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1.
[Obesity as a global challenge of the 21st century: clinical medical nutrition, prevention and therapy].
Sharafetdinov, KK, Plotnikova, OA
Voprosy pitaniia. 2020;(4):161-171
Abstract
The article presents modern data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity, provides updated information on personalized programs for managing body weight, individual recommendations for a healthy diet, adequate physical activity and long-term lifestyle changes. It is shown that dietary therapy is the basic treatment method in weight loss programs and is aimed at long-term maintenance of a negative energy balance in the patient's organism by limiting the calorie intake. A significant place in the article is devoted to the use of diets modified by calorie value and macronutrient content which are recommended for obese patients. A strategy for the prevention of obesity and its associated diseases is presented.
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2.
The Pharmaceutical Industry in 2019. An Analysis of FDA Drug Approvals from the Perspective of Molecules.
de la Torre, BG, Albericio, F
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2020;(3)
Abstract
During 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 48 new drugs (38 New Chemical Entities and 10 Biologics). Although this figure is slightly lower than that registered in 2018 (59 divided between 42 New Chemical Entities and 17 Biologics), a year that broke a record with respect to new drugs approved by this agency, it builds on the trend initiated in 2017, when 46 drugs were approved. Of note, three antibody drug conjugates, three peptides, and two oligonucleotides were approved in 2019. This report analyzes the 48 new drugs of the class of 2019 from a strictly chemical perspective. The classification, which was carried out on the basis of chemical structure, includes the following: Biologics (antibody drug conjugates, antibodies, and proteins); TIDES (peptide and oligonucleotides); drug combinations; natural products; and small molecules.
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3.
Can phytotherapy with polyphenols serve as a powerful approach for the prevention and therapy tool of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?
Levy, E, Delvin, E, Marcil, V, Spahis, S
American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism. 2020;(4):E689-E708
Abstract
Much more serious than the previous severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (CoV) outbreaks, the novel SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread speedily, affecting 213 countries and causing ∼17,300,000 cases and ∼672,000 (∼+1,500/day) deaths globally (as of July 31, 2020). The potentially fatal coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by air droplets and airborne as the main transmission modes, clearly induces a spectrum of respiratory clinical manifestations, but it also affects the immune, gastrointestinal, hematological, nervous, and renal systems. The dramatic scale of disorders and complications arises from the inadequacy of current treatments and absence of a vaccine and specific anti-COVID-19 drugs to suppress viral replication, inflammation, and additional pathogenic conditions. This highlights the importance of understanding the SARS-CoV-2 mechanisms of actions and the urgent need of prospecting for new or alternative treatment options. The main objective of the present review is to discuss the challenging issue relative to the clinical utility of plants-derived polyphenols in fighting viral infections. Not only is the strong capacity of polyphenols highlighted in magnifying health benefits, but the underlying mechanisms are also stressed. Finally, emphasis is placed on the potential ability of polyphenols to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection via the regulation of its molecular targets of human cellular binding and replication, as well as through the resulting host inflammation, oxidative stress, and signaling pathways.
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[Historical overview of acute infectious diarrhea in Mexico and future preventive strategies].
Olaiz-Fernández, GA, Gómez-Peña, EG, Juárez-Flores, A, Vicuña-de Anda, FJ, Morales-Ríos, JE, Carrasco, OF
Salud publica de Mexico. 2020;(1):25-35
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To analyze the epidemiological aspects of AID through Mexican history and the potential strategies to pre- vent AID in Mexican population. MATERIALS AND METHODS A systematic review was performed exploring the key words, diarrhea, morbidity, mortality, Mexico, health promotion for the last 20 years (1978-2018). RESULTS Over 8 600 articles were obtained; all of them were evaluated to consider those follow the aim of the present work. CONCLUSIONS The result of the performed systematic review denoted the influence of AID in Mexican public health policy; the adopted actions diminished the AID's associated risks and allowed future strategies to prevent it; those actions must include hygienic and dietetic measures, pharmaceutical innovations and technological tools applied to health policies.
