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Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy 2022 May 19;17(1):39. Epub 2022 May 19.

Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0507, USA.

Background: Evidence suggests people who inject drugs (PWID) prescribed opioid agonist treatment (OAT) are less likely to provide injection drug use (IDU) initiation assistance. We investigated the association between OAT engagement and providing IDU initiation assistance across poly-drug use practices in Vancouver, Canada.

Methods: Preventing Injecting by Modifying Existing Responses (PRIMER) is a prospective study seeking to identify structural interventions that reduce IDU initiation. Read More

Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Matchstick LLC, 141 Hawkins Place #122, Boonton, NJ 07005 USA.

Background:

Self-injected biologic therapies have gained significant prevalence across numerous therapeutic areas. A lack of specific guidance on best practices may lead to inadequate biologic initiation and training. We previously conducted a small-sample, qualitative analysis designed to identify gaps in self-injection training. Read More

PLoS One 2022 17;17(5):e0268540. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.

Objective: Low-level viraemia (LLV) occurs in some people with HIV (PWH) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and has been linked to inferior treatment outcomes. We investigated factors associated with LLV in a nationwide cohort of Swedish PWH starting ART.

Methods: Participants were identified from the InfCareHIV register, with the following inclusion criteria: ART initiation 2006-2017, age >15 years, ≥4 viral load (VL) results available and no documented treatment interruptions or virologic failure (≥2 consecutive VL ≥200 copies/ml) during follow-up. Read More

Drug Alcohol Rev 2022 May 16. Epub 2022 May 16.

Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA.

Introduction: Those requiring help injecting are at an elevated risk of injection-related injury and blood-borne infections and are thus a priority group for harm reduction programs. As supervised consumption services (SCS) are scaled-up across Canada, information on those who require help injecting is necessary to inform equitable service uptake. We characterised the sociodemographic, structural and drug use correlates of needing help injecting among a cohort of people who inject drugs in Toronto, Canada. Read More

Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022 May 13. Epub 2022 May 13.

Early Detection, Prevention and Infections Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO), Lyon, France.

Background: Empirical, updated country-level estimates on the proportion of cirrhosis attributable to viral hepatitis are required. We estimated the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with cirrhosis at country, regional, and global levels as an approximation for the fractions of cirrhosis attributable to viral hepatitis.

Methods: In this systematic review, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Scielo between Jan 1, 1993, and Aug 1, 2021. Read More

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2022 6;2022:2715325. Epub 2022 May 6.

Hunan Cancer Hospital/The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.

Background: Breast-cancer-related depression (BCRD) is associated with an increased mortality rate among breast cancer (BC) survivors. Luteolin has many pharmacological effects, particularly in the treatment of BC. In this study, we aimed to explore the anti-BCRD activity of luteolin and its underlying functional mechanism. Read More

Addiction 2022 May 12. Epub 2022 May 12.

MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.

Background And Aims: Mortality and drug treatment data suggest that the median age of people who inject drugs is increasing. We aimed to describe changes in the characteristics of people injecting drugs in the United Kingdom (UK).

Design: Repeat cross-sectional surveys and modelling. Read More

PLoS One 2022 11;17(5):e0267902. Epub 2022 May 11.

University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America.

Background: In 2017, San Francisco's initiative to locally eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a public health threat, End Hep C SF, generated an estimate of city-wide HCV prevalence in 2015, but only incorporated limited information about population HCV treatment. Using additional data and updated methods, we aimed to update the 2015 estimate to 2019 and provide a more accurate estimate of the number of people with untreated, active HCV infection overall and in key subgroups-people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men (MSM), and low socioeconomic status transgender women (low SES TW).

Methods: Our estimates are based on triangulation of data from blood bank testing records, cross-sectional and longitudinal observational studies, and published literature. Read More

Public Health Nurs 2022 May 10. Epub 2022 May 10.

Cool Aid Community Health Centre, Victoria, Canada.

To achieve the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating hepatitis C (HCV) by 2030 requires enhanced HCV testing and treatment among people who use drugs (PWUD). Micro-elimination of HCV is a strategy to target HCV testing and treatment efforts to specific segments of the population. From February to December 2018 nurses initiated a "seek & treat" micro-elimination approach, increasing outreach and removing barriers to accessing HCV treatment in a clinic setting by testing and treating individuals, including PWUD, where they live. Read More

Int J Drug Policy 2022 May 6;105:103706. Epub 2022 May 6.

The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Background: Evaluating trends in HCV treatment and prevalence is crucial for monitoring elimination. We evaluated the change in current infection and treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID) between 2018-2019 and 2019-2021.

