The acute impact of the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic in people with pre-existing psychiatric disorders: a systematic review

People with pre-pandemic health conditions are more vulnerable and more likely to suffer greater psychosocial impact due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures. Thus, the objective of this work was to systematically review the impact of the early stages COVID-19 pandemic on people with pre-existing psychiatric disorders. The search was performed between 23 January and 2 September 2021 in PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE. A total of 4167 published results were identified; however, only 49 were included in this review. Results show that there was considerable heterogeneity among studies, which resulted in a low consensus. However, it seems that the impact of the first stage of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric disorders was two-fold: (1) an overall effect, in which people suffering from psychiatric disorders in general experienced more psychological distress and anxiety when compared to people who had no psychiatric diagnosis, and (2) a condition-specific effect, namely in people suffering from eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders. Moreover, the current work highlights that there were also some external factors that were related to worsening symptoms. For instance, unemployment or experiencing work and financial difficulties can be a trigger for greater distress during the pandemic for people with mood disorders, and being alone and in social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic may actually increase substance use and relapse rates. Further studies are needed to prospectively investigate the long-term effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic on people with (pre)-existing psychiatric conditions and on the onset or deterioration of psychiatric-related symptoms in a larger number of participants, as well as exploring the long-term effects of the current pandemic on mental health.This work was partially supported by FEDER funds through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade-COMPETE, by national funds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the projects PTDC/PSI-ESP/29701/2017 and PTDC/PSI-ESP/30280/2017. It was also supported by grant FCT UIDB/04810/2020 from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology to the William James Center for Research

El polimorfismo del promotor del gen de la leptina en la posición -2549 disminuye la leptina plasmática y aumenta el apetito de los voluntarios con peso normal

Introduction: Investigate whether polymorphism in the promoter region encoding leptin and leptin receptor gene, in normal weight individuals, affects hormonal and appetite responses to peanuts.Materials and methods: Appetite, anthropometric indices, body composition, physical activity, dietary intake and leptin, ghrelin and insulin levels were monitored. Polymorphism analyses were also carried out.Results: None of the treatments led to statistical differences in the analyzed hormones. No polymorphism was found for leptin receptor gene, while for leptin gene, 50% of the volunteers presented one polymorphic allele and 13% presented both polymorphic alleles. These last ones presented lower body fat mass, leptin and ghrelin plasma concentrations, and fullness rates. They also presented higher hunger, desire to eat, and desire to eat sweet and salty foods.Conclusions: Peanut did not affect appetite and presented no different hormonal responses, compared to other foods studied. Polymorphic allele carriers in both alleles presented higher probability to develop obesity. However, the magnitude of this probability could not be measured.Introducción: Identificar polimorfismos en la región promotora del gen del receptor de la leptina en los individuos con peso normal e investigar si este polimorfi smo afecta a las respuestas hormonales y el apetito tras la ingesta de cacahuetes o una mezcla de ingredientes con un aporte de macronutrientes semejante.Material y método: Se controló el apetito, los índices antropométricos, la composición corporal, la actividad física, la ingesta dietética y las concentraciones de leptina, grelina e insulina de todos los sujetos. Además, se llevaron a cabo los análisis de polimorfi smo.Resultados: Ninguno de los tratamientos dio lugar a una diferencia estadísticamente signifi cativa en las hormonas analizadas. No se encontró polimorfi smo del gen del receptor de leptina, pero para el gen de la leptina, el 50% de los voluntarios tenían un alelo polimórfi co y el 13%, dos. Estos presentaron menores índices de masa grasa corporal, concentraciones plasmáticas de leptina y grelina y tasas de plenitud gástrica. Asimismo, tenían más hambre, deseo de comer y deseo de comer algo dulce y salado.Conclusiones: Ingerir cacahuetes no afecta al apetito y no produce respuestas hormonales diferentes que con otros alimentos estudiados. Los portadores de alelos polimórficos en los dos alelos tuvieron mayor probabilidad de sufrir obesidad, aunque no ha sido posible evaluar su magnitud

Effectiveness of first-line antiretroviral therapy in the IPEC cohort, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Background: While Brazil has had a long-standing policy of free access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all in need, the epidemiological impact of ART on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA suppression in this middle-income country has not been well evaluated. We estimate first-line ART effectiveness in a large Brazilian cohort and examine the socio-demographic, behavioral, clinical and structural factors associated with virologic suppression. Methods: Virologic suppression on first-line ART at 6, 12, and 24 months from start of ART was defined as having a viral load measurement ≤400 copies/mL without drug class modification and/or discontinuation. Drug class modification and/or discontinuation were defined based on the class of a particular drug. Quasi-Poisson regression was used to quantify the association of factors with virologic suppression. Results: From January 2000 through June 2010, 1311 patients started first-line ART; 987 (75%) patients used NNRTI-based regimens. Virologic suppression was achieved by 77%, 76% and 68% of patients at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively. Factors associated with virologic suppression at 12 months were: >8 years of formal education (compared to <4 years, risk ratio (RR) 1.13, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.03-1.24), starting ART in 2005-2010 (compared to 2000-2004, RR 1.25 95% CI 1.15-1.35), and clinical trial participation (compared to no participation, RR 1.08 95% CI 1.01-1.16). Also at 12 months, women showed less virologic suppression compared to heterosexual men (RR 0.90 95% CI 0.82-0.99). For the 24-month endpoint, in addition to higher education, starting ART in the later period, and clinical trial participation, older age and an NNRTI-based regimen were also independently associated with virologic suppression. Conclusions: Our results show that in Brazil, a middle-income country with free access to treatment, over three-quarters of patients receiving routine care reached virologic suppression on first-line ART by the end of the first year. Higher education, more recent ART initiation and clinical trial participation were associated with improved outcomes both for the 12-month and the 24-month endpoints, suggesting that further studies are needed to understand what aspects relating to these factors lead to higher virologic suppression

