Impact of Elevated Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 (FGF23) on the Cardiovascular System: A Comprehensive Systematic Literature Review.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are a type of cell signaling proteins that are mostly produced by macrophages. They are essential for a variety of biological activities involved in normal development. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is the newest and youngest member of the FGF endocrine subfamily, along with fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). In this study, we conduct a systematic review of all known literature to identify the risk of elevated FGF23 in the cardiovascular system. The analysis includes the risk of cardiovascular disease for both primary and secondary causes of elevated FGF23, such as chronic renal insufficiency. This systematic literature review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) standards. A total of 4,793 records were identified across different databases. After that, 273 records were retrieved and reviewed. After carefully examining the titles and summaries of each report, 249 additional entries were eliminated. About 24 studies from the remaining records were chosen by primary and secondary authors for screening, and they performed a quality assessment using common quality check tools. Finally, this review included 11 studies. Following a thorough analysis, we came to the conclusion that FGF23 can be regarded as a novel biomarker and should be included in the group of heart biomarkers that have already been identified, such as B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), for the early identification of a variety of highly prevalent cardiovascular disorders.

Time-Restricted Feeding and Intermittent Fasting as Preventive Therapeutics: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Multiple studies have shown that intermittent fasting (IF) is associated with better health conditions and longer lifespans, as is time-restricted feeding (TRF). One crucial explanation is that IF and TRF permit a set length of time for caloric ingestion, during which our systems activate a variety of mechanisms that lead to the enhancement and renewal of different body systems. Accordingly, the benefits of IF and TRF are a lot greater than those of complete calorie restriction (CR). Accordingly, TRF and IF offered the underpinnings for human studies that revealed that when we eat and when we are fasting, we experience fluctuations in all body systems. For relevant medical literature, we investigated medical databases such as PubMed/Medline, PubMed Central, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. The chosen articles were evaluated based on eligibility criteria and vetted by quality evaluation methods; 15 finished research papers were included in the study. Of the 15 recognized studies, four were systematic reviews of literature, and 11 were review articles. The chosen publications all examined the efficacy and comparability with other restrictive diets. The study articles indicated that the advantages of IF and TRF represent complex interplay involving periodic digestion of food, gut flora, and the circadian clock. Accordingly, further research is necessary to get a comprehensive grasp of this very complex molecular blueprint. This could aid in producing an effectively planned food treatment that can regulate numerous chronic health ailments and disorders. Furthermore, it might lead to the development and investigation of new pharmacological medicines that mimic the nutritional and therapeutic benefits of IF for those who are unwilling or unable to follow this kind of feeding regimen.

Physical Activity as a Lifestyle Modification in Patients With Multiple Comorbidities: Emphasizing More on Obese, Prediabetic, and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

In this research, physical activity (PA) was shown to be inversely associated with the incidence of diabetes. This emphasizes the relevance of PA in diabetes prevention lifestyle intervention initiatives and encourages healthcare practitioners to advise high-risk patients on a healthy lifestyle combining PA for the reduction of weight in prediabetic, obese, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. The link between PA and diabetes was stronger in people with moderate or higher baseline PA, reflecting national recommendations that imply increasing activity levels may provide larger advantages for those who are comparatively less active. An intensive lifestyle intervention of eating healthier foods and increasing PA resulted in an effective decrease in weight and waist circumference after one year, which has high potential in the long term to prevent T2DM and different comorbidities such as obesity. Studies such as PRomotion Of Physical activity through structured Education with differing Levels of ongoing Support for those with prediabetes (PROPELS) demonstrate that the combination of PA interventions with telemedicine follow-ups results in ambulatory activity changes in the first year, but these changes do not last longer than four years. Acute PA practicing regularly will reduce postprandial glucose excursions. However, it is unknown what type of PA routine will benefit the most from reducing postprandial glucose levels. There are no discernible variations in the effects of different disciplines of training on glucose levels, mainly when the data are compared across time. The combination of a healthy diet and lifestyle with programs based on diabetes prevention results in comparable and clinically significant mean weight reduction with cardiometabolic advantages. Based on the reviewed and cited studies, PA in patients at high risk of T2DM and obese and non-obese patients with T2DM results in favorable outcomes in the first few months. There is a large gap in investigations of the effects of PA in these patients and the benefits of other lifestyle modifications in long-term-based studies. However, in this study, we emphasize the importance of lifestyle modifications, putting in perspective principally the PA that the majority of patients with comorbidities do not practice, especially those with obesity, prediabetes, and T2DM. Thus, it would be necessary to conduct long-interval studies such as randomized clinical trials, where a better outcome can be given about intervals based on daily exercise times and the type of exercise in conjunction with diets that will have the greatest benefit, focusing more on the subjects that our research mentioned.

