Predictors of Burnout in Hospital Health Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea.

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence the components of burnout-emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA)-among hospital health workers, including doctors and nurses, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed 200 healthcare workers' responses to the Employee Health Promotion Survey conducted at a general hospital in Seoul with over 200 hospital beds. The questionnaire included items about COVID-19-related burnout and its influencing factors. We performed three different multiple regression analyses using EE, DP, and PA as the dependent variables. The results show that sex, marital status, workload of treating suspected COVID-19 patients, fear of COVID-19 infection, anxiety, and depression predicted EE. The predictors of DP were job category, consecutive months of work in the current department, satisfaction with work environment, anxiety, and depression. The predictors of PA were the workload of directly interacting with patients, socioeconomic status, and job stress. For EE and DP, burnout was found to be worse in doctors and nurses than in other health workers; moreover, burnout was worse among nurses than among doctors across all three aspects of burnout. The findings can be used to establish tailored policies to address each burnout component.

GABAB-Receptor Agonist-Based Immunotherapy for Type 1 Diabetes in NOD Mice.

Some immune system cells express type A and/or type B γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAA-Rs and/or GABAB-Rs). Treatment with GABA, which activates both GABAA-Rs and GABAB-Rs), and/or a GABAA-R-specific agonist inhibits disease progression in mouse models of type 1 diabetes (T1D), multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and COVID-19. Little is known about the clinical potential of specifically modulating GABAB-Rs. Here, we tested lesogaberan, a peripherally restricted GABAB-R agonist, as an interventive therapy in diabetic NOD mice. Lesogaberan treatment temporarily restored normoglycemia in most newly diabetic NOD mice. Combined treatment with a suboptimal dose of lesogaberan and proinsulin/alum immunization in newly diabetic NOD mice or a low-dose anti-CD3 in severely hyperglycemic NOD mice greatly increased T1D remission rates relative to each monotherapy. Mice receiving combined lesogaberan and anti-CD3 displayed improved glucose tolerance and, unlike mice that received anti-CD3 alone, had some islets with many insulin+ cells, suggesting that lesogaberan helped to rapidly inhibit ß-cell destruction. Hence, GABAB-R-specific agonists may provide adjunct therapies for T1D. Finally, the analysis of microarray and RNA-Seq databases suggested that the expression of GABAB-Rs and GABAA-Rs, as well as GABA production/secretion-related genes, may be a more common feature of immune cells than currently recognized.