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Abstract Background Frailty is associated with worse outcomes and higher healthcare costs. The long waiting time for surgery is a potential ‘teachable’ moment. We examined the feasibility and safety of a pilot prehabilitation programme on high-risk frail patients undergoing major elective surgery. Methods A single-centre, retrospective pilot study (Dec 2020–Nov 2021) on a one-stop prehabilitation programme (structured exercise training, nutritional counselling/therapy, and psychological support) in collaboration with geriatricians and allied health professionals. At least 4 weeks before surgery, patients at high risk of frailty or malnutrition, or undergoing major hepatectomy, esophagectomy, pancreaticoduodenectomy, or radical cystectomy, were referred for prehabilitation (2–3 sessions/week). The primary outcomes were the feasibility and safety of prehabilitation. The secondary outcomes were changes in functional, emotional, and nutritional status and days alive and at home within 30 days after surgery (DAH30) associated with prehabilitation. Results Over a 12-month period, 72 out of 111 patients (64.9%) from the Perioperative Medicine Clinic were eligible for prehabilitation, of which 54 (75%) were recruited. The mean (standard deviation) age was 71.9 (6.9) years. The adherence rate to 3 weeks of prehabilitation was high in 52 (96.3%) participants. Prehabilitation improved exercise capacity (P = 0.08), enhanced some functional mobility measures (P = 0.02), and increased nutritional energy (P = 0.04) and protein intakes (P

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Host cell invasion is mediated by the interaction of the viral spike protein (S) with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) through the receptor-binding domain (RBD). In this work, bio-layer interferometry (BLI) was used to screen a series of fifty-two peroxides, including aminoperoxides and bridged 1,2,4 – trioxolanes (ozonides), with the aim of identifying small molecules that interfere with the RBD-ACE2 interaction. We found that two compounds, compound 21 and 29, exhibit the activity to inhibit RBD-ACE2. They are further demonstrated to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 cell entry, as shown in pseudovirus assay and experiment with authentic SARS-CoV-2. A comprehensive in silico analysis was carried out to study the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties, revealing that both compounds have good physicochemical properties as well as good bioavailability. Our results highlight the potential of small molecules targeting RBD inhibitors as potential therapeutic drugs for COVID-19.

Background: Bed rest during pregnancy can lead to reduced physical activity, impairing lower limb venous blood flow and increasing the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and muscle atrophy. We investigated the clinical efficacy of foam rolling intervention (FRI) in enhancing lower limb venous blood flow, mitigating the risk of DVT and muscle atrophy in pregnant women on bed rest. Methods: This single-blind, randomised controlled trial enrolled 86 pregnant women with long-term bed rest for foetal protection (≥ 7 days), gestational age ≥ 20 weeks, and maternal age < 40 years. Participants were randomly assigned to a control or experimental group using a random number table. The control group received standard care, whereas the experimental group underwent FRI. Researchers and statisticians were aware of the treatment groups, however, the participants were blinded. Lower limb blood flow velocity, D-dimer levels, incidence of DVT, and the extent of lower limb muscle atrophy were assessed in both groups at baseline and post-intervention (day 7). To account for a 5% attrition rate and potential sampling error, the estimated sample size for each experimental and control group was 40. Results: Before the intervention, no significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in peak blood flow, mean flow velocity, D-dimer values, or leg circumference (P > 0.05), however, the peak blood velocities of the popliteal veins were significantly higher in the control group (P = 0.031). On the seventh day post-intervention, the experimental group had significantly higher mean and peak blood velocities in femoral and popliteal veins, significantly (P < 0.05), lower mean D-dimer levels (P = 0.035), and a significantly smaller reduction in thigh and calf circumference (P < 0.001). Consequently, the rate of thigh muscle atrophy was significantly slower in the experimental group (P = 0.011). Conclusions: FRI is an effective intervention for improving lower limb venous blood flow, mitigating the risk of DVT and muscle atrophy in pregnant women on bed rest. Trial registration: This trial was retrospectively registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on June 18, 2024 (registration number: ChiCTR2400085770). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still unknown, the molecular pathological phenomena is clear, mainly due to mitochondrial dysfunction and central nervous system inflammation caused by imbalanced antioxidant capacity and synaptic dysfunction, so antioxidant therapy is still the preferred treatment for AD. However, although antioxidant enzymes have high catalytic efficiency, the substrate spectrum is narrow; Antioxidants have wider range of effects, but their efficiency is low. Since the antioxidant defense system in high-grade organisms is composed of both enzymatic and non-enzymatic systems, therefore we synthesized a metal-organic framework (MOF) with superoxide dismutase activity, and depending on the interface potential effect, curcumin was loaded to construct a synergistic antioxidant treatment system. More importantly, due to the complementary surface electrostatic potential between MOF and curcumin, the system exhibited both good antioxidant activity and efficient β-amyloid plaque scavenging ability, which slowed down the cognitive dysfunction in the brain of AD mice. Although the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still unknown, imbalanced antioxidant capacity in nerve cells is a successfully targeted pathological phenomenon in clinical practice. Here, the authors show that the complementary surface electrostatic potential between a metal-organic framework and curcumin results in a complex with good antioxidant activity and efficient β-amyloid plaque scavenging ability, which slows down the cognitive dysfunction in the brain of AD mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition, and choline may alleviate airway inflammation and oxidative stress but studies on the association between dietary choline and asthma remain limited. The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations between dietary choline intake and asthma, as well as pulmonary inflammation and lung function in children and adults. Methods: In our research, we employed the data of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2009 to 2018, including 7,104 children and 16,580 adults. We used fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) to assess pulmonary inflammation and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), the FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow rate (PEF), predicted FEV1% and predicted FVC% to assess lung function. Binary logistic regression, linear regression, and the restricted cubic splines were used to analyze the associations between dietary choline intake and asthma and pulmonary inflammation and lung function. Results: In children, we observed the positive associations between the natural logarithmic transformation of choline (ln-choline) and ln-FEV1 [ β:0.011; 95%CI: (0.004,0.018)] and ln-FVC [ β:0.009; 95%CI: (0.002,0.016)]. In adult males, the ln-choline was positively associated with ln-FEV1[ β:0.018; 95%CI: (0.011,0.024)], ln-FVC [ β:0.020; 95%CI: (0.014,0.026)], ln-PEF [ β:0.014; 95%CI: (0.007,0.022)], ln-predicted FEV1% [ β: 0.007; 95%CI: (0.001, 0.013)] and ln-predicted FVC%[ β: 0.010; 95%CI: (0.005, 0.015)] and negatively associated with FENO [ β: -0.029; 95%CI: (-0.049, -0.009)]. In unadjusted and partially adjusted models, adult females with ln-choline in the highest quartile had 25.2% (95%CI:9.4-38.3%) and 23.8% (95%CI:7.6-37.1%) decreased odds of asthma compared to those with the lowest quartile group. In the dose-response relationships of dietary choline and pulmonary inflammation and lung function indicators in adults, there existed threshold and saturation effects. Conclusion: The associations between dietary choline and lung function indicators such as FEV1 and FVC are positive in children and adults. The association between dietary choline and pulmonary inflammation is negative only in adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]