Neuroimmune activation and increased brain aging in chronic pain patients after the COVID-19 pandemic onset.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a global impact on both physical and mental health, and clinical populations have been disproportionally affected. To date, however, the mechanisms underlying the deleterious effects of the pandemic on pre-existing clinical conditions remain unclear. Here we investigated whether the onset of the pandemic was associated with an increase in brain/blood levels of inflammatory markers and MRI-estimated brain age in patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP), irrespective of their infection history.

Effects of insular involvement on functional outcome after intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objective: Ischemic stroke, as well as intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), involving the insular cortex tends to be more severe. The impact of insular involvement on outcome of ICH remains enigmatic.

Methods: We analyzed 159 patients with supratentorial ICH.

Different signaling and functionality of Rac1 and Rac1b in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma.

Rac1 is a ubiquitously expressed Rho GTPase and an important regulator of the actin cytoskeleton. Its splice variant Rac1b exhibits a 19-amino acid (aa) in-frame insertion and is predominantly active. Both proteins were described in tumorigenesis or metastasis.

Insulin pump use in pregnancy is associated with lower HbA1c without increasing the rate of severe hypoglycaemia or diabetic ketoacidosis in women with type 1 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to compare glycaemic control and maternal-fetal outcomes in women with type 1 diabetes managed on insulin pumps compared with multiple daily injections of insulin (MDI).

Methods: In a retrospective study, glycaemic control and outcomes of 387 consecutive pregnancies in women with type 1 diabetes who attended specialised clinics at three centres 2006-2010 were assessed.

Results: Women using insulin pumps (129/387) were older and had a longer duration of diabetes, more retinopathy, smoked less in pregnancy, and had more preconception care (p < 0.

Quetiapine-associated cholestasis causing lipoprotein-X and pseudohyponatraemia.

A case of intrahepatic cholestasis secondary to treatment with quetiapine in combination with lamotrigine and zopiclone, resulting in severe hypercholesterolaemia without overt lactescence of the plasma, is presented. Abundant lipoprotein-X was seen on lipoprotein electrophoresis. The patient was diagnosed and treated for hyponatraemia which was likely factitious and caused by hypercholesterolaemia.