Chemical Compositions, Pharmacological Properties and Medicinal Effects of Genus Passiflora L.: A Review.

Practically all aboveground plants parts of Passiflora vines can be included in the compositions of dietary supplements, medicines, and cosmetics. It has a diverse chemical composition and a wide range of biologically active components that determine its diverse pharmacological properties. Studies related to the chemical composition of the plant are summarized here, and attention has been paid to various medical applications-(1) anti-inflammatory, nephroprotective; (2) anti-depressant; (3) antidiabetic; (4) hepatoprotective; (5) antibacterial and antifungal; and (6) antipyretic and other. This review includes studies on the safety, synergistic effects, and toxicity that may occur with the use of various dietary supplements based on it. Attention has been drawn to its application in cosmetics and to patented products containing passionflower.

Quantitative Adherence Level Evaluation Among Long-Term Antiretroviral Therapy Patients in Latvia.

Introduction: The global prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains substantial, particularly in regions with limited resources, despite the progress in scientific knowledge and the accessibility of antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART is the cornerstone of HIV treatment. Ensuring proper adherence to medication therapy is essential for effective HIV infection control. Meanwhile, Latvia reported one of the highest rates of HIV infections among EU countries. Purpose: This study aimed to assess adherence levels to ART among long-term users by utilizing the National Health Service prescription electronic database records. It is essential to determine whether non-adherence is a problem at the state level. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted utilizing the Latvian National Health Service's reimbursed prescription database, covering the period from January 2017 to December 2018. The analysis included ART prescriptions. Medication adherence was assessed using a Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) calculation. The adherence rates were categorized into three groups: (1) < 80% (non-adherence), (2) 80% to 90% (suboptimal adherence), and (3) > 90% (optimal adherence) groups. Results: A total of 25,892 ARV medicines prescription records for 1471 patients were analysed. The adherence level of long-term ART was 38.3%. Of all patients, only 37 (2.5%) had achieved an optimal and 25 (1.7%) suboptimal adherence level. Meanwhile, the remaining patients (95.8%) were identified as non-adherent to therapy. It has been determined that 96.1% (n=1414) of patients experienced a time gap of more than 90 days between their prescriptions at least once. On average, each patient had 3.5 of these gaps, with a maximum of 7 times. Conclusion: Medication adherence level to ART is low in Latvia. Less than 3% of patients achieved optimal adherence levels with a PDC higher than 90%. These results are concerning. Further studies and interventions must be conducted to enhance adherence levels.

Stability of Direct Oral Anticoagulants Concentrations in Blood Samples for Accessibility Expansion of Chromogenic Assays.

Background and Objectives: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used for minimising the risk of thromboembolic events. In clinical practice, there is no need to measure DOAC concentration in the routine. Nevertheless, there are cases where such measurements are necessary, as the European Society of Cardiology's guideline recommends. However, determining DOAC levels is not available for everyone due to chromogenic assay availability limitations from sample storage problems, as tests are performed only in a few healthcare settings. This study aimed to assess whether more applicable storage conditions could be used for transportation to provide chromogenic assays for outpatient healthcare and other hospitals' practices. Materials and Methods: Chromogenic assays measuring anti-FXa (for rivaroxaban and edoxaban) and anti-FIIa (for dabigatran) were used. Concentrations were determined immediately after blood collection as baseline value: (1) after the storage of citrated whole blood in refrigerator (+2-8 °C); (2) of citrated plasma in refrigerator (+2-8 °C); and (3) of citrated frozen plasma (-20 °C) on the third and seventh days of storage. Acceptable change limits were considered stable if the deviation did not exceed ±20% of the baseline value. Results: The median (Cl 95%) baseline value of rivaroxaban was 168 (147-236) ng/mL; of dabigatran 139 (99-178) ng/mL; and of edoxaban-174 (135-259) ng/mL. The median deviation from a baseline value stored as citrate whole blood samples (+2-8 °C) was 5.4% and 3.4%; as citrated plasma (+2-8 °C) was 0.4% and -0.6%; and as citrated frozen plasma (-20 °C) was -0.2% and 0.2% on the third and seventh days of storage, respectively. Conclusions: Our data suggest that whole blood samples stored in a refrigerator, as well as citrated plasma samples stored in both the refrigerator and freezer, preserve DOAC concentration stable at +2-8 °C or -20 °C for up to 7 days, and are suitable for transportation, except for low-concentration samples.

