Fungal keratitis, a severe ocular disease, is one of the leading causes of ocular morbidity and blindness, yet it is often neglected, especially in developing countries. Therapeutic efficacy of traditional treatment such as eye drops is very limited due to poor bioavailability, whereas intraocular injection might cause serious side effects. Herein, we designed and fabricated a hybrid hydrogel-based contact lens which comprises quaternized chitosan (HTCC), silver nanoparticles, and graphene oxide (GO) with a combination of antibacterial and antifungal functions. The hydrogel is cross-linked through electrostatic interactions between GO and HTCC, resulting in strong mechanical properties. Voriconazole (Vor), an antifungal drug, can be loaded onto GO which retains the drug and promotes its sustained release from the hydrogel-based contact lenses. The contact lenses also exhibited good antimicrobial functions in view of glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride and silver nanoparticles. The results from in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that contact lenses loaded with Vor have excellent efficacy in antifungal activity in vitro and could significantly enhance the therapeutic effects on a fungus-infected mouse model. The results indicate that this hydrogel contact lenses-based drug delivery system might be a promising therapeutic approach for a rapid and effective treatment of fungal keratitis.

Catheter ablation of AF in patients with HCM is feasible, although more repeat procedures and AAD are needed to prevent AF recurrence.

Background. To compare the effects of different dosing schemes of furosemide on acute heart failure (AHF). Methods. Literature that compared the efficacy of continuous and intermittent administration of furosemide in AHF patients was retrieved from PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ISI Web of Science from inception to May 2022. The primary endpoints included overall weight loss, 24-hour urine volume, length of hospital stay, 24-hour brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level change, and all-cause mortality. The RevmMan5.4 software was used to analyze the extracted data. Results. A total of 10 studies with 775 patients, including 338 receiving continuous furosemide administration and 387 receiving intermittent furosemide administration, were included. The analysis results showed significant differences in weight loss ( MD = 1.08 , 95% CI (0.75~1.40), P < 0.00001 ) and 24-hour urine volume (MD =335.23, 95% CI (140.98~529.47), P = 0.0007 ) between the 2 groups. There was no significant difference in terms of length of hospital stay ( MD = − 0.71 , 95% CI (-2.74~1.31), P = 0.49 ) and all-cause mortality ( RR = 1.59 , 95% CI (0.92~2.75), P = 0.10 ). Conclusions. Compared with intermittent administration, continuous infusion of furosemide had a significant effect on the 24-hour urine volume and total weight loss in patients with AHF.

A Gram-positive-staining, endospore-forming, facultatively anaerobic, lactic-acid-producing bacterium, strain GD201205T, was isolated from spoiled jelly in China. Strain GD201205T fermented glucose, fructose, mannose, sucrose, raffinose and turanose, but negative for nitrate reduction, catalase and oxidase. The predominant fatty acids of the strain were anteiso-C17 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0. Whole-cell hydrolysates contained glycine and alanine with meso-iaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, glycolipid 1 and glycolipid 2. The DNA G+C content of strain GD201205T was 48.7 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the strain belonged to the genus Sporolactobacillus and was most closely related to Sporolactobacillus vineaeKCTC 5376T and Sporolactobacillus putidusJCM 15325T with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 97.5 and 96.9 %, respectively. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain GD201205T and Sporolactobacillus vineaeKCTC 5376Tand Sporolactobacillus putidusJCM 15325T were 29.2 and 47.6 %, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and gyrB gene revealed that strain GD201205T was clearly distinct from all related species of the genus Sporolactobacillus. On the basis of the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic evidence given in this study, strain GD201205T should be classified as a representative of a novel species of the genus Sporolactobacillus for which the name Sporolactobacillus pectinivorans is proposed. The type strain is GD201205T (=CICC 23867T=KCTC 15488T).