Illness Management in Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Couples: A Review.

More openly sexually and gender diverse people are aging into later life across the world as generational transitions occur. People identifying many different ways beyond cisgender and heterosexual are diverse with respect to many other characteristics and sociopolitical locations across the globe and may thus experience a wide array of health journeys both individually and as partners in intimate relationships. In this review article, we summarize the major contributions of and ongoing gaps in existing studies about such couples' experiences of chronic disease management in later life. We focus on three key groups of findings from prior research about the health of older sexually and/or gender diverse couples: care practices, unmet needs, and diverse resources. We outline priorities for future research within and across these topic areas and in varied locations, with unique recommendations for scholars in both academic and clinical settings. These recommendations support greater integration of such populations, topics, and needs in existing discourse on aging and late life. Likewise, recommendations from this review illuminate potential best practices for engaging and serving these elders in both academic and applied settings.

Spray freeze drying of small nucleic acids as inhaled powder for pulmonary delivery.

The therapeutic potential of small nucleic acids such as small interfering RNA (siRNA) to treat lung diseases has been successfully demonstrated in many in vivo studies. A major barrier to their clinical application is the lack of a safe and efficient inhaled formulation. In this study, spray freeze drying was employed to prepare dry powder of small nucleic acids. Mannitol and herring sperm DNA were used as bulking agent and model of small nucleic acid therapeutics, respectively. Formulations containing different solute concentration and DNA concentration were produced. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that the porosity of the particles increased as the solute concentration decreased. Powders prepared with solute concentration of 5% w/v were found to maintain a balance between porosity and robustness. Increasing concentration of DNA improved the aerosol performance of the formulation. The dry powder formulation containing 2% w/w DNA had a median diameter of 12.5 µm, and the aerosol performance study using next generation impactor (NGI) showed an emitted fraction (EF) and fine particle fraction (FPF) of 91% and 28% respectively. This formulation (5% w/v solute concentration and 2% w/w nucleic acid) was adopted subsequently to produce siRNA powder. The gel retardation and liquid chromatography assays showed that the siRNA remained intact after spray freeze drying even in the absence of delivery vector. The siRNA powder formulation exhibited a high EF of 92.4% and a modest FPF of around 20%. Further exploration of this technology to optimise inhaled siRNA powder formulation is warranted.