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One of the most relevant and pathogenic groups among the rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) is Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC) that includes three subspecies: M. abscessus subsp. abscessus, M. abscessus subsp. bolletii, and M. abscessus subsp. massiliense. The aim of this study was the analysis of prevalence of MABC among other non-tuberculous mycobacteria isolated from patients in the Malopolska Region of Poland, between 2018 and 2021, as well as determination of their subspecies and molecular mechanisms of resistance to macrolides and aminoglycosides. The incidence of MABC was 5,4% (12/223). Eight strains were classified as M. abscessus subsp. abscessus, three as M. abscessus subsp. massiliense and one M. abscessus subsp. bolletii. Molecular analysis showed resistance to macrolides for eight strains of M. abscessus subsp. abscessus associated with erm(41)T28 gene mutations. One strain of M. abscessus subsp. abscessus showed resistance to macrolides (two mutations simultaneously: in erm(41)T28 and rrl genes) and aminoglycosides (point mutation in rrs gene). One strain of M. abscessus subs. bolletii was resistant to macrolides (erm(41)T28 mutation), whereas presented no mutations for aminoglycosides. M. abscessus subsp. massiliense reveal no mutations. High clarithromycin resistance of M. abscessus, determines the urgent need for susceptibility-based treatment. Molecular determination of resistance mechanisms to aminoglycosides and macrolides enables fast and accurate targeted treatment implementation.

Background: Although biobanks have become fundamental to many research centers and contribute to medical development, they generate many ethical and legal issues that may discourage patients from donating., Materials and Methods: To understand patients' perception of ethical and legal issues related to biobanks we conducted a survey among 548 Polish patients with cancer., Results: While 93.1% of patients with cancer declared themselves willing to donate biospecimens left over after a medical procedure to a biobank, most opted for one-time consent or study-specific consent, blanket consent being less frequently preferred. Many patients believed that future use of previously collected tissues require second contact. Most patients preferred pseudonymization over anonymization of the data, and supported donors' right to withdraw informed consent at any given moment. Finally, while personal health information was the most expected form of compensation for donation, most patients suggested that all parties, including the biobank concerned, the sponsors of the research, and the donors, should own the rights to cancer tissues donated and profit from the biobank research. Patients' opinions on the ethical and legal issues related to biobank research were associated with age, sex, religiosity, education level, and place of residence., Conclusions: Since biobanks generate ethical and legal issues related to informed consent, data protection and storage, as well as the sharing of biosamples, tissue ownership, and profit sharing, that may discourage patients from donation, when asking a patient for a donation, healthcare professionals should communicate in a donor-centered manner and address patients' ethical and moral concerns related to donation and offer resources to help manage these concerns., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.)

BACKGROUND Biobanks are legally regulated entities that acquire, store, prepare, preserve, test, analyze, and distribute defined biological material and related information and data from human sources. This study aimed to evaluate trust, support and willingness to donate personal data and tissue samples for biobanking from cancer patients attending oncology departments in Poznań, Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study utilized data from questionnaire-based survey conducted from February to June 2023 among 548 patients from 2 Poznań hospitals equipped with oncology treatment units. The survey employed convenience sampling. Statistical analysis was carried out using JASP 0.18.3 and PQStat1.8.6., with significance levels set at 0.05. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were utilized to present the results. RESULTS 92.2% of cancer patients supported the establishment of cancer research biobank in Poland, and 93.1% declared the willingness to share their cancer tissues for research purposes. Patients' willingness to donate was associated with biomedical research conducted by biobanks and types of biobank institutions. Most patients were willing to donate for research on cancer, genetic and autoimmune diseases or dementia, but were reluctant to participate in research on sexual identity, intelligence, aggression and for-profit research. Patients were willing to donate to biobanks managed by medical universities, public institutions, clinical hospitals and national biobanks but not to foreign and private biobanks. CONCLUSIONS Although patients' support for cancer biobank is high it is not unconditional as their willingness to participate in cancer-related research is associated with types of biomedical research conducted by biobanks and different types of biobank institutions.

