An untargeted metabolomics approach to evaluate enzymatically deconjugated steroids and intact steroid conjugates in urine as diagnostic biomarkers for adrenal tumors.

Objectives: Urinary steroid profiling after hydrolysis of conjugates is an emerging tool to differentiate aggressive adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) from benign adrenocortical adenomas (ACA). However, the shortcomings of deconjugation are the lack of standardized and fully validated hydrolysis protocols and the loss of information about the originally conjugated form of the steroids. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of the deconjugation process and investigate novel diagnostic biomarkers in urine without enzymatic hydrolysis.

Special Issue "The Tight Junction and Its Proteins: From Structure to Pathologies".

Most tight junction (TJ) proteins build epithelial and endothelial barriers [...

Physicians' and pharmacists' perspective on clarity and clinical relevance of absolute contraindications in "Summaries of Product Characteristics".

Aims: Previous work has identified several limitations in "Summaries of Product Characteristics" (SmPCs), which are associated with risks for patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate pharmacists' and physicians' interpretation of contraindications in SmPCs and reasons for their nonadherence in clinical routine.

Methods: For 20 commonly missed or ignored absolute contraindications, an anonymous online survey providing 24 clinical example cases (one or two per contraindication) for physicians and pharmacists was developed.

Artificial intelligence-powered chatbots in search engines: a cross-sectional study on the quality and risks of drug information for patients.

Background: Search engines often serve as a primary resource for patients to obtain drug information. However, the search engine market is rapidly changing due to the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots. The consequences for medication safety when patients interact with chatbots remain largely unexplored.