Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Fatigue Effects of an Oral Food Supplement in Long COVID Patients

long coronavirus disease (COVID) syndrome leads to chronic inflammatory state onset that can have a multisystem impact and compromise organ function. moreover, long COVID syndrome is often characterized by the presence of chronic fatigue, which affects subjects' daily activities and worsens their quality of life. the aim of our double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial (protocol code RS 150.21, approved on 4 November 2021) was to evaluate the beneficial effects of the consumption of 2 cps/day, for two months, of an oral food supplement (OFS), based on echinacea angustifolia, rosehip, propolis, royal jelly and zinc, in long COVID patients, compared to a two-month placebo period. The OFS's vitamin C content was equal to 22.17 mg/g (8.87 mg/capsule). the OFS's total polyphenol content was 43.98 mg/g gallic acid equivalents. at the end of the in vivo study, we highlighted a significant decrease in the inflammatory parameters in the OFS period, compared to the placebo period (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, p = 0.0455; monocyte to-lymphocyte ratio, p = 0.0005; C-reactive protein, p = 0.0145). Our study also highlighted a significant increase in vitamin D serum values (p = 0.0005) and, at the same time, an improvement in patients' life quality and a reduction in fatigue, monitored by the fatigue severity scale. this study showed the OFS's beneficial effects on the inflammatory state, fatigue and quality of life in long COVID patients

Role of miR-9 in Modulating NF-κB Signaling and Cytokine Expression in COVID-19 Patients

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has had a significant impact on global health, with severe cases often characterized by a worsening cytokine storm. Since it has been described that the NF-kappa B signaling pathway, regulated by microRNAs, could play a pivotal role in the inflammatory response, in this study, the role of miR-9 in modulating NF-kappa B signaling and inflammatory cytokine expression in COVID-19 patients was investigated. This observational retrospective single-center study included 41 COVID-19 patients and 20 healthy controls. Serum samples were analyzed for miR-9, NF-kappa B, and I kappa B alpha expression levels using RT-PCR. The expression levels and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1 beta, and TNF-alpha were measured using RT-PCR and ELISA. Statistical analyses, including correlation and regression, were conducted to explore relationships between these variables. COVID-19 patients, particularly non-survivors, exhibited significantly higher miR-9 and NF-kappa B levels compared to controls. A strong positive correlation was found between miR-9 and NF-kappa B expression (r = 0.813, p < 0.001). NF-kappa B levels were significantly correlated with IL-6 (r = 0.971, p < 0.001), IL-1 beta (r = 0.968, p < 0.001), and TNF-alpha (r = 0.968, p < 0.001). Our findings indicate that miR-9 regulates NF-kappa B signaling and inflammation in COVID-19. Elevated miR-9 levels in non-survivors suggest its potential as a severity biomarker. While COVID-19 cases have decreased, targeting miR-9 and NF-kappa B could improve outcomes for other inflammatory conditions, including autoimmune diseases, highlighting the need for continued research in this area

Effects of Ultramicronized Palmitoylethanolamide (um-PEA) in COVID-19 Early Stages: A Case-Control Study

Ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide (um-PEA), a compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, appears to be a potential adjuvant treatment for early stages of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In our study, we enrolled 90 patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 that were randomized into two groups, homogeneous for age, gender and BMI. The first group received oral supplementation based on um-PEA at a dose of 1800 mg/day for a total of 28 days; the second group was the control group (R.S. 73.20). At baseline (T0) and after 28 days of um-PEA treatment (T1), we monitored: routine laboratory parameters, inflammatory and oxidative stress (OS) biomarkers, lymphocytes subpopulation and COVID-19 serological response. At T1, the um-PEA-treated group presented a significant reduction in inflammation compared to the control group (CRP p = 0.007; IL-6 p = 0.0001; neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio p = 0.044). At T1, the controls showed a significant increase in OS compared to the treated group (FORT p = 0.05). At T1, the um-PEA group exhibited a significant decrease in D-dimer levels (p = 0.0001) and higher levels of IgG against SARS-CoV-2 (p = 0.0001) compared to the controls. Our data demonstrated, in a randomized clinical trial, the beneficial effects of um-PEA in both asymptomatic and mild-symptomatic patients related to reductions in inflammatory state, OS and coagulative cascade alterations

New sepsis biomarkers

Sepsis remains a leading cause of death in the intensive care units and in all age groups worldwide. Early recognition and diagnosis are key to achieving improved outcomes. Therefore, novel biomarkers that might better inform clinicians treating such patients are surely needed. The main attributes of successful biomarkers would be high sensitivity, specificity, possibility of bedside monitoring and financial accessibility. A panel of sepsis biomarkers along with currently used laboratory tests will facilitate earlier diagnosis, timely treatment and improved outcome may be more effective than single biomarkers. In this review, we summarize the most recent advances on sepsis biomarkers evaluated in clinical and experimental studies

Evaluation of BiesseBioscreen as a new methodology for bacteriuria screening.

