Liver Involvement during SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Associated with a Worse Respiratory Outcome in COVID-19 Patients.

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), may be complicated by life-threatening interstitial pneumonia. SARS-CoV-2 infection may also damage several tissues and/or organs beyond the lungs, including the liver. However, controversy still exists as to whether SARS-CoV-2-induced liver alterations can have an impact on the outcome of COVID-19.

How I Would have been Differently Treated. Discrimination Through the Lens of Counterfactual Fairness.

The widespread use of algorithms for prediction-based decisions urges us to consider the question of what it means for a given act or practice to be discriminatory. Building upon work by Kusner and colleagues in the field of machine learning, we propose a counterfactual condition as a necessary requirement on discrimination. To demonstrate the philosophical relevance of the proposed condition, we consider two prominent accounts of discrimination in the recent literature, by Lippert-Rasmussen and Hellman respectively, that do not logically imply our condition and show that they face important objections.

Non-invasive respiratory support in SARS-CoV-2 related acute respiratory distress syndrome: when is it most appropriate to start treatment?

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the most severe complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Non-Invasive Respiratory Support (NRS) as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and/or Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) has been proven as effective in the management of SARS-CoV-2-related ARDS. However, the most appropriate timing for start NRS is unknown.

Prediction of SARS-CoV-2-Related Lung Inflammation Spreading by V:ERITAS (Vanvitelli Early Recognition of Inflamed Thoracic Areas Spreading).

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be complicated by interstitial pneumonia, possibly leading to severe acute respiratory failure and death. Because of variable evolution ranging from asymptomatic cases to the need for invasive ventilation, COVID-19 outcomes cannot be precisely predicted on admission. The aim of this study was to provide a simple tool able to predict the outcome of COVID-19 pneumonia on admission to a low-intensity ward in order to better plan management strategies for these patients.

The double nature of Maxwell's physical analogies.

Building upon work by Mary Hesse (1974), this paper aims to show that a single method of investigation lies behind Maxwell's use of physical analogies in his major scientific works before the Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Key to understanding the operation of this method is to recognize that Maxwell's physical analogies are intended to possess an 'inductive' function in addition to an 'illustrative' one. That is to say, they not only serve to clarify the equations proposed for an unfamiliar domain with a working interpretation drawn from a more familiar science, but can also be sources of defeasible yet relatively strong arguments from features of the more familiar domain to features of the less.

Regression of carotid atherosclerosis by control of morning blood pressure peak in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

Background: Morning blood pressure (BP) peak may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Whether morning BP should be a target of hypertension treatment is not known. We investigated the relationship between morning BP variations, carotid internal-medial thickness (CIMT), circulating inflammatory markers, and sympathetic activity in hypertensive patients with different patterns of morning BP increase at baseline and after antihypertensive treatment.

Expression of angiogenic factors during acute coronary syndromes in human type 2 diabetes.

Inadequate angiogenic response to ischemia in diabetic myocardium could result in poor collateral formation. Because hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha is a transcriptional activator of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and is critical for initiating angiogenic responses to hypoxia, we investigated the expression of HIF-1alpha and VEGF in specimens of human heart tissue to elucidate the molecular responses to myocardial ischemia in diabetic patients during unstable angina. Moreover, accumulation of a marker of protein nitration nitrotyrosine, as well as the superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) levels and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), were evaluated.

Regression of carotid atherosclerosis by control of postprandial hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Postprandial hyperglycemia may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We compared the effects of two insulin secretagogues, repaglinide and glyburide, known to have different efficacy on postprandial hyperglycemia, on carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and markers of systemic vascular inflammation in type 2 diabetic patients.

Methods And Results: We performed a randomized, single-blind trial on 175 drug-naive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (93 men and 82 women), 35 to 70 years of age, selected from a population of 401 patients who participated in an epidemiological analysis assessing the relation of postprandial hyperglycemia to surrogate measures of atherosclerosis.

Absence of inducible nitric oxide synthase reduces myocardial damage during ischemia reperfusion in streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemic mice.

We investigated the role of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) on ischemic myocardial damage and angiogenic process in genetically deficient iNOS (iNOS(-/-)) mice and wild-type littermates (iNOS(+/+)), with and without streptozotocin-induced (70 mg/kg intravenously) diabetes. After ischemia (25 min) and reperfusion (120 min), both iNOS(+/+) and iNOS(-/-) diabetic mice (blood glucose 22 mmol/l) had myocardial infarct size greater than their respective nondiabetic littermates (P < 0.01).

