Variables Associated With In-Hospital Lethality in COVID-19: A Prospective Cohort Study From Colombia.

INTRODUCTION: The emergence of COVID-19 represents the most significant health crisis in recent history. Incidence and mortality rates depend on several factors. Many studies have focused on investigating which characteristics could be strongly related to higher mortality and lethality. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the variables associated with in-hospital mortality among patients admitted in a reference northeastern region of a Colombian institution. METHODS: An ambidirectional cohort, single-center study was carried out in a reference hospital in northeastern Colombia. All patients admitted to the Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander (FOSCAL) between March 2020 and September 2021, with COVID-19 real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive test, were included. RESULTS: A total of 3,028 patients were included, of whom 2,034 (67.8%) survived and 994 (32.8%) died during their hospital stay; 48.8% (1,479) of the patients were female. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (1,236 patients, 40.8%), obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30; 656 patients, 21.6%), and diabetes (618 patients, 20.4%). The average age of the surviving patients was 52.2 years, while for the deceased patients, it was 70.3 years. The variables that showed significant association with in-hospital mortality were as follows: male sex ≥ 45 years, dyspnea, oxygen saturation (SatO2) < 85%, hypertension, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and a Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score of >1. CONCLUSIONS: Male sex, age ≥ 45 years, dyspnea, SatO2 < 85%, hypertension, CKD, and a CCI score of >1 were associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19-infected patients.

Early protein restriction in rats induces anhedonia in adult offspring: A key role of BDNF-TrkB signaling in the nucleus accumbens shell.

Clinical evidence suggests that early malnutrition promotes symptoms related to psychiatric disorders later in life. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms underpinning nutritional injury induce depression remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether perinatal protein restriction increases vulnerability to developing depressive-like behavior in adulthood by focusing on anhedonia, a core symptom of depression. To this, male adult Wistar rats submitted to a protein restriction schedule at perinatal age (PR-rats), were subjected to the sucrose preference test (SPT), the novel object recognition test (NORT), the forced swim test (FST), and the elevated plus maze (EPM), and compared to animals fed with a normoprotein diet. To investigate neurobiological substrates linked to early protein undernutrition-facilitated depressive-like behavior, we assessed the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor TrkB in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and evaluated the reversal of anhedonic-like behavior by infusing ANA-12. We found that early malnutrition decreased sucrose preference, impaired performance in the NORT and increased immobility time in the FST. Furthermore, perinatal protein-restriction-induced anhedonia correlated with increased BDNF and p-TrkB protein levels in the NAc, a core structure in the reward circuit linked with anhedonia. Finally, bilateral infusion of the TrkB antagonist ANA-12 into the NAc shell ameliorated a reduced sucrose preference in the PR-rats. Altogether, these findings revealed that protein restriction during pregnancy and lactation facilitates depressive-like behavior later in life and may increase the risk of developing anhedonia by altering BDNF-TrkB in the NAc shell.

Treatment patterns in fibromyalgia including the use of opioids.

OBJECTIVE: Opioids (except for tramadol) have not been shown to be effective in patients with fibromyalgia, but they can increase the risk of adverse drug reactions. The aim was to determine the treatment patterns of a group of patients with fibromyalgia and to identify the factors associated with the use of opioids in Colombia. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of a group of patients with fibromyalgia from a pain clinic in Colombia. Sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacological variables were identified. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 559 patients were analysed, 88.6% of whom were women, and the mean age was 53.4 ± 12.6 years. A total of 40.6% received nonpharmacological management, and the majority were treated with acetaminophen (96.1%) and pregabalin (62.8%). A total of 69.6% received opioids, the most common of which was hydrocodone (36.3%). The average morphine equivalent milligrammes was 36.9 ± 91.2 (range: 2.3-750 mg), and 43.8% had intermediate/high doses. Being male (OR: 3.12; 95% CI: 1.40-6.91), having arterial hypertension (OR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.04-2.69), obesity (OR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.18-4.24), degenerative disease of vertebral discs (OR: 2.32; 95% CI: 1.10-4.88) and comedication with gabapentinoids (OR: 1.75; 95% CI: 1,15-2.65) were associated with a higher probability of receiving opioids, while patients treated with muscle relaxants had a lower risk of opioid treatment (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.41-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of patients were treated with opioids, the most common of which was hydrocodone, which goes against the recommendations of clinical practice guidelines.

Consumo de licopeno en varones adultos de Panamá: relacionado a un alto consumo de productos ultra-procesados derivados del tomate / Lycopene consumption related to a high consumption of ultra-processed foods derived from tomatoes among Panamanian adult males

RESUMEN Antecedentes: En Panamá se desconoce el consumo de licopeno en la dieta usual de población masculina adulta. Varios estudios reportan la relación entre el consumo de licopeno y el cáncer de próstata. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la ingesta de licopeno en varones adultos que acuden a dos Centros de Salud de la Provincia de Panamá. En un estudio analítico y transversal, participaron 130 hombres adultos (18-70 años) perteneciente a los Centros de Salud de Pueblo Nuevo y Parque Lefevre de Ciudad de Panamá en marzo-agosto 2018. Se aplicó cuestionario sociodemográfico y frecuencia de consumo semi-cuantitativa de 12 alimentos conocidos como fuentes de licopeno. Se realizó regresión lineal multivariada empleando método de paso a paso. Resultados: La media geométrica y rango de ± 1DE para ingesta de licopeno fue 6,8(2,5-18,6) mg/día. Sin embargo, en sujetos indígenas, ingesta de licopeno fue 3,4(0,8-14,4) mg/día. Luego de ajustar por edad, lugar, ingresos económicos y errores estándares robustos, pertenecer a una etnia indígena se asoció negativamente con ingesta dietética de licopeno, β= −4,8 mg/día; e IC95%= −9,4 a −0,2 mg/día. Conclusión: La ingesta de licopeno se encuentra dentro de rangos esperados. El mayor consumo se encontró en alimentos ultra-procesados derivados del tomate.

