SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for a highly contagious infection, known as COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 was discovered in late December 2019 and, since then, has become a global pandemic. Timely and accurate COVID-19 laboratory testing is an essential step in the management of the COVID-19 outbreak. To date, assays based on the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in respiratory samples are the gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis. Unfortunately, RT-PCR has several practical limitations. Consequently, alternative diagnostic methods are urgently required, both for alleviating the pressure on laboratories and healthcare facilities and for expanding testing capacity to enable large-scale screening and ensure a timely therapeutic intervention. To date, few studies have been conducted concerning the potential utilization of rapid testing for COVID-19, with some conflicting results. Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken to explore the feasibility of rapid diagnostic tests in the management of the COVID-19 outbreak. Based on ten studies, we computed a pooled sensitivity of 64.8% (95%CI 54.5–74.0), and specificity of 98.0% (95%CI 95.8–99.0), with high heterogeneity and risk of reporting bias. We can conclude that: (1) rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 are necessary, but should be adequately sensitive and specific; (2) few studies have been carried out to date; (3) the studies included are characterized by low numbers and low sample power, and (4) in light of these results, the use of available tests is currently questionable for clinical purposes and cannot substitute other more reliable molecular tests, such as assays based on RT-PCR.

Metabolomics is a promising technology for the application of translational medicine to cardiovascular risk. Here, we applied a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry approach to explore the associations between plasma concentrations of amino acids, methylarginines, acylcarnitines, and tryptophan catabolism metabolites and cardiometabolic risk factors in patients diagnosed with arterial hypertension (HTA) (n = 61), coronary artery disease (CAD) (n = 48), and non-cardiovascular disease (CVD) individuals (n = 27). In total, almost all significantly different acylcarnitines, amino acids, methylarginines, and intermediates of the kynurenic and indolic tryptophan conversion pathways presented increased (p < 0.05) in concentration levels during the progression of CVD, indicating an association of inflammation, mitochondrial imbalance, and oxidative stress with early stages of CVD. Additionally, the random forest algorithm was found to have the highest prediction power in multiclass and binary classification patients with CAD, HTA, and non-CVD individuals and globally between CVD and non-CVD individuals (accuracy equal to 0.80 and 0.91, respectively). Thus, the present study provided a complex approach for the risk stratification of patients with CAD, patients with HTA, and non-CVD individuals using targeted metabolomics profiling.

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BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurological diseases. Pathogenesis of the disease is associated with destruction and death of neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. The precursor to dopamine, which crosses the protective blood-brain barrier, is the amino acid 3, 4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine – levodopa, L-DOPA. The investigational drug is a pharmaceutical composition, containing L-DOPA as an active substance, which is distributed in a polymer matrix based on a biodegradable copolymer of lactic/glycolic acids. AIM: This work aimed to study the main pharmacokinetic parameters for the drug "L-DOPA – PC, nasal drops" and comparator drugs "L-DOPA in oil", "L-DOPA – PC in purified water", reference product – tablets "Madopar 125". METHODS: To increase the bioavailability of the active substance L-DOPA, a new route of administration was used for the first time – nasal administration. Pharmacokinetics of the innovative drug with the intranasal route of administration was investigated in rabbits. The L-DOPA concentration in blood plasma was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). RESULTS: Bioavailability of the drug – nasal drops were 244.4% compared with the drug "Madopar 125". CONCLUSION: Assay procedure for the determination of L-DOPA in animal blood plasma using liquid chromatography with tandem mass-selective detection (HPLC-MS/MS) was developed and validated.

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