Community pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of stress during COVID-19.

Background: Pharmacists play a crucial role in the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, performing frontline roles for the community, and supporting the healthcare system. This study aimed at investigating stress and its correlates among this category of workers at a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: The participants for this study were employees of the "Municipal Pharmaceutical Company" of L'Aquila (Italy).

NKG2A Expression among CD8 Cells Is Associated with COVID-19 Progression in Hypertensive Patients: Insights from the BRACE CORONA Randomized Trial.

Cardiovascular comorbidities and immune-response dysregulation are associated with COVID-19 severity. We aimed to explore the key immune cell profile and understand its association with disease progression in 156 patients with hypertension that were hospitalized due to COVID-19. The primary outcome was progression to severe disease.

Effects of Ticagrelor and Clopidogrel on Coronary Microcirculation in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Introduction: Clopidogrel has been demonstrated to be effective in improving coronary microcirculation (CM) among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with fibrinolytics. Ticagrelor is a more potent adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor blocker proven to be superior to clopidogrel among patients with acute coronary syndromes. The present study aimed to compare the effects of ticagrelor and clopidogrel on CM in patients with STEMI treated with fibrinolytics.

Improvement of Lipid Profile after One-Anastomosis Gastric Bypass Compared to Sleeve Gastrectomy.

Fewer studies compared the improvement of plasma lipid levels after different types of surgery, in particular compared to one-anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB). The aim of our study was to investigate how laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and OAGB impact on weight loss and lipid profile 18 months after surgery, in patients with severe obesity. Forty-six patients treated with OAGB were matched to eighty-eight patients submitted to LSG.

IL-10 and IL-12 (P70) Levels Predict the Risk of Covid-19 Progression in Hypertensive Patients: Insights From the BRACE-CORONA Trial.

Cardiovascular comorbidities such as hypertension and inflammatory response dysregulation are associated with worse COVID-19 prognoses. Different cytokines have been proposed to play vital pathophysiological roles in COVID-19 progression, but appropriate prognostic biomarkers remain lacking. We hypothesized that the combination of immunological and clinical variables at admission could predict the clinical progression of COVID-19 in hypertensive patients.

Effect of Discontinuing vs Continuing Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers on Days Alive and Out of the Hospital in Patients Admitted With COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: It is unknown whether angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) have a positive, neutral, or negative effect on clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Objective: To determine whether discontinuation compared with continuation of ACEIs or ARBs changed the number of days alive and out of the hospital through 30 days.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized clinical trial of 659 patients hospitalized in Brazil with mild to moderate COVID-19 who were taking ACEIs or ARBs prior to hospitalization (enrolled: April 9-June 26, 2020; final follow-up: July 26, 2020).

Oxygen supplementation increases the total work and muscle damage markers but reduces the inflammatory response in COPD patients.

Introduction: Oxygen supplementation (O-Suppl) is recommended for pulmonary rehabilitation with higher exercise intensities. However, high-intensity exercise tends toward muscle damage and a greater inflammatory response. We aimed to investigate the effect of O-Suppl during exercise test (EET) on CRP level and muscle damage (CPK, LDH, lactate) in non-hypoxemic COPD patients.

Renal artery side branches patency protection during endovascular exclusion of giant renal artery aneurysm with covered stent: Well done is better than well said.

Rationale: Endovascular treatment of renal artery aneurysms has offered a viable alternative with a high success rate and low procedure-related morbidity and mortality.

Patient Concerns: A 60-year-old man, having a right renal artery aneurysm involving the main vessel with two arteries (supplying the inferior and superior lobes of the kidney) originating from the aneurysm sac as well.

Interventions: A 6 × 28 mm covered stent was inflated in vitro and a side hole was made with a femoral needle in the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer, through which a wire was placed in an outside/inside direction in to be inserted in the inferior pole branch.

Case report and systematic review of iatrogenic left atrial dissection in different cardiovascular specialties: A common treatment for an uncommon complication?