The Impact of International Nonproprietary Names Integration on Prescribing Reimbursement Medicines for Arterial Hypertension and Analysis of Medication Errors in Latvia.

The use of international nonproprietary names (INNs) has been mandatory for prescriptions of state-reimbursed drugs in Latvia since 1 April 2020. In a retrospective analysis, we aimed to examine the impact of the new regulation on changes in the prescribing and dispensing practice of antihypertensive agents with an example of bisoprolol or/and perindopril and their combinations. All state-reimbursed bisoprolol and/or perindopril prescriptions for arterial hypertension were evaluated in two time periods: 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. The proportion of INN prescriptions increased from 2.1% to 92.3% (p < 0.001, φ = 0.903). The rate of fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) increased from 60.8% to 66.5% (p < 0.001, φ = 0.059). The rate of medication errors was 0.6%. The most common (80.6%) error was that the dispensed medicine dose was larger or smaller than indicated on the prescription. In addition, prescribing an FDC medicine increased the chance of making an error by 2.5 times on average. Regulatory changes dramatically affected the medicine-prescribing habits of INNs. The increase in FDC prescription rates may align with the recommendations of the 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines. The proportion of total errors is estimated as low, but control mechanisms are needed to prevent them.

Adherence Level to Arterial Hypertension Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Patient Survey and Retrospective Analysis of the NHS Prescription Database.

One of the major problems in cardiology practice is poor adherence to antihypertensive medication. This study aimed to evaluate medication adherence; we also aim to investigate the predictors of intentional and unintentional non-adherence. We issued a survey containing questions about patient demographics, blood pressure control, pharmaceutical care, and adherence level to medication. Retrospective analysis of the prescription database of the National Health Service of the Republic of Latvia was performed. The prevalence of non-adherence was 45.9%. The lowest adherence rate (38.2%) was found among patients taking medication for 2-4.9 years. Even though 84.7% of respondents had a blood pressure monitor at home, only 25.3% of them reported measuring blood pressure regularly. There were differences between the groups of adherent patients in terms of the patients' net income (p = 0.004), medication co-payments (p = 0.007), and whether the pharmacist offered to reduce the costs of drug therapy (p = 0.002). Roughly half of the prescriptions (50.4%) containing perindopril were purchased by patients from pharmacies. The medication adherence level and blood pressure control at home were assessed as low. Intentionally non-adherent respondents discontinued their medication because of fear of getting used to medicines. The pharmacists' behaviour in terms of offering to reduce the costs of medications used was influenced by socio-economic factors.

Deciphering anomalous heterogeneous intracellular transport with neural networks.

Intracellular transport is predominantly heterogeneous in both time and space, exhibiting varying non-Brownian behavior. Characterization of this movement through averaging methods over an ensemble of trajectories or over the course of a single trajectory often fails to capture this heterogeneity. Here, we developed a deep learning feedforward neural network trained on fractional Brownian motion, providing a novel, accurate and efficient method for resolving heterogeneous behavior of intracellular transport in space and time. The neural network requires significantly fewer data points compared to established methods. This enables robust estimation of Hurst exponents for very short time series data, making possible direct, dynamic segmentation and analysis of experimental tracks of rapidly moving cellular structures such as endosomes and lysosomes. By using this analysis, fractional Brownian motion with a stochastic Hurst exponent was used to interpret, for the first time, anomalous intracellular dynamics, revealing unexpected differences in behavior between closely related endocytic organelles.

Knowledge about Disease, Medication Therapy, and Related Medication Adherence Levels among Patients with Hypertension.

