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Soon after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic outbreak, it became clear that vaccination will be the most useful tool to combat the disease. Despite the apparent safety and efficacy of the developed anti‐COVID‐19 vaccines, relatively high percentages of the population worldwide refused to get vaccinated, including many health workers and health students. The present cross‐sectional study examined the motives, attitudes, and personal characteristics of those who did not get vaccinated against COVID‐19 or vaccinated without complete willingness among nursing students and nursing faculty members in Israel (n = 472). Results show that the vast majority of the study participants (97%) received at least one dose of the anti‐COVID‐19 vaccine. Nearly 37% of the participants indicated that they received the vaccine without complete willingness. As compared to faculty members, nursing students reported lower trust in the efficacy of the vaccine, perceived the COVID‐19 pandemic as a health threat to a lesser extent, exhibited lower institutional and personal trust, and had higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Non‐Jewish participants were at risk of vaccinating without complete willingness. These findings underscore the need for developing evidence‐based strategies to promote the safety and efficacy of the anti‐COVID‐19 vaccines in nursing schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Few therapeutic options with proven efficacy are available for the treatment of this disabling disease. Lithium is the gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder. Moreover, lithium has been shown to exhibit neuroprotective effects and therapeutic efficacy as a treatment of other neurological disorders. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of lithium on brain inflammatory mediators levels, fever, and mortality in postischemic stroke rats. Ischemic stroke was induced by occlusion of the mid cerebral artery (MCAO). Pretreatment with a single dose of lithium at 2 hours before MCAO induction significantly reduced the elevation in interleukin- (IL-) 6 and prostaglandin E2 levels in brain of post-MCAO rats, as compared to vehicle-treated animals. On the other hand, lithium did not affect the elevation in IL-1α, IL-10, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-α levels in brain of post-MCAO rats. Moreover, pretreatment with lithium did not alter post-MCAO fever and mortality. These results suggest that acute pretreatment with a single dose of lithium did not markedly affect post-MCAO morbidity and mortality in rats.

Depression is a common and devastating mental illness associated with increased morbidity and mortality, partially due to elevated rates of suicidal attempts and death. Select patients with end-stage heart failure on a waiting-list for a donor heart undergo left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. The LVAD provides a circulatory flow of oxygenated blood to the body, mimicking heart functionality by operating on a mechanical technique. LVAD improves functional capacity and survivability among patients with end-stage heart failure. However, accumulating data suggests that LVAD recipients suffer from an increased incidence of depression and suicide attempts. There is scarce knowledge regarding the pathological mechanism and appropriate treatment approach for depressed LVAD patients. This article summarizes the current evidence on the association between LVAD implantation and occurrence of depression, suggesting possible pathological mechanisms underlying the device-associated depression and reviewing the current treatment strategies. The summarized data underscores the need for a rigorous pre-(LVAD)-implantation psychiatric evaluation, continued post-implantation mental health assessment, and administration of antidepressant treatment as necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of efforts to significantly reduce the use of physical coercive measures (PCMs) in psychiatric hospitals remains a global concern. There is a gap in the understanding of staff's characteristics that may affect their attitudes and perceptions towards PCMs. This study used a cross‐sectional design to examine the attitudes and perceptions of staff working at a mental health centre in Israel regarding the use of PCMs and to explore whether staff attitudes differed depending on their professional and demographic background. This study also sought to explore staff willingness to accept a policy of reducing the use of PCMs. The data were collected from 149 staff members (nurses, physicians, and auxiliary staff) working at mental health centre, using a questionnaire developed for this study. The findings indicate a low degree of support for use of PCMs among participants who were older, female, more qualified psychiatric nurses, with longer duration of employment, and those who have not participated in coercive intervention in the past year. The majority of the sample reported a low willingness to reduce the use of PCMs, and a lack of institutional support after participating in a coercive event. High hospital occupancy and insufficient staffing were perceived as contributing factors to coercive incidents. Therefore, availability of trained and experienced staff, elimination of organizational barriers, along with creating and maintaining a safe clinical environment should be a priority. Alternative non‐coercive interventions should further be taught and used for managing aggressive and violent behaviour in the psychiatric clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of a dry aqueous extract of Notobasis syriaca (N. syriaca) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in rats. Methods: Rats were fed the dried extract [500 mg/(kg•d)] for three consecutive days and then were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (1 mg/kg). Two hours after LPS injection, rats were sacrificed and blood and brain regions were collected. Inflammatory mediators' levels in plasma and homogenates of brain regions were determined by ELISA. Results: Pretreatment with the N. syriaca extract resulted in significant anti-inflammatory effects (P<0.05), including: i) attenuated LPS-induced hypothermia; ii) decreased hypothalamus and hippocampus prostaglandin E2 levels in the LPStreated rats; and, iii) reduced hypothalamus and hippocampus interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-αlevels in the LPS-treated rats. Conclusions: These results suggest that N. syriaca possesses anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, it is possible that long-term consumption of this plant may result in beneficial pharmacological effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents highlights of the published literature regarding the anti-inflammatory activities of natural products. Many review articles were published in this regard, however, most of them have presented this important issue from a regional, limited perspective. This paper summarizes the vast range of review and research articles that have reported on the anti-inflammatory effects of extracts and/or pure compounds derived from natural products. Moreover, this review pinpoints some interesting traditionally used medicinal plants that were not investigated yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olanzapine (OLZ) is an atypical antipsychotic drug that also has mood-stabilizing effects. The mechanism of action of OLZ is not fully understood. Accumulating data suggest that inflammation plays a role in the pathophysiology of mental disorders and that psychotropic drugs exhibit some anti-inflammatory properties. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of OLZ on LPS-induced inflammation in rat primary glia cells. Glia cells were extracted from newborn rat brains. OLZ (1 or 50 µM) was added to culture medium at 6 or 72 h before addition of LPS for another 18 h, and levels of IL-10, prostaglandin (PG) E2, NO and TNF-α, and expression of cyclo-oxygensase (COX)-2 and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) were determined. Treatment with 50 µM OLZ (but not 1 µM) significantly decreased LPS-induced secretion of IL-10, PGE2 and TNF-α. In contrast, 50 µM OLZ significantly increased NO levels. OLZ did not alter the expression of COX-2 or iNOS in LPS-treated cells. These results suggest that OLZ differently affects the secretion of inflammatory mediators. Most of the significant effects of OLZ were obtained when 50 µM was used, which is a high and probably therapeutically irrelevant concentration. Therefore, under the conditions used in the present study OLZ seemed to lack a potent anti-inflammatory effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]