Safety Assessment of Monosaccharides, Disaccharides, and Related Ingredients as Used in Cosmetics

Assessment of COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction and its association with psychological, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive symptoms

Purpose of review

To provide a detailed overview of the assessment of COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction and its association with psychological, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive symptoms.

Recent findings

COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction can have a detrimental impact to the quality of life of patients. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, olfactory and taste disorders were a common but under-rated, under-researched and under-treated sensory loss. The pandemic has exacerbated the current unmet need for accessing good healthcare for patients living with olfactory disorders and other symptoms secondary to COVID-19. This review thus explores the associations that COVID-19 has with psychological, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive symptoms, and provide a framework and rationale for the assessment of patients presenting with COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction.

Summary

Acute COVID-19 infection and long COVID is not solely a disease of the respiratory and vascular systems. These two conditions have strong associations with psychological, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive symptoms. A systematic approach with history taking and examination particularly with nasal endoscopy can determine the impact that this has on the patient. Specific olfactory disorder questionnaires can demonstrate the impact on quality of life, while psychophysical testing can objectively assess and monitor olfaction over time. The role of cross-sectional imaging is not yet described for COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction. Management options are limited to conservative adjunctive measures, with some medical therapies described.

Effect of Sodium Gluconate on Decreasing Elevated Nasal Calcium and Improving Olfactory Function Post COVID-19 Infection

Background

COVID-19 has been associated with temporary olfactory dysfunction in many infected patients. Calcium plays a great role in the olfaction process with negative feedback for the olfaction transmission. Many reports demonstrated calcium elevation in the nasal secretions with a negative effect on olfaction. Sodium gluconate is a water-soluble salt with a chemical structure that lends to act as a highly efficient chelating agent. It can bind the elevated calcium in the nasal secretions reducing the adverse effects on olfactory function.

Objective

To evaluate the impact of intranasal sodium gluconate on decreasing the rise of nasal calcium and improving the sense of smell in patients with olfactory dysfunction post-COVID-19 infection.

Methods

Fifty patients with a history of confirmed COVID-19 suffering from olfactory dysfunction persisted more than 90 days after severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 negative testing were included in a prospective randomized blinded controlled clinical trial. Patients were divided into 2 equal groups, receiving either 0.9% sodium chloride or 1% sodium gluconate. Olfactory function was assessed before treatment and 1 month later using the Sniffin’ Sticks test. Quantitative analysis of the nasal calcium concentration was performed before treatment and 1 month later using a laboratory-designed screen-printed ion-selective electrode.

Results

After using sodium gluconate, the measured olfactory scores indicated a clinical improvement from anosmia to hyposmia compared to the nonimprovement sodium chloride receiving group. Also, a remarked decrease in the calcium nasal concentration was observed after using sodium gluconate compared to sodium chloride.

Conclusion

Based on the proposed results, sodium gluconate may associate with an improvement of the olfactory dysfunction post-COVID-19 infection.

Potential of Fermented Fruit Peel Liquid in Cosmetics as a Skin Care Agent

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-UVB of three kinds of fermented fruit peel extracts by pectinase enzyme, including pomegranate, pomelo, and banana peel. The antioxidant was evaluated by the DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging method. Antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was assessed by disk diffusion assay, and the photoprotective activity was measured using a photospectrometric method. The results revealed that pomegranate peel extract at 3000 IU/g peel exhibited potent free radical scavenging property against DPPH, with the smallest IC50 value at 0.18%, which was better than that of pomelo peel extract at 55.79%. Furthermore, the results suggested that the pomegranate peel extract also exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli better than pomelo peel extract, but none of the three samples shows the antibacterial capacity against S. aureus. Moreover, 10% pomegranate peel extract also expressed the strongest anti-UVB activity, with an SPF value of 36.582. The research demonstrates pomegranate peel’s bioactivity potential for further experiments.