Recurrent Multidrug-Resistant Clostridium difficile Infection Secondary to Ulcerative Colitis a Case Report.

IBD consists of two diseases-CD and UC-that affect the digestive tract, with a greater affinity for the large bowel. In this case report, we focus on one of its most common complications. CDI is a pathology that is mostly secondary to UC. Another cause of this bacterial infection is established after the use of antibiotics, most commonly at the hospital level. Around 20 percent of CDI persists because of a chronic dysbiosis of the microbiota and low levels of antibodies against CD toxins. In this case report, we demonstrated mdCDI in a young woman after treatment with multiple drug therapies as well as with semi-invasive procedures as follows: antibiotics (vancomycin, fidaxomicin), anti-inflammatory agents (mesalamine, sulfasalazine), corticosteroids (budesonide, prednisone), integrin receptor antagonists (vedolizumab), several semi-invasive procedures such as fecal transplant microbiota (FMT), aminosalicylates (5-ASA), treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers (adalimumab, golimumab), and immunomodulators (upadcitinib, tofacitinib). This leads us to establish how rCDI and its resistance to different treatments make this a challenge for the health system, both for hospitals and for outpatients, as well as how time-consuming each treatment is from the first intake of the drug until its total efficacy or until patients reach a dose-response and time-response to the disease. Accordingly, this case report and other similar cases reflect the need for randomized control trials or meta-analyses to establish therapeutic guidelines for cases of mdCDI in the near future.

The Effectiveness of Ablation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review.

It is expected that the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia among people aged 65 to 85, would be mostly classified using the CHAS2DS2-VASc approach for anticoagulation therapy. A high number of people in the entire world will be living with AF by 2030. Long-term follow-up data are sparse, although radiofrequency catheter ablation (CA) for symptomatic AF patients has the potential to be a curative therapy. Although women are referred later and less often than men, the outcomes following ablation are comparable across both genders. Health-related quality of life suffers from AF, and patients often find themselves less active as a result of their condition. AF may have a wide variety of symptoms and signs from the clinic's point of view. Women are more likely to exhibit symptoms than men; one reason for this is that women have an average QT interval that is 10-20 milliseconds longer than men, which is more likely to exacerbate tachycardia symptoms. In search of medical databases for relevant medical literature, we looked at PubMed/Medline, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. Ten publications were gathered after the papers were located, assessed, and qualifying criteria applied were used to select them. The finished articles were done to give an overview of the effectiveness of ablation therapy for AF. Some studies showed that there was no statistical significance between invasive and pharmacological treatments. Other research found no difference in the recurrence of atrial arrhythmia between pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) CA alone and PVI + enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided fibrosis ablation in individuals with persistent AF. The oldest individuals in studies comparing CA to medical treatment for AF demonstrated no improvement in prognosis after CA. Also, complications from therapy and CA's efficacy in preventing future atrial arrhythmias were similarly low across all age groups. Based on the above, we concluded that more studies are required to establish the most effective approach to treating AF to apply it in daily practice and gain more knowledge about it.

An Unexpected Association of Primary Biliary Cholangitis in a Male Patient With Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a genetic disorder that leads to various long-term complications. However, we are describing an association between this patient's condition and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). A 55-year-old male patient presented to our clinic with PBC, demonstrating the importance of how PBC can be clinically asymptomatic and the importance of the criteria given to diagnose the disease. We encourage physicians to periodically check all ADPKD patients to guard against asymptomatic problems that might endanger their health in the future.