Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictor of the Risk of Death in Severe Cases of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Identifying clinical characteristics and risk factors, comorbid conditions, and complications arising from SARS-CoV-2 infection is important to predict the progression to more severe forms of the disease among hospitalized individuals to enable timely intervention and to prevent fatal outcomes. The aim of the study is to assess the possible role of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a biomarker of the risk of death in patients with comorbidities hospitalized with COVID-19 in a tertiary hospital in southern Brazil. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study on patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to a hospital in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre from September 2020 to March 2022. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 185 patients with associated comorbidities, namely, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, cardiovascular, pulmonary, and renal diseases, hospitalized with COVID-19. Of these, 78 died and 107 were discharged alive. The mean age was 66.5 years for the group that died and 60.1 years for the group discharged. Statistical analysis revealed that a difference greater than or equal to 1.55 in the NLR, from hospitalization to the 5th day, was associated with a relative risk of death greater than 2. CONCLUSIONS: Measuring a simple inflammatory marker such as NLR may improve the risk stratification of comorbid patients with COVID-19 and can be considered a useful biomarker.

Tumor-neutrophil crosstalk promotes in vitro and in vivo glioblastoma progression.

Introduction: The tumor microenvironment (TME) of glioblastoma (GB) is characterized by an increased infiltration of immunosuppressive cells that attenuate the antitumor immune response. The participation of neutrophils in tumor progression is still controversial and a dual role in the TME has been proposed. In this study, we show that neutrophils are reprogrammed by the tumor to ultimately promote GB progression. Methods: Using in vitro and in vivo assays, we demonstrate the existence of bidirectional GB and neutrophil communication, directly promoting an immunosuppressive TME. Results and discussion: Neutrophils have shown to play an important role in tumor malignancy especially in advanced 3D tumor model and Balb/c nude mice experiments, implying a time- and neutrophil concentration-dependent modulation. Studying the tumor energetic metabolism indicated a mitochondria mismatch shaping the TME secretome. The given data suggests a cytokine milieu in patients with GB that favors the recruitment of neutrophils, sustaining an anti-inflammatory profile which is associated with poor prognosis. Besides, glioma-neutrophil crosstalk has sustained a tumor prolonged activation via NETs formation, indicating the role of NFκB signaling in tumor progression. Moreover, clinical samples have indicated that neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), IL-1ß, and IL-10 are associated with poor outcomes in patients with GB. Conclusion: These results are relevant for understanding how tumor progression occurs and how immune cells can help in this process.

Chronic brain hypoperfusion causes early glial activation and neuronal death, and subsequent long-term memory impairment.

Reduction of cerebral blood flow is an important risk factor for dementia states and other brain dysfunctions. In present study, the effects of permanent occlusion of common carotid arteries (2VO), a well established experimental model of brain ischemia, on memory function were investigated, as assessed by reference and working spatial memory protocols and the object recognition task; cell damage to the hippocampus, as measured through changes in immunoreactivity for GFAP and the neuronal marker NeuN was also studied. The working hypothesis is that metabolic impairment following hypoperfusion will affect neuron and glial function and result in functional damage. Adult male Wistar rats were submitted to the modified 2VO method, with the right common carotid artery being occluded first and the left one week later, and tested seven days, three and six months after the ischemic event. A significant cognitive deficit was found in both reference and working spatial memory, as well as in the object recognition task, three and six months after surgery. Neuronal death and reactive astrogliosis were already present at 7 days and continued for up to 3 months after the occlusion; interestingly, there was no significant reduction in hippocampal volume. Present data suggests that cognitive impairment caused by brain hypoperfusion is long - lasting and persists beyond the time point of recovery from glial activation and neuronal loss.

Comparative study between cortical bone graft versus bone dust for reconstruction of cranial burr holes.

BACKGROUND: As a consequence of the progressive evolution of neurosurgical techniques, there has been increasing concern with the esthetic aspects of burr holes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the use of cortical bone graft and bone dust for correcting cranial deformities caused by neurosurgical trephines. METHODS: Twenty-three patients were enrolled for cranial burr hole reconstruction with a 1-year follow-up. A total of 108 burr holes were treated; 36 burr holes were reconstructed with autogenous cortical bone discs (33.3%), and the remaining 72 with autogenous wet bone powder (66.6%). A trephine was specifically designed to produce this coin-shaped bone plug of 14 mm in diameter, which fit perfectly over the burr holes. The reconstructions were studied 12 months after the surgical procedure, using three-dimensional quantitative computed tomography. Additionally, general and plastic surgeons blinded for the study evaluated the cosmetic results of those areas, attributing scores from 0 to 10. RESULTS: The mean bone densities were 987.95 ± 186.83 Hounsfield units (HU) for bone fragment and 473.55 ± 220.34 HU for bone dust (P < 0.001); the mean cosmetic scores were 9.5 for bone fragment and 5.7 for bone dust (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of autologous bone discs showed better results than bone dust for the reconstruction of cranial burr holes because of their lower degree of bone resorption and, consequently, better cosmetic results. The lack of donor site morbidity associated with procedural low cost qualifies the cortical autograft as the first choice for correcting cranial defects created by neurosurgical trephines.