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Life and Death in Italian Prehistory: The Case of the Sailor from Spina.
Gualdi-Russo, E, Manzon, VS, Saguto, I, Rinaldo, N
World neurosurgery. 2020;:106-110
Abstract
BACKGROUND There are few reported cases in the literature of spinal injuries from the past, and all of them resulted in the death of the individual or led to severe health consequences. From the historical record, it is well known there were no cures or treatments for spinal lesions in the past. Given the paucity of historical documents focused on this topic, anthropological research on spinal injuries can contribute with important information regarding the medical history of this kind of trauma. Moreover, skeletal trauma and occupational markers may be crucial for the reconstruction of habitual behaviors and the identification of causes and timing of death. We report results of an anthropological study of a case of vertebral injury discovered in an individual from the Italian Iron Age that highlights this important topic. The aim of this study was to assess the habitual activity pattern and manner of death of an ancient inhabitant of Spina in Padanian Etruria (northeastern Italy). METHODS We performed a detailed anthropological and paleopathological analysis of skeletal remains. RESULTS The unknown individual was identified as a middle-aged man characterized by a particular trauma to the spine. Lesion analysis revealed a perimortem injury at the L2-L3 level. Characteristic markers on the bones indicated intense physical activity carried out during his life. CONCLUSIONS This Etruscan, in all likelihood a sailor according to the occupational markers, did not survive a stabbing attack with a bladed weapon.
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[Novel food sources: from GMO to the broadening of Russia's bioresource base].
Tyshko, NV, Sadykova, EO, Shestakova, SI, Aksyuk, IN
Voprosy pitaniia. 2020;(4):100-109
Abstract
The modern strategy of humanity food providing is aimed at finding the exit from the food crisis in the shortest possible time, by the end of XXI century food and feed production should increase by at least 70%. These tasks solution implies not only the use of science-oriented technologies, but also the expansion of the food base by means of novel food sources, which don't have a history of safe use. In the Russian Federation the formation of novel food's safety assessment approaches is regulated at the state level and is the most important requirement for the possibility of usage. Russian experience of the second half of the XX century in the area of novel food sources' biomedical research unites two stages. The first of them dates back to the middle of the 1960s', when the Soviet scientists, in particular, the workforce of the Institute of Nutrition of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, under the leadership of Academician A.A. Pokrovskii, have developed the evaluation approaches of the biological value and safety of microbial synthesized protein. The second stage of the safety assessment research development was the work with the genetically modified organisms of plant origin (GMO), that begun in the middle of the 1990s'. Since the moment of formation in 1995-1996, 9 methodical guidelines that regulate methods of safety assessment and control over GMO have been developed. Comprehensively formed by 2020, safety assessment system has been used in the framework of 27 GMO lines state registration that passed a whole cycle of medical and biological research and were allowed for use in nutrition of the population of the Eurasian Economic Union. Within the framework of these research a considerable amount of factual material has been accumulated, a regulatory and methodological basis has been built, and a substantial background for further fundamental and applied scientific research in the field of development and safety assessment of novel food has been created.
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7.
Hippocratic concepts of acute and urgent respiratory diseases still relevant to contemporary medical thinking and practice: a scoping review.
Stefanakis, G, Nyktari, V, Papaioannou, A, Askitopoulou, H
BMC pulmonary medicine. 2020;(1):165
Abstract
BACKGROUND The collected works of Hippocrates were searched for concepts on the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of acute and urgent respiratory diseases, with the objective to trace their origins in the Hippocratic Collection. METHODS A scoping review was performed to map out key concepts of acute and severe respiratory diseases in the entire Hippocratic Collection. The digital library Thesaurus Lingua Graeca (TLG) was researched for references in the entire Hippocratic Collection regarding the epidemiology, pathophysiology, prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of acute respiratory diseases; then, the relevant texts were studied in their English translation by the Loeb Classical Library. RESULTS Hippocratic physicians followed principles of treatment for pneumonia and pleurisy, still relevant, such as hydration, expectoration, analgesia and prompt mobilisation. Other approaches, including the inhalation of "vapours through tubes" in angina, can be considered as forerunners of modern medical practice. Thoracic empyema was diagnosed by shaking the patient and direct chest auscultation after "applying your ear to his sides". In case of an emergency from upper airway obstruction, urgent insertion of primitive airway equipment, such as a small pharyngeal tube, was applied. CONCLUSIONS The main Hippocratic concepts on four still common acute and urgent respiratory diseases -pneumonia, pleurisy, thoracic empyema and upper airway obstruction- were identified and most of them were found to be in agreement with contemporary medical thinking and practice.
