Boosting of retinol activity using novel lecithin: Retinol acyltransferase inhibitors.

Lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) is the main enzyme catalysing the esterification of retinol to retinyl esters and, hence, is of central importance for retinol homeostasis. As retinol, by its metabolite retinoic acid, stimulates fibroblasts to synthesize collagen fibres and inhibits collagen-degrading enzymes, the inhibition of LRAT presents an intriguing strategy for anti-ageing ingredients by increasing the available retinol in the skin. Here, we synthesized several derivatives mimicking natural lecithin substrates as potential LRAT inhibitors.

Concept and methodology of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study - Insights into the current 2022 survey and trends in Germany.

Background: Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is one of the largest international studies on child and adolescent health and cooperates with the World Health Organization (WHO). In Germany, adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 are surveyed every four years about their health, health behaviour and social conditions. This article describes the HBSC study and in particular the methodology of the current 2022 survey and prior surveys conducted between 2009/10 and 2017/18.

Potential of measured relative shifts in collision cross section values for biotransformation studies.

Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) separates gas phase ions due to differences in drift time from which reproducible and analyte-specific collision cross section (CCS) values can be derived. Internally conducted in vitro and in vivo metabolism (biotransformation) studies indicated repetitive shifts in measured CCS values (CCS) between parent drugs and their metabolites. Hence, the purpose of the present article was (i) to investigate if such relative shifts in CCS were biotransformation-specific and (ii) to highlight their potential benefits for biotransformation studies.

[Loneliness in childhood and adolescence. On the prevalence of a mental health risk factor among 11- to 15-year-old German students].

Background: Loneliness is an increasingly present topic in both public and scientific discourse. There is increasing research on the prevalence of loneliness and health-related correlates in adults. However, there are only a few findings on loneliness in childhood and adolescence in Germany.

Palliative care after stroke survival.

Stroke is a leading cause of both death and disability worldwide. While most research has focused on the first hours to days after acute stroke, much less is known about the experience of patients and their families living after a stroke. Stroke survivors have a high burden of physical and psychological symptoms such as pain, fatigue, and depression that are often not addressed in the postacute setting.

Ultraviolet transmission microscopy for the imaging of topical sunscreen emulsions.

Objective: Microscopy is widely used during the development and testing of topical formulations; however, it often lacks the ability to be chemically specific with regard to what is being imaged. This article describes how moving outside of the visible light region and into different parts of the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum enables differently UV absorbing components in topical emulsions to be directly visualized using optical transmission microscopy.

Methods: Optical transmission microscopy of different sunscreen emulsions was carried out using a custom-built microscope, imaging in the UVB (313 nm), UVA (365 nm) and visible light (546 nm) and with different magnifications.

Blue Light and the Skin.

In photodermatology, UV radiation is the component of the solar system that has attracted the most interest as it represents the greatest risk of skin damage from solar exposure. Efficient protection strategies have therefore been developed to protect skin against powerful solar radiation. Recently, there has been increasing evidence to suggest that less energetic radiation, such as visible light and infrared radiation, might also influence skin physiology.

Effect of regioisomers of hydroxystearic acids as peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor agonists to boost the anti-ageing potential of retinoids.

Introduction: We report on the in vitro and ex vivo effects of chiral (R)-10-hydroxystearic acid (10-HSA) compared with other mono-hydroxystearic acid regioisomers and stearic acid (SA) together with its benefit when combined with retinol.

Methods: Following treatment with hydroxystearic acids peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) activity was determined in a luciferase reporter gene assay, collagen type I was assessed in primary human dermal fibroblasts by immunohistochemistry, modification of the intracellular fibroblast collagen proteome was studied by mass-spectrometry-based proteomics and collagen type III was assessed by immunohistochemistry on human ex vivo skin.

Results: 10-HSA was the most effective PPARα agonist (15.

Social signaling via bioluminescent blinks determines nearest neighbor distance in schools of flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron.

The schooling flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron can be found at dark nights at the water surface in the Indo-Pacific. Schools are characterized by bioluminescent blink patterns of sub-ocular light organs densely-packed with bioluminescent, symbiotic bacteria. Here we analyzed how blink patterns of A.

Reprograming of sRNA target specificity by the leader peptide peTrpL in response to antibiotic exposure.

Trans-acting regulatory RNAs have the capacity to base pair with more mRNAs than generally detected under defined conditions, raising the possibility that sRNA target specificities vary depending on the specific metabolic or environmental conditions. In Sinorhizobium meliloti, the sRNA rnTrpL is derived from a tryptophan (Trp) transcription attenuator located upstream of the Trp biosynthesis gene trpE(G). The sRNA rnTrpL contains a small ORF, trpL, encoding the 14-aa leader peptide peTrpL.

Family Presence for Patients with Severe Acute Brain Injury and the Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The global COVID-19 pandemic made strict visitation policies necessary. We explored the experiences of family members of patients with severe acute brain injury focusing on the impact of family presence in the hospital. Semistructured interviews (February 2018-April 2020) were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Synthesis, biological evaluation and toxicity of novel tetrandrine analogues.

In this work, we present the design and synthesis of novel fully synthetic analogues of the bisbenzylisoquinoline tetrandrine, a molecule with numerous pharmacological properties and the potential to treat life-threatening diseases, such as viral infections and cancer. Its toxicity to liver and lungs and the underlying mechanisms, however, are controversially discussed. Along this line, novel tetrandrine analogues were synthesized and biologically evaluated for their hepatotoxicity, as well as their antiproliferative and chemoresistance reversing activity on cancer cells.

