Prolonged higher dose methylprednisolone vs. conventional dexamethasone in COVID-19 pneumonia: a randomised controlled trial (MEDEAS)

Dysregulated systemic inflammation is the primary driver of mortality in severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Current guidelines favor a 7-10-day course of any glucocorticoid equivalent to dexamethasone 6 mg·day-1. A comparative RCT with a higher dose and a longer duration of intervention was lacking

Renal involvement in sarcoidosis: histological patterns and prognosis, an Italian survey

Granulomatous interstitial nephritis in sarcoidosis (sGIN) is generally clinically silent, but in <1% causes acute kidney injury (AKI)

Nanostructures of whey proteins for encapsulation of food ingredients

Nanoencapsulation in the Food Industry series, vol.1The most current and high-level research is being taken on the use of nanoscience and nanotechnology due to its varied application in numerous fields of science. Food nanotechnology, and in particular, the development and application of bio-based nanostructures are an emerging area having a high potential to engender new products and processes in the food industry. This chapter intends to discuss whey protein-based nanostructured systems (i.e., whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, -lactoglobulin, and -lactalbumin) for encapsulation of food ingredients. These protein nanostructures have unique properties, such as a high nutritional value, GRAS nature, gelling capability, and can be easily prepared and controlled. They have also the ability to conjugate a large variety of food ingredients (e.g., antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, flavors, and odors) via amino groups or ionic and hydrophobic interactions. This behavior will prevent the degradation of sensitive bioactives, while permitting a site-specific action and controlled delivery rate due to the swelling behavior of the gel in reaction to external and physical stimuli such as temperature, enzymes, pH, or ionic strength), thus contributing to an improved bioavailability of such ingredients. The potential of whey protein nanostructures for encapsulation and controlled delivery of food ingredients will be addressed in a critical manner in this chapter. Moreover, various techniques used for their nanoencapsulation and evaluation of their stability during storage will also be discussed. The behavior and bioavailability of whey nanostructures and their associated/encapsulated food ingredients will be discussed using insights from in vitro and in vivo gastrointestinal systems together with potential cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and allergenicity via in vitro cell lines. Finally, examples of such nanostructures applied in food matrices will be described, as well as the main challenges for their commercial use.FCTCNPqCOMPETE 2020NORTE 2020Oscar L. Ramos, and Ricardo N. Pereira acknowledge their Post-Doctoral grants (SFRH/BPD/ 80766/2011 and SFRH/BPD/81887/2011, respectively) and Daniel A. Madalena and Rodrigues R. Martins acknowledge their Doctoral grants (SFRH/BD/129127/2017 and SFRH/BD/ 110723/2015, respectively) to the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal). Lívia S. Simões gratefully acknowledges her grant to CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brasil) from Brazil. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/Multi/50016/2019 and UID/BIO/04469 units and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Glomerular filtration rate: A prognostic marker in atrial fibrillation-A subanalysis of the AntiThrombotic Agents Atrial Fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE An increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity has been widely reported in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). In this study, a subanalysis of the AntiThrombotic Agents Atrial Fibrillation (ATA-AF) is performed with the aim to evaluate estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as an independent prognostic marker of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in patients with AF. METHODS AND RESULTS The ATA-AF study enrolled 7148 patients with AF, in 360 Italian centers. The eGFR was calculated from data reported in patient notes or hospital database. This post-hoc analysis included 1097 AF patients with eGFR data available and 1-year clinical follow-up. The endpoint was assessed as cardiovascular mortality and/or hospital admission for cardiovascular causes at follow-up. Patients were also divided in two groups according to the eGFR (<60 and ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m ). The Kaplan-Meyer curve for the mentioned endpoint showed a higher endpoint incidence in the group of patient with eGFR below 60 mL/min/1.73 m (P < 0.001). Using multivariate analysis (Cox regression), a trend toward a higher rate of occurrence of the primary endpoint was observed for eGFR below 60 mL/min/1.73 m without reaching the conventional level of statistical significance (hazard ratio [HR] 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99-1.99; P = 0.0572). When eGFR was included in the analysis as continuous variable a significant correlation was observed with the combined endpoint at the Cox regression (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.98-0.99, P = 0.04). CONCLUSION The result of this post-hoc analysis indicates that an impaired eGFR is independently associated with worse prognosis among patients with AF