Brain connectivity and cognitive functioning in individuals six months after multiorgan failure

Multiorgan failure (MOF) is a life-threating condition that affects two or more systems of organs not involved in the disorder that motivates admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Patients who survive MOF frequently present long-term functional, neurological, cognitive, and psychiatric sequelae. However, the changes to the brain that explain such symptoms remain unclear. Objective: To determine brain connectivity and cognitive functioning differences between a group of MOF patients six months after ICU discharge and healthy controls (HC). Methods: 22 MOF patients and 22 HC matched by age, sex, and years of education were recruited. Both groups were administered a 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including structural T1 and functional BOLD, as well as a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation that included tests of learning and memory, speed of information processing and attention, executive function, visual constructional abilities, and language. Voxel-based morphometry was used to analyses T1 images. For the functional data at rest, functional connectivity (FC) analyses were performed. Results: There were no significant differences in structural imaging and neuropsychological performance between groups, even though patients with MOF performed worse in all the cognitive tests. Functional neuroimaging in the default mode network (DMN) showed hyper-connectivity towards sensory-motor, cerebellum, and visual networks. DMN connectivity had a significant association with the severity of MOF during ICU stay and with the neuropsychological scores in tests of attention and visual constructional abilities. Conclusions: In MOF patients without structural brain injury, DMN connectivity six months after ICU discharge is associated with MOF severity and neuropsychological impairment, which supports the use of resting-state functional MRI as a potential tool to predict the onset of long-term cognitive deficits in these patients. Similar to what occurs at the onset of other pathologies, the observed hyper-connectivity might suggest network re-adaptation following MOF.This research was founded by Ministerio Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain and FEDER (grant no. DPI2016-79874-R) to JC and JCAL. ID's time was founded by the Department of Education of the Basque Country, postdoctoral program. JR's time was founded by the Ministry of Education, Language Policy and Culture (Basque Government). JMC's time was founded by Ikerbasque and the Department of Economic Development and Infrastructure of the Basque Country, Elkartek Program (grant no. KK-2018/00032). JCAL's time was founded by Ikerbasque and Fundacion Mutua Madrileña (grant no. AP169812018). IG's time was founded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III for a Juan Rodes (grant no. JR15/00008 ) co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund ‘Investing in Your Future’. AJM's time was partly founded by Euskampus Fundazioa

Brain connectivity and cognitive functioning in individuals six months after multiorgan failure

Abstract Multiorgan failure (MOF) is a life-threating condition that affects two or more systems of organs not involved in the disorder that motivates admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Patients who survive MOF frequently present long-term functional, neurological, cognitive, and psychiatric sequelae. However, the changes to the brain that explain such symptoms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine brain connectivity and cognitive functioning differences between a group of MOF patients six months after ICU discharge and healthy controls (HC). METHODS: 22 MOF patients and 22 HC matched by age, sex, and years of education were recruited. Both groups were administered a 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including structural T1 and functional BOLD, as well as a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation that included tests of learning and memory, speed of information processing and attention, executive function, visual constructional abilities, and language. Voxel-based morphometry was used to analyses T1 images. For the functional data at rest, functional connectivity (FC) analyses were performed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in structural imaging and neuropsychological performance between groups, even though patients with MOF performed worse in all the cognitive tests. Functional neuroimaging in the default mode network (DMN) showed hyper-connectivity towards sensory-motor, cerebellum, and visual networks. DMN connectivity had a significant association with the severity of MOF during ICU stay and with the neuropsychological scores in tests of attention and visual constructional abilities. CONCLUSIONS: In MOF patients without structural brain injury, DMN connectivity six months after ICU discharge is associated with MOF severity and neuropsychological impairment, which supports the use of resting-state functional MRI as a potential tool to predict the onset of long-term cognitive deficits in these patients.Similar to what occurs at the onset of other pathologies, the observed hyper-connectivity might suggest network re-adaptation following MOF.This research was founded by Ministerio Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain and FEDER (grant no. DPI2016-79874-R) to JC and JCAL. ID's time was founded by the Department of Education of the Basque Country, postdoctoral program. JR's time was founded by the Ministry of Education, Language Policy and Culture (Basque Government). JMC's time was founded by Ikerbasque and the Department of Economic Development and Infrastructure of the Basque Country, Elkartek Program (grant no. KK-2018/00032). JCAL's time was founded by Ikerbasque and Fundacion Mutua Madrilena (grant no. AP169812018). IG's time was founded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III for a Juan Rodes (grant no. JR15/00008) co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund 'Investing in Your Future'. AJM's time was partly founded by Euskampus Fundazioa

