Serum Albumin and Post-Stroke Outcomes: Analysis of UK Regional Registry Data, Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis.

Hypoalbuminemia associates with poor acute ischemic stroke (AIS) outcomes. We hypothesised a non-linear relationship and aimed to systematically assess this association using prospective stroke data from the Norfolk and Norwich Stroke and TIA Register. Consecutive AIS patients aged ≥40 years admitted December 2003-December 2016 were included. Outcomes: In-hospital mortality, poor discharge, functional outcome (modified Rankin score 3-6), prolonged length of stay (PLoS) > 4 days, and long-term mortality. Restricted cubic spline regressions investigated the albumin-outcome relationship. We updated a systematic review (PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases, January 2020-June 2023) and undertook a meta-analysis. A total of 9979 patients were included; mean age (standard deviation) = 78.3 (11.2) years; mean serum albumin 36.69 g/L (5.38). Compared to the cohort median, albumin < 37 g/L associated with up to two-fold higher long-term mortality (HRmax; 95% CI = 2.01; 1.61-2.49) and in-hospital mortality (RRmax; 95% CI = 1.48; 1.21-1.80). Albumin > 44 g/L associated with up to 12% higher long-term mortality (HRmax1.12; 1.06-1.19). Nine studies met our inclusion criteria totalling 23,597 patients. Low albumin associated with increased risk of long-term mortality (two studies; relative risk 1.57 (95% CI 1.11-2.22; I2 = 81.28)), as did low-normal albumin (RR 1.10 (95% CI 1.01-1.20; I2 = 0.00)). Strong evidence indicates increased long-term mortality in AIS patients with low or low-normal albumin on admission.

Effect of the dual sodium-glucose co-transporter-1 and -2 inhibitor sotagliflozin on renal outcomes in type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

AIM: To investigate the renal safety profile of sotagliflozin, a novel sodium-glucose co-transporter-1 and -2 inhibitor, in patients with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, with or without renal impairment, as well as its efficacy in decreasing the risk of further renal events, with an emphasis on those with previous renal impairment. METHODS: Embase, Medline, CENTRAL and Scopus were searched from their inception until 24 April 2023 for randomized controlled trials that reported estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urinary albumin excretion or composite renal events (CRE). The Cochrane risk of bias 2 tool was used. Mean difference, relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals were estimated (PROSPERO: CRD42023425583). RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included in this review (n = 17 574 participants; intervention n = 9312, control n = 8262). The median follow-up was 24.5 (Q1 = 15.25, Q3 = 28) months. Four studies recruited participants with renal impairment; baseline eGFR ranged from 23.8 to 50.5 mL/min/1.73m2 . The change in eGFR for studies (n = 6) with a follow-up of 52 weeks or longer was -1.23 (-1.45, -1.01) mL/min/1.73m2 . Sotagliflozin did not significantly alter urinary albumin excretion. No change was observed in the risk of CRE (n = 6 studies; RR = 0.82 [0.61, 1.12]), including in participants with renal impairment. High risk of bias was a limitation of this review. CONCLUSIONS: Sotagliflozin did not adversely affect renal function or change the risk of key renal outcomes, including for participants with pre-existing renal impairment. Therefore, sotagliflozin was safe; however, further research is needed to determine its efficacy in reducing the risk of diabetic kidney disease.

Visual tests predict dementia risk in Parkinson disease.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of visual measures and retinal volume to predict the risk of Parkinson disease (PD) dementia. METHODS: In this cohort study, we collected visual, cognitive, and motor data in people with PD. Participants underwent ophthalmic examination, retinal imaging using optical coherence tomography, and visual assessment including acuity and contrast sensitivity and high-level visuoperception measures of skew tolerance and biological motion. We assessed the risk of PD dementia using a recently described algorithm that combines age at onset, sex, depression, motor scores, and baseline cognition. RESULTS: One hundred forty-six people were included in the study (112 with PD and 34 age-matched controls). The mean disease duration was 4.1 (±2·5) years. None of these participants had dementia. Higher risk of dementia was associated with poorer performance in visual measures (acuity: ρ = 0.29, p = 0.0024; contrast sensitivity: ρ = -0.37, p < 0.0001; skew tolerance: ρ = -0.25, p = 0.0073; and biological motion: ρ = -0.26, p = 0.0054). In addition, higher risk of PD dementia was associated with thinner retinal structure in layers containing dopaminergic cells, measured as ganglion cell layer (GCL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL) thinning (ρ = -0.29, p = 0.0021; ρ = -0.33, p = 0.00044). These relationships were not seen for the retinal nerve fiber layer that does not contain dopaminergic cells and were not seen in unaffected controls. CONCLUSION: Visual measures and retinal structure in dopaminergic layers were related to risk of PD dementia. Our findings suggest that visual measures and retinal GCL and IPL volumes may be useful to predict the risk of dementia in PD.

Neural correlates of early cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Dementia is a common and feared aspect of Parkinson's disease but there are no robust predictors of cognitive outcome. Visuoperceptual deficits are linked to risk of dementia in Parkinson's disease but whether they predict cognitive change is not known, and the neural substrates of visuoperceptual dysfunction in Parkinson's have not yet been identified. METHODS: We compared patients with Parkinson's disease and unaffected controls who underwent BOLD fMRI while performing our previously validated visuoperceptual task and tested how functional connectivity between task-specific regions and the rest of the brain differed between patients who performed well and poorly in the task. RESULTS: We show that task performance at baseline predicts change in cognition in Parkinson's disease after 1 year. Our task-based fMRI study showed that the performance in this task is associated with activity in the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus. We found that functional connectivity between this region and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was reduced in poor performers compared with good performers of this task. INTERPRETATION: Our findings suggest that functional connectivity is reduced between posterior and anterior hubs of the default mode network in Parkinson's patients who are likely to progress to worsening cognitive dysfunction. Our work implicates posterior default mode nodes and their connections as key brain regions in early stages of dementia in Parkinson's disease.