Study of Clinical and Biological Characteristics of Moroccan Covid-19 Patients With and Without Olfactory and/or Gustatory Dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: The epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), presents a significant and urgent threat to global health. This alarming viral infection, declared as pandemic by the WHO in February 2020, has resulted millions of infected patients and thousands of deaths around the world. In Morocco, despite the efforts made by the authorities, the SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread and constitutes a burden of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to describe clinical characteristics of COVID-19 Moroccan patients and to establish the relationship between specific clinical symptoms, namely ageusia and/or anosmia, with these characteristics. METHODS: We performed a descriptive, non-interventional cross-sectional study analyzing data from 108 patients admitted to the VINCI clinic, Casablanca (Morocco). The database includes 39 parameters including epidemiological characteristics, anthropometric measurements and biological analyzes. RESULTS: The average of age of the patients was 43.80 ± 15.75 years with a sex ratio of 1:1. The mean body mass index of the patients was 25.54 ± 4.63 Kg/m2. The majority of patients had, at least, one comorbidity and among 75% symptomatic patients, about 50% had, at least, three symptoms namely, fever (40.7%), cough (39.8%), myalgia (28.7%), and anosmia and/or ageusia (20.4%). From biological analyzes, we noticed lymphopenia and an elevated protein C reactive and lactate dehydrogenases levels in 24.1, 36.1, and 35.2% of patients, respectively. A disturbance in liver function markers was observed in 15.7% of cases. For the other hemostasis parameters, high levels of prothrombin and platelets were reported in 14.6 and 14.8% of patients, respectively. Comparisons related to the presence of anosmia and/or ageusia did not show any difference for demographic and anthropometric characteristics, while a possibility of a significant difference was revealed for certain biological parameters, particularly the levels of lymphocytes, D-dimer and troponin. CONCLUSION: This study provides significant findings that will be used not only to supplement previous studies carried out in Morocco in order to resume the epidemiological situation in comparison with other countries, but also to improve the quality of the diagnosis of COVID-19 patients by identifying all the symptoms of the disease and better understanding its clinical outcomes.

Does unsaponifiable fraction of grape seed oil attenuate nitric oxide production, oxidant and cytotoxicity activities.

Triterpenoids, tocopherols, and phytosterols presented in unsaponifiable fraction of grape seed oil have several beneficial effects comprising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor capacities. In this study, the unsaponifiable fraction of three Tunisian grape seed varieties (Vitis vinifera L.), namely Merlot, Carignan, and Syrah, was investigated. The identified compounds were two triterpenic compounds (ß-amyrin, lanosterol), six phytosterols (campesterol, ∆7 -avenasterol, stigmasterol, ß-sitosterol, ß-sitostanol, cholesterol), and three tocopherols (α, ß, and γ tocopherols). The unsaponifiable fraction had significant protection against oxidative damage by modulating NO production and antioxidant activity. Statistical analysis showed the presence of three clusters of varieties associated to specific composition patterns. These results clearly demonstrated that unsaponifiable fraction profiles of grape species could be considered as a complementary data to the existing taxonomic evidence and classification purposes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Recently, much attention has been focused to substitute artificial antioxidant by others originating from natural products as plant matrices. The unsaponifiable fraction of grape seed oils is an interesting source of bioactive components like phytosterols, tocopherols, triterpenoids, and other various components. These components are known for their antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacities.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids in the modulation of T-cell signalling.

n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been shown to modulate immune responses. These agents, being considered as adjuvant immunosuppressants, have been used in the treatment of various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms of action of n-3 PUFA-induced immunosuppressive effects are not well-understood. Since exogenous n-3 PUFA, under in vitro and in vivo conditions, are efficiently incorporated into T-cell plasma membranes, a number of recent studies have demonstrated that these agents may modulate T-cell signalling. In this review, the interactions of n-3 PUFA with the second messenger cascade initiated during early and late events of T-cell activation are discussed. We particularly focus on how these fatty acids can modulate the production of diacylglycerol and the activation of protein kinase C, mitogen activated protein kinase, calcium signalling and translocation of transcriptional factors, implicated in the regulation of gene transcription in T-cells.