Immune Monitoring of Trans-endothelial Transport by Kidney-Resident Macrophages

Small immune complexes cause type III hypersensitivity reactions that frequently result in tissue injury. The responsible mechanisms however remain unclear and differ depending on target organs. Here we identify a kidney-specific anatomical and functional unit, formed by resident macrophages and peritubular capillary endothelial cells, which monitors the transport of proteins and particles ranging from 20 to 700 kDa or 10 to 200 nm into the kidney interstitium. Kidney resident macrophages detect and scavenge circulating immune complexes ‘pumped’ into the interstitium via trans-endothelial transport, and trigger a FcγRIV-dependent inflammatory response and the recruitment of monocytes and neutrophils. In addition, FcγRIV and TLR pathways synergistically ‘super-activate’ kidney macrophages when immune complexes contain a nucleic acid. These data identify a physiological function of tissue resident kidney macrophages and a basic mechanism by which they initiate the inflammatory response to small immune complexes in the kidney

Minimally invasive and endoscopic versus open necrosectomy for necrotising pancreatitis: a pooled analysis of individual data for 1980 patients

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2877488

Desenvolvimento Neuropsicomotor em Crianças Nascidas Prematuras e com Baixo Peso

O estudo objetivou analisar o desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor, segundo o Teste de Triagem do Desenvolvimento Denver II, em crianças nascidas prematuras e com baixo peso acompanhadas nas Unidades de Saúde da Família. Realizou-se um estudo do tipo transversal com delineamento do tipo caso controle numa amostra de 85 crianças, distribuídas em grupo caso (47) e controle (38). Para análise dos dados utilizou-se tabelas de distribuição de frequências, testes de Qui-quadrado e Teste Exato de Fisher e análise de regressão logística. A análise individual mostrou associação significativa entre os grupos e a idade gestacional, peso ao nascer, tipo de parto, internação, local da residência, renda do pai, idade e escolaridade da mãe. Ao interpretar os itens individuais nas quatro áreas do desenvolvimento (pessoal-social, motor-fino-adaptativo, linguagem e motor grosso), observou-se um maior percentual de alterações no grupo caso, porém sem diferença significativa entre os grupos. Já na interpretação do teste inteiro, 14,1% das crianças avaliadas apresentaram resultado questionável, sendo 21,3% das crianças do grupo caso e 5,3% do grupo controle. A análise de regressão logística múltipla evidenciou que apenas a internação da criança e a escolaridade da mãe apresentaram associação significativa com o desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor. Crianças que foram internadas e de mães com escolaridade mais baixa têm 18,52 e 8,57 vezes mais chance, respectivamente, de apresentar resultado questionável no Denver II. Palavras-chave: Teste de Denver II, Desenvolvimento infantil, Motricidade

Preparation, Characterization and Effectiveness to Delay Lipid Oxidation in Almonds and Beef Meat

Funding Information: This study was carried out under the VIPACFood project, funded by ARIMNet2 (Coordination of Agricultural Research in the Mediterranean; 2014–2017), an ERA-NET Action financed by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme, and by the Programa de Cooperación Interreg V-A España–Portugal (POCTEP) 2014–2020 (project 0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E). Cássia H. Barbosa is grateful for her research grant in the frame of the VIPACFood project (ARIMNET2/0003/2016) and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal, for the Ph.D. grant 2021.08154.BD. This research was also funded by PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) through grants UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDB/00211/2020. L. Barbosa-Pereira is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for her “Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación” grant (Agreement No. IJCI-2017-31665). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Low-density polyethylene-based packaging with 4% lemon extract (LDPE/4LE) and two polylactic-based (PLA) packaging materials with 4% and 6% lemon extract (PLA/PEG/4LE and PLA/6LE) were produced. O2 and water permeability tests were performed, the total and individual phenolic compounds content were measured, and the films’ antioxidant activities were determined. The films’ ability to delay lipid oxidation was tested in two model foods: almonds, packaged with LDPE/4LE, PLA/4LE and PLA/6LE for a maximum period of 60 days at 40 °C (accelerated assay); and beef meat, packaged with the PLA/6LE for a maximum period of 11 days at 4 °C. The LE improved the WVP in all of the active films by 33%, 20% and 60% for the LDPE/4LE, PLA/4LE and PLA/6LE films, respectively. At the end of 10 days, the migration of phenolic compounds through the PLA films was measured to be 142.27 and 114.9 μg/dm2 for the PLA/4LE and PLA/6LE films, respectively, and was significantly higher than phenolic compounds migration measured for the LDPE/4LE (15.97 μg/dm2). Naringenin, apigenin, ferulic acid, eriocitrin, hesperidin and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid were the main identified compounds in the PLA, but only 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, naringenin and p-coumaric acid were identified in the LDPE films. Regarding the films’ ability to delay lipid oxidation, LDPE/4LE presented the best results, showing a capacity to delay lipid oxidation in almonds for 30 days. When applied to raw beef meat, the PLA/6LE packaging was able to significantly inhibit lipid oxidation for 6 days, and successfully inhibited total microorganisms’ growth until the 8th day of storage.publishersversionpublishe