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The development of new wound dressings made from biomaterials, which offer a better cost-benefit ratio and accelerate the healing process, is increasing nowadays. Various biopolymers can be electrospun to form functional membranes for wound healing. Therefore, in this study, chitosan and nanochitosan membranes with or without hyaluronic acid were prepared using the electrospinning technique, characterized and evaluated in the healing of skin wounds in rats. Chitosan and nanochitosan solutions, with or without hyaluronic acid, were prepared at concentrations of 1%-4% using PEO (polyethylene oxide) and subjected to the electrospinning process to obtain membranes characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical tests, and antimicrobial activity. The healing effect of the membranes was evaluated by monitoring the area of the lesions, contraction of the wounds, histologic analysis, and induction of pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-1 α and TNF-α) production in rats. The nanochitosan and nanochitosan membranes with hyaluronic acid achieved greater fiber diameter and uniformity, resistance, elasticity, and thermal stability, in addition to good adhesion to the wound bed and permeation capacity. Despite not presenting antimicrobial activity in vitro, they contributed to the production of pro-inflammatory interleukins in the animals tested, provided physical protection, reduced the wound area more markedly until the seventh day of the evaluation, with an acceleration of the healing process and especially when functionalized with hyaluronic acid. These results indicate that the membranes may be promising for accelerating the healing process of chronic wounds in humans., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: To estimate original wild-type BNT162b2 effectiveness against symptomatic Omicron infection among children 5-11 years of age., Methods: This prospective test-negative, case-control study was conducted in Toledo, southern Brazil, from June 2022 to July 2023. Patients were included if they were aged 5-11 years, sought care for acute respiratory symptoms in the public health system, and were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. In the primary analysis, we determined the effectiveness of two doses of original wild-type BNT162b2 against symptomatic COVID-19. The reference exposure group was the unvaccinated., Results: A total of 757 children were enrolled; of these, 461 (25 cases; 436 controls) were included in the primary analysis. Mean age was 7.4 years, 49.7 % were female, 34.6 % were obese, and 14.1 % had chronic pulmonary disease. Omicron accounted for 100 % of all identified SARS-CoV-2 variants with BA.5, BQ.1, and XBB.1 accounting for 35.7 %, 21.4 % and 21.4 %, respectively. The adjusted estimate of two-dose vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic Omicron was 3.1 % (95 % CI, -133.7 % to 61.8 %) after a median time between the second dose and the beginning of COVID-19 symptoms of 192.5 days (interquartile range, 99 to 242 days)., Conclusion: In this study with children 5-11 years of age, a two dose-schedule of original wild-type BNT162b2 was not associated with a significant protection against symptomatic Omicron infection after a median time between the second dose and the beginning of COVID-19 symptoms of 192 days, although the study may have been underpowered to detect a clinically important difference., Trial Registration Number: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05403307 (https://classic., Clinicaltrials: gov/ct2/show/NCT05403307)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Rodrigues, Maltempi de Souza, Manfio, de Souza, Araujo, Cohen, Barbosa, Romeiro Silva, Sganzerla, Dias da Silva, Ferreira, Kunkel, Camargo, Sarturi, Guilhem, Oliveira, Lopes, Widmar, Barufi, Nunes da Silva, Gradia, Brandalize, Royer, Luiz, Baura, Abreu, and Poitevin report honoraria fee for working in this study from Hospital Moinhos de Vento. Rosa reports honoraria fee related to investigator activities from Pfizer, and research grants from Pfizer, MSD and Brazilian Ministry of Health. Falavigna reports honoraria fee related to investigator activities from Pfizer and MSD, consulting fees from Sanofi, Ultragenyx, Novartis, Alnylam, PTC and JCR, and honoraria for lectures from Janssen, Abbvie, Sanofi, Roche, Pfizer and Novartis.Valluri, Srivastava, Julião, Melone, Allen, Kyaw, Spinardi, Castillo, and McLaughlin are Pfizer empolyees. Kucharski, and Pedrotti have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Evidence regarding effectiveness of BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron in Latin America is limited. We estimated BNT162b2 effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 in Brazil when Omicron was predominant., Methods: This prospective test-negative, case-control study was conducted in Toledo, Brazil, following a mass COVID-19 vaccination with BNT162b2. Patients were included if they were aged ≥12 years, sought care for acute respiratory symptoms in the public health system between November 3, 2021 and June 20, 2022, and were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR. In the primary analysis, we determined