Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on human health and economic development over the past two years. Therapeutics in combination with vaccines are critical measures to fight the pandemic. The three areas of drug development are blocking the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells, suppressing viral replication inside cells, and regulating the immune system, and important advances have recently been made in those areas. Increasing numbers of neutralizing antibodies and small molecules that show promise have been fully approved or authorized for emergency use, resulting in decreased mortality of patients with COVID-19. The use of therapeutics will have a great impact on formulating and revising public policies to control the pandemic. The pace of lifting of restrictions and economic recovery worldwide will also accelerate in the future. Here, the drugs or agents that have attracted considerable attention and that have led to remarkable progress in the fight against COVID-19 are reviewed

The outbreak and rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a huge threat to human health and social stability. Shufeng Jiedu capsule (SFJDC), a patented herbal drug composed of eight medicinal plants, is used to treat different viral respiratory tract infectious diseases. Based on its antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunoregulatory activities in acute lung injury, SFJDC can be effectively used as a treatment for COVID-19 patients according to the diagnosis and treatment plan issued in China and existing clinical data. SFJDC has been recommended in 15 therapeutic regimens for COVID-19 in China. This review summarizes current data on the ingredients, chemical composition, pharmacological properties, clinical efficacy, and potential therapeutic effect of SFJDC on COVID-19, to provide a theoretical basis for its anti-viral mechanism and the clinical treatment of COVID-19.

As a hallmark for cancer treatment, PARP inhibitors can effectively kill tumor cells with a mechanism termed as synthetic lethality, and are used to treat various cancers including ovarian, breast, prostate, pancreatic and others with DNA repair defects. However, along with the clinical trials progressing, the limitations of PARP-1 inhibitors became apparent such as limited activity and indications. Studies have shown that a molecule that is able to simultaneously restrict two or more targets involving in tumors is more effective in preventing and treating cancers due to the enhancing synergies. In order to make up for the shortcomings of PARP inhibitors, reduce the development cost and overcome the pharmacokinetic defects, multiple works were carried out to construct dual targeting PARP inhibitors for cancer therapy. Herein, they were summarized briefly.

COVID-19 is associated with rarer extra-parenchymal manifestations, namely pneumothorax (PTX) and pneumomediastinum (PM) leading to complications and increased mortality. The study aims to describe the prevalence, risk factors for mortality, radiological characteristics and outcome of PTX/PM in patients admitted with COVID-19. This was a retrospective, single-centre, observational study in patients with confirmed COVID-19 presenting with non-iatrogenic PTX/PM from April 2020 to May 2021. Details pertaining to demographics, presentation, radiological characteristics, management and outcome were collected. Cases were classified into spontaneous and barotraumatic PTX/PM and a between-group comparison was performed using Chi-square and t-test. A total of 45 cases (mean age: 53.2 years, 82% males) out of 8,294 confirmed COVID-19 patients developed PTX/PM, the calculated incidence being 0.54%. 29 cases had spontaneous PTX/PM and the remaining 17 cases were attributed to barotrauma. The most common comorbidities were diabetes-mellitus (65.3%) and hypertension (42.3%). The majority of the cases had large PTX (62.1%) with tension in 8 cases (27.5%). There were predominant right-sided pneumothoraces and five were diagnosed with bronchopleural fistula. 37.7% of cases had associated subcutaneous emphysema. The median duration of PTX/PM from symptom onset was delayed at 22.5 and 17.6 days respectively. The mean CT severity score (CTSS) was 20.5 (± 4.9) with fibrosis (53.8%), bronchiectatic changes (50%) and cystic-cavitary changes (23%). There was no statistically significant difference between the spontaneous and barotrauma cohort. 71% of cases died and the majority belonged to the barotrauma cohort. It is imperative to consider the possibility of PTX/PM in patients having COVID-19, especially in those with deterioration in the disease course, both in spontaneously breathing and mechanically ventilated patients. These patients may also have a high incidence of death, reflecting the gravity of COVID-19.

Most studies of antipsychotic-therapies have highlighted the discrepancy between plasma and brain pharmacokinetics of antipsychotics, but how the drug changes through the blood brain barrier (BBB) has not been investigated. Cell-based metabolomics using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) combined with multivariate data analysis were applied for screening of antipsychotic metabolites in the BBB. We applied this approach to analyze the antipsychotic biotransformation in brain microvascular endothelia cells (BMVECs), the main component of the BBB. From this study, five, four, three, and one metabolite of chlorpromazine, clozapine, haloperidol and risperidone, respectively, were locally metabolized on the BMVECs. These results confirm that there is a drug biotransformation process within the BBB and show that drug metabolite screening employed cell-based metabolomics using LC-MS, combined with multivariate analysis in the study of BMVECs exposed to antipsychotics can provide a way to screen drug metabolites in the BBB.

