Introduction: Ovarian cancer is the third most common gynaecological cancer and has a very high mortality rate. The cornerstone of treatment is complete debulking surgery plus chemotherapy. Even with treatment, 80% of patients have a recurrence. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has been shown to be useful in the control and follow-up of some tumours. It could be an option to define complete cytoreduction and for the early diagnosis of recurrence. Objective: We aimed to demonstrate the usefulness of ctDNA and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a marker of complete cytoreduction and during follow-up in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Material and Methods: We selected 22 women diagnosed with advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer, of which only 4 had complete records. We detected cfDNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), presented as ng/mL, and detected ctDNA with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). We calculated Pearson correlation coefficients to evaluate correlations among cfDNA, ctDNA, and cancer antigen 125 (CA125), a biomarker. Results: The results obtained in the evaluation of cfDNA and ctDNA and their correlation with tumour markers and the radiology of patients with complete follow-up show disease progression during the disease, stable disease, or signs of recurrence. cfDNA and ctDNA correlated significantly with CA125. Following cfDNA and ctDNA over time indicated a recurrence several months earlier than computed tomography and CA125 changes. Conclusion: An analysis of cfDNA and ctDNA offers a non-invasive clinical tool for monitoring the primary tumour to establish a complete cytoreduction and to diagnose recurrence early.

Operating rooms are critical environments in which asepsis must be ensured. The COVID-19 pandemic entailed the implementation of additional preventative measures in health care settings, including operating theaters.

Objective: Surgical societies of different specialties have lately demonstrated a growing concern regarding the potential risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission during surgery, mainly via aerosols carrying SARS-CoV-2 particles during laparoscopy smoke evacuation. Since there is not sufficient scientific evidence to rule out this hypothesis, our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of the appearance of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the in-filter membrane of the smoke filter systems, used in laparoscopic surgery, in a tertiary referral hospital during the peak phases of the pandemic. Methods: During the highest incidence of the pandemic outbreak, 180 laparoscopic smoke evacuation systems were collected from laparoscopies performed between April 2020 and May 2021 in University General Hospital of Castellón. As part of the safety protocol established as a result of the pandemic, an oropharyngeal reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed before surgery. We performed RT-qPCR tests for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the in-filter membranes extracted from the smoke evacuation systems. Results: We found two RT-qPCR positive in-filters from a sample of 128 patients with SARS-CoV-2-negative results in their oropharyngeal RT-qPCR, i.e., 1.6% (95% CI: 0.5–5.5%). From this estimation, the predictive posterior probabilities of finding n cases of negative oropharyngeal COVID-19 patients with positive filters increases with the increasing number of surgeries performed. Conclusions: This cross-sectional study provides evidence suggesting that airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 particles from smoke evacuation of aerosols carrying viral particles during laparoscopy should not be ruled out.

Motherhood is a critical period modulating behavioural changes to favour survival in mammals. In mice, olfaction is a key driver of social behaviours, and adult neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb is modulated at this stage, contributing to pup recognition. The primary olfactory cortex, known as the piriform cortex, contains a special population of neurons of embryonic origin which continues expressing immature markers such as doublecortin (DCX) in young and adult mice, and present a long period of protracted maturation and integration into the circuit as the animal ages. While these immature neurons are considered a potential source of plasticity, their precise role and whether motherhood affects their maturation rate remains unclear. To investigate this question, we analysed the expression of DCX in prepubescent vs. young adults, in virgin vs. pregnant and in pup-sensitized virgins vs. lactating female mice. We found that the density of DCX cells sharply decreased in the piriform cortex with age, previously demonstrated as a proxy of their integration as glutamatergic neurons by contrast, pregnancy and lactation failed to significantly alter the density of these cells. To further analyse how motherhood could affect DCX-ir cells, we co-labelled DCX cells with NeuN, an archetypical marker of mature neurons. We did not find significant differences in the percentage of double-labelled cells nor in features related to maturation like number of neurites or main diameter in lactating dams as compared to pup-sensitized virgin females. Our results suggest that the first pregnancy does not significantly affect the differentiation of immature neurons of the piriform cortex.

The structural diversity and continuous emergence of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) pose an important challenge to forensic and clinical toxicology. Understanding their metabolic pathways is essential for identifying reliable consumption biomarkers and improving toxicological screening strategies. This pilot study has investigated the influence of chemical structure on the metabolism of eight structurally diverse SCRAs: AMB-FUBINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, SDB-005, APINACA, CUMYL-4CN-BINACA, 5 F-AMB-PINACA, 5 F-AB-PINACA, and THJ-2201. The compounds were administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats from which serum and urine samples were analysed using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Metabolite identification was achieved through different analytical strategies. Following structural elucidation, the in vivo metabolism for each SCRA was evaluated, and the corresponding metabolic pathways were proposed. A comparative analysis of the different metabolic reactions was subsequently performed, classifying biotransformations according to the site of occurrence within the molecule, to highlight both shared features and compound-specific pathways. The results demonstrated significant variability in the number and type of metabolites identified, underscoring the substantial influence of chemical structure on SCRA metabolism. Despite this variability, consistent biotransformations across compounds were also observed. Notably, this in vivo study allowed the detection of several metabolites not previously reported in in vitro models, demonstrating the added value of in vivo approaches in profiling the complete metabolic fate of SCRAs.