Correlation of vitamin D levels with serum parameters in Covid-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: It is well-established that vitamins have many beneficial roles and protect humans against inflammatory diseases. Vitamin D, a lipid-soluble vitamin, plays a crucial role in viral infections. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate if serum 25(OH)D levels affect morbidity, mortality, and levels of inflammatory parameters in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: 140 COVID-19 patients participated in this study (65 outpatients and 75 inpatients). Their blood samples were collected to determine TNFα, IL-6, D-dimer, zinc, Ca2+, and 25(OH)D levels. Patients with O2 saturation <93% were admitted and hospitalized in the infectious disease ward (inpatient group). Patients with O2 saturation >93% received routine treatment and were discharged (Outpatient group). RESULTS: The serum levels of 25(OH)D in the inpatient group were significantly lower than those in the outpatient group (p < 0.001). Serum TNF-α, IL-6, and D-dimer levels in the inpatient group were significantly higher than those in the outpatient group (p < 0.001). Serum TNF-α, IL-6, and D-dimer levels were inversely correlated with 25(OH)D levels. No significant differences were observed in the serum levels of zinc and Ca2+ between the studied groups (p = 0.96, p = 0.41 respectively). Ten out of 75 patients in the inpatient group were admitted to ICU (intubated). Nine out of them lost their lives (the mortality rate in ICU-admitted patients was 90%). CONCLUSIONS: The lower mortality and severity of COVID-19 patients with higher 25(OH)D levels represented that this vitamin alleviates the severity of COVID-19.

Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Suppresses NKG2D mRNA Expression and Presentation on Human Natural Killer Cells.

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a multi-functional cytokine secreted from cells such as lymphocytes and hepatocytes. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of LIF on natural killer group 2 member D (NKG2D) receptors' expression and presentation on natural killer (NK) cells.  For this purpose, peripheral blood mononuclear cells taken from 4 young male healthy blood donors were isolated and the effect of LIF (25 ng/mL) after 12, 24, and 48 hours of incubation, on NKG2D receptors expression and presentation was investigated using flow cytometry and real-time-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All of the steps of the experiment were performed in duplicate. After periods of 12, 24, and 48 hours, LIF reduced both the expression and presentation of the NKG2D receptor on NK cells. The results suggest that this cytokine has a direct modulating activity on the body's immune response through suppression of NKG2D receptor expression and presentation on NK cells.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Patients with Severe Pneumonia in Khuzestan Province, Iran.

The emergence of a highly pathogenic virus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) accounts for severe pneumonia throughout the world. More than 7 million world population have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the number of deaths is increasing every day. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized patients with an acute respiratory infection (ARI). During an outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2, the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 909 hospitalized patients with severe pneumonia, including 517 (56.9%) males and 392 (43.1%) females. All the collected samples were from different cities of Khuzestan province from 19 February to- 27 March 2020. The RNA was extracted from samples and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2. Simultaneously, the computerized tomography (CT) scan was tested for the presence of ground-glass opacity in the lung among the patients. Of the total number of 909 specimens, 328 (36.08%) cases, including 185 (20.35%) females and 143 (15.73%) males, were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 while, 581 (63.9%) cases, including 374 (41.14%) males and 207 (22.77%) were negative for the SARS-CoV-2 by real-time PCR (p=0.001).Four hundred sixteen (45.76%) cases were positive for ground-glass opacity in the lung by CT scan, while 328/909 (36.08%) trials proved positive for SARS-CoV-2 by the real-time PCR (p=0.003).  In this study, 36.08% of patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Although the results of positive cases by CT scan showed higher than real-time PCR, screening the SARS-COV-2 with a real-time PCR method is the first line of choice.

The evaluation of interferon lambda 4 rs368234815 as a predictor factor in treated patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1a infection.

CONTEXT: Host factors including single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in or near interferon lambda (IFNL) gene are the important factors in predicting response to treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and association of IFNL4 rs368234815 with IFNL3 SNPs rs12979860, rs8099917 and other factors including cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, fibrosis, viral load, age and body mass index in genotype 1a treated CHC patients, to achieve rapid virologic response (RVR) and sustained virologic response (SVR). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 71 hepatitis C virus genotype 1a patients were enrolled from 2013 to 2015. The genotypes of rs12979860, rs8099917 were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism while the genotype rs368234815 detected by amplification-refractory mutation system-PCR. RESULTS: The rate of RVR and SVR were 43/71 (60.6%) and 46/71 (64.8%), respectively. To achieve an SVR in patients with rs368234815, TT/TT genotype 20/24 (83.3%) was found to be higher than other SNPs. The correlation coefficient of rs368234815 was strongly associated with rs12979860 (r = 0.788, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that the cholesterol (odds ratio [OR]: 0.205, confidence interval [CI] 95%: 0.047-0.891, P = 0.035), age (OR: 0.160, CI 95%: 0.035-0.730, P = 0.018), baseline viral load (OR: 0.167, CI 95%: 0.032-879, P < 0.035) and IFNL4 (OR: 5.453, CI 95%: 1.015-29.293, P < 0.048) could be independent predictors of SVR. CONCLUSIONS: The results of these findings emphasise that factors such as age, cholesterol, baseline viral load and IFNL4 rs368234815 are better predictive factors and should be evaluated before CHC treatment.