ABSTRACT Background: In Panama, the dietary consumption of lycopene of the male population is unknown. Several studies report the relationship between lycopene consumption and prostate cancer. Objective: To determine the intake of lycopene in adult males who attend two primary health facilities the Province of Panama. Material and methods: We conducted an analytical and cross-sectional study of 130 males (18-70 years) who attend the Pueblo Nuevo and Parque Lefevre health facilities in Panama City. The study was carried-out from March to August 2018. A sociodemographic survey and a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire were applied and multivariable linear regression using stepwise method was used. Results: The geometric mean and range (±1SD) of the total lycopene consumption was 6.8 (2.5-18.6) mg/day of lycopene. However, in indigenous people, lycopene intake was 3.4 (0.8-14.4) mg/day. After adjustment by age, place, income and standard robust errors, indigenous ethnicity was negatively associated with lycopene dietary intake, β= −4.8 mg/day; and 95% CI= −9.4 to-0.2 mg/day Conclusion: Lycopene intake is within the expected ranges. Indigenous ethnicity was negatively associated with lycopene dietary intake. The highest consumption was found in tomato-derived processed foods.

Evaluation of VEGF gene polymorphisms and proliferative diabetic retinopathy in Mexican population.

AIM: To assess if the included vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphisms rs3025035, rs3025021 and rs2010963 are associated to proliferative retinopathy in a Mexican population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in adult individuals with T2DM associated to proliferative retinopathy or non-proliferative retinopathy from Oct. 2014 to Jun. 2015 from the Retina Department of the Asociation to Prevent Blindness in Mexico. The selected patients were adults with a diagnosis of T2DM ≥5y. All subjects had a comprehensive ocular examination and the classification of the retinopathy severity was made considering the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) standardization protocols. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole fresh blood. All samples were genotyped by qPCR for selected VEGF polymorphisms. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was calculated by comparing Chi-square values between the expected and the observed values for genotype counts. RESULTS: In total 142 individuals were enrolled, 71 individuals with T2DM and associated proliferative retinopathy and 71 individuals with non-proliferative retinopathy. One-sided Fisher's exact test was performed for rs3025021 [OR (95% CI)=0.44(0.08-2.2); P=0.25] and rs2010963 [OR (95% CI)=0.63(0.25-1.6); P=0.23]. The minor allelic frequencies obtained were 26% for rs3025021, 10% for rs3025035 and 61% for rs2010963. The pairwise linkage disequilibrium between the three SNP was assessed, and was as follows: rs3025021 vs rs3025035: D'=1.0, r2=0.1043, P≤0.0001; rs3025021 vs rs2010963: D'=0.442, r2=0.0446, P=0.149; rs3025035 vs rs2010963: D'=0.505, r2=0.0214, P=0.142. CONCLUSION: This is the first analysis involving VEGF polymorphisms and proliferative diabetic retinopathy in a Mexican population. A major finding of the present study is that none of the polymorphisms studied was significantly associated with proliferative retinopathy. Based on these results, we can infer that different populations have different associations for the same polymorphisms.

Effect of doping in carbon nanotubes on the viability of biomimetic chitosan-carbon nanotubes-hydroxyapatite scaffolds.

This work describes the preparation and characterization of biomimetic chitosan/multiwall carbon nanotubes/nano-hydroxyapatite (CTS/MWCNT/nHAp) scaffolds and their viability for bone tissue engineering applications. The cryogenic process ice segregation-induced self-assembly (ISISA) was used to fabricate 3D biomimetic CTS scaffolds. Proper combination of cryogenics, freeze-drying, nature and molecular ratio of solutes give rise to 3D porous interconnected scaffolds with clusters of nHAp distributed along the scaffold surface. The effect of doping in CNT (e.g. with oxygen and nitrogen atoms) on cell viability was tested. Under the same processing conditions, pore size was in the range of 20-150 µm and irrespective on the type of CNT. Studies on cell viability with scaffolds were carried out using human cells from periosteum biopsy. Prior to cell seeding, the immunophenotype of mesenchymal periosteum or periosteum-derived stem cells (MSCs-PCs) was characterized by flow cytometric analysis using fluorescence-activated and characteristic cell surface markers for MSCs-PCs. The characterized MSCs-PCs maintained their periosteal potential in cell cultures until the 2nd passage from primary cell culture. Thus, the biomimetic CTS/MWCNT/nHAp scaffolds demonstrated good biocompatibility and cell viability in all cases such that it can be considered as promising biomaterials for bone tissue engineering.