Obesity and SARS-CoV-2: A population to safeguard.

Evidence has lately emerged regarding an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 with worse prognosis in patients with obesity, especially among the young. Weight excess is a well-established respiratory disease risk factor, and the newly reported correlation is therefore unsurprising. The underlying pathophysiology is likely multi-stranded, ranging from complement system hyperactivation, increased Interleukin-6 secretion, chronic inflammation, presence of comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension, and a possible local, detrimental effect within the lung.

Whole-blood alpha-D-galactosidase A activity for the identification of Fabry's patients.

Objectives: ERT application to Fabry's disease patients needs sensitive assay method of the missing enzyme (α-d-galactosidase A) to achieve early diagnosis.

Design And Methods: A new fluorimetric assay method of α-d-galactosidase A was developed, using whole blood (WB) from 30 healthy individuals, 7 hemizygous males and 7 heterozygous females with Fabry's disease. This method was compared with the traditional dried blood spot (DBS) method.