Methods: ETHOS Engage is an observational cohort study of PWID attending drug treatment clinics and needle and syringe programs in Australia. Read More

Front Oncol 2022 19;12:881910. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou, China.

This work was developed to the effects of biofilm composite nano-drug delivery system (OMVs-MSN-5-FU) on lymph node metastasis from oral squamous cell carcinoma. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with 5-FU (MSN-5-FU) were prepared first. Subsequently, the outer membrane vesicles (OMV) of Escherichia coli were collected to wrap MSN-5-FU, and then OMVs-MSN-5-FU was prepared. Read More

Drug Deliv Transl Res 2022 Apr 30. Epub 2022 Apr 30.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareily Road, Lucknow, India.

Limited targeted therapies are available for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Thus, the current research focused on developing a targeted protein nanoparticle for TNBC. First, the doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox)-loaded genipin-crosslinked whey protein nanoparticles (WD) were prepared and optimised by the QbD method using BBD. Read More

Vet World 2022 Mar 19;15(3):622-626. Epub 2022 Mar 19.

Akkharatchakumari Veterinary College, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80160, Thailand.

Background And Aim: Remote drug delivery has become an essential tool for safely delivering medication and vaccines to free-ranging, non-domestic, or dangerous animals. All dart guns currently use a single dart per injection, and it might occasionally be not practical with large animals. Shooting the dart more than once on an animal may cause flight, injury, stress, and ultimately unsuccessful delivery. Read More

Drug Des Devel Ther 2022 22;16:1159-1170. Epub 2022 Apr 22.

State Key Laboratory of Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.

Purpose: Gouty arthritis is generally induced by the accumulation of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in the joints due to elevated serum uric acid levels, potentially leading to serious pathological disorders such as nephrolithiasis, renal failure, and acute gouty arthritis. In this study, we aimed to validate the anti-gout effects of carvacrol, a phenolic monoterpene.

Materials And Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normal saline, disease group by injecting potassium mono-oxonate (PO) at a dose of 250 mg/kg, and three treatment groups, either with carvacrol 20 mg/kg or 50 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg allopurinol. Read More

Gut Microbes 2022 Jan-Dec;14(1):2070391

State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.

Hyperuricemia is the second most prevalent metabolic disease to human health after diabetes. Only a few clinical drugs are available, and most of them have serious side effects. The human body does not have urate oxidase, and uric acid is secreted via the kidney or the intestine. Read More

J Tradit Chin Med 2022 Apr;42(2):194-199

College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010.

Objective: To investigate the effect of manipulation treatment on knee osteoarthritis rats and the effect on Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK)/LIM-kinase1 (LIMK1)/Cofilin signaling pathway.

Method: Fifty Specific pathogen Free Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups ( = 8 each): blank group, model group, manipulation group, celecoxib group, and manipulation combined with celecoxib group (MC group). The osteoarthritis model was established by injecting 0. Read More

Pharmaceutics 2022 Apr 7;14(4). Epub 2022 Apr 7.

Department of Immunological and Molecular Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan.

Exosomes are nano-sized extracellular vesicles that are known to carry various messages to distant cells. It was recently reported that cancer-derived exosomes are orientated to metastatic organs. However, there are no reports on drug carrier development using autologous serum-derived exosomes in vivo. Read More

Medicina (Kaunas) 2022 Apr 11;58(4). Epub 2022 Apr 11.

Faculty of Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania.

: Romania has one of the highest prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients, mostly in those parenterally infected during childhood; nevertheless, there are scarce data on the virological profile of co-infection. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of HBV genotypes and antiviral resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) in these co-infected patients, in order to monitor the viral factors associated with the evolution of liver disease. : HBV genotypes and RAMs were detected using nested PCR and line probe assays (INNO-LiPA HBV genotyping assay, and INNO-LiPA HBV DR v2, Innogenetics). Read More

Front Cardiovasc Med 2022 4;9:789624. Epub 2022 Apr 4.

Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

Purpose: Infective endocarditis (IE) remains a disease with high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and echocardiographic features of patients with IE.

Methods: We analyzed patients with either definitive or probable diagnosis of IE who were hospitalized in a teaching hospital in Mashhad, Iran between June 2011 and January 2020. Read More

J Assoc Physicians India 2022 Apr;70(4):11-12

Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya, Karnataka.

Tuberculosis may lead to adrenal insufficiency by direct glandular involvement, by extra glandular infection or as a by-product of Anti tuberculous therapy. Subclinical adrenal insufficiency becomes important in stressful situation which require increased release of ACTH to meet heightened metabolic demands. Our objective was to determine the adrenal reserve in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and to determine the effect of ATT on adrenal function. Read More

Drug Alcohol Rev 2022 Apr 20. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

Drug and Alcohol Services, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.

