Exhaled nitric oxide is not a biomarker for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension or for treatment efficacy

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a fatal illness. Despite many improvements in the treatment of these patients, there is no unique prognostic variable available to track these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels, as a noninvasive biomarker, with disease severity and treatment outcome. METHODS: Thirty-six patients (29 women and 7 men, mean age 38.4 ± 11.3 years) with IPAH referred to the outpatient's clinic of Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were enrolled into this pilot observational study. Echocardiography, six-minute walking test (6MWT), FeNO, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and the functional class of patients was assessed before patients started treatment. Assessments were repeated after three months. 30 healthy non-IPAH subjects were recruited as control subjects. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in FeNO levels at baseline between patients with IPAH and subjects in the control group. There was also no significant increase in FeNO levels during the three months of treatment and levels did not correlate with other disease measures. In contrast, other markers of disease severity were correlated with treatment effect over the three months. CONCLUSION: FeNO levels are a poor non-invasive measure of IPAH severity and of treatment response in patients in this pilot study

Comparison of the effect of intravenous dexamethasone and methylprednisolone on the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial

Objective: In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of intravenous dexamethasone and methylprednisolone on the treatment of inpatients with COVID-19. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 143 patients under 80 years of age with moderate to severe COVID-19 were enrolled and randomly assigned to two groups: dexamethasone (8 mg/day) and methylprednisolone (60 mg/day in two divided doses). The primary outcome was the length of hospital stay. The secondary outcomes included: duration of oxygen therapy, absolute leukocyte and lymphocyte count, hypokalemia, hyperglycemia, intensive care unit admission, and mortality in the two groups for 28 days. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 26 using t-test, chi-square, and analysis of variance. Results: The duration of hospitalization was significantly (P <0.001) shorter in the dexamethasone group than in the methylprednisolone group (8 [95% confidence interval [CI]:6-10] and 11 [95% CI: 7-14], respectively). In addition, the duration of oxygen therapy in the dexamethasone group (7 [95% CI: 5-9]) was significantly (P <0.001) shorter than in the methylprednisolone group (10 [95% CI: 5.5-14]). The mortality rate was 17.1% (95% CI: 8.1-26.1) in the dexamethasone group and 12.3% (95% CI: 4.6-20.0) in the methylprednisolone group, which was not statistically significant (P = 0.46). Conclusion: Results showed better effectiveness of 8 mg/day dexamethasone compared with 60 mg/day methylprednisolone based on the shorter hospital stay, which can be considered in the therapeutic protocol of COVID-19. Trial registration:: IRCT20210223050466N1