DDIs) with frequently prescribed medications. Healthcare professionals should be aware of the possible risk of DDIs, given the emergence of COVID-19 variants and the widespread use of oral COVID-19 treatments. We reviewed available data on DDIs between NMV/r, molnupiravir and common dermatological medications; summarised the potential side effects; and suggest strategies for safe COVID-19 treatment. METHOD: A systematic review using PubMed was conducted on data published from inception to 18 July 2022 to find clinical outcomes of DDIs between NMV/r, molnupiravir and dermatological medications. We also searched the Lexicomp, Micromedex, Liverpool COVID-19 Drug Interactions database and the National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines for interactions between NMV/r and molnupiravir, and commonly used dermatological medications. RESULTS: NMV/r containing the cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 3A4 inhibitor ritonavir has DDIs with other medications similarly dependent on CYP3A4 metabolism. Dermatological medications that have DDIs with NMV/r include rifampicin, clofazimine, clarithromycin, erythromycin, clindamycin, itraconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole, bilastine, rupatadine, dutasteride, ciclosporin, cyclophosphamide, tofacitinib, upadacitinib, colchicine and systemic glucocorticoids. With no potential DDI identified yet in in vitro studies, molnupiravir may be an alternative COVID-19 therapy in patients taking medications that have complicated interactions with NMV/r, which cannot be stopped or dose adjusted. CONCLUSION: NMV/r has significant DDIs with many common dermatological medications, which may require temporary discontinuation, dosage adjustment or substitution with other anti-COVID-19 agents such as molnupiravir.

Multiplex real-time PCR using double-strand primers and probes for the detection of nucleic acids.

Multiplex PCR encounters difficulties in primer designing with all the primer pairs working at the same annealing temperature. In this study, we have developed a double-strand primer-mediated multiple strand displacement reaction for the detection of SARS-COV-2 ORF, N and E genes (as examples). The double primer is composed of a 5'-modified fluorophore strand, which does not impact polymerase extension and a 3'-modified quencher strand, which cannot impact elongation. At the annealing temperature, the fluorophore strand combined with the template, extended and resulted in fluorescence signal release. Results showed that the double-strand primer relatively exhibits a wide annealing temperature range and good compatibility between three pairs of primers and probes. These merits allow the simple and multiplex real-time fluorescence quantification of nucleic acids. The detection limit was 400 copies/mL, and the detection time was approximately 2 h. In addition to its extreme specificity and simplicity, this method has a wide range of applications such as multiple PCR and SNP detection.

Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on pulmonary function in early convalescence phase.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the influence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on lung function in early convalescence phase. METHODS: A retrospective study of COVID-19 patients at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University were conducted, with serial assessments including lung volumes (TLC), spirometry (FVC, FEV1), lung diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO),respiratory muscle strength, 6-min walking distance (6MWD) and high resolution CT being collected at 30 days after discharged. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients completed the serial assessments. There were 40 non-severe cases and 17 severe cases. Thirty-one patients (54.3%) had abnormal CT findings. Abnormalities were detected in the pulmonary function tests in 43 (75.4%) of the patients. Six (10.5%), 5(8.7%), 25(43.8%) 7(12.3%), and 30 (52.6%) patients had FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, TLC, and DLCO values less than 80% of predicted values, respectively. 28 (49.1%) and 13 (22.8%) patients had PImax and PEmax values less than 80% of the corresponding predicted values. Compared with non-severe cases, severe patients showed higher incidence of DLCO impairment (75.6%vs42.5%, p = 0.019), higher lung total severity score (TSS) and R20, and significantly lower percentage of predicted TLC and 6MWD. No significant correlation between TSS and pulmonary function parameters was found during follow-up visit. CONCLUSION: Impaired diffusing-capacity, lower respiratory muscle strength, and lung imaging abnormalities were detected in more than half of the COVID-19 patients in early convalescence phase. Compared with non-severe cases, severe patients had a higher incidence of DLCO impairment and encountered more TLC decrease and 6MWD decline.