CF-Containing -Quinone Methides for Organic Synthesis.

A new family of CF-containing -quinone methides (CF-QMs) was systematically investigated for its suitability in organic synthesis. Addition of different nucleophiles gives access to target molecules with a benzylic CF-containing stereogenic center straightforwardly. The electrophilicity parameter of the prototypical CF-QM 2,6-di--butyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethylidene)cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-one was determined to be -11.

Racemic total synthesis and evaluation of the biological activities of the isoquinoline-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid muraricine.

The first racemic total synthesis of the isoquinoline-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid muraricine is reported herein. Pharmacological characterization identified muraricine as a moderate inhibitor of P-glycoprotein, a crucial factor of multidrug resistance in cancer. When combined with vincristine, muraricine partly reversed the chemoresistance of vincristine-resistant leukemia cells at a nontoxic concentration.

A modular approach to the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids tetrandrine and isotetrandrine.

An efficient racemic total synthesis of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids tetrandrine and isotetrandrine in four different routes is reported herein. Key steps of the synthesis include N-acyl Pictet-Spengler condensations to access the tetrahydroisoquinoline moieties, as well as copper-catalyzed Ullmann couplings for diaryl ether formation. Starting from commercially available building blocks tetrandrine and isotetrandrine are accessed in 12 steps.

Bio-derived hydroxystearic acid ameliorates skin age spots and conspicuous pores.

Introduction: We report on the preparation and efficacy of 10-hydroxystearic acid (HSA) that improves facial age spots and conspicuous pores.

Methods: The hydration of oleic acid into HSA was catalyzed by the oleate hydratase from Escherichia coli. Following treatment with HSA, collagen type I and type III was assessed in primary human dermal fibroblasts together with collagen type III, p53 protein levels and sunburn cells (SBC) after UVB irradiation (1 J cm ) by immunohistochemistry on human ex vivo skin.

C-reactive protein levels for early detection of early postoperative complications after proximal femoral fracture surgery.

Introduction: We have studied the early C-reactive protein (CRP) kinetics after proximal femoral fracture (PFF) surgery and defined a chart of CRP threshold values beyond which early postoperative complications are likely.

Materials And Methods: We have prospectively followed up a 42-patient cohort for surgical treatment by osteosynthesis or hip arthroplasty, and CRP was dosed at admission, on day 1, day 3, day 5 and then twice weekly for 30 days at the same time as a platelet count control of low molecular weight heparins. Then, we identified postoperative complications (medical complications like infections other than the surgical site, thromboembolic complications, death and surgical complications like surgical site infections, dislocation, haematoma) and established the evolutive profile of CRP in a 'complication' group and a 'no complication' group.

Evidence for a pharmacokinetic interaction between eslicarbazepine and rosuvastatin: Potential effects on xenobiotic transporters.

Introduction: Patients with partial-onset seizures and comorbid cardiovascular disease may concomitantly receive eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL), an antiepileptic drug, and rosuvastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. This study evaluated the effect of multiple-dose ESL on the pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of a single dose of rosuvastatin in healthy subjects.

Methods: This was a Phase I, single-center, fixed-sequence, open-label study.

BMAL1 links the circadian clock to viral airway pathology and asthma phenotypes.

Patients with asthma experience circadian variations in their symptoms. However it remains unclear how specific aspects of this common airway disease relate to clock genes, which are critical to the generation of circadian rhythms in mammals. Here, we used a viral model of acute and chronic airway disease to examine how circadian clock disruption affects asthmatic lung phenotypes.

Is There Hope? Is She There? How Families and Clinicians Experience Severe Acute Brain Injury.

Background: Patients with severe acute brain injury (SABI) raise important palliative care considerations associated with sudden devastating injury and uncertain prognosis.

Objective: The goal of this study was to explore how family members, nurses, and physicians experience the palliative and supportive care needs of patients with SABI receiving care in the neuroscience intensive care unit (neuro-ICU).

Design: Semistructured interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Multimodal correlative investigation of the interplaying micro-architecture, chemical composition and mechanical properties of human cortical bone tissue reveals predominant role of fibrillar organization in determining microelastic tissue properties.

Unlabelled: The mechanical competence of bone is crucially determined by its material composition and structural design. To investigate the interaction of the complex hierarchical architecture, the chemical composition and the resulting elastic properties of healthy femoral bone at the level of single bone lamellae and entire structural units, we combined polarized Raman spectroscopy (PRS), scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) and synchrotron X-ray phase contrast nano tomography (SR-nanoCT). In line with earlier studies, mutual correlation analysis strongly suggested that the characteristic elastic modulations of bone lamellae within single units are the result of the twisting fibrillar orientation, rather than compositional variations, modulations of the mineral particle maturity, or mass density deviations.

A Pharmacokinetic Study Comparing Eslicarbazepine Acetate Administered Orally as a Crushed or Intact Tablet in Healthy Volunteers.

The relative bioequivalence of crushed versus intact eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) tablets (800 mg) administered orally in healthy adults was evaluated in an open-label, randomized, 2-period crossover study with a 5-day washout between treatments. Sample blood levels of eslicarbazepine and (R)-licarbazepine were determined; pharmacokinetic parameters were derived for eslicarbazepine. Bioequivalence was established if the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) for the geometric mean treatment ratios of eslicarbazepine AUC(0-∞) and Cmax were within the prespecified 80%-125% range.