HGF, IL-1α, and IL-27 are robust biomarkers in early severity stratification of COVID-19 patients

© 2021 by the authors.Pneumonia is the leading cause of hospital admission and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to identify the cytokines responsible for lung damage and mortality. We prospectively recruited 108 COVID-19 patients between March and April 2020 and divided them into four groups according to the severity of respiratory symptoms. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers were used for normalization of the results. Multiple cytokines showed statistically significant differences between mild and critical patients. High HGF levels were associated with the critical group (OR = 3.51; p < 0.001; 95%CI = 1.95–6.33). Moreover, high IL-1α (OR = 1.36; p = 0.01; 95%CI = 1.07–1.73) and low IL-27 (OR = 0.58; p < 0.005; 95%CI = 0.39–0.85) greatly increased the risk of ending up in the severe group. This model was especially sensitive in order to predict critical status (AUC = 0.794; specificity = 69.74%; sensitivity = 81.25%). Furthermore, high levels of HGF and IL-1α showed significant results in the survival analysis (p = 0.033 and p = 0.011, respectively). HGF, IL-1α, and IL 27 at hospital admission were strongly associated with severe/critical COVID-19 patients and therefore are excellent predictors of bad prognosis. HGF and IL-1α were also mortality biomarkers.This work was supported by the Carlos III Health Institute (Grant COV20/00491)

HGF, IL-1α, and IL-27 Are Robust Biomarkers in Early Severity Stratification of COVID-19 Patients

Producción CientíficaPneumonia is the leading cause of hospital admission and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to identify the cytokines responsible for lung damage and mortality. We prospectively recruited 108 COVID-19 patients between March and April 2020 and divided them into four groups according to the severity of respiratory symptoms. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers were used for normalization of the results. Multiple cytokines showed statistically significant differences between mild and critical patients. High HGF levels were associated with the critical group (OR = 3.51; p < 0.001; 95%CI = 1.95–6.33). Moreover, high IL-1α (OR = 1.36; p = 0.01; 95%CI = 1.07–1.73) and low IL-27 (OR = 0.58; p < 0.005; 95%CI = 0.39–0.85) greatly increased the risk of ending up in the severe group. This model was especially sensitive in order to predict critical status (AUC = 0.794; specificity = 69.74%; sensitivity = 81.25%). Furthermore, high levels of HGF and IL-1α showed significant results in the survival analysis (p = 0.033 and p = 0.011, respectively). HGF, IL-1α, and IL 27 at hospital admission were strongly associated with severe/critical COVID-19 patients and therefore are excellent predictors of bad prognosis. HGF and IL-1α were also mortality biomarkers.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491

Can the Cytokine Profile According to ABO Blood Groups Be Related to Worse Outcome in COVID-19 Patients? Yes, They Can

Producción CientíficaSevere status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is extremely associated to cytokine release. Moreover, it has been suggested that blood group is also associated with the prevalence and severity of this disease. However, the relationship between the cytokine profile and blood group remains unclear in COVID-19 patients. In this sense, we prospectively recruited 108 COVID-19 patients between March and April 2020 and divided according to ABO blood group. For the analysis of 45 cytokines, plasma samples were collected in the time of admission to hospital ward or intensive care unit and at the sixth day after hospital admission. The results show that there was a risk of more than two times lower of mechanical ventilation or death in patients with blood group O (log rank: p = 0.042). At first time, all statistically significant cytokine levels, except from hepatocyte growth factor, were higher in O blood group patients meanwhile the second time showed a significant drop, between 20% and 40%. In contrast, A/B/AB group presented a maintenance of cytokine levels during time. Hepatocyte growth factor showed a significant association with intubation or mortality risk in non-O blood group patients (OR: 4.229, 95% CI (2.064–8.665), p < 0.001) and also was the only one bad prognosis biomarker in O blood group patients (OR: 8.852, 95% CI (1.540–50.878), p = 0.015). Therefore, higher cytokine levels in O blood group are associated with a better outcome than A/B/AB group in COVID-19 patients.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491)Junta de Castilla y León (grant 18IGOF