Introduction: Naloxone is a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdose; naloxone can be provided on a 'take-home' basis so naloxone can be administered outside of the health-care setting. The Overdose Response and Take Home Naloxone (ORTHN) project established a model of care for take-home naloxone (THN) interventions across alcohol and other drug and harm reduction services in NSW, Australia. This paper evaluates the staff training and credentialing program, and examines staff attitudes and perspectives regarding the provision of THN interventions in these settings. Read More

BMC Psychiatry 2022 Apr 19;22(1):276. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, 69 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui Province, China.

Background: Alexithymia, which is characterized by difficulty identifying and describing feelings, is a stable personality trait and it has been associated with early life experiences. Methamphetamine dependence patients with high level of alexithymia may be particularly vulnerable to engaging in more frequent methamphetamine use. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate whether alexithymia was associated with frequency of methamphetamine use. Read More

Clin Infect Dis 2022 Apr 19. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Background: The Treatment as Prevention for Hepatitis C program started in 2016 in Iceland, offering treatment with direct-acting antivirals to hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected individuals. Reinfections through injection drug use (IDU) can hamper elimination efforts. We determined reinfection rates (RIR) of HCV among patients in the program. Read More

Aust N Z J Public Health 2022 Apr 18. Epub 2022 Apr 18.

College of Health Care Sciences, James Cook University, Queensland.

Objective: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in correctional facilities in Australia among people who inject drugs is 60%, with disproportionate effects observed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Following the micro-elimination of HCV in a Queensland correctional facility (QCF), newly acquired cases began to increase in mid-2019. Here we discuss the public health response to increasing HCV in a QCF. Read More

Front Med (Lausanne) 2022 30;9:831115. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Institute of Translational Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.

Endometriosis (EMS) is a disease characterized by estrogen-dependent, chronic inflammatory, and annoying symptoms, which inflicts about 10% reproductive-age women. The diagnosis of endometriosis mainly depends on pathological examination after surgical resection while the pathogenesis of EMS is not clear enough. Surgical resection and drug therapy (including painkillers and hormone therapy, especially gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs, GnRH-a) are widely used, but they are expensive and have many side effects. Read More

Drug Alcohol Depend 2022 Jun 4;235:109438. Epub 2022 Apr 4.

The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address:

Background: Evidence regarding the acceptability of contingency management is limited. We investigated the willingness of people who inject drugs to participate in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving financial incentives to initiate HCV treatment.

Methods: ETHOS Engage is an observational cohort study of people with a history of injecting drug use who either injected in the past six months or receive opioid agonist therapy (OAT) in Australia. Read More

Cent Eur J Public Health 2022 Mar;30(1):13-19

Ulice Association in Pilsen, Pilsen, Czech Republic.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to analyse drug-related infectious diseases (DRID) rates for people who inject drugs (PWID) in the Pilsen Region in order to identify the main determiners of infection risk and also to provide a foundation for comparison between this region and the others in the Czech Republic.

Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, we analysed the Pilsen Region's data on PWID. The data was transcribed from the 2003 to 2018 internal database of the Ulice Outreach Programme. Read More

Front Psychiatry 2022 28;13:824940. Epub 2022 Mar 28.

Division of Social Behavioral Health and Health Administration and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, United States.

Introduction: Methamphetamine use and methamphetamine-involved deaths have increased dramatically since 2015, and opioid-related deaths now frequently involve methamphetamine. Nevada and New Mexico are states with elevated rates of opioid and methamphetamine use. In this paper, we report results from a qualitative analysis that examined patterns of methamphetamine and opioid co-use over participants' lifespan, factors that influence those patterns, and implications for health outcomes among users. Read More

J Int Med Res 2022 Apr;50(4):3000605221089807

Faculty of Medicine, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

Objective: Diabetic macular edema (DME), the most common cause of diabetes-related visual impairment, may occur following pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) to manage proliferative diabetic retinopathy complications. This retrospective single-centre case series evaluated the efficacy and safety of injecting 4 mg/0.1 ml triamcinolone into the suprachoroidal space using a custom-made needle to treat DME post PPV. Read More

Drug Alcohol Rev 2022 Apr 11. Epub 2022 Apr 11.

Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Introduction: Injection-related infections (IRI) cause morbidity and mortality in people who inject drugs. Hospital administrative datasets can be used to describe hospitalisation trends, but there are no validated algorithms to identify injecting drug use and IRIs. We aimed to validate International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes to identify admissions with IRIs and use these codes to describe IRIs within our hospital. Read More