Importance of Magnesium Status in COVID-19

A large amount of published research points to the interesting concept (hypothesis) that magnesium (Mg) status may have relevance for the outcome of COVID-19 and that Mg could be protective during the COVID disease course. As an essential element, Mg plays basic biochemical, cellular, and physiological roles required for cardiovascular, immunological, respiratory, and neurological functions. Both low serum and dietary Mg have been associated with the severity of COVID-19 outcomes, including mortality; both are also associated with COVID-19 risk factors such as older age, obesity, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and asthma. In addition, populations with high rates of COVID-19 mortality and hospitalization tend to consume diets high in modern processed foods, which are generally low in Mg. In this review, we review the research to describe and consider the possible impact of Mg and Mg status on COVID-19 showing that (1) serum Mg between 2.19 and 2.26 mg/dL and dietary Mg intakes > 329 mg/day could be protective during the disease course and (2) inhaled Mg may improve oxygenation of hypoxic COVID-19 patients. In spite of such promise, oral Mg for COVID-19 has thus far been studied only in combination with other nutrients. Mg deficiency is involved in the occurrence and aggravation of neuropsychiatric complications of COVID-19, including memory loss, cognition, loss of taste and smell, ataxia, confusion, dizziness, and headache. Potential of zinc and/or Mg as useful for increasing drug therapy effectiveness or reducing adverse effect of anti-COVID-19 drugs is reviewed. Oral Mg trials of patients with COVID-19 are warranted

Non-canonical Hedgehog signaling mediates profibrotic hematopoiesis-stroma crosstalk in myeloproliferative neoplasms.

The role of hematopoietic Hedgehog signaling in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) remains incompletely understood despite data suggesting that Hedgehog (Hh) pathway inhibitors have therapeutic activity in patients. We aim to systematically interrogate the role of canonical vs. non-canonical Hh signaling in MPNs. We show that Gli1 protein levels in patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) mark fibrotic progression and that, in murine MPN models, absence of hematopoietic Gli1, but not Gli2 or Smo, significantly reduces MPN phenotype and fibrosis, indicating that GLI1 in the MPN clone can be activated in a non-canonical fashion. Additionally, we establish that hematopoietic Gli1 has a significant effect on stromal cells, mediated through a druggable MIF-CD74 axis. These data highlight the complex interplay between alterations in the MPN clone and activation of stromal cells and indicate that Gli1 represents a promising therapeutic target in MPNs, particularly that Hh signaling is dispensable for normal hematopoiesis

Expansion-enhanced super-resolution radial fluctuations enable nanoscale molecular profiling of pathology specimens

Expansion microscopy physically enlarges biological specimens to achieve nanoscale resolution using diffraction-limited microscopy systems1. However, optimal performance is usually reached using laser-based systems (for example, confocal microscopy), restricting its broad applicability in clinical pathology, as most centres have access only to light-emitting diode (LED)-based widefield systems. As a possible alternative, a computational method for image resolution enhancement, namely, super-resolution radial fluctuations (SRRF)2,3, has recently been developed. However, this method has not been explored in pathology specimens to date, because on its own, it does not achieve sufficient resolution for routine clinical use. Here, we report expansion-enhanced super-resolution radial fluctuations (ExSRRF), a simple, robust, scalable and accessible workflow that provides a resolution of up to 25 nm using LED-based widefield microscopy. ExSRRF enables molecular profiling of subcellular structures from archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues in complex clinical and experimental specimens, including ischaemic, degenerative, neoplastic, genetic and immune-mediated disorders. Furthermore, as examples of its potential application to experimental and clinical pathology, we show that ExSRRF can be used to identify and quantify classical features of endoplasmic reticulum stress in the murine ischaemic kidney and diagnostic ultrastructural features in human kidney biopsies.</p

Social media for health promotion and weight management: A critical debate

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: In 2016 an estimated 1.9 billion adults world-wide were either overweight or obese. The health consequences of obesity are responsible for 2.8 million preventable deaths per year. The WHO now considers obesity as a global epidemic and recommends population-wide health promotion strategies to address this issue. Weight gain is caused by increased energy intake and physical inactivity, so treatment should focus on changes to behaviour regarding diet and physical activity. Discussion: The WHO has also recognised the importance of social resources as a valuable agent for behaviour change in health promotion. Social resources are translated at the community level as support provided by significant others such as family, partners and peers, in the form of information, material aid and encouragement. Social support has been shown to improve health and well-being, whereas social isolation has been shown to have a negative impact on health outcomes. Social support provided by peers has been shown to be a useful strategy to employ in weight management programmes. The documented increased use of ICT and social media has presented health promoters with a potentially useful medium to increase social support for weight management. Conclusion: While the use of social media for health promotion is an emerging field of investigation, preliminary research suggests that it increases participant engagement, and may provide a cost-effective tool to provide social support for individuals participating in weight management programmes. With stringent privacy protocols in place, social media may be a useful, cost-effective accompaniment to multifactorial weight management programmes. However more research is needed to identify how to make the best use of social media as health promotion tool

Fishmeal supplementation during ovine pregnancy and lactation protects against maternal stress-induced programming of the offspring immune system

BACKGROUND: Prenatally stressed offspring exhibit increased susceptibility to inflammatory disorders due to in utero programming. Research into the effects of n-3 PUFAs shows promising results for the treatment and prevention of these disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether maternal fishmeal supplementation during pregnancy and lactation protects against programming of the offspring’s immune response following simulated maternal infection. METHODS: In order to accomplish this, 53 ewes were fed a diet supplemented with fishmeal (FM; rich in n-3 PUFA) or soybean meal (SM; rich in n-6 PUFAs) from day 100 of gestation (gd 100) through lactation. On gd135, half the ewes from each dietary group were challenged with either 1.2 μg/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin to simulate a bacterial infection, or saline as the control. At 4.5 months of age the offspring’s dermal immune response was assessed by cutaneous hypersensitivity testing with ovalbumin (OVA) and candida albicans (CAA) 21 days after sensitization. Skinfold measurements were taken and serum blood samples were also collected to assess the primary and secondary antibody immune response. RESULTS: Offspring born to SM + LPS mothers had a significantly greater change in skinfold thickness in response to both antigens as well as a greater secondary antibody response to OVA compared to all treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation during pregnancy with FM appears to protect against adverse fetal programming that may occur during maternal infection and this may reduce the risk of atopic disease later in life