Objectives: Left atrial dissection (LatD) is a rare and heterogeneous condition affecting many cardiovascular areas. The present article, by the means of personal case report illustration and systemic review of different clinical management, is aimed to give to clinicians further knowledge on this controversial topic.

Background: LatD is an exceedingly rare but potentially fatal complication of cardiac surgery or catheter-based interventional procedures.

Ticagrelor vs Clopidogrel After Fibrinolytic Therapy in Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The bleeding safety of ticagrelor in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with fibrinolytic therapy remains uncertain.

Objective: To evaluate the short-term safety of ticagrelor when compared with clopidogrel in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with fibrinolytic therapy.

Design, Setting And Participants: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, open-label with blinded end point adjudication trial that enrolled 3799 patients (younger than 75 years) with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction receiving fibrinolytic therapy in 152 sites from 10 countries from November 2015 through November 2017.

Heart rate recovery improvement in patients following acute myocardial infarction: exercise training, β-blocker therapy or both.

Heart rate recovery (HRR) is a strong mortality predictor. Exercise training (ET) and β-blocker therapy have significant impact on the HRR of patients following myocardial infarction (MI). However, the combination of ET and β-blocker therapy, as well as its effectiveness in patients with a more compromised HRR (≤12 bpm), has been under-studied.

The dysfunction of ammonia in heart failure increases with an increase in the intensity of resistance exercise, even with the use of appropriate drug therapy.

Background: Hyperammonemia during rest periods is a dysfunction in heart failure (HF). The low formation of ammonia during exercise reflects an inefficiency of purine metabolism. Hyperkalemia in response to physical exercise is common in HF and may contribute to a contractile inefficiency in type II fibers, leading to early fatigue.

Effect of a physical exercise program in a patient with Marfan syndrome and ventricular dysfunction.

Marfan syndrome (MS) is an autosomal dominant disorder that affects multiple organs and systems. Several cardiac alterations are present, with the main ones being aortic root and ascending aorta dilatation, mitral valve prolapse and left ventricle (LV) dilatation. Aerobic exercise has not shown to be a non-drug therapy that promotes anti-remodeling effect in patients with heart failure.

Tumor infiltration by T lymphocytes expressing chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) is predictive of favorable outcome in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma.

Purpose: An efficient adaptive immunity is critical for a longer survival in cancer. We investigated the prognostic value of tumor infiltration by CD8(+) T cells expressing the chemokine-receptor-7 (T(ccr7)) and the correlation between tumor infiltration by T(ccr7) and regulatory CD4(+)FoxP3(+) T cells (T(reg)) in 76 metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients enrolled in a phase III trial.

Experimental Design: T(ccr7) and T(reg) cell infiltration in tumor samples was quantified by immunohistochemistry.

Short-term effects of hydroxyethylstarch resuscitation on systemic and regional hemodynamics and metabolism in a brain-dead canine model.

Background: Hydroxyethylstarch (HES) is a synthetic polymer of glucose that has been suggested for therapeutic use in long-term plasma expansion. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the infusion of a small volume of HES may provide benefits in systemic and regional hemodynamics and metabolism in a brain-dead canine model compared with large volume crystalloid resuscitation.

Methods: Fourteen mongrel dogs were subjected to a brain-death protocol by consecutive insufflations of a balloon catheter in the epidural space.

Initial hepatosplanchnic blood flow distribution and oxygen metabolism in experimental model of hypotensive brain death.

Background: Organs from the so-called marginal donors have been used with a significant higher risk of primary non function than organs retrieved from the optimal donors. We investigated the early metabolic changes and blood flow redistribution in splanchnic territory in an experimental model that mimics marginal brain-dead (BD) donor.

Material/methods: Ten dogs (21.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus 8 infection in reactive lymphoid tissues: a model for KSHV/HHV-8-related lymphomas?

We set out to analyze the presence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)/human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in different neoplasms occurring in East Africa, a region characterized by a high KSHV/HHV-8 seroprevalence rate and endemic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Our results suggest that, in endemic regions of Africa, KSHV/HHV-8 is predominantly associated with KS, independently of HIV status. During the course of this study, other important information came to light.