Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a prototypical serotonergic psychedelic drug and the subject of many clinical investigations. In recent years, a range of lysergamides has emerged with the production of some being inspired by the existing scientific literature. Others, for example various 1-acyl substituted lysergamides, did not exist before their appearance as research chemicals. 1-Cylopropanoyl-LSD (1CP-LSD) has recently emerged as a new addition to the group of lysergamide-based designer drugs and is believed to be psychoactive in humans. In this investigation, 1CP-LSD was subjected to detailed analytical characterizations including various mass spectrometry (MS) platforms, gas and liquid chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, solid phase and GC condensed phase infrared spectroscopy. Analysis by GC-MS also revealed the detection of artificially induced degradation products. Incubation of 1CP-LSD with human serum led to the formation of LSD, indicating that it may act as a prodrug for LSD in vivo, similar to other 1-acyl substituted lysergamides. The analysis of blotters and pellets is also included. 1CP-LSD also induces the head-twitch response (HTR) in C57BL/6J mice, indicating that it produces an LSD-like behavioural profile. 1CP-LSD induced the HTR with an ED₅₀ = 430.0 nmol/kg which was comparable with 1P-LSD (ED₅₀ = 349.6 nmol/kg) investigated previously. Clinical studies are required to determine the potency and profile of effects produced by 1CP-LSD in humans.

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PMID: 32180350 DOI: 10.1002/dta.

Faith Osier, President of the IUIS — International Union of Immunological Societies, calls on researchers to share knowledge and resources to halt the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as she launches an expert commentary and webinar series on scientific and civil responses to the outbreak.

See all interviews: https://fro.ntiers.in/yDH4

There have been 68 recent deaths of residents and nurses from the facility in a small New Jersey town.

Another study, by America’s Centers for Disease Control of over 7,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus, found that just 1.3 per cent of them were smokers — against the 14 per cent of all Americans that the CDC says smoke.

The study also found that the smokers stood no greater chance of ending up in hospital or an ICU.

The reasons for this are unclear.

Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported Thursday after it obtained a video of a conversation about the trial.

The patients taking part in a clinical trial of the drug have all had severe respiratory symptoms and fever, but were able to leave the hospital after less than a week of treatment, STAT quoted the doctor leading the trial as saying.

“The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish,” Dr. Kathleen Mullane, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago who is leading the clinical trial, said in the video.

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One of the defining features of Covid-19 is the excessive immune response that can occur in severe cases. This burst of immune overreaction, also called a cytokine storm, damages the lungs and can be fatal.

A team of MIT researchers has developed specialized proteins, similar in structure to antibodies, that they believe could soak up these excess cytokines.

“The idea is that they can be injected into the body and bind to the excessive cytokines as generated by the cytokine storm, removing the excessive cytokines and alleviating the symptoms from the infection,” says Rui Qing, an MIT research scientist who is one of the senior authors of the study.