Apparent Association of Insulin With Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in Severe COVID-19 Patients Having Chronic Disease Comorbidities.

Background The severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), due to its fast spread, is a disease with global health, social and economic burden. This is complicated by its high morbidity and mortality among those with medical comorbidities and older adults. During the outbreak in Libya, intensive care facilities were overwhelmed by the number of patients requiring special care. Admission to such facilities was reserved for severe cases showing low blood oxygen levels. Due to the inflammatory process in COVID-19, we believed it was essential to evaluate the outcome of inflammation reflected in the changes in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and insulin. Objective To study the changes in IL-6 and insulin during the course of the disease, if an association between them exists, and whether this association changes following seven days of treatment. Method We analyzed the data of 60 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to the hospitals' Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the eastern part of Libya. The study was initiated on January 18th and concluded on March 22, 2021. Samples for the analysis were collected on the first day of admission and after seven days of hospitalization for patients who survived till the selected day. The collected samples were used to analyze IL-6 as an indicator of change in inflammation and insulin as a potential anti-inflammatory modulator. In addition, the association of insulin with IL-6 was statistically tested. Results Diabetes and hypertension, the most commonly observed chronic diseases in Libya, were found to represent the highest comorbidities among the ICU patients included in this study. Nonetheless, other diseases affected a smaller proportion of them, ranging from two patients for malignancy to 10 patients for cardiovascular disease. In addition, both age and gender showed differences in the number of ICU hospitalized patients and the death tally among them. The study showed that the IL-6 level was on the rise during the course of COVID-19, whereas that of insulin was on the decrease. The two variables showed an association for admission day samples as well as for samples after seven days of ICU hospitalization. Conclusion Although, IL-6 appears to play a predictive role in the development and outcome of severe COVID-19, along with other biochemical and clinical findings it could serve as an indicator of the disease outcome. On the other hand, the role of insulin as a complementary factor for alleviating inflammation remains to be fully understood and requires further research. There is a pressing necessity for establishing the mechanism through which insulin is associated with inflammation modulatory pathways, in particular through the pathways involving IL-6.

Estimation of a cut-off value for immature platelet fraction (IPF) in predicting platelet recovery in dengue patients with thrombocytopenia.

INTRODUCTION: Thrombocytopenia is a common complication in dengue that sometimes necessitates platelet transfusion. Immature platelet fraction (IPF) measures immature platelets that indirectly reflect thrombopoiesis and is helpful in predicting platelet recovery. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the role of IPF% and identify its cut-off value in predicting platelet recovery in dengue patients with thrombocytopenia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serial platelet count and IPF results were obtained from fifty-four confirmed dengue patients with platelet count <50x109 /L. Median peak IPF% and number of patients with platelet recovery were determined. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is generated to identify the IPF% cut-off value to predict platelet recovery. RESULTS: Median peak IPF% among dengue patients was 12.15% with 83.3% of them achieving platelet recovery after reaching the peak IPF%. There was a significant difference between median IPF% on day one of admission with peak IPF% among dengue patients. ROC curve analysis showed IFP% of 10.55% can be used to predict platelet recovery with a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 67%. CONCLUSION: IPF% is a reliable and useful parameter in predicting platelet recovery in dengue patients. This would assist the clinician in managing dengue patients especially those with severe thrombocytopenia without giving unnecessary platelet transfusion.

What is the Quality of Life of Transtibial Amputees in Brunei Darussalam?

INTRODUCTION: Lower limb amputations have a profound impact on the quality of life (QoL) of the patients. This study was done to assess the QoL of patients with transtibial (below-the-knee) amputations (TTA) and transtibial amputees fitted with prosthesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A case-control study of patients who had undergone TTA from 2015 to 2018 was conducted in Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital (RIPAS). Complete data was available for 30 subjects and it was compared with 30 diabetic, non-amputee patients matched for age and gender. QoL was assessed using the RAND 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) and the functional outcome of prosthesis-fitted transtibial amputees was assessed using the Houghton Scale. RESULTS: Almost all cases of TTA were a result of vascular problems related to diabetes and chronic renal disease (n=29; 97%). Eighteen (60%) participants were fitted with prosthesis and 15 (50%) reported having phantom pain. QoL of participants was found to be significantly lower than that of age and sex-matched diabetic non-amputees with regards to physical functioning, role limitation due to physical health, emotional well-being, social functioning, and bodily pain. The mean Houghton Score for participants fitted with prosthesis was 4.89 (SD= 2.83) suggesting low functional outcome. CONCLUSION: TTA has a negative impact on the QoL of patients, especially in terms of functionality. The availability of prosthesis does not significantly improve the quality of life except in the physical functioning domain. Emotional well-being should be emphasised more in the rehabilitation process as this study found poor emotional well-being among participants.

Model and effectiveness of endurance exercise to increase physical fitness in intellectual disability subjects with obesity: a randomized controlled trial.

AIM: to design a model and assess the effectiveness of endurance exercise to increase physical fitness in intelectual disability (ID) patients with obesity. METHODS: a randomized-controlled clinical trial was performed in ID patients with obesity aged 10-30 years old from all Special School in DKI Jakarta, which were randomly allocated into 3 groups and then given 3 different type of exercises: lower extremity muscles endurance exercise for 20 RM followed by cardiorespiratory endurance exercise for 24-25 minutes (type I), lower extremity muscles endurance exercises for 10 RM followed by cardiorespiratory endurance exercises for 26-27 minutes (type II), and threw a tennis ball with 10 m distance for 10 minutes as control (type III). These program was performed 3 times a week for 4 months. Assesment of the exercise effectiveness was done by measuring maximum load that can be lifted and six-minutes walking test on rectangular track which was converted with the VO2 max prediction formula. Analysis was perfomed with Kruskal Wallis test. RESULTS: two hundred and twelve (212) subjects were included in the study, randomly allocated into three types (I, II, and III) of exercises groups. The type II of endurance exercise model was proved to be more effective in increasing lower extremity muscles endurance level compared to type I and III for ID patients with obesity (p<0.05). Meanwhile, type I of endurance exercise model was proved to be more effective in increasing cardiorespiratory endurance level compared to type II and III for ID patients with obesity (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: lower extremity muscles endurance exercise followed by a cardiorespiratory endurance exercise can be used to increase physical fitness in ID patients with obesity.