LC-MS/MS assisted pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution study of ropivacaine and 3-OH-ropivacaine on rats after plane block anesthesia.

Knowledge of drug pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution is precious for ensuring patient safety and optimizing treatments. The varied use of local anesthetics, as well as the fact that anesthetics can sometimes have low therapeutic indices and numerous adverse drug reactions, makes any novel pharmacokinetics information valuable. The present manuscript describes a pharmacokinetic study of ropivacaine carried out after plane block anesthesia on an animal model, using high sensitivity, accurate, and precise LC-MS/MS bioanalysis.

The Study of Ropivacaine Pharmacokinetics in a Clinical Setting: A Critical Scoping Review from the Perspective of Analytical Methodologies.

Ropivacaine, a widely used regional anesthetic also used for pain management, has been increasingly used in recent years due to its increased efficacy and improved safety compared to similar anesthetics. Biomonitoring of ropivacaine and its metabolites during and after anesthesia is an essential process for ensuring therapeutic efficacy and safe usage for patients. The most useful biomonitoring tool in recent years has been liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which offers selectivity, sensitivity, as well as accuracy of measurements.

Short and Medium Chain Fatty Acids in a Cohort of Naïve Multiple Sclerosis Patients: Pre- and Post-Interferon Beta Treatment Assessment.

Introduction: Alterations in intestinal permeability and microbiota dysregulation have been linked to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) are products of gut bacteria fermentation which are involved in immune regulation processes. In MS, SCFA have important immunomodulatory properties both in the periphery and the central compartment.

Assessing β-Sitosterol Levels in Dietary Supplements for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Implications for Therapeutic Efficacy.

Introduction Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a prevalent condition among aging men that affects their life quality due to urinary symptoms. Current pharmacologic treatments, often lead to sexual dysfunction, so dietary supplements (DS) containing plant-based compounds such as β-sitosterol (SIT) are preferred. DS are highly accessible and widely used, but poorly regulated, so often patients are victims of fraud.

Posterior segment parameters after uveitic cataract surgery: A prospective study with 1-year results.

Purpose: To evaluate the changes in posterior segment after uncomplicated cataract surgery in uveitic patients.

Methods: Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT), ganglion cell layer thickness (GCLT), central macular thickness (CMT), and choroidal thickness (CT) of 38 eyes of 28 patients were measured pre- and postoperatively on day 1, week 1, and month 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12.

Results: The RNFLT increased after surgery.

LC-MS/MS assisted biomonitoring of ropivacaine and 3-OH-ropivacaine after plane block anesthesia for cardiac device implantation.

Ropivacaine is a popular local anesthetic used for regional anesthesia or for pain management. Although designed as an enantiomerically pure drug, an aspect that reduces the adverse effects, its toxicological effects are still a risk. As such, biomonitoring to assure appropriate dosage and bioavailability are essential to avoid complications during or post-surgery.

Enantioselective binding of carvedilol to human serum albumin and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein.

Carvedilol, a highly protein-bound beta-blocker, is used in therapy as a racemic mixture of its two enantiomers that exhibit different pharmacological activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the stereoselective nature of its binding to the two major plasma proteins: albumin and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein. The determination of the plasma protein-binding degree for carvedilol and its enantiomers was achieved using ultrafiltration for the separation of the free fraction, followed by LC-MS/MS quantification, using two different developed and validated methods in terms of stationary phase: achiral C18 type and chiral ovomucoid type.

The Lack of Standardization and Pharmacological Effect Limits the Potential Clinical Usefulness of Phytosterols in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.

The prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) markedly increases with age. Phytotherapeutic approaches have been developed over time owing to the adverse side effects of conventional medications such as 5-reductase inhibitors and α1-adrenergic receptor antagonists. Therefore, dietary supplements (DS) containing active compounds that benefit BPH are widely available.

Stability of Oral Liquid Dosage Forms in Pediatric Cardiology: A Prerequisite for Patient's Safety-A Narrative Review.

The development of safe and effective pediatric formulations is essential, especially in therapeutic areas such as pediatric cardiology, where the treatment requires multiple dosing or outpatient care. Although liquid oral dosage forms are considered the formulation of choice given the dose flexibility and acceptability, the compounding practices are not endorsed by the health authorities, and achieving stability can be problematic. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the stability of liquid oral dosage forms used in pediatric cardiology.

Methods and Strategies for Biomonitoring in Occupational Exposure to Plant Protection Products Containing Glyphosate.

Glyphosate, and the ever growing reliance on its use in agriculture, has been a point of contention for many years. There have been debates regarding the risk and safety of using glyphosate-based herbicides as well as the effects of occupational, accidental, or systematic. Although there have been a number of studies conducted, the biomonitoring of glyphosate poses a series of challenges.

Serum Fatty Acids Are Associated with a Higher Risk of Ischemic Stroke.

Stroke prevention, a significant public-health concern, begins with recognizing and addressing risk factors. Interventions targeted at modifiable risk factors can effectively prevent ischemic stroke, while Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to improve stroke outcomes. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between ischemic-stroke risk factors and fatty acids using a prospective observational study with 274 patients.

Is it Time to Migrate to Liquid Chromatography Automated Platforms in the Clinical Laboratory? A Brief Point of View.

Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry already started to surpass the major drawbacks in terms of sensitivity, specificity and cross-reactivity that some analytical methods used in the clinical laboratory exhibit. This hyphenated technique is already preferred for specific applications while finding its own place in the clinical laboratory setting. However, large-scale usage, high-throughput analysis and lack of automation emerge as shortcomings that liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry still has to overrun in order to be used on a larger scale in the clinical laboratory.

Fatty Acids and Lipid Paradox-Neuroprotective Biomarkers in Ischemic Stroke.

Stroke is the primary cause of death and disability worldwide, with ischemic stroke up to 80% of the total cases. Lipid profile was established as a major risk factor for stroke, but recent studies show a paradoxical relationship between serum values and the outcome of stroke patients. Our study aims to analyze the impact of the classic extended lipid profile, including fatty acids as potential neuroprotective biomarkers for the outcome of ischemic stroke patients.

Development and Evaluation of Cannabidiol Orodispersible Tablets Using a 2-Factorial Design.

Orodispersible tablets (ODTs) are pharmaceutical formulations used to obtain fast therapeutic effects, usually recommended for geriatric and pediatric patients due to their improved compliance, bioavailability, ease of administration, and good palatability. This study aimed to develop ODTs with cannabidiol (CBD) phytocannabinoid extracted from used in the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes. The tablets were obtained using an eccentric tableting machine and 9 mm punches.

Anterior segment parameters after uveitic cataract surgery: A prospective study with 1-year results.

Purpose: To determine the changes in anterior segment parameters in uveitic patients undergoing uncomplicated cataract surgery.

Methods: The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber angle (ACA), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and axial length (AXL) of the 38 eyes of 28 well-controlled uveitic patients who underwent cataract surgery were monitored for 12 months.

Results: Mean BCVA improved significantly at the postoperative visits when compared to the baseline (all P<0.

Off-Label Medication: From a Simple Concept to Complex Practical Aspects.

Off-label use of drugs is widely known as unapproved use of approved drugs, and it can be perceived as a relatively simple concept. Even though it has been in existence for many years, prescribing and dispensing of drugs in an off-label regimen is still a current issue, triggered especially by unmet clinical needs. Several therapeutic areas require off-label approaches; therefore, this practice is challenging for prescribing physicians.

Pharmacotechnical and analytical preformulation studies for cannabidiol orodispersible tablets.

Obtaining orodispersible tablets (ODT) containing substances from the second Biopharmaceutical Class has raised concerns as the dissolution test is challenging. This study aimed to select suitable excipients for developing orodispersible tablets containing cannabidiol (CBD) by direct compression method. No similar studies were found in the literature.

The role of meibomian gland dysfunction on the development of dry eye disease in patients with facial nerve palsy.

Purpose: To investigate whether meibomian gland dysfunction is the cause of dry eye in facial nerve palsy and to identify the possible relationship between the grades and durations of facial nerve palsy and meibomian gland dysfunction.

Methods: This prospective observational study included 63 patients with unilateral facial nerve palsy. Facial nerve function and severity were assessed using the House-Brackmann grading system.

Scalable distributed gate-model quantum computers.

A scalable model for a distributed quantum computation is a challenging problem due to the complexity of the problem space provided by the diversity of possible quantum systems, from small-scale quantum devices to large-scale quantum computers. Here, we define a model of scalable distributed gate-model quantum computation in near-term quantum systems of the NISQ (noisy intermediate scale quantum) technology era. We prove that the proposed architecture can maximize an objective function of a computational problem in a distributed manner.

Resource prioritization and balancing for the quantum internet.

The quantum Internet enables networking based on the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. Here, methods and procedures of resource prioritization and resource balancing are defined for the quantum Internet. We define a model for resource consumption optimization in quantum repeaters, and a strongly-entangled network structure for resource balancing.

Routing space exploration for scalable routing in the quantum Internet.

The entangled network structure of the quantum Internet formulates a high complexity routing space that is hard to explore. Scalable routing is a routing method that can determine an optimal routing at particular subnetwork conditions in the quantum Internet to perform a high-performance and low-complexity routing in the entangled structure. Here, we define a method for routing space exploration and scalable routing in the quantum Internet.

Circuit Depth Reduction for Gate-Model Quantum Computers.

Quantum computers utilize the fundamentals of quantum mechanics to solve computational problems more efficiently than traditional computers. Gate-model quantum computers are fundamental to implement near-term quantum computer architectures and quantum devices. Here, a quantum algorithm is defined for the circuit depth reduction of gate-model quantum computers.

Theory of Noise-Scaled Stability Bounds and Entanglement Rate Maximization in the Quantum Internet.

Crucial problems of the quantum Internet are the derivation of stability properties of quantum repeaters and theory of entanglement rate maximization in an entangled network structure. The stability property of a quantum repeater entails that all incoming density matrices can be swapped with a target density matrix. The strong stability of a quantum repeater implies stable entanglement swapping with the boundness of stored density matrices in the quantum memory and the boundness of delays.

Optimizing High-Efficiency Quantum Memory with Quantum Machine Learning for Near-Term Quantum Devices.

Quantum memories are a fundamental of any global-scale quantum Internet, high-performance quantum networking and near-term quantum computers. A main problem of quantum memories is the low retrieval efficiency of the quantum systems from the quantum registers of the quantum memory. Here, we define a novel quantum memory called high-retrieval-efficiency (HRE) quantum memory for near-term quantum devices.