Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19: The PAN-COVID study

Objective To assess perinatal outcomes for pregnancies affected by suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Prospective, web-based registry. Pregnant women were invited to participate if they had suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1st January 2020 and 31st March 2021 to assess the impact of infection on maternal and perinatal outcomes including miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal growth restriction, pre-term birth and transmission to the infant. Results Between April 2020 and March 2021, the study recruited 8239 participants who had suspected or confirmed SARs-CoV-2 infection episodes in pregnancy between January 2020 and March 2021. Maternal death affected 14/8197 (0.2%) participants, 176/8187 (2.2%) of participants required ventilatory support. Pre-eclampsia affected 389/8189 (4.8%) participants, eclampsia was reported in 40/ 8024 (0.5%) of all participants. Stillbirth affected 35/8187 (0.4 %) participants. In participants delivering within 2 weeks of delivery 21/2686 (0.8 %) were affected by stillbirth compared with 8/4596 (0.2 %) delivering ≥ 2 weeks after infection (95 % CI 0.3–1.0). SGA affected 744/7696 (9.3 %) of livebirths, FGR affected 360/8175 (4.4 %) of all pregnancies. Pre-term birth occurred in 922/8066 (11.5%), the majority of these were indicated pre-term births, 220/7987 (2.8%) participants experienced spontaneous pre-term births. Early neonatal deaths affected 11/8050 livebirths. Of all neonates, 80/7993 (1.0%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions Infection was associated with indicated pre-term birth, most commonly for fetal compromise. The overall proportions of women affected by SGA and FGR were not higher than expected, however there was the proportion affected by stillbirth in participants delivering within 2 weeks of infection was significantly higher than those delivering ≥ 2 weeks after infection. We suggest that clinicians’ threshold for delivery should be low if there are concerns with fetal movements or fetal heart rate monitoring in the time around infection

Effects of chronic mild stress (CMS) on thyroid hormone function in two rat strains

This work was carried out to assess the effects of chronic mild stress (CMS) on thyroid function. The CMS model produced an anhedonic effect (reduced preference to sucrose) in Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rats and this effect was reversed by imipramine (IMI) treatment. The effects of CMS on thyroid function were assessed by measuring tT4 (total Thyroxine), tT3 (total Triiodothyronine), TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and fT4 (free Thyroxine) serum levels with appropriate immunoassays. CMS increased tT4 and tT3 serum levels in Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rats, but not TSH and fT4 serum levels. Imipramine (IMI) treatment normalized tT4 values. Albumin which binds a fraction of peripheral tT4 and tT3 was also significantly increased in response to CMS, possibly contributing to tT4 and tT3 elevations. The above findings suggest an impact of CMS on thyroid function, especially in tT4 values the changes being reversed with IMI treatment. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd

The effects of stress exposure on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, thymus, thyroid hormones and glucose levels

In the present study, an attempt was made to compare three stress models and their effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the thymus, the thyroid hormones and the glucose levels. The three different stress models were the chronic mild stress (CMS), the 14-day and the 1-day cold swim stress model. The CMS procedure caused a decrease in thymus weight and rendered no changes on glucose, the adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) or the adrenals. Administration of imipramine (IMI) after the third week of CMS did not reverse the decrease in thymus weight. The 14-day cold swim stress doubled ACTH levels and the adrenal weight and reduced thymus weight, while total thyroxine (tT4), total triiodothyronine (tT3) and glucose levels were unaffected. IMI treatment restored the weights of the adrenal and thymus glands. One-day cold swim stress did not induce any statistically significant effect on the tested physiological parameters. The above findings indicate a distinct effect of the 14-day cold swim stress on HPA axis. Relative to CMS or the 14-day cold swim stress, no effect was induced by the 1-day cold swim stress. The IMI restoring effect, especially in the case of the 14-day cold swim stress, also suggests an association of antidepressant effect with the duration of drug treatment. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved

Efeitos da aplicação de efluente tratado no solo: pH, matéria orgânica, fósforo e potássio Effects of application of treated wastewater in soil: pH, organic matter, phosphorus and potassium

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar os efeitos da disposição do efluente doméstico tratado em algumas características químicas do solo, razão pela qual foram determinadas as características físicas e químicas do efluente tratado e da água de abastecimento público e as características químicas do solo cultivado. Esta pesquisa foi realizada no período de maio a setembro de 2005, com o cultivo de variedade matador de pimentão com delineamento experimental inteiramente casualisado em esquema fatorial 4 x 2, sendo quatro tipos de água e dois níveis de adubação e 12 repetições para cada tratamento. Concluiu-se ao término do experimento que o efluente utilizado mostrou qualidade física e química adequada para irrigação de plantas de pimentão e, com exceção da concentração de matéria orgânica, não se constataram-se, em geral, alterações significativas nas concentrações de fósforo, potássio e pH do solo cultivado.<br>This research aims to provide an analysis of the effects of treated wastewater reuse on some characteristics of soil, reason for which the physical and chemical characteristics of the treated effluent, the tap water and the cultivated soil were assessed. This study was carried out from May to September 2005 and the variety 'matador' of pepper was cultivated. The experimental design was randomized in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme (four water types and two fertilization levels) and twelve replications. At the end of the experiment it was concluded that the effluent presented adequate physical and chemical quality for irrigation of pepper plant. With the exception of the organic matter concentration, in general, there was no significant change in the concentration of phosphorus, potassium and pH of the cultivated soil