the effectiveness of two doses of BNT162b2 against symptomatic COVID-19., Results: A total of 4,574 were enrolled; of these, 1,758 patients (586 cases and 1,172 controls) were included in the primary analysis. Mean age was 27.7 years, 53.8 % were women, and 90.1 % had a Charlson comorbidity index of zero. Omicron accounted for >97 % of all identified SARS-CoV-2 variants, with BA.1 and BA.2 accounting for 84.3 % and 12.6 %, respectively. Overall adjusted estimate of two-dose vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 was 46.7 % (95 %CI, 19.9 %-64.6 %) after a median time between the second dose and the beginning of COVID-19 symptoms of 94 days (IQR, 60-139 days). Effectiveness waned from 77.7 % at 7-29 days after receipt of a second dose to <30 % (non-significant) after ≥120 days., Conclusion: In a relatively young and healthy Brazilian population, two doses of BNT162b2 provided protection against symptomatic Omicron infection. However, this protection waned significantly over time, underscoring the need for boosting with variant-adapted vaccines in this population prior to waves of disease activity., Trial Registration Number: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05052307 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05052307)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Rosa reports honoraria fee related to investigator activities from Pfizer, and research grants from Pfizer and Brazilian Ministry of Health. Falavigna reports honoraria fee related to investigator activities from Pfizer, consulting fees from Sanofi, Ultragenyx,Novartis, Alnylam, PTC and JCR, and honoraria for lectures from Janssen, Abbvie, Sanofi, Roche, Pfizer and Novartis. Manfio, Araujo, Cohen, Barbosa, Paula de Souza, Silva, Sganzerla, da Silva, Ferreira, Rodrigues, Maltempi de Souza de Souza, Oliveira, Gradia, Brandalize, Royer, and Luiz report honoraria fee for working in this study from Hospital Moinhos de Vento. Valluri, Srivastava, Julião, Melone, Allen, Kyaw, Spinardi, Castillo, and McLaughlin are Pfizer empolyees. Kucharski, and Pedrotti have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a worldwide health problem and mainly affect young people, consequently affecting the workforce. Available treatments are often associated with side effects, and new therapeutic options are needed. For centuries, plants have represented important substrates in the field of drug development. Lafoensia pacari ( L. pacari ) is a plant whose pharmaceutical potential has been described, and may have biological activity relevant to the treatment of IBD symptoms., Aim: To investigate the activity of keto-alcoholic extracts of L. pacari with respect to ameliorating the inflammatory and nociceptive symptoms of acute experimental colitis in mice., Methods: Keto-alcoholic extracts of L. pacari leaves and bark were administered to male and female Swiss mice weighing 25 g to 30 g ( n = 8 male mice and n = 8 female mice). The effect of these extracts was observed in an acetic acid-induced acute experimental model of colitis with regard to antinociception/analgesia and inflammatory tissue damage. Recorded macroscopic indices included the Wallace score and the colon weight obtained using a precision scale. Mechanical hyperalgesia was determined using an electronic analgesimeter. Behavior related to overt pain was determined by quantifying the number of writhing instances within 20 min of administration of acetic acid. Molecular docking was performed using human and murine cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) with 3 flavonoids (ellagic acid, kaempferol, and quercetin) on the AutoDock Vina software. Analysis of variance followed by Tukey's posttest was used with P < 0.05 indicating significance., Results: In this murine model of colitis, administration of extracts from L. pacari ameliorated acetic acid-induced writhing and colitis-associated inflammatory pain. These improvements may be attributable to the reduction in edema, inflammation ( e.g., ulcers, hyperemia, and bowel wall damage), and the intensity of abdominal hyperalgesia. The keto-alcoholic extracts of L. pacari leaves and bark administered at a dose of either 100 mg/kg or 300 mg/kg significantly reduced the number of writhing events when compared to the negative control ( P < 0.05). Additionally, extracts of L. pacari bark also performed better than Dipyrone. Leaf extracts administered at 10 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg, and 100 mg/kg and bark extracts administered at 30 mg/kg significantly reduced or prevented the development of edema in the colon of treated mice, while mesalazine did not. Moreover, using molecular docking, we observed that the flavonoids present in L. pacari extracts bind to COX-2, an event not unique to ellagic acid., Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate a potential novel application of L. pacari extracts for the reduction of inflammation and promotion of antinociception/analgesia as demonstrated by our findings in a murine model of colitis. These findings were also corroborated by in silico analyses, and suggest that L. pacari extracts may be a promising therapeutic agent in the treatment of IBD., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)