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19th EURETINA Congress Keynote Lecture: Diabetic Retinopathy Today.
Bandello, F, Cicinelli, MV
Ophthalmologica. Journal international d'ophtalmologie. International journal of ophthalmology. Zeitschrift fur Augenheilkunde. 2020;(3):163-171
Abstract
In the last decades, significant changes have been taking place regarding the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the complex mechanisms that eventually lead to the various manifestations of the disease, including diabetic macular edema (DME). DR was first considered a pure microvascular disease, due to the evident capillary structural changes (microaneurysms), fluid extravasation, and lipid exudation. With the advent of fundus fluorescein angiography, the concept of ischemia and the correlation between peripheral nonperfusion and neovascularization has been introduced, which was eventually followed by the advent of new therapeutic strategies, such as peripheral photocoagulation. Nowadays, thanks to more advanced imaging techniques, namely optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography, and wide-field imaging (imaging up to 200° of the retina in a single shot), it became clear that other elements participate in the occurrence of DR and DME, including inflammation and neurodegeneration. In the future, integration of standard investigations with new diagnostic devices would allow the prompt recognition of DR even before clinical signs of the disease are ophthalmoscopically evident, and the development of personalized treatment for both retinopathy and DME will be available.
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50 Years of Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT) - Time to Explore the Dark Side of the Moon.
Pflaumer, A, Wilde, AAM, Charafeddine, F, Davis, AM
Heart, lung & circulation. 2020;(4):520-528
Abstract
Despite significant progress in understanding catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), there are still multiple uncertainties and gaps in our knowledge. Like the dark side of the moon, we cannot see them directly. Unfortunately, clinicians must make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions without solid evidence. Instead of summarising the current state of science and reiterating the guidelines, we review difficulties in understanding the disease mechanism, diagnosis and therapy. Highlighting these truths helps to avoid misconceptions, think clearly about our patients and direct future research efforts. It has become clear that CPVT encompasses more than just uniformly expressed ryanodine receptor mutations leading to bidirectional ventricular tachycardia, rather it is a disease caused by different genetic mutations, overlapping with other entities and possibly affecting not only the heart. Treatment in addition to beta blockers is often necessary: flecainide and left cardiac sympathetic denervation are therapies that come before consideration of defibrillator implantation and new treatment options are on the horizon.
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10.
Why the endothelium? The endothelium as a target to reduce diabetes-associated vascular disease.
Triggle, CR, Ding, H, Marei, I, Anderson, TJ, Hollenberg, MD
Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology. 2020;(7):415-430
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Abstract
Over the past 66 years, our knowledge of the role of the endothelium in the regulation of cardiovascular function and dysfunction has advanced from the assumption that it is a single layer of cells that serves as a barrier between the blood stream and vascular smooth muscle to an understanding of its role as an essential endocrine-like organ. In terms of historical contributions, we pay particular credit to (1) the Canadian scientist Dr. Rudolf Altschul who, based on pathological changes in the appearance of the endothelium, advanced the argument in 1954 that "one is only as old as one's endothelium" and (2) the American scientist Dr. Robert Furchgott, a 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, who identified the importance of the endothelium in the regulation of blood flow. This review provides a brief history of how our knowledge of endothelial function has advanced and now recognize that the endothelium produces a plethora of signaling molecules possessing paracrine, autocrine, and, arguably, systemic hormone functions. In addition, the endothelium is a therapeutic target for the anti-diabetic drugs metformin, glucagon-like peptide I (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and inhibitors of the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) that offset the vascular disease associated with diabetes.