Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in children and adolescents with diabetes in Daegu, South Korea.

PURPOSE: Children with comorbidities have a higher risk of severe, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study investigated the clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 in children and adolescents with diabetes between January and March 2022. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 123 children and adolescents (73 with type 1 diabetes and 50 with type 2 diabetes, 59 males and 64 females) aged <18 years who had been diagnosed with diabetes. Data were collected from 7 academic medical centers in Daegu, South Korea. RESULTS: Thirty-five children with diabetes were diagnosed with COVID-19 (18 with type 1 and 17 with type 2 diabetes). Eighteen of the 35 children with diabetes and COVID-19 and 50 of the 88 children with diabetes alone received a COVID-19 vaccination. No significant differences were observed between patients with diabetes and COVID-19 and patients with diabetes alone in the type of diabetes diagnosed, sex, age, body mass index, hemoglobin A1c, or vaccination status. All children with diabetes and COVID-19 had mild clinical features and were safely managed in their homes. Fourteen children had a fever of 38℃ or higher that lasted for more than 2 days, 11 of whom were not vaccinated (p=0.004). None experienced post-COVID-19 conditions. CONCLUSION: All children and adolescents with pre-existing diabetes had mild symptoms of COVID-19 due to low disease severity, high vaccination rates, uninterrupted access to medical care, and continuous glucose monitoring. Unvaccinated children with diabetes who experienced COVID-19 presented with higher and more frequent fevers compared to vaccinated children.

Optimization of the enzymatic production of 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg(3) from white ginseng extract using response surface methodology.

The optimization of the conversion of ginseng saponin glycosides to 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg(3) by enzymatic transformation was carried out using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a 2(3) factorial central composite design. The production of 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg(3) using several commercial enzymes indicated that the enzyme Cellulase-12T was the most efficient at producing 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg(3). To optimize the enzymatic production of 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg(3), response surface methodology was applied to determine the ideal amount of white ginseng extract, Cellulase-12T and reaction time. These results indicate that white ginseng extract (1.67%) treated with Celluase-12T (3.67%) for 72 hours had 4 times the quantity of 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg(3) compared to commercial white ginseng extract.