Glycemic Control and the Weight Benefit of a Daily 7 mg Dose of Oral Semaglutide Versus an Alternate-Day 14 mg Dose of Oral Semaglutide From an Ambulatory Glucose Monitoring Data: A Retrospective Cohort Study From Eastern India.

INTRODUCTION: Oral semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) class of antidiabetic medication. High costs and GI side effects are the major limitations of its widespread use. Some patients who were on a 14 mg dose of oral semaglutide self-prescribed an alternate-day schedule to mitigate GI side effects and to reduce the cost. METHODS: This retrospective observational cohort study evaluates the ambulatory glucose profile (AGP) data, extrapolated glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), and BMI of 11 types of 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) while they were on an alternate-day 14 mg dose of oral semaglutide compared to their record while on a daily 7 mg dose. The AGP metrics (time-in-range (TIR), time-below-range (TBR), and time-above-range (TAR)) along with extrapolated HbA1C and BMI were analyzed. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Statistics version 21.0. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference in the AGP metrics between the AGP profile of a daily 7 mg dose and the AGP profile of an alternate-day 14 mg dose of oral semaglutide was observed. Interestingly, a statistically significant progressive decline in BMI value was observed even on the alternate-day 14 mg dose when compared to the daily 7 mg dose. CONCLUSION: In this small cohort of patients, the metrics of short-term glycemic control and the extrapolated HbA1C values were similar for the daily 7 mg dose versus the alternate-day 14 mg dose of oral semaglutide. BMI showed progressive reduction which was statistically significant even with the alternate-day 14 mg dose of oral semaglutide.

COVID-19 and Pre-existing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Observational Study From Eastern India on the Association Between Glycaemic Control and Treatment Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes has emerged as an important risk factor for causing severe illness and death from COVID-19. There is a paucity of structured data from the Indian subcontinent on the impact that glycaemic control (both immediate and remote) has on the degree of required medical intervention and mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the differences in clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes between well-controlled and poorly controlled patients with T2DM and COVID-19. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study. Data on 177 patients who were hospitalized between February 2021 and July 2021 were categorized into four groups using a cut-off admission plasma glucose of <200 mg/dL and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) <7.5%. RESULTS: Patients with poorly controlled diabetes presented at a significantly older age than the other groups. Radiological findings suggested severe lung involvement in them. As a combined group patients with HbA1c ≥7.5% required more ventilatory requirement as compared with the group having HbA1c <7.5% irrespective of admission glucose. They also required prolonged hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) stays as compared with the well-controlled diabetes group. In this study, within similar ranges of HbA1c admission glucose seemed to have a numerical impact on mortality without being able to achieve statistical significance. CONCLUSION: From the current study, it can be concluded that poor glycaemic control, particularly HbA1c ≥7.5%, is an important risk factor for the development of severe COVID-19 and a predictor for the requirement of more intensive treatment and adverse treatment outcomes leading to increased hospital and ICU stay.

Sorption-desorption of some transition metals, boron and sulphur in a multi-ionic system onto phyto-biochars prepared at two pyrolysis temperatures.

The sorption-desorption of transition metals, B and S onto phyto-biochars prepared from lantana, pine needles and wheat straw by pyrolysis at 300 °C and 450 °C were studied using the batch method. Their sorption-desorption onto phyto-biochars conformed to Freundlich isotherms. Phyto-biochars pyrolyzed at 450 °C had higher sorption capacity for transition metals (Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn) but lower sorption capacity for S as compared to those pyrolyzed at 300 °C. The desorption capacity of phyto-biochars pyrolyzed at 450 °C for transition metals, B and S was also higher than that of phyto-biochars pyrolyzed at 300 °C except for S in pine needle biochar. Percent desorption of all transition metals, B and S was lower for phyto-biochars pyrolyzed at 450 °C compared to those pyrolyzed at 300 °C; however, an opposite trend was noted for Mn and S in the case of pine needle and wheat biochars, respectively. Simple correlation analysis of Freundlich model constants, desorption index and percent desorption values of transition metals, B and S with the properties of phyto-biochars and changes in Fourier transform infra-red spectra after sorption revealed that several conjunctive mechanisms such as cation exchange, complexation and co-precipitation for the sorption of transition metals, H-bonding/ligand exchange for B and H-bonding/cation bridging for S were operative in phyto-biochars. Phyto-biochars produced from plant biomass wastes by pyrolysis at 300 °C, which have been enriched with Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, B and S may serve as a potential slow-release nutrient carrier in agriculture.

Size Selective Green Synthesis of Silver and Gold Nanoparticles: Enhanced Antibacterial Efficacy of Resveratrol Capped Silver Sol.

In view of potential biomedical application of the noble metal nanoparticles, we report a size controlled yet simple and green synthesis of resveratrol stabilized silver and gold nanoparticles having low polydispersity of size. Here, resveratrol plays two simultaneous roles, reducing the metal ions and providing efficient capping of the small nanoparticles. This gives rise to specific size of silver and gold nanoparticles at specific ratios of metal to resveratrol. The particles have been characterized by XRD and transmission electron microscopy. The nanoparticle sols are stable for months. The UV Visible absorption spectra of the silver sol show the plasmon peak of spherical nanoparticles, presence of which is further reflected in the TEM images. Size of the silver particles obtained is in between 11 to 21 nm depending on the ratio of resveratrol to metal ion used. Resveratrol capped silver nanoparticles exhibit high antibacterial activity against Gram negative wild type E coli BW (25113). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of nano-silver against the bacterium has been estimated to be 6.48 µg/ml, which is significantly lower than that reported in some earlier as well as recent publications. Reaction of gold ions with resveratrol, on the other hand, produces gold nanoparticles of sizes varying from 7 to 29 nm at different ratios of resveratrol to the metal ions. Particles with higher size and aspect ratio are formed at lower concentration of the capping agent whereas particles with very small size and pseudo-spherical morphology are formed at higher capping concentration. Difference in the formation kinetics of silver and gold nanoparticles has been attributed to the different growth mechanisms in the two cases. Possible modes of anchorage of resveratrol to silver nanoparticles have been investigated using surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERS) which shows that the silver nanoparticles are capped by resveratrol molecule primarily through O-Ag linkages of the p-OH aromatic ring. This, in turn, demonstrates the feasibility of using these nanoparticles as SERS templates.

Biosynthesis, characterization and antibacterial studies of silver nanoparticles using pods extract of Acacia auriculiformis.

The present study reports an environmental friendly method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using an aqueous extract of Acacia auriculiformis that acts as reducing agent as well as capping agent. The obtained NPs were characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and showed a sharp surface plasmon absorption band at ∼400 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed nanoparticles were capped with plant compounds. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the particles were spherical in nature with diameter ranging from 20 to 150 nm depending on the pH of the solution. The as-synthesized Ag NPs showed antibacterial activity against both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria with more efficacy against Gram negative bacteria.