Selection of In Vivo Relevant Dissolution Test Parameters for the Development of Cannabidiol Formulations with Enhanced Oral Bioavailability.

Cannabidiol (CBD) shows interesting therapeutic properties but has yet to demonstrate its full potential in clinical trials partly due to its low solubility in physiologic media. Two different formulations of CBD (amorphous and lipid-based) have been optimized and enable an increase in bioavailability in piglets. In vivo studies are time-consuming, costly and life-threatening.

Metabolite profiling of Artemisia afra and Artemisia annua extracts reveals divergent effects on Plasmodium falciparum.

Background: Artemisia spp. have been used for millennia in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments, including malaria. Extracts of Artemisia afra and A.

Retrospective Epidemiology of Dermatomycosis in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, From 2000 to 2023.

Background: Although cutaneous mycoses are a global public health problem, very few data are available in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the retrospective clinical epidemiology of dermatomycosis and their associated risk factors in dermatological consultations in Kinshasa, DRC.

Methods: A retrospective study based on the medical records of patients seen in the departments of dermatology of 2 major hospitals in Kinshasa from March 2000 to August 2023 was carried out.

Establishment of a Quantitative Method for the Extraction of Nicotine and Cotinine in Gingival Tissue and Relationship Between Gingival Intoxication With Conventional Smoking Biomarkers: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: Smoking is considered a major risk factor for periodontitis genesis and progression. In clinical studies, specific indicators have been used to characterize the smoking status of the patient as the number of cigarettes consumed (NCC), the pack-years (PY), or Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). However, available literature is missing on the relationship between cotinine gingival intoxication and smoking indicators.

Screening for cryptococcal antigenemia and meningeal cryptococcosis, genetic characterization of Cryptococcus neoformans in asymptomatic patients with advanced HIV disease in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

We evaluated the prevalence of serum and meningeal cryptococcosis in asymptomatic outpatients with advanced HIV disease (CD4 < 200 cells/mm3) in a cross-sectional screening context in Kinshasa clinics (DRC). Lumbar puncture (LP) was performed in patients with positive serum cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) test, and Cryptococcus spp. isolated from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS, and characterized using serotyping-PCR, ITS-sequencing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

Aflatoxins and fumonisins co-contamination effects on laying hens and use of mycotoxin detoxifiers as a mitigation strategy.

This study examined the effects of fumonisins (FBs) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), alone or in combination, on the productivity and health of laying hens, as well as the transfer of aflatoxins (AFs) to chicken food products. The efficacy and safety of mycotoxin detoxifiers (bentonite and fumonisin esterase) to mitigate these effects were also assessed. Laying hens (400) were divided into 20 groups and fed a control, moderate (54.

Ticagrelor alters the membrane of and enhances the activity of vancomycin and daptomycin without eliciting cross-resistance.

Infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria pose a major healthcare problem which urges the need for novel treatment options. Besides its potent antiplatelet properties, ticagrelor has antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin- and vancomycin-resistant (MRSA and VRSA). Several retrospective studies in cardiovascular patients support an antibacterial effect of this drug which is not related to its antiplatelet activity.

Barbie drug identification: Not a child's play.

Various samples-including two vials with a pharmaceutical appearance-were submitted to the laboratory for identification. The aim of this work was to describe the unique characteristics observed during the analysis of the powder contained in the vial. Samples were submitted to HPLC-DAD, UHPLC-TOF-MS, and/or UPLC-MS-MS analysis.

Influence of drug shortages on the well-being at work of pharmacists practicing in community pharmacies.

Introduction: The problem of drug shortages is not new, but it has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. In community pharmacies, pharmacists are forced to develop daily strategies to deal with such shortages and ensure patient care. These efforts result in significant constraints and adjustments to pharmacists' daily practices.

Crystal structure of the GluK1 ligand-binding domain with kainate and the full-spanning positive allosteric modulator BPAM538.

Kainate receptors play an important role in the central nervous system by mediating postsynaptic excitatory neurotransmission and modulating the release of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA through a presynaptic mechanism. To date, only three structures of the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the kainate receptor subunit GluK1 in complex with positive allosteric modulators have been determined by X-ray crystallography, all belonging to class II modulators. Here, we report a high-resolution structure of GluK1-LBD in complex with kainate and BPAM538, which belongs to the full-spanning class III.

The role of elasticity on adhesion and clustering of neurons on soft surfaces.

The question of whether material stiffness enhances cell adhesion and clustering is still open to debate. Results from the literature are seemingly contradictory, with some reports illustrating that adhesion increases with surface stiffness and others suggesting that the performance of a system of cells is curbed by high values of elasticity. To address the role of elasticity as a regulator in neuronal cell adhesion and clustering, we investigated the topological characteristics of networks of neurons on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces - with values of elasticity (E) varying in the 0.