Urinary tract infection is a common disease diagnosed from symptoms and clinical signs, and bacterial count per volume of urine. This study have evaluated the BiesseBioscreen analyzer as a new way to analyze urine samples en- abling fast screening of urine, prior to reference standard methods currently utilized in microbiology analysis labo- ratory. We analyzed 962 urine samples from outpatients and inpatients of the Tor Vergata (TV) University Hospital of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata". All samples were processed both with the BiesseBioscreen and with the standard methodology adopted by the clinical microbiology laboratory of TV Hospital and the results were com- pared. Of the samples analyzed 54.9% were concordant negative with the reference method and 21.6% concordant positive, 23.3% resulted false positive and 0.2% false negative. The results obtained from BiesseBioscreen showed a sensitivity of 99.0%, indicating it as a system suitable to rule out urinary tract infection. BiesseBioscreen could represent a valid method for screening negative samples to exclude from culture test with a potential reduction in time, workload and costs of the diagnosis

Serological determinants of COVID-19

BackgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection spreaded rapidly worldwide, as far as it has become a global pandemic. Therefore, the introduction of serological tests for determination of IgM and IgG antibodies has become the main diagnostic tool, useful for tracking the spread of the virus and for consequently allowing its containment. In our study we compared point of care test (POCT) lateral flow immunoassay (FIA) vs automated chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA), in order to assess their specificity and sensibility for COVID-19 antibodies detection.ResultsWe find that different specificities and sensitivities for IgM and IgG tests. Notably IgM POCT FIA method vs CLIA method (gold standard) has a low sensitivity (0.526), while IgG POCT FIA method vs CLIA method (gold standard) test has a much higher sensitivity (0.937); further, with respect of IgG, FIA and CLIA could arguably provide equivalent information. ConclusionsFIA method could be helpful in assessing in short time, the possible contagiousness of subjects that for work reasons cannot guarantee “social distancing”.publishe

A rapid, point-of-care antibiotic susceptibility test for urinary tract infections.

Introduction. The alarming rise in urinary tract infection (UTI) antimicrobial resistance has resulted from a combination of high prevalence, low specificity and the lack of a rapid, point-of-care (POC) antibiotic susceptibility test (AST), which has led to the overuse/inappropriate use of antibiotics.Aim. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of a rapid POC phenotypic AST device in reporting susceptibility information within 2 h.Methodology. Instrument calibration was performed with model bacteria and fluorescent microbeads to determine the dynamic range and limit of detection for quantifying concentrations of bacteria and demonstrate the ability to rapidly differentiate susceptible and resistant model bacteria. We then evaluated 30 presumptive UTI-positive patient urine samples in a clinical pilot study using a panel of 5 common UTI antibiotics plus a growth control and compared our results to the hospital standard of care AST.Results. Our device was able to robustly detect and quantify bacteria concentrations from 50 to 105 colony-forming units (c.f.u.) ml-1. The high sensitivity of this measurement technique enabled the device to differentiate between susceptible and resistant model bacteria with 100 % specificity over a 2 h growth period. In the clinical pilot study, an overall categorical agreement (CA) of 90.7 % was observed (sensitivity=91.4 %, specificity=88.9 %, n=97) with performance for individual drugs ranging from 85 % CA (ceftazidime) to 100 % (nitrofurantoin).Conclusions. By reducing the typical timeframe for susceptibility testing from 2-3 days to 2 h, our POC phenotypic AST can provide critical information to clinicians prior to the administration of antibiotic therapy

Thymosin-α1 expands deficient IL-10-producing regulatory B cell subsets in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients

Background: B cells are key pathogenic effectors in multiple sclerosis (MS) and several therapies have been designed to restrain B cell abnormalities by directly targeting this lymphocyte population. Objectives: Moving from our data showing a Toll-like receptor (TLR)7-driven dysregulation of B cell response in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and having found a low serum level of Thymosin-α1 (Tα1) in patients, we investigated whether the addition of this molecule to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) would influence the expansion of regulatory B cell subsets, known to dampen autoimmune inflammation. Methods: Serum Tα1 level was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Cytokine expression was evaluated by Cytometric Bead Array (CBA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). B cell subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: Tα1 pre-treatment induces an anti-inflammatory status in TLR7-stimulated RRMS PBMC cultures, reducing the secretion of pro-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-1β while significantly increasing the regulatory IL-10 and IL-35. Indeed, Tα1 treatment enhanced expansion of CD19+CD24+CD38hi transitional-immature and CD24low/negCD38hi plasmablast-like regulatory B cell subsets, which likely inhibit both interferon (IFN)-γ and IL-17 production. Conclusion:: Our study reveals a deficient ability of B cells from MS patients to differentiate into regulatory subsets and unveils a novel anti-inflammatory and repurposing potential for Tα1 in MS targeting B cell response