Background: Since the biological material that remains after diagnostic and therapeutic procedures plays crucial role in biobank research, this study aims to explore cancer patients' views on the donation of biospecimens for research purposes., Methods: 548 oncology patients from two hospitals with oncology treatment units in Poznan, Poland, completed an anonymous, self-administered pen-and-paper questionnaire., Results: Although only 43.4% of patients had heard of biobanks, 93.1% declared themselves willing to donate. 71.1% of patients believed that doctors should ask patients to donate, and 60.9% that this should be done before the medical procedure. While 65% of patients were willing to donate any type of tissue that remained after a medical procedure, blood, saliva and hair were indicated most frequently. 40.5% of patients would donate their entire body after death and 21% would refuse. Patients' support for biobanks was mainly driven by the desire to support science, help advance cancer research and altruism. Some respondents expected health information or medical treatment. The most common barriers for donation were physical distance, repeated examinations, concerns over the privacy and confidentiality of data and the commercial or unethical use of samples. Patients' attitudes toward biobank donation seemed to be associated with age, education level, declared religiousness, a family history of genetically determined diseases and whether they were a blood donor., Conclusions: Although cancer patients' lack of biobank awareness had no effect on their affirmative attitudes towards biobank research, there is a need to further increase patients' support and overcome possible barriers that might hinder their willingness to donate., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: This study aims to explore the opinions of female cancer patients regarding the donation of cancer and reproductive cells for reproductive and research purposes., Material and Methods: The study involved 373 female cancer patients from 2 hospitals with oncology departments in Poznan, Poland. They completed a pen-and-paper questionnaire-based survey., Results: While most female cancer patients declared their willingness to donate cancer tissues for fertility research (87.9%), they were reluctant to share their reproductive cells for research purposes (82.3%). Additionally, 88.2% of respondents were unwilling to donate embryos that remain after in vitro treatment for research purposes. Simultaneously, 57.1% of woman supported the preservation of fertility cells, 62.5% believed it should be ethically and legally regulated in Poland, and 74% believed it should be re-imbursed by the National Health Fund. Women's opinions were linked to their age, education, place of residence, family status, and declared religiosity., Conclusions: Because most female cancer patients expressed their willingness to share their reproductive cells for reproductive purposes and believed that the preservation of cells for fertility purposes should be reimbursed by the State, there is a need for doctors and nurses to inform patients about the available ways to preserve fertility. However, because donation of reproductive cells for biomedical research raises many concerns, healthcare professionals should be trained to discuss with patients the ethical and legal issues related to fertility preservation and biomedical research involving reproductive cells., Competing Interests: None., (Copyright © 2024 Termedia.)

Objectives: This study was designed to determine the relationship between religion and healthcare practitioners' attitudes towards conscience clauses in Poland. Methods: We developed a survey assessing impact of religion on attitudes healthcare professionals towards the conscience clause. These questions were explored using a sample of 300 Polish healthcare professionals. Results: The results indicate that religiosity was a significant predictor of acceptance of conscience clauses. It also influenced healthcare practitioners' opinions on medical professionals that should be granted the right to conscience clauses and medical services that may be denied on moral grounds. There was also a significant relationship between healthcare practitioners' religiosity and their eagerness to use conscience clauses in a situation of moral conflict. Finally, religious healthcare practitioners were more concerned about the personal consequences of using this right in a medical environment. Conclusion: This study shows that at the same time, both religious and non-religious healthcare professionals believed that the Polish regulations regarding conscience clause are unclear and inaccurate, therefore leading to misinterpretation and abuse regulation of law., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Czekajewska, Walkowiak and Domaradzki.)

Background: Over the last few decades biobanks have been recognised as institutions that may revolutionise biomedical research and the development of personalised medicine. Poland, however, still lacks clear regulations regarding the running of biobanks and the conducting of biomedical research. While the awareness of the general public regarding biobanks is low, healthcare professions and medical students also lack basic knowledge regarding biobanks, and such ignorance may affect their support for biobanks., Methods: This study is aimed at assessing the knowledge and attitudes of future healthcare professionals towards the donation of human biological material for research purposes and is based on a sample of 865 Polish medical students at Poznań University of Medical Sciences., Results: This research has shown that the awareness of medical students' regarding biobanks is low. It has also shown that while the majority of future healthcare professionals enrolled in this study supported the idea of biobank research and declared themselves willing to donate, still many students felt ambivalent about the biobanking of human biological material for research purposes and expressed concerns over biobanking research. While the primarily motivation to participate in biobank research was the desire to help advance science and to develop innovative therapies, the most common reason for a refusal was the fear that the government, insurance companies or employers, might have access to the samples. Concerns over unethical use of samples and data safety were also prevalent. More than half of students opted for a study-specific model of consent and only a few opted for broad consent., Conclusions: This research suggests that a lack of knowledge about biobanks, their role and activities may affect medical students' support for biobanks and their active participation in the collection and management of biospecimens for research purposes. Since in the future medical, nursing and pharmacy students will be involved in the collection, storage, testing and analysis of biospecimens from their patients, medical students in all professional fields should be trained regarding the concept, purposes and operational procedures of biobanks, as well as the ethical, legal and social implications of biobank research., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The alarming increase in the resistance of bacteria to the currently available antibiotics necessitates the development of new effective antimicrobial agents that are active against bacterial pathogens causing major public health problems. For this purpose, our in-house libraries were screened against a wide panel of clinically relevant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, based on which compound I was selected for further optimization. Synthetic efforts in a group of arylurea derivatives of aryloxy(1-phenylpropyl) alicyclic diamines, followed with an in vitro evaluation of the activity against multidrug-resistant strains identified compound 44 (1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-(1-{3-phenyl-3-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy] propyl}piperidin-4-yl)urea). Compound 44 showed antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria including fatal drug-resistant strains i.e., Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-resistant, MRSA; vancomycin-intermediate, VISA) and Enterococcus faecium (vancomycin-resistant, VREfm) at low concentrations (0.78-3.125 μg/mL) comparable to last resort antibiotics (i.e., vancomycin and linezolid). It is also potent against biofilm-forming S. aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis (including linezolid-resistant, LRSE) strains, but with no activity against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Compound 44 showed strong bactericidal properties against susceptible and drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. Depolarization of the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane induced by compound 44 suggests a dissipation of the bacterial membrane potential as its mechanism of antibacterial action. The high antimicrobial activity of compound 44, along with its selectivity over mammalian cells (lung MCR-5 and skin BJ fibroblast cell lines) and no hemolytic properties toward horse erythrocytes, proposes arylurea derivatives of aryloxy(1-phenylpropyl) alicyclic diamines for development of novel antibacterial agents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