Meal modulation of circulating interleukin 18 and adiponectin concentrations in healthy subjects and in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: A single high-fat meal induces endothelial activation, which is associated with increased serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines.

Objective: We compared the effect of 3 different meals on circulating concentrations of interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 18 (IL-18), and adiponectin in healthy subjects and in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Design: Thirty patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and 30 matched, nondiabetic subjects received the following 3 isoenergetic (780 kcal) meals separated by 1-wk intervals: a high-fat meal; a high-carbohydrate, low-fiber (4.

Effects of stress hyperglycemia on acute myocardial infarction: role of inflammatory immune process in functional cardiac outcome.

Objective: Stress hyperglycemia has been associated with increased mortality in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the association between plasma glucose levels, circulating inflammatory markers, T-cell activation, and functional cardiac outcome in patients with first MI.

Research Design And Methods: Echocardiographic parameters, circulating levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18), C-reactive protein (CPR), and the percent of CD16-CD56, CD4/CD8, CD152, and HLA-DR expression were investigated in 108 patients with acute MI on admission to the emergency ward.

Effect of dietary antioxidants on postprandial endothelial dysfunction induced by a high-fat meal in healthy subjects.

Background: Persons following current dietary guidelines have a lower risk of mortality from coronary heart disease.

Objective: The objective was to compare the short-term effect of a high-fat meal and a high-carbohydrate meal, with and without dietary antioxidants, on vasomotor, antiplatelet, and hemostatic functions of the endothelium in healthy subjects.

Design: In an observer-blinded, randomized crossover study, 25 (13 men and 12 women) healthy subjects were given each of 3 meals in random order at 1-wk intervals: a high-fat meal (760 kcal), an isoenergetic high-carbohydrate meal, and a high-fat meal with dietary antioxidants from vegetables (865 kcal).

Inflammatory cytokine concentrations are acutely increased by hyperglycemia in humans: role of oxidative stress.

Background: Circulating levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are elevated in diabetic patients. We assessed the role of glucose in the regulation of circulating levels of IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in subjects with normal or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), as well as the effect of the antioxidant glutathione.

Methods And Results: Plasma glucose levels were acutely raised in 20 control and 15 IGT subjects and maintained at 15 mmol/L for 5 hours while endogenous insulin secretion was blocked with octreotide.

FFAs and QT intervals in obese women with visceral adiposity: effects of sustained weight loss over 1 year.

We evaluated 66 obese patients grouped by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) into group A (WHR > 0.85, n = 30) and group B (WHR < or = 0.85, n = 36), before and after 1 yr of diet-induced weight loss compared with 25 nonobese women.

Postprandial endothelial activation in healthy subjects and in type 2 diabetic patients: role of fat and carbohydrate meals.

Objectives: To compare the effect of a high-fat meal and a high-carbohydrate meal (pizza), with and without antioxidant vitamins, on endothelial activation in healthy subjects and in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: The postprandial state is becoming increasingly acknowledged to affect some early events of atherogenesis.

Methods: In a randomized, observer-blinded, crossover study, 20 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects received two meals at one-week intervals: a high-fat meal (760 calories) and an isoenergetic high-carbohydrate meal (non-cheese pizza).

Acute hyperglycemia induces nitrotyrosine formation and apoptosis in perfused heart from rat.

This study investigated coronary perfusion pressure, nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide production, nitrotyrosine (NT) formation, and cardiac cell apoptosis in isolated hearts perfused with high glucose concentration. Coronary perfusion pressure; NO and superoxide anion generation; immunostaining for NT, inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and the constitutive type of NO synthase (NOS) eNOS; iNOS and eNOS mRNA expression by Western blot and RT-PCR; and apoptosis of cardiac cells were studied in hearts perfused for 2 h with solutions containing D-glucose at a concentration of 11.1 mmol/l (control), D-glucose at the concentration of 33.

Reduction of inflammatory cytokine concentrations and improvement of endothelial functions in obese women after weight loss over one year.

Background: Visceral fat is a key regulator site for the process of inflammation, and atherosclerotic lesions are essentially an inflammatory response.

Methods And Results: Fifty-six healthy premenopausal obese women (age range 25 to 44 years, body mass index 37.2+/-2.