The potential of Acmella oleracea as a nutraceutical source for the symptomatic treatment of Burning Mouth Syndrome

This study analysed the phytochemical profile of Acmella oleracea extract and the molecular interactions of its main compounds with TRPV1 and CB2, target receptors in the Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) pathogenesis. The phytochemical profile of A. oleracea's floral buds extract treated with activated charcoal (TCEE) was analysed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled to Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). The quantification of spilanthol was analysed by HPLC coupled to a Diode-Array Detector (HPLC-DAD). The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of nine alkylamides and phenolic compounds. The TCEE showed a significant increase in spilanthol content compared to the crude extract (CEE), going from 28.33 mg/g to 117.96 mg/g. The molecular docking indicated a behaviour of the alkylamides as partial TRPV1 agonists and CB2 agonists and, for the first time, indicates the action of these compounds in the symptomatic management of BMS.

P4598Clinical implications and predictors of coronary perforations during chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary interventions: insights from the multicenterLatin America CTO LATAM registry

Background

Chronic total occlusions are still considered one of the most challenging procedures in the field of interventional cardiology and the most feared complication are the perforations. In past studies and series from Asia, Europe and United States the rate of perforations in percutaneous coronary interventions are described as 0.2% whereas this rate increases to 3% when recanalization of a chronic total occlusion is attempted.

Purpose

Our study sought to identify the frequency, predictors and clinical implications of coronary perforations in chronic total occlusion percutaneous interventions in a contemporary registry with data from Latin America.

Methods

We reported the data of a prospective multi center Latin American registry from January to December 2018 in 1066 patients who underwent chronic total occlusion percutaneous interventions in 30 centers in the following countries: Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. Coronary perforation was defined as evidence of extravasation dye or blood from the coronary artery during or following the procedure. A stepwise logistic regression was performed to investigate the independent predictors of coronary perforations.

Results

The mean age was 64.2±10.7 years, 79.8% were male, 35.3% diabetics and 6.7% had heart failure. The most commonly involved CTO vessel was right coronary artery (41.4%), the mean J-CTO score was 2.0±1.3 and the mean CL score was 2.7±1.6. The overall procedural success rate was 81.9%. Coronary perforation occurred in 3.3% of cases: type 1 in 1.8%, Type 2 in 0.9% and Type 3 in 0.6%. In comparison with patients without coronary perforation was observed, those with such complication required more often blood transfusion (8.6% vs. 0.7%; p<0.001), experienced more cardiac tamponade (13.4% vs. 0.4%; p<0.001), but not all-cause in-hospital mortality (0 vs. 1.0%; p=1.0; respectively). At multivariate analysis, the independent predictor of coronary perforation was an activated clotting time (ACT) during PCI >470 seconds (OR 6.5; 95% CI 2.4 - 17.3; p<0.001), baseline heart failure (OR 4.2; 95% CI 1.2 - 14.6) and J-CTO score ≥2 (OR7.5; 95% CI 1.0–59.1).

Conclusions

Coronary perforation during percutaneous interventions in Latin America occurred in 3.3% of patients, being related with adverse events but not in-hospital all-cause mortality. Pharmacological management, high anatomical complexity and heart failure were identified as independent predictors of this still and so feared complication.

Acknowledgement/Funding

None

In silico approaches for screening molecular targets in Candida albicans: A proteomic insight into drug discovery and development

Candida species are opportunistic pathogens which can cause conditions ranging from simple mucocutaneous infections to fungemia and death in immunosuppressed and hospitalized patients. Candida albicans is considered to be the species mostly associated with fungal infections in humans and, therefore, the mostly studied yeast. This microorganism has survival and virulence factors which, allied to a decreased host immunity response, make infection more difficult to control. Today, the current limited antifungal arsenal and a dramatic increase in fungal resistance have driven the need for the synthesis of drugs with novel mechanisms of action. However, the development of a new drug from discovery to marketing takes a long time and is highly costly. The objective of this review is to show that with advances in biotechnology and biofinformatics, in silico tools such as molecular docking can optimize such a timeline and reduce costs, while contributing to the design and development of targeted drugs. Here we highlight the most promising protein targets in Candida albicans for the development of drugs with new mechanisms of action.