Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is a common cause of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Since macrophage inflammatory protein 1 α, a chemokine that acts through CC-chemokine receptor (CCR)-5, appears elevated in COPD patients’ airways, we evaluated whether CCR5 antagonist Maraviroc could inhibit the exacerbated lung inflammatory response noted after IAV H1N1 infection in mice exposed to cigarette smoke (Cs). C57BL/6 mice, subjected or not to Cs inhalation for 11 days, were infected with H1N1 at day 7. Maraviroc (10 mg/kg) or dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) were given in a therapeutic schedule, followed by the analyses of lung function, survival rate, and inflammatory changes. As compared to mice subjected to Cs or H1N1 alone, the insult combination significantly worsened airway obstruction, neutrophil infiltration in the airways, and the survival rate. All changes were sensitive to Maraviroc but not dexamethasone. Maraviroc also reduced the accumulation of neutrophils and macrophages as well as CXCL1 production in the lung tissue, and serum levels of IL-6, whereas comparable viral titers in the lungs were noted in all infected groups. Collectively, these findings suggest that Maraviroc oral treatment could be an effective therapy for controlling acute exacerbations of respiratory diseases such as COPD.

Objective: To investigate the efforts of hospital pharmacy services in Brazilian public hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study about practical and routine hospital pharmacy services in hospitals in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) was developed. The online survey consisted of 22 questions (3 multiple choice questions, 14 yes/no questions and 5 open-response questions) and the instrument was applied to 20 frontline pharmacists of 6 different hospitals from September 15th to 30th of 2020. Descriptive analysis was made by means of estimation of proportions. Results: We observed that 12 of the 20 participating pharmacists were trained about the new protocols and practice. Two hospitals have altered their Pharmacy Department, creating two groups: (1) services supply of COVID-19 and (2) services supply for others disease or complications. It was found that 3 of the 6 hospitals implemented an exclusively electronic medical prescription system and all of them used individualized dispensing system. At least one pharmacist of each hospital reported a lack or shortage of one or more drugs used in the COVID-19 treatment. Six main causes of drug scarcity were cited and 5 hospitals pointed two of them: increased cost of drug manufacturing and insufficient quantities of raw materials. In addition, we found out that essential ICU drugs, such as ceftriaxone, azithromycin, fentanyl and midazolam were the most prescribed ones, being cited by 5 hospitals (each one). Conclusion: This study showed that pharmaceutical services from six public hospitals of the city of Rio de Janeiro have been adjusted and redesigned to fight the COVID-19. Furthermore, this work can contribute to a more comprehensive vision of the pharmaceutical community about their challenges in the fight against COVID-19 and to provide positive suggestions for improving pharmacy practices.

A síntese verde de nanopartículas de prata (AgNPs) é uma alternativa sustentável aos métodos tradicionais, destacando-se o uso de extratos vegetais como uma alternativa viável. Considerando a elevada biodiversidade da América do Sul, esta revisão de mapeamento sistemático teve como objetivo analisar a utilização de espécies nativas da região na síntese verde de AgNPs, com ênfase na diversidade botânica, nos parâmetros de síntese, na caracterização físico-química e na atividade biológica dos nanomateriais. A revisão foi conduzida conduzida e reportada em consonância com as recomendações PRISMA 2020 e as buscas foram realizadas nas bases de dados PubMed, ScienceDirect e LILACS, considerando os últimos cinco anos. Foram incluídos 40 artigos originais que apresentaram os critérios de elegibilidade. Identificaram-se 36 espécies de 22 famílias botânicas diferentes, com destaque para as famílias Myrtaceae e Solanaceae. As folhas destacaram-se como a principal parte dos vegetais utilizada na síntese (63,4%), sendo os extratos aquosos predominantes (85%). A síntese apresentou ampla variabilidade quanto às condições reacionais. A faixa de temperatura mais utilizada foi de 50 a 80 ºC e o pH neutro a alcalino. Para a caracterização físico-química, as técnicas mais empregadas foram UV-vis (95%), FTIR (75%), SEM (60%), TEM (50%), DLS (47,5%), XRD, pZ e EDX (45% cada). A respeito das propriedades biológicas mais avaliadas nos estudos, destacou-se a atividade antimicrobiana (85%), seguida das atividades citotóxica (50%) e antioxidante (42,5%). Os resultados evidenciam o potencial das espécies com distribuição nativa na América do Sul na síntese verde de AgNPs com propriedades biológicas diversificadas. Entretanto, vale destacar que a heterogeneidade dos protocolos empregados indica necessidade de maior padronização dos relatos e dificulta a reprodutibilidade e futuras aplicações biotecnológicas dos nanomateriais.