Comparison of Three Widely Employed Extraction Methods for Metabolomic Analysis of Trypanosoma brucei.

Trypanosoma brucei (Tb) is the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, which can be fatal if left untreated. An understanding of the parasite's cellular metabolism is vital for the discovery of new antitrypanosomal drugs and for disease eradication. Metabolomics can be used to analyze numerous metabolic pathways described as essential to Tb.

Evaluation of amorphous and lipid-based formulation strategies to increase the in vivo cannabidiol bioavailability in piglets.

Cannabidiol (CBD) suffers from poor oral bioavailability due to poor aqueous solubility and high metabolism, and is generally administered in liquid lipid vehicles. Solid-state formulations of CBD have been developed, but their ability to increase the oral bioavailability has not yet been proven in vivo. Various approaches are investigated to increase this bioavailability.

Comparison of culture-dependent and -independent bacterial detection results on nasal swabs in dogs with nasal discharge.

Objectives: The role of bacterial communities in the pathophysiology of canine nasal disease is still unclear. How and when to treat dogs with suspected secondary bacterial rhinitis and on which test to rely before making a decision to treat with antimicrobials has not been established. The objective is to compare the results of bacterial identification using agar-plate cultures and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing in dogs with nasal discharge suspected to be of bacterial origin.

A realistic mixture of ubiquitous persistent organic pollutants affects bone and cartilage development in zebrafish by interaction with nuclear receptor signaling.

"Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)" have a plethora of deleterious effects on humans and the environment due to their bioaccumulative, persistent, and mimicking properties. Individually, each of these chemicals has been tested and its effects measured, however they are rather found as parts of complex mixtures of which we do not fully grasp the extent of their potential consequences. Here we studied the effects of realistic, environmentally relevant mixtures of 29 POPs on cartilage and bone development using zebrafish as a model species.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis of the collaboration among healthcare professionals in the nursing home setting.

Background: The theory of planned behavior (TPB) postulates that behavioral performance is guided by the intention to perform that behavior, influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. This framework can be applied to studying interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals to enhance patient safety and public health within nursing homes.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the roles of physicians, pharmacists, and nurses in the interprofessional collaboration process while identifying facilitators and barriers to effective collaboration among healthcare professionals.

Untargeted NMR-based metabolomics analysis of kidney allograft perfusates identifies a signature of delayed graft function.

Introduction: Kidney transplantation (KTx) necessarily conveys an ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) process, which impacts on allograft outcomes. Delayed graft function (DGF) is defined as a non-decrease of serum creatinine by at least 10% daily on 3 consecutive days during the first 7 days post-KTx. DGF significantly conditions both short- and long-term graft outcomes.

The positive allosteric modulator BPAM344 and L-glutamate introduce an active-like structure of the ligand-binding domain of GluK2.

Kainate receptors belong to the family of ionotropic glutamate receptors and contribute to the majority of fast excitatory neurotransmission. Consequently, they also play a role in brain diseases. Therefore, understanding how these receptors can be modulated is of importance.

Identification of myoferlin as a mitochondria-associated membranes component required for calcium signaling in PDAC cell lines.

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive cancer type with one of the lowest survival rates due to late diagnosis and the absence of effective treatments. A better understanding of PDAC biology will help researchers to discover the Achilles' heel of cancer cells. In that regard, our research team investigated the function of an emerging oncoprotein known as myoferlin.

An Intravenous Pharmacokinetic Study of Cannabidiol Solutions in Piglets through the Application of a Validated Ultra-High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for the Simultaneous Quantification of CBD and Its Carboxylated Metabolite in Plasma.

Cannabidiol (CBD) has multiple therapeutic benefits that need to be maximized by optimizing its bioavailability. Numerous formulations are therefore being developed and their pharmacokinetics need to be studied, requiring analytical methods and data from intravenous administration. As CBD is susceptible to hepatic metabolism, the requirement of any method is to quantify metabolites such as 7-COOH-CBD.

Interaction studies between human papillomavirus virus-like particles and laminin 332 by affinity capillary electrophoresis assisted by bio-layer interferometry.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) interacts, in vitro, with laminin 332 (LN332), a key component of the extracellular matrix. In this study, we performed bio-layer interferometry (BLI) and affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) to investigate the binding properties of this interaction. Virus-like particles (VLPs), composed of the HPV16 L1 major capsid protein, were used as HPV model and LN332 as the VLPs binding partner.