Treatment of COVID-19 symptoms with over the counter (OTC) medicines used for treatment of common cold and flu

The Effects of Trade Names on the Misuse of Some Over-The-Counter Drugs and Assessment of Community Knowledge and Attitudes in Alkarak, Jordan

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the community toward the brand names of the most commonly used over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics in Alkarak, Jordan, as well as to assess community's self-medication behaviors that may lead to misuse of OTC drugs.

Patients and Methods

This is a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study performed between 7 September and 1 October 2023. The total number of recruited participants was 730 adults from Alkarak, Jordan. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the statistical differences among the means of independent groups. The reliability of each question was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. The Cronbach's alpha was within the accepted range for all questionnaire items (0.7-0.9).

Results

Most participants were male (60.3%), with an average age equal to 38 ± 11.06 years, having a bachelor's degree (61.0%) from humanity colleges (43.6%). The highest proportion of the participants were reported to be without chronic diseases and not under chronic medications (57.1%). This study revealed a low knowledge score regarding OTC drug brand names (2.86 ± 0.99 out of five) and unfavorable attitudes toward OTC medicines (2.68 ±1.04 out of five). However, the study finds a significant relationship between the level of education and knowledge and attitude toward OTC drug brand names (p-value < 0.001). Bachelor's holder participants had the lowest knowledge of OTC drug brand names, whereas the worst attitude was reported among below diploma participants. Many participants held misconceptions about OTC drug brand names that lead to consumption of the same drugs under different brand names at the same time; especially OTC analgesics.

Conclusion

Low levels of knowledge and unfavorable attitudes regarding OTC drug use from different brand names were reported. Increasing the awareness of the community and enhancing the role of physicians and pharmacists in OTC drug consumption may lead to decrease the misuse of these drugs.

Patients' insights into unused medications during the COVID-19 outbreak: A qualitative study

Background

The COVID-19 outbreak had significant global healthcare implications, including the use of medications. This is specifically evident in the surge in use of some medication and a decline in the use of others. As a result, some medications end up unused, which may have subsequent health, economic, and environmental impacts.

Aim

To explore patients' insights into unused medications during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Materials and methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 patients attending various public and private healthcare facilities in Qatar between January and July 2021. A thematic analysis approach was utilized, with 2 researchers independently analyzing, comparing, and discussing the coding. The resulting themes were further discussed in research group meetings until a consensus was reached.

Results

Seven themes emerged: awareness of unused medications and their impacts on health, economy, and the environment; barriers contributing to nonadherence/unused medications; sources of medications; factors facilitating medication use; patients' behaviors toward donated medications/reuse; patients' awareness of medication storage requirements; and patients' desire to appropriately dispose of unused medications.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted medication supply and adherence, resulting in an increase in unused medications and inappropriate disposal. Adherence is crucial for improving patients' health and preserving medications. Implementing mail-return systems for unused medications could be a viable solution during disease outbreaks.

Upregulation of key factors of viral entry of corona- and influenza viruses upon TLR3-signaling in cells from the respiratory tract and clinical treatment options by 1,8-Cineol

At the end of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), highly contagious variants of coronaviruses had emerged. Together with influenza viruses, different variants of the coronavirus currently cause most colds and require appropriate drug treatment. We have investigated the expression of important factors for the replication of these viruses, namely transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2), neuropilin1 (NRP1), and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) after toll like receptor-3 (TLR-3) stimulation using RT-qPCR and flow cytometry (FC) analysis. As model served primary fibroblasts derived from the lung and nasal cavity, as well as epidermal stem cells and fully matured respiratory epithelium. The stimulated cell cultures were treated with pharmaceuticals (Dexamethasone and Enzalutamide) and the outcome was compared with the phytomedicine 1,8-Cineol. The stimulation of TLR3 is sufficient to induce the expression of exactly those targets that were highly expressed in the corresponding culture type, specifically ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in respiratory epithelial stem cells and NRP1 in fibroblast cells. It seems this self-perpetuating cycle of infection-driven upregulation of key viral replication factors by the innate immune system represents an evolutionary advantage for viruses using these transcripts as viral replication factors. Likewise, to the standard pharmaceuticals with proven clinical efficiency, 1,8-Cineol was able to disrupt this self-perpetuating cycle. Considering the minor side effects and negligible pharmacological interactions with other drugs, it is conceivable that an adjuvant or combinatorial therapy with 1,8-Cineol for respiratory diseases caused by corona- or influenza viruses would be beneficial.

Application of smart chemometric models for spectra resolution and determination of challenging multi-action quaternary mixture: statistical comparison with greenness assessment

A multivariate spectrophotometric method is a potential approach that enables discrimination of spectra of components in complex matrices (e.g., pharmaceutical formulation) serving as a substitution method for chromatography. Four green smart multivariate spectrophotometric models were proposed and validated, including principal component regression (PCR), partial least-squares (PLS), multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS), and artificial neural networks (ANN). The developed chemometric models were compared to resolve highly overlapping spectra of Paracetamol (PARA), Chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM), Caffeine (CAF), and Ascorbic acid (ASC). The four multivariate calibration models were assessed via recoveries percent, and root mean square error of prediction. Hence, the proposed models were efficiently applied with no need for any preliminary separation step. The models were utilized to analyze the studied components in their combined pharmaceutical formulation (Grippostad® C capsules). Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach (AGREE) and eco-scale tools were applied to assess the greenness of the established models and found to be 0.77 and 85, respectively. Moreover, the proposed models have been compared to official ones showing no considerable variations in accuracy and precision. Therefore, these models can be highly advantageous for conducting standard pharmaceutical analysis of the substances researched within product testing laboratories.