Factors associated with self-assessed asthma severity.

Background: Asthma severity can be estimated as the level of medication needed to achieve asthma control or by the patient's subjective assessment. Factors associated with self-assessed asthma severity are still incompletely explored.

Aim: The aim was to study factors associated with self-assessed moderate or severe asthma.

Middle Ear Administration of a Particulate Chitosan Gel in an Model of Cisplatin Ototoxicity.

Background: Middle ear (intratympanic, IT) administration is a promising therapeutic method as it offers the possibility of achieving high inner ear drug concentrations with low systemic levels, thus minimizing the risk of systemic side effects and drug-drug interactions. Premature elimination through the Eustachian tube may be reduced by stabilizing drug solutions with a hydrogel, but this raises the secondary issue of conductive hearing loss.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the properties of a chitosan-based particulate hydrogel formulation when used as a drug carrier for IT administration in an model of ototoxicity.