General mental health state indicators in Argentinean women during quarantine of up to 80-day duration for COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Argentinean quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most long-lasting worldwide. We focused on the first 80-days of this quarantine on Argentinean women. Our aims were to analyze differences in general mental health state (MHS) indicators, by the (1) sites of residence with different prevalence of COVID-19 cases, and (2) quarantine duration; (3) to assess multiple relationships between each general MHS indicator and potentially affecting factors. Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with convenience successive sampling (N = 5,013). The online survey included a socio-demographic questionnaire (elaborated ad hoc) with standardized and validated self-reported questionnaires (General Health Questionnaire, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale) measuring the MHS indicators: self-perceived health, psychological discomfort, social functioning and coping, and psychological distress. Results: Worse self-perceived health and higher psychological discomfort affected significantly more women residing in sites with high prevalence of COVID-19 cases, compared to those residing in sites with intermediate prevalence, but effect sizes were small. Mean scores of all general MHS indicators were significantly worse for longer quarantine sub-periods (up to 53, 68, and 80-day duration) than for shorter sub-periods (up to seven, 13, and 25-day duration). Being a younger age, having mental disorder history, and longer quarantine durations were associated to worsening MHS, while the lack of previous suicide attempt has a protective effect. Discussion: Our findings show that a worse MHS during quarantine may not be attributed to the objective risk of contagion (measured greater or less), and under quarantine, women MHS—as indicated by group central tendency measures—got worse as time went by. This strongly suggests that special attention needs to be paid to younger women and to women with history of mental disorder. Along with physical health, mental health must be a priority for the Government during and after quarantine and the COVID-19 pandemic.publishedVersionFil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Fong, Shao Bing. University of Melbourne; Australia.Fil: Leyes, Candela Abigail. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Dutto Florio, María Agustina. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina

Levels and predictors of depression, anxiety, and suicidal risk during COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina: the impacts of quarantine extensions on mental health state

This research is aimed to: analyze differences in mental health state (MHS) indicators (depression, state-anxiety, trait-anxiety, and suicidal risk), during three quarantine sub-periods (starting since the first quarantine extension); assess multiple relationships between each MHS indicator and potentially affecting factors. We used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample including 1100 participants. Data were collected online. Depression revealed a worsening pattern as quarantine sub-periods went by. Anxiety (both state and trait), just like suicidal risk, partially follow such a pattern, with mean scores increasing from the first to the second/third quarantine extensions, but then maintaining to the fourth extension. Predictors having protective effects on almost all the MHS indicators were: availability of current economic income (except for state-anxiety, without significant effect) and absence of suicide attempt history. Conversely, sex (woman), younger age, and mental disorder history had an increasing risk effect on all the MHS indicators. Overall, our findings indicate that quarantine have negative mental health impacts and that quarantine duration is a relevant aspect to be taken into account when measuring such an impact. More attention needs to be paid to vulnerable groups such as the young, women, and people with history of mental disorder.publishedVersionFil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina.Fil: Dutto Florio, María Agustina. Universidad Siglo 21, Córdoba, Argentina.Fil: Leyes, Candela Abigail. Universidad Siglo 21, Córdoba, Argentina.Fil: Fong, Shao Bing. University of Melbourne; Australia.Fil: Rigalli, Alfredo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina

Mental Health Impacts in Argentinean College Students During COVID-19 Quarantine

Background: We aimed to: (1) analyze differences in both general (in terms of psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, and psychological distress) and specific (depression, trait-anxiety, negative alcohol-related consequences, and suicidal risk) mental health state (MHS) in college students, residing in four different Argentinean regions (center, north, south, and the most populated) exposed to different spread-rates of the COVID-19; (2) analyze between-group differences in both general and specific MHS indicators at four quarantine sub-periods (twice prior, and twice following the first quarantine extension). Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample including 2,687 college students. Data was collected online during the Argentinean quarantine. We calculated one-way between-groups ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test. Results: Regionally, the center and the most populated area differed in psychological well-being/discomfort and negative alcohol-related consequences, but not in the remaining MHS indicators. According to the quarantine sub-periods, there were differences in psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, psychological distress, and negative alcohol-related consequences. Negative alcohol-related consequences were the only MHS indicator improving over time. For all of the remaining MHS indicators, we found a similar deterioration pattern in the course of time, with mean scores decreasing from the first to the 2nd week of the quarantine pre-extensions, then increasing toward the 1st week of the quarantine post-extension (with some MHS indicators reaching mean scores worse than the start), and then continued to increase. Conclusion: A worsened mean MHS during quarantine suggests that quarantine and its extensions contribute to negative mental health impacts.publishedVersionFil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Leyes, Candela Abigail. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Dutto Florio, María Agustina. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Fong, Shao Bing. University of Melbourne; Australia.Fil: López Steinmetz, Romina Lucrecia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina

Mental health impacts in Argentinean college students during COVID-19 quarantine

Background: We aimed to: (1) analyze differences in both general (in terms of psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, and psychological distress) and specific (depression, trait-anxiety, negative alcohol-related consequences, and suicidal risk) mental health state (MHS) in college students, residing in four different Argentinean regions (center, north, south, and the most populated) exposed to different spread-rates of the COVID-19; (2) analyze between-group differences in both general and specific MHS indicators at four quarantine sub-periods (twice prior, and twice following the first quarantine extension). Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample including 2,687 college students. Data was collected online during the Argentinean quarantine. We calculated one-way between-groups ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test. Results: Regionally, the center and the most populated area differed in psychological well-being/discomfort and negative alcohol-related consequences, but not in the remaining MHS indicators. According to the quarantine sub-periods, there were differences in psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, psychological distress, and negative alcohol-related consequences. Negative alcohol-related consequences were the only MHS indicator improving over time. For all of the remaining MHS indicators, we found a similar deterioration pattern in the course of time, with mean scores decreasing from the first to the 2nd week of the quarantine pre-extensions, then increasing toward the 1st week of the quarantine post-extension (with some MHS indicators reaching mean scores worse than the start), and then continued to increase. Conclusion: A worsened mean MHS during quarantine suggests that quarantine and its extensions contribute to negative mental health impacts.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; ArgentinaFil: Leyes, Candela Abigail. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; ArgentinaFil: Dutto Florio, María Agustina. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; ArgentinaFil: Fong, Shao Bing. University of Melbourne; AustraliaFil: López Steinmetz, Romina Lucrecia. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentin

Evaluation at scale of microbiome-derived metabolites as biomarker of flavan-3-ol intake in epidemiological studies.

The accurate assessment of dietary intake is crucial to investigate the effect of diet on health. Currently used methods, relying on self-reporting and food composition data, are known to have limitations and might not be suitable to estimate the intake of many bioactive food components. An alternative are nutritional biomarkers, which can allow an unbiased assessment of intake. They require a careful evaluation of their suitability, including: (a) the availability of a precise, accurate and robust analytical method, (b) their specificity (c) a consistent relationship with actual intake. We have evaluated human metabolites of a microbiome-derived flavan-3-ol catabolite, 5-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-[gamma]-valerolactone (gVL), as biomarker of flavan-3-ol intake in large epidemiological studies. Flavan-3-ols are widely consumed plant bioactives, which have received considerable interest due to their potential ability to reduce CVD risk. The availability of authentic standards allowed the development of a validated high-throughput method suitable for large-scale studies. In dietary intervention studies, we could show that gVL metabolites are specific for flavan-3-ols present in tea, fruits, wine and cocoa-derived products, with a strong correlation between intake and biomarker (Spearman's r = 0.90). This biomarker will allow for the first time to estimate flavan-3-ol intake and further investigation of associations between intake and disease risk

Investigan el impacto de la cuarentena en la salud mental de estudiantes de nivel universitario

La cuarentena ha probado ser la principal medida posible para resguardar vidas y evitar el colapso del sistema sanitario, mientras avanza la vacunación. Un estudio con 2.687 estudiantes de universidades públicas y privadas señala que su duración indefinida puede ser más perjudicial, en términos psicológicos, que su aplicación por períodos limitados e intermitentes. Apuntan que este efecto adverso parece estar más asociado al distanciamiento físico y las alteraciones de la rutina diaria que al riesgo objetivo de contagiarse el virus. Si bien detectaron que los niveles de ansiedad disminuyeron durante el transcurso de la cuarentena, los de depresión aumentaron. Lo adjudican a un estado de “indefensión aprendida”, que va a contramano del “acostumbramiento” que proponen otras investigaciones.publishedVersionFil: Piemonte, Eliana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Prosecretaría de Comunicación Institucional. UNCiencia; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina.Fil: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Fong, Shao Bing. University of Melbourne; Australia.Fil: Dutto Florio, María Agustina. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina.Fil: Godoy, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina.Fil: Leyes, Candela Abigail. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina.Fil: Leyes, Candela Abigail. Universidad Empresarial Siglo XXI; Argentina

