Combination of PEGylation and Cationization on Phospholipid-Coated Cyclosporine Nanosuspensions for Enhanced Ocular Drug Delivery.

Strong precorneal clearance mechanisms including reflex blink, constant tear drainage, and rapid mucus turnover constitute great challenges for eye drops for effective drug delivery to the ocular epithelium. In this study, cyclosporine A (CsA) for the treatment of dry eye disease (DED) was selected as the model drug. Two strategies, PEGylation for mucus penetration and cationization for potent cellular uptake, were combined to construct a novel CsA nanosuspension (NS@lipid-PEG/CKC) by coating nanoscale drug particles with a mixture of lipids, DSPE-PEG2000, and a cationic surfactant, cetalkonium chloride (CKC). NS@lipid-PEG/CKC with the mean size ∼173 nm and positive zeta potential ∼+40 mV showed promoted mucus penetration, good cytocompatibility, more cellular uptake, and prolonged precorneal retention without obvious ocular irritation. More importantly, NS@lipid-PEG/CKC recovered tear production and goblet cell density more efficiently than the commercial cationic nanoemulsion on a dry eye disease rat model. All results indicated that a combination of PEGylation and cationization might provide a promising strategy to coordinate mucus penetration and cellular uptake for enhanced drug delivery to the ocular epithelium for nanomedicine-based eye drops.

The Impact of Endometriosis on Embryo Quality in in-vitro Fertilization/Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The association between endometriosis and embryological outcomes remains uncertain. The meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of endometriosis on embryo quality. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the association between the endometriosis and embryo quality. Searches were performed on the three electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. The detailed characteristics and data of the included studies were extracted. The risk ratio with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using the random and fixed effects model. The main outcome measures were high-quality embryo rate, cleavage rate, and embryo formation rate. Results: A total of 22 studies included were analyzed. Compared with the control group, women with endometriosis had a similar high-quality embryo rate (RR = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.94-1.06), a comparable cleavage rate (RR = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.97-1.02), and a similar embryo formation rate (RR = 1.10; 95% CI, 0.97-1.24). In women with stage III-IV endometriosis, there was no statistically significantly difference in high-quality embryo rate (RR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.94-1.10), cleavage rate (RR = 1.00; 95% CI, 0.98-1.02), and embryo formation rate (RR = 1.05; 95% CI, 0.97-1.14), compared with those without endometriosis. For women with unilateral endometrioma, pooling of results from the affected ovaries did not show a statistically significantly difference in high-quality embryo rate (RR = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.60-1.63) in comparison to the normal contralateral ovaries. Conclusions: Our results seem to indicate that endometriosis does not compromise embryo quality from the perspective of morphology.

Anxiety levels during a second local COVID-19 pandemic breakout among quarantined people: A cross sectional survey in China.

Only a few studies investigated the impact of quarantine on anxiety of general population during a second wave of COVID-19 breakout. We aimed to compare anxiety levels of quarantined and non-quarantined people and investigate factors affecting anxiety during the second COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1837 participants were included in this cross-sectional study. Anxiety was measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Participants were divided into the quarantined group (QG) and non-quarantined group (Non-QG). The mean STAI-S score in the QG was significantly higher than Non-QG (41.8 ± 11.2 vs 40.01 ± 9.9), so was the proportion of severe state anxiety (11.6% vs 5.5%). Males in the QG were significantly more anxious than females evaluated by both STAI-S and STAI-T. High income was independent protective factors while moderate or bad health status and high trait anxiety level were independent risk factors for severe state anxiety. In conclusion, the COVID-19 confinement could significantly increase anxiety of quarantined people. Males were more vulnerable to the quarantine of COVID-19 with significantly increased anxiety level than females. The results suggest that attention should be paid to anxiety during a second round of quarantine due to COVID-19 and are of help in planning psychological interventions.