Inflammatory Cytokine Profiles During Exercise in Obese, Diabetic, and Healthy Children

Objective: Modulation of inflammatory status is considered a key component of the overall health effects of exercise. This may be especially relevant in children with obesity (Ob) or type 1 diabetes (T1DM), in which an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators could accelerate onset and progression of cardiovascular complications. To date, exercise-induced alterations in immuno-modulatory mediators in Ob and T1DM children remain largely unknown

Levels of Blood Biomarkers among Patients with Myocardial Infarction in Comparison to Control Group

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) as a term for a heart attack happens due to reduced blood flow to heart myocardium and lack of oxygen supply caused by plaques inthe interior walls of coronary arteries. With respect to the importance of MI etiology, we aimed to study the relationship of MI and blood examination variables.METHODS: This study was conducted in Mazandaran Heart Center as a hospital-based case-control Comprising 894 participants including 465 cases and 429 controls, individually matched by sex and age. Considered blood markers were analyzed using routine laboratory methods and equipment.RESULTS: Of all participants, 64.3% of the cases and 51.0% of the controls were males with a mean age of 61.2 (±13.8) in cases and 62.4 (±14.) in controls. We could not find any differences between cases and controls for total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and alkaline-phosphatase (ALP) (P>0.05). However, levels of creatine-kinase-muscle/brain (CK-MB) (P<0.0001), fasting-blood-sugar (FBS) (P<0.0001), aspartateaminotransferase (AST) (P<0.0001), alanine-transferase (ALT) (P<0.0001) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (P=0.001) were significantly higher in cases compared to the controls (P<0.05). Multivariable analyses revealed that the risk of MI was associated with high levels of AST (adjusted OR=24.3, 95%CI=3.5±165.6, P=0.001) and LDL (adjusted OR=7.4, 95%CI=1.0±51.8, P=0.001).CONCLUSION: Our investigation indicated that the levels of CK-MB, FBS, AST, ALT and ESR were significantly higher in patients with MI. Besides, our findings showed that the risk of MI in cases with high levels of AST and LDL was about 24 and 7 times more than the control group respectively

A Comparative Analysis of Clinical Characteristics and Laboratory Findings of COVID-19 between Intensive Care Unit and Non-Intensive Care Unit Pediatric Patients: A Multicenter, Retrospective, Observational Study from Iranian Network for Research in Viral

Introduction: To date, little is known about the clinical features of pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Objective: Herein, we aimed to describe the differences in demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, clinical presentations, and outcomes of Iranian pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU versus those in non-ICU settings. Methods: This multicenter investigation involved 15 general and pediatrics hospitals and included cases with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection based on positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) admitted to these centers between March and May 2020, during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Results: Overall, 166 patients were included, 61 (36.7%) of whom required ICU admission. The highest number of admitted cases to ICU were in the age group of 1–5 years old. Malignancy and heart diseases were the most frequent underlying conditions. Dyspnea was the major symptom for ICU-admitted patients. There were significant decreases in PH, HCO3 and base excess, as well as increases in creatinine, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and potassium levels between ICU-admitted and non-ICU patients. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), shock, and acute cardiac injury were the most common features among ICU-admitted patients. The mortality rate in the ICU-admitted patients was substantially higher than non-ICU cases (45.9% vs. 1.9%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusions: Underlying diseases were the major risk factors for the increased ICU admissions and mortality rates in pediatric COVID-19 patients. There were few paraclinical parameters that could differentiate between pediatrics in terms of prognosis and serious outcomes of COVID-19. Healthcare providers should consider children as a high-risk group, especially those with underlying medical conditions

Quantitative Risk Assessment of Patient Manual Handling in Wards of One of the Hospitals of Tehran using MAPO Method, Iran

