Recent advances of CREKA peptide-based nanoplatforms in biomedical applications.

Nanomedicine technology is a rapidly developing field of research and application that uses nanoparticles as a platform to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Nanoparticles loaded with drugs and imaging contrast agents have already been used in clinically, but they are essentially passive delivery carriers. To make nanoparticles smarter, an important function is the ability to actively locate target tissues. It enables nanoparticles to accumulate in target tissues at higher concentrations, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects. Among the different ligands, the CREKA peptide (Cys-Arg-Glu-Lys-Ala) is a desirable targeting ligand and has a good targeting ability for overexpressed fibrin in different models, such as cancers, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, and atherosclerosis. In this review, the characteristic of the CREKA peptide and the latest reports regarding the application of CREKA-based nanoplatforms in different biological tissues are described. In addition, the existing problems and future application perspectives of CREKA-based nanoplatforms are also addressed.

Parental Engagement and Early Interactions With Preterm Infants Reduce Risk of Late Postpartum Depression.

Recent studies have shown that preterm delivery is a risk factor for the development of postpartum depression, which not only impairs maternal-infant interactions, leading to infant developmental delay and social interaction difficulties in affected children, but also increases the risk of depression in the mother. Hence, this article aims to study the effects of parental engagement and early interactions with preterm infants on subsequent infant development and behavior, maternal adjustment, and mother-infant relationship. A total of 151 infants/mothers were enrolled in our study. Infants were randomized either to receive early parent interaction or standard care. The early parent interaction program was performed in addition to routine standard of care, Kangaroo Mother Care, during the neonatal intensive care unit stay based on PremieStart Protocol. The behavioral competencies of preterm infants were assessed, as were their mothers' adjustment (depression and coping) and competencies (knowledge of child development). At 12 months of postnatal age, child competencies (development and behavior) were assessed, together with maternal adjustment (parenting stress and depression). Mother-infant interaction was also observed. Early parent interaction did not alter early or later infant development. Furthermore, early parent interaction did not alter early maternal adjustment or late mother-infant relationship, but it reduced the risk of late postpartum depression. Taken together, these studies provide a strong basis for interventions that support parents in the parenting role and guide parents in developmentally appropriate interactions with their preterm babies. These interventions have the potential to lessen the adverse impact of preterm birth on babies and mothers. In addition, the positive benefits of reduced stress can improve parent mental health outcomes and ultimately may further improve parents' relationships with their babies.

Zinc supplementation reduces Candida infections in pediatric intensive care unit: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Resistance to anti-fungal drugs has become the main cause for increasing incidence rate of Candida infections in pediatric intensive care units (PICU). Zinc supplementation has been shown to exhibit beneficial effects on many pediatric illnesses. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of zinc supplementation on prevalence of candidemia and candiduria infections in PICU. 724 eligible children between 1 to 5 years old admitted in PICU were randomly assigned into either zinc supplementation group or placebo group. Primary endpoints were the number of Candida infections, length of PICU stay and cases of patient death 14 days after enrollment. Secondary endpoints were the incidence rates of candidemia and candiduria. The incidences of candiduria and candidemia were significantly lower in the zinc group than the placebo group. The length of PICU stay and cases of patient death were obviously lowered in the zinc group compared to the placebo group. In conclusion, zinc supplementation shows beneficial clinical efficacy in reducing Candida infections among PICU patients on broad-spectrum antibiotics with critical illnesses.

The effects of add-on self-care education on quality of life and fatigue in gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal cancer is one of the most common malignancies and imposes heavy burdens on both individual health and social economy. We sought to survey the effect of a self-care education program on quality of life and fatigue in gastrointestinal cancer patients who received chemotherapy. METHODS: Ninety-one eligible gastrointestinal cancer patients were enrolled in this study and 86 valid samples were analyzed. Data were acquired with a demographics questionnaire, endpoint multidimensional questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire QLQ-C30. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: The self-care education intervention significantly improved the quality of life with respect to emotional function (p = 0.018), role function (p = 0.041), cognitive function (p = 0.038) and alleviated side effects such as nausea/vomiting (p = 0.028) and fatigue (p = 0.029). Further analysis demonstrated that the self-care education benefited total fatigue, affective fatigue and cognitive fatigue in gastrointestinal cancer patients regardless of baseline depression. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested the beneficial effects of the self-care education in both quality of life and anti-fatigue in gastrointestinal cancer patients under chemotherapy. The self-care education could be considered as a complementary approach during combination chemotherapy in gastrointestinal cancer patients.

Identification of UV-absorbing extractables from rubber closures used in containers of injectable powder and safety assessment of leachables in the drug.

Rubber closures have been of great concern to regulatory authorities on account of their potential safety risks to patients. The aim of our work is to provide part of data about the compatibility of the injectable powder and its packaging materials for the drug registration. In this report, methodologies were established to study the system of the preparation. Firstly, three major extractables were isolated by semi-preparative HPLC method combined with silica gel-based chromatographic methods. NMR spectra including 1D NMR (1H, 13C, DEPT135) and 2D NMR (COSY, HSQC, HMBC) were introduced to identify the extractables, besides HPLC, GC-MS, ESI-MS/MS and HRMS. The extractables were determined to be N-(2-(2,2,4,4-tetramethylcyclohexyl)allyl) benzo[d]thiazol-2-amine (1), 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (2) and sulfur (3) respectively. Then, to address safety concerns, approaches including QSAR analysis, the TTC and comprehensive literature evaluation methods to toxicological safety evaluation of the target compounds were established, where the safety threshold such as TTC and PDE values were developed. Finally, the migration testing of the extractables were performed to assess the leaching behavior of the rubber closures. An optimized analysis method was proposed using SPE and HPLC with an ultraviolet detector, which demonstrated good linearity, acceptable accuracy and precision. The levels of the target compounds in the powder were measured and the calculated worst case exposure of extractable 2 exceeded the TTC limit of 1.5µg/day, indicating that the products may possess potential health risks to patients. In contrast to previous studies, various NMR techniques, which were rarely applied to identify unknown extractables from rubber closures in the literature, were discussed for the structural elucidation of rubber closures extractables. Among the target compounds, extractable 1 was a new compound, whose isolation and structural elucidation were first reported here.