Nocturia and its related arousal may impair the quality of life and increase the risk of falls in older adults. This study aimed to clarify the change in urination status during the main sleeping period within 1 year. We also aimed to examine the effects of a consultation for voiding behavior in addition to the traditional behavioral therapy on urination status during sleep in a group of independent community-dwelling older adults. A single-arm intervention study was conducted in 10 older adults, with a mean age of 80.1 years and nocturia frequency of 1-4 times/day. Natural changes in urination status were observed between 2016 and 2017. Participants received traditional behavioral therapy and a consultation related to voiding behavior four times from summer 2017 to spring 2018. Urination status was monitored using sensing devices placed in the participant's home. The average time staying in the toilet significantly increased after 1 year. Although this parameter significantly decreased after the first consultation in 2017, this change was not observed with the subsequent consultation. A combination of traditional behavioral therapy and consultation for voiding behavior may be effective in improving urination status during the main sleeping period.

Urinary Bladder cancer (UBC) is a diversified disease with an array of clinicopathological attributes. Several studies have shown that cancer susceptibility candidate 5 (CASC5) plays important roles in various types of malignancies; however its expression and clinical significance in human UBC remain largely unknown. This research study was intended to explore mRNA/protein expression pattern of CASC5 as a member of the cancer-testis (CT) gene family and assess its clinical utility in diagnostic management of patients with UBC. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was employed to appraise the detailed expression profile of CASC5 in patients with UBC. The mRNA over expression of CASC5 was detected in testis tissue and relatively high frequency 59.2% (45 of 76) of CASC5 mRNA was detected in UBC tissues. CASC5 mRNA relative mean fold expression was also significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the muscle-invasive tumor tissues compared to non-muscle-invasive tumor tissues (12.26 ± 9.53 vs. 4.64 ± 2.50, p = 0.005). Heterogeneous staining pattern of CASC5 protein was exclusively detected using IHC. The frequency of CASC5 protein over expression was detected in 67.7% (44 of 65) UBC patients and negative in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Further, CASC5 protein expression was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with cigarette smoking habit in UBC patients. Our study findings testified that CASC5 over expression among patients with UBC as compared to controls and concludes that CASC5 is a potential CT gene in UBC.

Japan has an ageing population and geographical impediments to healthcare access, so an experimental trial of telepharmacy has recently been implemented in remote islands or remote areas of Japan prior to the formal implementation. This exploratory study was conducted to understand patients’ perspectives on telepharmacy in a mountainous depopulated area away from urban areas of Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four elderly patients, who were all of the patients receiving telepharmacy in Toyone village, Japan, at the time of the survey. The transcribed interview data were qualitatively analyzed by coding and categorization. The subjects thought telepharmacy would be advantageous to overcome poor access to a clinic and to improve convenience in processes ranging from medical examination to obtaining prescribed medicines. However, they pointed out the low digital literacy of the elderly. Also, they had low expectations for pharmacists, because they had previously had no relationship with pharmacists due to lack of pharmacies in the area. To promote telepharmacy, efforts to eliminate resistance to smartphones and to provide support for smartphone operations are needed among the elderly. Work is also needed to establish how pharmacists should best be involved in patient care and health support in remote areas. Our findings suggest that telepharmacy is useful in remote areas of Japan, but in locations where there is no existing relationship with pharmacists, it would be desirable for pharmacists to be actively involved with the community to maximize its effectiveness.

Entomophthoramycosis is a rare fungal infection of nose, paranasal sinuses and subcutaneous tissues found in tropical and subtropical region. From India very few cases have been reported. Here we report a case of Entomophthoramycosis due to Conidiobolus coronatus from the eastern India who presented with slowly growing rhinofacial swelling and right sided nasal obstruction due to intranasal mass. The case was diagnosed by typical histopathological findings of broad aseptate hyphae with surrounding eosinophilic granular material (Splendore Hoeppli phenomenon) on microscopy of nasal biopsy material and confirmed by PCR assay of DNA and sequencing from biopsy tissue. Treatment with saturated solution of potassium iodide and itraconazole was successful and clinical cure was attained in 8 months.