A series of 10 aminoalkanol derivatives of 5-chloro-2- or 5-chloro-4-methylxanthone was synthetized and evaluated for anticonvulsant properties (MES test, mice, intraperitoneal) and compared with neurotoxicity rotarod test (NT, mice, i.p.). The best results both in terms of anticonvulsant activity and protective index value were obtained for 3: 5-chloro-2-([4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl]methyl)-9H-xanthen-9-one hydrochloride. Compounds: 1-3, 7 and 10 revealed ED 50 values in MES test: 42.78, 31.64, 25.76, 46.19 and 52.50 mg/kg b.w., respectively. 3 showed 70% and 72% of inhibition control specific binding of sigma-1 (σ1) and sigma-2 (σ2) receptor, respectively. 3 exhibited also antinociceptive activity at dose 2 mg/kg b.w. after chronic constriction injury in mice. 1, 3, 7 and 10 were evaluated on gastrointestinal flora and proved safe. In genotoxicity test (UMU-Chromotest) compounds 1, 7 and 10 proved safe at dose 150-300 μg/ml. The pharmacokinetic analysis showed rapid absorption of all studied molecules from the digestive tract (t max  = 5-30 min). The bioavailability of the compounds ranged from 6.6% (1) to 16% (10). All studied compounds penetrate the blood-brain barrier with brain to plasma ratios varied from 4.15 (3) to 7.6 (compound 7), after i.v. administration, and from 1 (7) to 5.72 (3) after i.g. administration., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: While healthcare professionals' right to invoke the conscience clause has been recognised as a fundamental human right, it continues to provoke a heated debate in Polish society. Although public discourse is filled with ethical and legal considerations on the conscience clause, much less is known about the attitudes of healthcare professionals regarding that matter. The aim of this study was therefore to describe the attitudes of Polish physicians, nurses and pharmacists towards the ethical and legal aspects of the conscience clause., Methods: We analysed a group of three hundred healthcare professionals: physicians, nurses and pharmacists in Poznan, Poland, using a standard questionnaire comprising of 29 questions about various ethical and legal aspects of the conscience clause and participants' personal experiences with the conscience clause. The study was conducted between January and March 2020., Results: This research shows that although most Polish healthcare workers support the right to invoke the conscience clause they differ significantly in their opinions on to whom and to what medical procedures the conscience clause should apply to. It also demonstrated that while the conscience clause is rarely invoked in Poland, most healthcare professionals declare that the current legal regulations in that sphere are unclear and inaccurate., Conclusions: While there is an urgent need to raise the awareness regarding the conscience clause among medical students and healthcare professionals and educate them about such issues, it is even more important to improve the legal system in regard to the CC so that it protects both HCPs' right to the CC and safeguards patients' rights to medical services., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

