Delayed CCL23 response is associated with poor outcomes after cardiac arrest.

Chemokines, a family of chemotactic cytokines, mediate leukocyte migration to and entrance into inflamed tissue, contributing to the intensity of local inflammation. We performed an analysis of chemokine and immune cell responses to cardiac arrest (CA). Forty-two patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest were analyzed, and twenty-two patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery were enrolled.

Decreased circulating CD73 and adenosine deaminase are associated with disease severity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Objective: SARS-CoV-2 infection has been shown to result in increased circulating levels of adenosine triphosphate and adenosine diphosphate and decreased levels of adenosine, which has important anti-inflammatory activity. The goal of this pilot project was to assess the levels of soluble CD73 and soluble Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and determine if levels of these molecules are associated with disease severity.

Methods: Plasma from 28 PCR-confirmed hospitalized COVID-19 patients who had varied disease severity based on WHO classification (6 mild/moderate, 10 severe, 12 critical) had concentrations of both soluble CD73 and ADA determined by ELISA.

Community consultation for Exception from Informed consent (EFIC) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: Describe community consultation and surrogate consent rates for two Exception From Informed Consent (EFIC) trials for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) - before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The PEARL study (2016-2018) randomized OOHCA patients without ST-elevation to early cardiac catheterization or not. Community consultation included flyers, radio announcements, newspaper advertisements, mailings, and in-person surveys at basketball games and ED waiting rooms.

Ceftriaxone to PRevent pneumOnia and inflammaTion aftEr Cardiac arresT (PROTECT): study protocol for a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Pneumonia is the most common infection after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurring in up to 65% of patients who remain comatose after return of spontaneous circulation. Preventing infection after OHCA may (1) reduce exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics, (2) prevent hemodynamic derangements due to local and systemic inflammation, and (3) prevent infection-associated morbidity and mortality.

Methods: The ceftriaxone to PRevent pneumOnia and inflammaTion aftEr Cardiac arrest (PROTECT) trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled, single-center, quadruple-blind (patient, treatment team, research team, outcome assessors), non-commercial, superiority trial to be conducted at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, USA.

DEspR neutrophils are associated with critical illness in COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 infection results in a spectrum of outcomes from no symptoms to widely varying degrees of illness to death. A better understanding of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent, often excessive, inflammation may inform treatment decisions and reveal opportunities for therapy. We studied immune cell subpopulations and their associations with clinical parameters in a cohort of 26 patients with COVID-19.

Number of Circulating CD 73-Expressing Lymphocytes Correlates With Survival After Cardiac Arrest.

Background Patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest ( CA ) have highly variable neurological, circulatory, and systemic ischemia-reperfusion injuries. After the initial hypoxic-ischemic insult, a cascade of immune and inflammatory responses develops and is often fatal. The role of the immune response in pathophysiological characteristics and recovery is not well understood.

Neurological Pupil Index and Pupillary Light Reflex by Pupillometry Predict Outcome Early After Cardiac Arrest.

Background: The absence of the pupillary light reflex (PLR) 3 days after cardiac arrest predicts poor outcome, but quantitative PLR assessment with pupillometry early after recovery of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and throughout targeted temperature management (TTM) has rarely been evaluated.

Methods: Fifty-five adult patients treated with TTM with available pupillometry data from the NeurOptics NPi-200 were studied. Discharge outcome was classified good if the cerebral performance category score was 1-2, poor if 3-5.

The Evolving Paradigm of Individualized Postresuscitation Care After Cardiac Arrest.

The postresuscitation period after a cardiac arrest is characterized by a wide range of physiological derangements. Variations between patients include preexisting medical problems, the underlying cause of the cardiac arrest, presence or absence of hemodynamic and circulatory instability, severity of the ischemia-reperfusion injury, and resuscitation-related injuries such as pulmonary aspiration and rib or sternal fractures. Although protocols can be applied to many elements of postresuscitation care, the widely disparate clinical condition of cardiac arrest survivors requires an individualized approach that stratifies patients according to their clinical profile and targets specific treatments to patients most likely to benefit.

Clinical Experience and Evaluation of Patient Treatment Verification With a Transit Dosimeter.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate a protocol for transit dosimetry on a patient population undergoing intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and to assess the issues in clinical implementation of electronic portal imaging devices (EPIDs) for treatment verification.

Methods And Materials: Fifty-eight patients were enrolled in the study. Amorphous silicon EPIDs were calibrated for dose and used to acquire images of delivered fields.

