ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether colchicine treatment was associated with the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: We present a post hoc analysis from a double-blinded placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial (RCT) on the effect of colchicine for the treatment of COVID-19. Serum levels of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome products-active caspase-1 (Casp1p20), IL-1ß, and IL-18-were assessed at enrollment and after 48-72 h of treatment in patients receiving standard-of-care (SOC) plus placebo vs. those receiving SOC plus colchicine. The colchicine regimen was 0.5 mg tid for 5 days, followed by 0.5 mg bid for another 5 days. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients received SOC plus colchicine, and thirty-six received SOC plus placebo. Colchicine reduced the need for supplemental oxygen and the length of hospitalization. On Days 2-3, colchicine lowered the serum levels of Casp1p20 and IL-18, but not IL-1ß. CONCLUSION: Treatment with colchicine inhibited the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, an event triggering the 'cytokine storm' in COVID-19. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: RBR-8jyhxh.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Inflammasomes , Humans , Inflammasomes/metabolism , NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism , Interleukin-18 , NLR Proteins , Colchicine/therapeutic use , Interleukin-1beta/metabolismABSTRACT
Virtual sensing models have been used to generate synthetic data and provide complementary information. However, with the increase in cases related to COVID-19 and the lockdown, a problematic factor is that virtual sensing models may produce different results than they should since the environment has become better with the decrease in traffic conditions and industrial production. Therefore, this article will evaluate virtual sensing models for the city of Sao Paulo, using pre-pandemic and pandemic data in a lockdown scenario. As a result, we analyzed that even with these behavioral changes in the city, the pre-pandemic model produced similar results to the lockdown period model.
ABSTRACT
Prevent and control healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is a priority in healthcare assistance, not only due to present COVID-19 pandemic. Annually, around 3.2 million patients are affected by one of these infections and it is estimated that without controlling them, by 2050, 10 million more people could die every year, with especial relevance among elderly with infectious situations representing a third of mortality in people over 65 years old. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in healthcare area have an important role in this panorama, by preparing students to be future professionals, stimulating them to have an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to today’s real-life challenges. A mixed-methods research was conducted, at European level (in Portugal, Finland, Poland and Spain), to facilitate learning of good practices on HAIs prevention and control while developing innovative solutions. 1475 participants were enrolled, from all partner HEI: 79 professors and mentors were interviewed (individual or focus group), 1326 final year nursing students made a self-report inventory (application of InovSafeCare Scale) and 70 students participated on focus group (agile piloting of the Model). The result of this research is a pedagogical model that mixes dimensions and methods that take nursing students closer to the demands of HAIs prevention and control and capacitates them to transfer knowledge to work settings with an innovative and entrepreneurial perspective – the InovSafeCare Model. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.