In the search for an effective strategy to overcome antimicrobial resistance, a series of new morpholine-containing 5-arylideneimidazolones differing within either the amine moiety or at position five of imidazolones was explored as potential antibiotic adjuvants against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Compounds ( 7 - 23 ) were tested for oxacillin adjuvant properties in the Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strain ATCC 25923 and Methicillin-resistant S. aureus MRSA 19449. Compounds 14 - 16 were tested additionally in combination with various antibiotics. Molecular modelling was performed to assess potential mechanism of action. Microdilution and real-time efflux (RTE) assays were carried out in strains of K. aerogenes to determine the potential of compounds 7 - 23 to block the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC. Drug-like properties were determined experimentally. Two compounds ( 10 , 15 ) containing non-condensed aromatic rings, significantly reduced oxacillin MICs in MRSA 19449, while 15 additionally enhanced the effectiveness of ampicillin. Results of molecular modelling confirmed the interaction with the allosteric site of PBP2a as a probable MDR-reversing mechanism. In RTE, the compounds inhibited AcrAB-TolC even to 90% ( 19 ). The 4-phenylbenzylidene derivative ( 15 ) demonstrated significant MDR-reversal "dual action" for β -lactam antibiotics in MRSA and inhibited AcrAB-TolC in K. aerogenes . 15 displayed also satisfied solubility and safety towards CYP3A4 in vitro.

Kazimierz Filip Wize (1873-1953) was a Polish multidisciplinary scholar, a microbiologist, a lepidopterologist, a psychiatrist, and a philosopher. He was an avid promoter of care of the mentally ill. After defending a Ph.D. in medicine in Munich (Germany) in 1899, Wize specialized in bacteriology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In 1907 he defended his second Ph.D. in philosophy in Leipzig. Soon, Wize became an internationally active scholar and a prolific writer, working especially on esthetics and the philosophy of medicine. For Wize, philosophy of action was a bridge between abstract academic philosophy, practical ethics, and the philosophy of medicine understood as an art and a science. Later in his life, Wize moved back to practicing medicine, and in the 1930s he specialized in psychiatry. The new field enabled him to apply his esthetic concepts to the treatment of patients and become a pioneer of art therapy. Music, painting, and dance, Wize argued, are a means to achieve serenity and freedom and play an important part in the process of recovery. Much later, Wize witnessed the extermination of psychiatric patients in Poland during a Nazi T4 action.

Herein, 15 phenylpiperazine 3-benzyl-5,5-dimethylhydantoin derivatives ( 1 - 15 ) were screened for modulatory activity towards Msr(A) efflux pump present in S. epidermidis bacteria. Synthesis, crystallographic analysis, biological studies in vitro and structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis were performed. The efflux pump inhibitory (EPI) potency was determined by employing ethidium bromide accumulation assay in both Msr(A) efflux pump overexpressed (K/14/1345) and deficient (ATCC 12228) S. epidermidis strains. The series of compounds was also evaluated for the capacity to reduce the resistance of K/14/1345 strain to erythromycin, a known substrate of Msr(A). The study identified five strong modulators for Msr(A) in S. epidermidis . The 2,4-dichlorobenzyl-hydantoin derivative 9 was found as the most potent EPI, inhibiting the efflux activity in K/14/1345 at a concentration as low as 15.63 µM. Crystallography-supported SAR analysis indicated structural properties that may be responsible for the activity found. This study identified the first synthetic compounds able to inhibit Msr(A) efflux pump transporter in S. epidermidis . Thus, the hydantoin-derived molecules found can be an attractive group in search for antibiotic adjuvants acting via Msr(A) transporter.

Searching for new chemosensitizers of bacterial multidrug resistance (MDR), chemical modifications of (Z)-5-(4-chlorobenzylidene)-2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-3H-imidazol-4(5H)-one ( 6 ) were performed. New compounds ( 7 ⁻ 17 ), with fused aromatic rings at position 5, were designed and synthesized. Crystallographic X-ray analysis proved that the final compounds ( 7 ⁻ 17 ) were substituted with tertiary amine-propyl moiety at position 3 and primary amine group at 2 due to intramolecular Dimroth rearrangement. New compounds were evaluated on their antibiotic adjuvant properties in either Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria. Efflux pump inhibitor (EPI) properties towards the AcrAB-TolC pump in Enterobacter aerogenes (EA289) were investigated in the real-time efflux (RTE) assay. Docking and molecular dynamics were applied to estimate an interaction of compounds 6 ⁻ 17 with penicillin binding protein (PBP2a). In vitro ADME-Tox properties were evaluated for compound 9 . Most of the tested compounds reduced significantly (4-32-fold) oxacillin MIC in highly resistant MRSA HEMSA 5 strain. The anthracene-morpholine derivative ( 16 ) was the most potent (32-fold reduction). The tested compounds displayed significant EPI properties during RTE assay (37⁻97%). The naphthyl-methylpiperazine derivative 9 showed the most potent "dual action" of both oxacillin adjuvant (MRSA) and EPI ( E. aerogenes ). Molecular modeling results suggested the allosteric mechanism of action of the imidazolones, which improved binding of oxacillin in the PBP2a active site in MRSA.