A time-resolved proteomic and prognostic map of COVID-19

COVID-19 is highly variable in its clinical presentation, ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe organ damage and death. We characterized the time-dependent progression of the disease in 139 COVID-19 inpatients by measuring 86 accredited diagnostic parameters, such as blood cell counts and enzyme activities, as well as untargeted plasma proteomes at 687 sampling points. We report an initial spike in a systemic inflammatory response, which is gradually alleviated and followed by a protein signature indicative of tissue repair, metabolic reconstitution, and immunomodulation. We identify prognostic marker signatures for devising risk-adapted treatment strategies and use machine learning to classify therapeutic needs. We show that the machine learning models based on the proteome are transferable to an independent cohort. Our study presents a map linking routinely used clinical diagnostic parameters to plasma proteomes and their dynamics in an infectious disease

Comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis on physical health conditions in lesbian- and bisexual-identified women compared with heterosexual-identified women

Background: Sexual minority individuals experience discrimination, leading to mental health disparities. Physical health disparities have not been examined to the same extent in systematic reviews so far. Objectives: To provide a systematic review and, where possible, meta-analyses on the prevalence of physical health conditions in sexual minority women (i.e. lesbian- and bisexual-identified women) compared to heterosexual-identified women. Design: The study design is a systematic review with meta-analyses. Data Sources and Methods: A systematic literature search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases was conducted on epidemiologic studies on physical health conditions, classified in the Global Burden of Disease project, published between 2000 and 2021. Meta-analyses pooling odds ratios were calculated. Results: In total, 23,649 abstracts were screened and 44 studies were included in the systematic review. Meta-analyses were run for arthritis, asthma, back pain, cancer, chronic kidney diseases, diabetes, headache disorders, heart attacks, hepatitis, hypertension, and stroke. Most significant differences in prevalence by sexual identity were found for chronic respiratory conditions, especially asthma. Overall, sexual minority women were significantly 1.5–2 times more likely to have asthma than heterosexual women. Furthermore, evidence of higher prevalence in sexual minority compared to heterosexual women was found for back pain, headaches/migraines, hepatitis B/C, periodontitis, urinary tract infections, and acne. In contrast, bisexual women had lower cancer rates. Overall, sexual minority women had lower odds of heart attacks, diabetes, and hypertension than heterosexual women (in terms of diabetes and hypertension possibly due to non-consideration of pregnancy-related conditions). Conclusion: We found evidence for physical health disparities by sexual identity. Since some of these findings rely on few comparisons only, this review emphasizes the need for routinely including sexual identity assessment in health research and clinical practice. Providing a more detailed picture of the prevalence of physical health conditions in sexual minority women may ultimately contribute to reducing health disparities

Effects of Resistance Training on Motor- and Non-Motor Symptoms in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Previous reviews indicated positive effects of resistance training (RT) on motor outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, inconsistencies between the included studies exist, and non-motor outcomes have only scarcely been considered in a review on RT in PD. Objective: To analyze the RT effects on motor- and non-motor outcomes in PD patients compared to passive and physically active control groups (i.e., other structured physical interventions). Methods: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL for randomized controlled trials of RT in PD. After identifying 18 studies, a meta-analysis was conducted for the outcomes muscle strength, motor impairment, freezing of gait (FoG), mobility and balance, quality of life (QoL), depression, cognition, and adverse events. Meta-analyses with random models were calculated using mean differences (MD) or standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: When comparing RT with passive control groups, the meta-analyses showed significant large effects on muscle strength (SMD = -0.84, 95% CI -1.29--0.39, p = 0.0003), motor impairment (SMD = -0.81, 95% CI -1.34--0.27, p = 0.003), mobility and balance (MD = -1.81, 95% CI -3.13-0.49, p = 0.007), and small significant effects on QoL (SMD = -0.48, 95% CI -0.86-0.10, p = 0.01). RT compared with physically active control groups reached no significant results for any outcome. Conclusion: RT improves muscle strength, motor impairment, mobility and balance, QoL, and depression in PD patients. However, it is not superior to other physically active interventions. Therefore, exercise is important for PD patients but according to this analysis, its type is of secondary interest