Bi-HPDO3A as a novel contrast agent for X-ray computed tomography.

A new bismuth-based CT agent was synthesized through a facile synthesis strategy. The in vitro stability, toxicity and CT performance were evaluated. The in vivo imaging performance was investigated using three different doses (0.5, 1.2 and 5 mmol/kg) and the result obtained at 1.2 mmol/kg was compared with the clinically approved CT agent iopamidol at the same dosage.

Untargeted Metabolomics in Forensic Toxicology: A New Approach for the Detection of Fentanyl Intake in Urine Samples.

The misuse of fentanyl, and novel synthetic opioids (NSO) in general, has become a public health emergency, especially in the United States. The detection of NSO is often challenged by the limited diagnostic time frame allowed by urine sampling and the wide range of chemically modified analogues, continuously introduced to the recreational drug market. In this study, an untargeted metabolomics approach was developed to obtain a comprehensive "fingerprint" of any anomalous and specific metabolic pattern potentially related to fentanyl exposure. In recent years, in vitro models of drug metabolism have emerged as important tools to overcome the limited access to positive urine samples and uncertainties related to the substances actually taken, the possible combined drug intake, and the ingested dose. In this study, an in vivo experiment was designed by incubating HepG2 cell lines with either fentanyl or common drugs of abuse, creating a cohort of 96 samples. These samples, together with 81 urine samples including negative controls and positive samples obtained from recent users of either fentanyl or "traditional" drugs, were subjected to untargeted analysis using both UHPLC reverse phase and HILIC chromatography combined with QTOF mass spectrometry. Data independent acquisition was performed by SWATH in order to obtain a comprehensive profile of the urinary metabolome. After extensive processing, the resulting datasets were initially subjected to unsupervised exploration by principal component analysis (PCA), yielding clear separation of the fentanyl positive samples with respect to both controls and samples positive to other drugs. The urine datasets were then systematically investigated by supervised classification models based on soft independent modeling by class analogy (SIMCA) algorithms, with the end goal of identifying fentanyl users. A final single-class SIMCA model based on an RP dataset and five PCs yielded 96% sensitivity and 74% specificity. The distinguishable metabolic patterns produced by fentanyl in comparison to other opioids opens up new perspectives in the interpretation of the biological activity of fentanyl.

Sylvatic Canine Morbillivirus in Captive Panthera Highlights Viral Promiscuity and the Need for Better Prevention Strategies.

Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) is a multi-host morbillivirus that infects virtually all Carnivora and a few non-human primates. Here we describe a CDV outbreak in an exotic felid rescue center that led to the death of eight felids in the genus Panthera. Similar to domestic dogs and in contrast to previously described CDV cases in Panthera, severe pneumonia was the primary lesion and no viral antigens or CDV-like lesions were detected in the central nervous system. Four tigers succumbed to opportunistic infections. Viral hemagglutinin (H)-gene sequence was up to 99% similar to strains circulating contemporaneously in regional wildlife. CDV lesions in raccoons and skunk were primarily encephalitis. A few affected felids had at least one previous vaccination for CDV, while most felids at the center were vaccinated during the outbreak. Panthera sharing a fence or enclosure with infected conspecifics had significantly higher chances of getting sick or dying, suggesting tiger-tiger spread was more likely than recurrent spillover. Prior vaccination was incomplete and likely not protective. This outbreak highlights the need for further understanding of CDV epidemiology for species conservation and public health.