A narrative review of mindfulness-based therapy for schizophrenia, co-occurring substance use and comorbid cardiometabolic problems.

Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has gained attention in recent years as a promising treatment for patients with schizophrenia for whom traditional interventions are not effective. Research demonstrates improvements in psychotic symptoms, emotion regulation, and other areas including re-hospitalization rates and insight into illness following MBT interventions. Yet MBT studies have not carefully reported results in patients with schizophrenia and co-occurring substance use or comorbid medical problems, bringing into question the generalizability of these findings. This narrative review explores the literature regarding the use of mindfulness-based interventions for patients with schizophrenia as well as for patients with substance use disorder, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. Findings suggest that MBTs can improve craving in substance use disorder, eating related behaviors in obesity, diabetes-related distress, and metabolic regulation in patients with diabetes. Increased insula and anterior cingulate cortex volumes and activities following MBTs might be associated with the potential benefit of MBTs in patients with schizophrenia. Our review provides a foundational basis in support of the need for future studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of MBTs for schizophrenia with co-occurring substance use disorder and/or comorbid cardiometabolic problems.

Colorimetric Detection of Unamplified Rift Valley Fever Virus Genetic Material Using Unmodified Gold Nanoparticles.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is considered an enzootic virus in Africa. RVFV has caused several outbreaks in Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and is responsible for high mortality in ruminants and haemorrhagic fever in severe human cases. Although there are several molecular and serological diagnostic techniques used to detect this arthropod-borne virus with high sensitivity and efficiency, there is a need for a fast and reliable field screening test for rapid outbreak recording and containment. In this study, we developed a prototype point-of-care diagnostic test specific for RVFV detection using unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that change colour in the presence of RVFV RNA, resulting in a simple but sensitive assay. The nanogold assay provides qualitative results showing the presence of the RVFV RNA in different sample types. The assay showed high accuracy and specificity, with a detection limit of 10 RNA copies/reaction, comparable with quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The assay result could be determined within 30 min with no need for specific detection instruments. To our knowledge, this is the first field test prototype to directly detect the RNA of RVFV without amplification using AuNPs.