Dose the Spread of COVID-19 Affect the Physical Health Management of University Staffs ?: Data from Annual Health Checkups

新型コロナウイルス感染拡大により生活様式が変化したが，新型コロナウイルス感染拡大が大学職員の健康管理に及ぼした影響は明らかでない。本研究では40歳以上の大学職員1608名を対象に，新型コロナウイルス感染拡大前後の職員健康診断データを比較検討した。年齢を調整すると，感染拡大前と比較して，感染拡大後ではALT（β= 0.04, P = 0.02），HDL コレステロール（β= -0.07, P = 0.0002），LDL コレステロール（β= 0.04, P = 0.02）が悪化した一方で，HbA1c（β= -0.04, P = 0.02）は改善した。BMI，腹囲，AST，γ-GT，血糖値，中性脂肪，収縮期血圧，拡張期血圧，尿酸については感染拡大前後で変化を認めなかった。大学職員の健康管理において，感染拡大による職員個人のライフスタイル変化を考慮した生活指導が重要と考えられる。Although the spread of COVID-19 brought radical change to our lifestyle, its impact on health management of university staff is unknown. We enrolled 1608 Hiroshima University staff aged 40 years or more and compared their health checkup data before and after the spread of COVID-19. After adjustment for age, values of alanine aminotransferase (β= 0.04, P = 0.02), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β= -0.07, P = 0.0002), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β= 0.04, P = 0.02) were worsened due to the spread of COVID-19. However, hemoglobin A1c (β= -0.04, P = 0.02) was improved, and values of body mass index, waist circumference, aspartate transaminase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, blood glucose, triglyceride, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and uric acid were unchanged by the spread of COVID-19. For better physical health management of the university staff, individual lifestyle changes due to the spread of COVID-19 need to be considered

Plasma MicroRNAs as noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers in patients with Brugada syndrome.

BackgroundBrugada syndrome (BrS) can be diagnosed by a type 1 BrS tracing in a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). However, there are daily variations in the ECGs of BrS patients, which presents a challenge when diagnosing BrS. Although many susceptibility genes have been identified, the SCN5A gene is reportedly the main causative gene of BrS. However, most patients do not have an evidence of genetic predisposition to develop BrS. In addition, the diagnosis and risk stratification for ventricular fibrillation (VF) in patients with BrS presents some problems. Meanwhile, circulating micro RNAs (miRNAs) have drawn increased attention as potential biomarkers of various diseases. We hypothesize that circulating miRNAs may be potential diagnostic biomarkers for BrS.MethodsWe enrolled 70 Japanese BrS patients and 34 controls for the screening cohort. A total of 2,555 miRNA sequences were detected using the 3D-Gene miRNAs labeling kit and 3D-Gene Human miRNAs Oligo Chip. We compared the expression of the miRNAs between the BrS patients and the controls. We validated whether the miRNA were significantly up- or downregulated in the screening cohort using RT-PCR. We also enrolled 72 Japanese BrS patients and 56 controls to replicate these miRNAs.ResultsEight miRNAs (hsa-miR-223-3p, hsa-miR-22-3p, hsa-miR-221-3p, hsa-miR-4485-5p, hsa-miR-550a-5p, hsa-miR-423-3p, hsa-miR-23a-3p, and hsa-miR-30d-5p) were downregulated, and one miRNA (hsa-miR-873-3p) was upregulated by more than 3-fold in BrS patients. The multivariate logistic regression analysis determined that hsa-miR-423-3p, hsa-miR-223-3p, and hsa-miR-23a-3p were independently associated with BrS (P ConclusionsThe plasma miRNAs are potential noninvasive biomarkers of BrS, and the constructed logistic model was useful for discriminating BrS