The perceptions of female genital self-image and its associations with female sexual distress.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perception of women living in Puerto Rico regarding their genitalia and explore the associations of those perceptions with female sexual distress. METHODS: Women from Puerto Rico willing to complete a self-administered online survey from June 2018 through July 2020 were included in this cross-sectional study. Inclusion criteria included being between 21 and 65 years of age, living in Puerto Rico, having identified as heterosexual, bisexual, or lesbian, and having been sexually active. Descriptive statistics were calculated. The Mann-Whitney test, Pearson's correlation, and robust linear regression were used to associate female genital self-image and sexual distress. RESULTS: The most common negative thought and perception within women was dissatisfaction with the size of their genitalia (21.9%), and 21.3% of women contemplated undergoing cosmetic surgery, mainly to increase and improve sensation. For each 1-unit increase in the Female Genital Self-Image Scale score, the Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised score decreased by 1.24 units (95% confidence interval -1.67 to -0.82). CONCLUSION: A better genital self-image perception might lower levels of sexual distress. Screening instruments could help to identify poor genital perception and sexual distress.

Promising Hybrids Derived from S-Allylcysteine and NSAIDs Fragments against Colorectal Cancer: Synthesis, In-vitro Evaluation, Drug-Likeness and In-silico ADME/tox Studies.

We synthesized twelve hybrids, S-allyl Cysteine methyl, ethyl and propyl ester-based non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. The chemopreventive potential of all compounds was evaluated against SW480 human colon adenocarcinoma cells and the non-malignant CHO-K1 cell line. Among the tested compounds, hybrids 10b-c, 11b and 12b displayed the best anticancer activity with IC50 values between 0.131-0.183 mM and selectivity indices higher than 1 after 48 h of treatment. Selectivity indices were comparable to those reported for the reference drug, 5-fluorouracil (SI > 1). The SAR analysis showed that compounds with two carbon atom alkylic chains displayed the best activity (10b, 11b and 12b). Modeling studies including drug-likeness, bioactivity score and ADME/tox studies using online tools like molinspiration and Osiris suggested that these designed hybrids have a good pharmacological profile and can be considered as promising scaffolds for further studies in the search for new therapeutic alternatives to treat colorectal cancer.

New Conjugated Compound T5 Epidioxy-Sterol-ANB Inhibits the Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Affecting the Cholesterol and Folate Pathways.

The upsurge and persistence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is an important limitant to the battery of drugs available for the elimination of tuberculosis (TB). To avoid future scarcity of antibiotics against Mtb, it is important to discover new effective anti-mycobacterial agents. In this study, we present data from a series of experiments to determine in vitro and in vivo anti-mycobacterial activity of a library of epidioxy-sterol analogs. We test 15 compounds for their ability to reduce the viability of Mtb. We found that one compound called T5 epidioxy-sterol-ANB display significant potency against Mtb in vitro specifically inside macrophages but without effectivity in axenic cultures. A viability assay confirms that this T5 compound is less toxic for macrophages in vitro as compared to the current Mtb drug Rifampicin at higher concentrations. We use a transcriptomic analysis of Mtb inside macrophages after T5 epidioxy-sterol-ANB treatment, and we found a significant down-regulation of enzymes involved in the cholesterol and folic acid pathways. In vivo, significant differences were found in the lungs and spleen CFUs of Mtb infected mice treated with the T5 epidioxy-sterol-ANB as compared with the untreated control group, which provides additional evidence of the effectivity of the T5 compound. Altogether these results confirm the potential of this T5 epidioxy-sterol-ANB compound against Mtb.

Huberine, a New Canthin-6-One Alkaloid from the Bark of Picrolemma huberi.

A new alkaloid, Canthin-6-one, Huberine (1), together with three known compounds including 1-Hydroxy-canthin-6-one (2), Canthin-6-one (3) and stigma sterol (4), were isolated from the stem bark of Picrolemma huberi. The isolation was achieved by chromatographic techniques and the purification was performed on a C18 column using acetonitrile/water (90:10, v/v) with 0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase. The structural elucidation was performed via spectroscopic methods, notably 1D- and 2D-NMR, UV, IR, MS and HRMS. The antiplasmodial activity of the compounds was studied.