Loss-of-function mutations in ABCA1 and enhanced β-cell secretory capacity in young adults.

Loss-of-function mutations affecting the cholesterol transporter ATP-binding cassette transporter subfamily A member 1 (ABCA1) impair cellular cholesterol efflux and are associated with reduced HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. ABCA1 may also be important in regulating β-cell cholesterol homeostasis and insulin secretion. We sought to determine whether loss-of-function ABCA1 mutations affect β-cell secretory capacity in humans by performing glucose-potentiated arginine tests in three subjects homozygous for ABCA1 mutations (age 25 ± 11 years), eight heterozygous subjects (28 ± 7 years), and eight normal control subjects pair-matched to the heterozygous carriers.

Surface cooling after cardiac arrest: effectiveness, skin safety, and adverse events in routine clinical practice.

Background: Effectiveness of cooling and adverse events (AEs) involving skin have not been intensively evaluated in cardiac arrest survivors treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) when induced and maintained with a servomechanism-regulated surface cooling system.

Methods: Retrospective review of sixty-nine cardiac arrest survivor-events admitted from April 2006-September 2008 who underwent TH using the Medivance Arctic Sun Temperature Management System. A TH database and medical records were reviewed, and nursing interviews conducted.

Fat mass threshold associated with a significant deterioration of insulin sensitivity in postmenopausal women.

The aim of this study was to establish a cut-off value of percentage of fat mass (%FM) at which insulin sensitivity (IS) is significantly altered in sedentary postmenopausal women. Our results suggest that maintaining a %FM below 41% would minimize the deterioration of IS and its associated risks.

Relationship between sarcopenia and fracture risks in obese postmenopausal women.

It is known that obesity is inversely correlated with fracture risk. It remains unclear if a low muscle mass (sarcopenia) modulates the relationship between obesity and bone mass density. Twenty-seven obese women were matched for total fat mass (+/- 0.

Isoflavones and clinical cardiovascular risk factors in obese postmenopausal women: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Aims: To investigate whether 6 months of isoflavone supplementation, which has been shown to be sufficient to improve menopausal symptoms, could also improve clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in obese postmenopausal women, compared with a placebo.

Methods: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial in which 50 obese postmenopausal women were divided into two groups (isoflavones vs. placebo) to examine the effect of 6 months of isoflavone supplement (70 mg) on clinical CVD risk factors.

Is overweight/obesity associated with short sleep duration in older women?

Background And Aim: No study to date has documented the association between short sleep duration and the risk for obesity in older people. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations between short sleep duration and variations in body fat indices in older women.

Methods: Anthropometric and body composition measurements, resting energy expenditure, daily energy expenditure, daily energy intake, plasma lipid-lipoprotein profile, and self-reported sleep duration were determined in a sample of 90 women of 50 years and above.

No difference in insulin sensitivity between healthy postmenopausal women with or without sarcopenia: a pilot study.

Insulin plays a pivotal role in skeletal muscle protein metabolism and its action decreases with age. A loss of muscle mass, termed sarcopenia, also occurs with age. The age-associated decline in insulin sensitivity (IS) may negatively alter muscle protein metabolism and, therefore, be implicated in the aetiology of sarcopenia.

Effect of 6 months of exercise and isoflavone supplementation on clinical cardiovascular risk factors in obese postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind study.

Objective: To investigate whether 6 months of exercise combined with isoflavone supplementation could improve clinical risk factors that predispose to cardiovascular disease in obese postmenopausal women.

Design: This was a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial in which 50 healthy obese postmenopausal women were divided into two groups and assigned to isoflavone supplementation (n=25) or a placebo (n=25) for 1 year. For the last 6 months, both groups participated in an exercise program (three times per week), at the end of which cardiovascular disease risk factors were compared between groups.

Effect of sarcopenia on cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese postmenopausal women.

Objective: To compare sarcopenic-obese and obese postmenopausal women for risk factors predisposing to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and determine whether there may be a relationship between muscle mass and metabolic risk in obese postmenopausal women.

Research Methods And Procedures: In this cross-sectional study, 22 healthy obese postmenopausal women (mean age, 66 +/- 5 years; mean BMI, 27 +/- 3 kg/m(2)) were divided into two groups matched for age (+/-2 years) and fat mass (FM) (+/-2%). Sarcopenia was defined as a muscle mass index of <14.