GrassPlot - a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (releves) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001;... 1,000 m(2)) and on nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes. The usage of GrassPlot is regulated through Bylaws that intend to balance the interests of data contributors and data users. The current version (v. 1.00) contains data for approximately 170,000 plots of different sizes and 2,800 nested-plot series. The key components are richness data and metadata. However, most included datasets also encompass compositional data. About 14,000 plots have near-complete records of terricolous bryophytes and lichens in addition to vascular plants. At present, GrassPlot contains data from 36 countries throughout the Palaearctic, spread across elevational gradients and major grassland types. GrassPlot with its multi-scale and multi-taxon focus complements the larger international vegetationplot databases, such as the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database " sPlot". Its main aim is to facilitate studies on the scale-and taxon-dependency of biodiversity patterns and drivers along macroecological gradients. GrassPlot is a dynamic database and will expand through new data collection coordinated by the elected Governing Board. We invite researchers with suitable data to join GrassPlot. Researchers with project ideas addressable with GrassPlot data are welcome to submit proposals to the Governing Board

Examining the immune signatures of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and the impact on neurodevelopment: Protocol of the SIGNATURE longitudinal study

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a valuable opportunity to carry out cohort studies that allow us to advance our knowledge on pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases. One of these opportunities is the study of the relationships between inflammation, brain development and an increased risk of suffering neuropsychiatric disorders. Based on the hypothesis that neuroinflammation during early stages of life is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and confers a greater risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, we propose a cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women and their newborns. The main objective of SIGNATURE project is to explore how the presence of prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and other non-infectious stressors generates an abnormal inflammatory activity in the newborn. The cohort of women during the COVID-19 pandemic will be psychological and biological monitored during their pregnancy, delivery, childbirth and postpartum. The biological information of the umbilical cord (foetus blood) and peripheral blood from the mother will be obtained after childbirth. These samples and the clinical characterisation of the cohort of mothers and newborns, are tremendously valuable at this time. This is a protocol report and no analyses have been conducted yet, being currently at, our study is in the recruitment process step. At the time of this publication, we have identified 1,060 SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and all have already given birth. From the total of identified mothers, we have recruited 537 SARS-COV-2 infected women and all of them have completed the mental health assessment during pregnancy. We have collected biological samples from 119 mothers and babies. Additionally, we have recruited 390 non-infected pregnant women.This work has received support from the Fundación Alicia Koplowitz to realize the epigenetic wide association study and to the clinical assessment to the children. This work has also received public support from the Consejería de Salud y Familias para la financiación de la investigación, desarrollo e innovación (i + d + i) biomédica y en ciencias de la salud en Andalucía (CSyF 2021 - FEDER). Grant Grant number PECOVID- 0195-2020. Convocatoria financiada con Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) al 80% dentro del Programa Operativo de Andalucía FEDER 2014-2020. Andalucía se mueve con Europa. NG-T received payment under Rio Hortega contract CM20-00015 with the Carlos III Health Institute.Peer reviewe

Normative data for verbal fluency and object naming tests in a sample of European Portuguese adult population

The purpose of the present study was to calculate the construct validity, internal consistency and normative data of the Phonological Verbal Fluency Test (letters F, A, S, and M), Semantic Verbal Fluency Test (Animals, Fruits and Professions categories), and Boston Naming Test (short and standard version), and to generate normative data for these tests after adjusting for age, education, and sex. A sample of 293 European Portuguese adults participated in the study. Results showed adequate construct validity and internal consistency for all of the tests and the final multiple regression models found that age and education were significantly associated with P-VFT (letters F, A, S, and M), S-VFT (Animals, Fruits and Professions categories), and BNT performance. Sex was only found to have an effect on the fruit category, with women scoring higher than men. The normative data provided in this study will contribute to improving the clinical practice of neuropsychology in Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Normative Data for Test of Verbal Fluency and Naming on Ecuadorian Adult Population

Objective: To generate normative data for verbal fluency and naming test in an Ecuadorian adult population. Methods: The sample consisted of 322 healthy adults (18-84 years old) recruited from Quito, Ecuador. The verbal fluency and Boston Naming Test (BNT) were administered as part of a larger comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to generate the normative data taking into account age, education, and sex. Results: For phonological verbal fluency, results indicated that only education was significantly related to the performance of the letters "A," "S," and "M." However, the performance on the letter "F" was significantly associated with age and education. For semantic fluency, the performance on "animals" was significantly influenced by age, quadratic age, and education, whereas that for "fruits" was explained by quadratic age, education, and sex. The performance on the BNT was significantly influenced by age and education. A Microsoft Excel-based calculator was created to help clinicians to obtain the normative data on this test. Conclusion: This normative data will help neuropsychologist in Ecuador to use these tests both in research and in their clinical practice to improve the diagnosis of cognitive deficits in the population.The study was funded by Universidad de Las Américas, through the university’s General Research Directorate