Evaluation of (−)-epicatechin metabolites as recovery biomarker of dietary flavan-3-ol intake

Abstract: Data from dietary intervention studies suggest that intake of (−)-epicatechin mediates beneficial vascular effects in humans. However, population-based investigations are required to evaluate associations between habitual intake and health and these studies rely on accurate estimates of intake, which nutritional biomarkers can provide. Here, we evaluate a series of structurally related (−)-epicatechin metabolites (SREM), particularly (−)-epicatechin-3′-glucuronide, (−)-epicatechin-3′-sulfate and 3′-O-methyl-(−)-epicatechin-5-sulfate (SREMB), as flavan-3-ol and (−)-epicatechin intake. SREMB in urine proved to be a specific indicator of (−)-epicatechin intake, showing also a strong correlation with the amount of (−)-epicatechin ingested (R2: 0.86 (95% CI 0.8l; 0.92). The median recovery of (−)-epicatechin as SREMB in 24 h urine was 10% (IQR 7–13%) and we found SREMB in the majority of participants of EPIC Norfolk (83% of 24,341) with a mean concentration of 2.4 ± 3.2 µmol/L. Our results show that SREMB are suitable as biomarker of (−)-epicatechin intake. According to evaluation criteria from IARC and the Institute of Medicine, the results obtained support use of SREMB as a recovery biomarker to estimate actual intake of (−)-epicatechin

Biomarker-estimated flavan-3-ol intake is associated with lower blood pressure in cross-sectional analysis in EPIC Norfolk

Funder: Mars; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007246Abstract: Flavan-3-ols are a group of bioactive compounds that have been shown to improve vascular function in intervention studies. They are therefore of great interest for the development of dietary recommendation for the prevention of cardio-vascular diseases. However, there are currently no reliable data from observational studies, as the high variability in the flavan-3-ol content of food makes it difficult to estimate actual intake without nutritional biomarkers. In this study, we investigated cross-sectional associations between biomarker-estimated flavan-3-ol intake and blood pressure and other CVD risk markers, as well as longitudinal associations with CVD risk in 25,618 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk cohort. High flavan-3-ol intake, achievable as part of an habitual diet, was associated with a significantly lower systolic blood pressure (− 1.9 (− 2.7; − 1.1) mmHg in men and − 2.5 (− 3.3; − 1.8) mmHg in women; lowest vs highest decile of biomarker), comparable to adherence to a Mediterranean Diet or moderate salt reduction. Subgroup analyses showed that hypertensive participants had stronger inverse association between flavan-3-ol biomarker and systolic blood pressure when compared to normotensive participants. Flavanol intake could therefore have a role in the maintenance of cardiovascular health on a population scale

Serum Amyloid A Stimulates Vascular and Renal Dysfunction in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice Fed a Normal Chow Diet

Elevated serum amyloid A (SAA) levels may promote endothelial dysfunction, which is linked to cardiovascular and renal pathologies. We investigated the effect of SAA on vascular and renal function in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice. Male ApoE−/− mice received vehicle (control), low-level lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or recombinant human SAA by i.p. injection every third day for 2 weeks. Heart, aorta and kidney were harvested between 3 days and 18 weeks after treatment. SAA administration increased vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression and circulating monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 and decreased aortic cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), consistent with SAA inhibiting nitric oxide bioactivity. In addition, binding of labeled leukocytes to excised aorta increased as monitored using an ex vivo leukocyte adhesion assay. Renal injury was evident 4 weeks after commencement of SAA treatment, manifesting as increased plasma urea, urinary protein, oxidized lipids, urinary kidney injury molecule (KIM)-1 and multiple cytokines and chemokines in kidney tissue, relative to controls. Phosphorylation of nuclear-factor-kappa-beta (NFκB-p-P65), tissue factor (TF), and macrophage recruitment increased in kidneys from ApoE−/− mice 4 weeks after SAA treatment, confirming that SAA elicited a pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic phenotype. These data indicate that SAA impairs endothelial and renal function in ApoE−/− mice in the absence of a high-fat diet

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data