Background and Objectives: A particular problem in cardiology is poor adherence to pharmacological treatment among patients with hypertension. It is known that approximately half of these patients do not use their medications as prescribed by their doctor. Patients may choose not to follow the doctor's recommendations and regularly do not control their blood pressure, owing to many factors. A convenient method for measuring the level of adherence is the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, which also provides insight into possible remedies for low adherence. We investigated their therapy, knowledge about the disease and its control, and demographic differences to assess the adherence of patients with hypertension. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study. Data were collected through a survey of 12 pharmacies in Latvia. The study involved 187 participants with hypertension. Results: The prevalence of non-adherence was 46.20% in Latvia. The oldest patients were the most adherent (p = 0.001, ß = 0.27). The higher the self-rated extent from 0 to 10, to which the patient takes their antihypertensives exactly as instructed by their physician, the higher the level of adherence (p < 0.0001, ß = 0.38), where at "0", the patient does not follow physician instructions at all, and at "10", the patient completely follows the physician's instructions. Non-adherent patients tend to assess their medication-taking behavior more critically than adherent patients. The longer the patient is known to suffer from hypertension, the more adherent he or she is (p = 0.014, ß = 0.19). Conclusions: Medication non-adherence among patients with hypertension is high in Latvia. Further investigations are needed to better understand the reasons for this and to establish interventions for improving patient outcomes.

Time-resolved microscopy reveals the driving mechanism of particle formation during ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dentin-like ivory.

In dental health care, the application of ultrashort laser pulses enables dental tissue ablation free from thermal side effects, such as melting and cracking. However, these laser types create undesired micro- and nanoparticles, which might cause a health risk for the patient or surgeon. The aim of this study was to investigate the driving mechanisms of micro- and nanoparticle formation during ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dental tissue. Time-resolved microscopy was chosen to observe the ablation dynamics of mammoth ivory after irradiation with 660 fs laser pulses. The results suggest that nanoparticles might arise in the excited region. The thermal expansion of the excited material induces high pressure in the surrounding bulk tissue, generating a pressure wave. The rarefaction wave behind this pressure wave causes spallation, leading to ejection of microparticles.

Flavonoid constituents and free radical scavenging activity of Alchemilla mollis.

Antioxidant capacity of the methanolic extract of Alchemilla mollis was measured by its ability to scavenge the DPPH radical. The EtOAc fraction obtained after partition of the total extract was found to be the most active radical scavenger (IC50 9.8 +/- 1.8 microg/mL) and was subjected to fractionation by Sephadex LH-20 CC. Further purification by RP-18 CC led to the isolation of eight flavonoid glycosides: cis- and trans-tiliroside (1 and 2), rhodiolgin (3), hyperoside (4), isoquercitrin (5), miquelianin (6), sinocrassoside D2 (7), and gossypetin-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-7-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside (8). It was found that 8 is a new compound and its antioxidant activity is also reported. Identification of the isolated compounds was carried out by spectroscopic and spectrometric analysis (1D and 2D NMR, UV and MS).

Bimetallic reactivity. One-site addition two-metal oxidation reaction of dioxygen with a bimetallic dicobalt(II) complex bearing five- and six-coordinate sites.

The di-Co(2+) complex, [Co(2+)(mu-OH)(oxapyme)Co(2+)(H(2)O)](+), contains an unsymmetrical binucleating ligand (oxapyme) which provides five- and six-coordinate metal sites when a hydroxide bridge is introduced. This complex absorbs 1 equiv of O(2) irreversibly in solution, producing an unstable di-Co(3+) oxygenated product. The oxygenated product has been studied at low temperatures, where its electronic absorption and (1)H NMR spectra were recorded. It is probable that the oxygenation reaction involves a one-site addition two-metal oxidation reaction to produce an end-on-bonded peroxide ligand at the available coordination site, giving the complex [Co(3+)(mu-OH)(oxapyme)Co(3+)(mu(1)-O(2))](+). Addition of 1 equiv of HClO(4) to this oxygenation product gives a stable peroxide complex, [Co(3+)(mu,eta(1):eta(2)-O(2))(oxapyme)Co(3+)](2+), where one of the oxygen atoms bridges the two metals and is sideways bonded to one of the metals. The formation of this stable complex involves expulsion of the OH(-) bridge. Addition of NO(2)(-) to the sideways-bonded peroxide complex leads to the formation of another stable complex, [Co(3+)(mu,eta(1):eta(1)-O(2))(oxapyme)Co(3+)(NO(2))](+), where the peroxide forms a classic di-end-on bridge to the two metals. Both of these complexes have been fully characterized. Addition of acid to this second stable dioxygen complex leads to the release of HNO(2) and the formation of the mu,eta(1):eta(2) sideways-bonded peroxide complex.