Background and Objectives: Manual handling of disabled patients is one of the important and effective factors in acute low back pain among exposed nurses. The present study was conducted with the objective of quantitative risk assessment of patient manual handling among nurses in wards of one of the hospitals in Tehran using MAPO method. Methods: The present study was conducted as an analytical-cross-sectional study in 26 wards of one of the hospitals in Tehran city. Samples were selected by census method from nurses and paramedics of different wards of hospital. Data collection was performed using demographic information and MAPO checklist. Results: The highest score of MAPO were, respectively, related to wards of DI clinic (score, 14.7), men orthopedic (score, 6.3), and general operating room (score, 57). 53.8% of hospital wards were at the level 2 corrective action, which indicated that the risk of musculoskeletal disorder is 2.4 times higher than level 1 corrective action. Conclusion: Given that the proportion of disabled patient in cooperation and/or partial cooperation, lifting tools, auxiliary, wheelchair, and training have the most role among risk factors for above-mentioned wards, increasing the number of human resources and wheelchair, use of lifting and auxiliary tools and training reduce MAPO score and consequently the risk of musculoskeletal disorders

The current and future potential geographical distribution of Nepeta crispa Willd., an endemic, rare and threatened aromatic plant of Iran: Implications for ecological conservation and restoration

International audienceNepeta crispa Willd. is a very rare medicinal plant that grows in a very limited habitat in western Iran. In recent years, due to climate change, many plants have become endangered, which poses a very serious threat to very rare species such as N. crispa Willd. In the present study, we aimed to model the current and future potential geographical distributions and identify the most relevant environmental factors influencing the distribution of N. crispa Willd. an endemic plant species in west of Iran. The species distribution was modeled with the maximum entropy model by using presence data (160 sampling points) and a total of 15 climatic and environmental variables. To predict possible shifts in the geographical distribution due to climate change, we used the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and RCP 8.5 for 2050 and 2070 for two Global Climate Models (GCMs). The jackknifing method was used to evaluate the contribution of the environmental variables to the model. We found that elevation, annual mean temperature, geology and precipitation of the driest quarter were the most important variables in determining the habitat of N. crispa. The species habitat suitability maps and models were efficient in predicting the habitat suitability distribution for N. crispa in the current conditions with an Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) of 0.983. Our modeling approach also demonstrated that climate change would expand the habitat range of N. crispa in the Alvand mountain areas in Iran towards higher elevation (above 2000 m.a.s.l). Conservation measures should therefore predominantly concentrate on the elevation range between 2000 and 3500 m.a.s.l. Knowledge of current distribution of the N. crispa and predicting its potential future geographical distribution under different climate change scenarios provide useful information for conservation actions in Iran

Inflammatory cytokine profiles during exercise in obese, diabetic, and healthy children.

Modulation of inflammatory status is considered a key component of the overall health effects of exercise. This may be especially relevant in children with obesity (Ob) or type 1 diabetes (T1DM), in which an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators could accelerate onset and progression of cardiovascular complications. To date, exercise-induced alterations in immuno-modulatory mediators in Ob and T1DM children remain largely unknown.In this study, we monitored the kinetic profiles of 8 pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, IL-2, IL-8, IL-5, IL-13, IL-10, IL-4) during a standardized exercise challenge (ten 2-min cycling bouts at 80% VO2max, separated by 1-min intervals) in 23 Ob (12 females, 11 males), 23 T1DM (10 females and 13 males) patients and 20 healthy (CL, 10 females and 10 males) children. Blood glucose of T1DM patients was kept in the 4.4-6.1 mM range for at least 90 minute prior to and during exercise. Blood samples were drawn at rest and after every other exercise bout.In Ob, TNF-a and IL-2 were significantly greater (p<0.0167) as compared to T1DM and CL, both at baseline and throughout exercise. All other variables, while not significant, were quantitatively elevated in Ob vs. CL. In T1DM, IL-4 and IL-8 levels were similar to Ob, IL-2 and TNF-a similar to CL, and IL-6, IL-5, IL-13, IL-4 levels were intermediate between the Ob and CL groups.During exercise, therefore, both Ob and T1DM children displayed exaggerated pro-inflammatory responses, although with clearly different magnitude and involved mediators. Our data support the necessity to identify specific exercise formats through which each at-risk pediatric population can draw maximal beneficial health effects