COVID-19 and diabetes: A bidirectional relationship.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causal agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Diabetes is one of the most frequent comorbidities in people with COVID-19 with a prevalence that varies between 7 and 30%. Diabetics infected with SARS-CoV-2 have a higher rate of hospital admission, severe pneumonia, and higher mortality compared to non-diabetic subjects.

Statins in COVID-19: is there any foundation?

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causal agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Acute respiratory distress syndrome is the main cause of death from COVID-19 and occurs due to an exaggerated inflammatory response that causes the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukins and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Statins are lipid lowering drugs with pleiotropic effects.

Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum: An Interesting Model to Evaluate Chronic Kidney Disease-Like Vascular Damage without Renal Disease.

Background: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE; OMIM 264800) is an inherited multisystem disorder associated with accumulation of mineralized and fragmented elastic fibers in the skin, vascular walls, and brush membrane in the eye. Carriers exhibit characteristic lesions in the cardiovascular system, and peripheral and coronary arterial disease as well as mitral valvulopathy often present as a cardiovascular feature of this disease. PXE and chronic kidney disease (CKD) share some common patterns in the vascular damage and in therapeutic approaches as well.

Epicardial Adipose Tissue, Adiponectin and Leptin: A Potential Source of Cardiovascular Risk in Chronic Kidney Disease.

The importance of cardiometabolic factors in the inception and progression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is increasingly being recognized. Beyond diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, other factors may be responsible in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) for the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, which is estimated to be 5- to 20-fold higher than in the general population. Although undefined uremic toxins are often blamed for part of the increased risk, visceral adipose tissue, and in particular epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), have been the focus of intense research in the past two decades.

Epicardial adipose tissue: A cardiovascular risk marker to evaluate in chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease represents a true inflammatory state, and is related to multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Coronary artery disease is the major complication, and has usually been associated with non-classical or uraemic related factors that include the disturbance of calcium and phosphorus metabolism, among others. Recent clinical evidence shows that specific body fat deposition like epicardial adipose tissue is an additional factor to consider when evaluating cardiovascular risk in the general population and kidney patients.

Perirenal fat thickness is associated with metabolic risk factors in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Adipose tissue accumulation in specific body compartments has been associated with diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia. Perirenal fat (PRF) may lead to have direct lipotoxic effects on renal function and intrarenal hydrostatic pressure. This study was undertaken to explore the association of PRF with cardiovascular risk factors and different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

FINDRISC Modified for Latin America as a Screening Tool for Persons with Impaired Glucose Metabolism in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela.

Objective: The Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) includes anthropometric, metabolic, and lifestyle factors that predict type 2 diabetes mellitus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the FINDRISC modified for Latin America (LA-FINDRISC) as a screening tool for persons with impaired glucose metabolism in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela.

Methods: Subjects aged between 18 and 70 years of both sexes without known diabetes were invited to participate.

Epicardial adipose tissue thickness and type 2 diabetes risk according to the FINDRISC modified for Latin America.

Background: The Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) is a tool to predict 10-year risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and visceral adiposity is associated with higher cardio-metabolic risk. The objective of the study was to assess the relationship of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness with T2DM risk according to the FINDRISC tool.

Methods: The study was conducted in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, and included 55 subjects of whom 37 (67.

Association between endothelial dysfunction, epicardial fat and subclinical atherosclerosis during menopause.

Background: Menopausal transition is critical for the development of early, subclinical vascular damage. Multiple factors, such as atherosclerosis, increased epicardial fat, and endothelial dysfunction can play a role. Hence, the objective of this study was the comparison of epicardial adipose tissue and carotid intima media thickness in order to establish the best predictor of carotid stiffness in middle-aged women with endothelial dysfunction.

Frequency and clinical and molecular aspects of familial hypercholesterolemia in an endocrinology unit in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela.

Objective: To assess the frequency and the clinical, biochemical, and molecular aspects of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in subjects attending an endocrinology unit.

Methods: An observational, descriptive study evaluating 3,140 subjects attending the endocrinology unit of Centro Médico Orinoco in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, from 7 January 2013 to 9 December 2016. The index cases were selected using the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria.

Relationship between the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC), vitamin D levels, and insulin resistance in obese subjects.

Aim: To assess the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] blood concentrations in subjects with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) risk according to the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) modified for Latin America (LA-FINDRISC).

Methods: This study was conducted in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. Eighty two women and 20 men (53 obese and 49 nonobese), with an average age of 42.

Diabetes Care in Venezuela.

Background: The incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its economic burden have increased in Venezuela, posing difficult challenges in a country already in great turmoil.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to review the prevalence, causes, prevention, management, health policies, and challenges for successful management of diabetes and its complications in Venezuela.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review spanning 1960 to 2015 was performed.

Epicardial adipose tissue thickness in children and adolescents with cardiometabolic risk factors.

Objective: To assess the relationship of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness with cardiometabolic risk factors (CRFs) in children and adolescents.

Methods: Seventy-seven subjects of both sexes aged 7-18 years were selected. Medical history, clinical parameters, and glucose, insulin, and lipid levels were collected.

Effect of sitagliptin on epicardial fat thickness in subjects with type 2 diabetes and obesity: a pilot study.

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of sitagliptin addition on the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus inadequately controlled on metformin monotherapy. This was a 24-week interventional pilot study in 26 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients, 14 females and 12 males average age of 43.8 ± 9.

Epicardial fat thickness as cardiovascular risk factor and therapeutic target in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with biological and nonbiological therapies.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness may act as a therapeutic target during treatments with drugs modulating the adipose tissue. We evaluate EAT thickness in RA patients treated with biological and nonbiological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

One year remission of type 1 diabetes mellitus in a patient treated with sitagliptin.

Unlabelled: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic disease characterized by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells. This paper describes the case of a 19-year-old male patient who presented with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibody positive and diabetic ketoacidosis, which mandated intensive insulin treatment. Once the ketoacidosis was controlled, an oral dose of 100 mg of sitagliptin was administered once a day.

[Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome and hypothyroidism: the first Venezuelan case].

The Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder due to an abnormal cholesterol synthesis. It was first described by Smith, Lemli and Opitz in 1964. Many cases of SLOS have been described since then, leading to the recognition as a relatively common malformation syndrome.

Epicardial adipose tissue thickness and its association with adiponectin in metabolic syndrome patients from Mérida, Venezuela.

Objective: To study the relationship between epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness and plasma levels of adiponectin in Venezuelan patients.

Subjects And Methods: Thirty-one patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (study group) and 27 controls were selected and tested for glycemia, lipids, and adiponectin. EAT thickness, ejection fraction, diastolic function, left ventricular mass (LVM), and left atrial volume (LAV) were determined by transthoracic echocardiography.

PNPLA6 mutations cause Boucher-Neuhauser and Gordon Holmes syndromes as part of a broad neurodegenerative spectrum.

Boucher-Neuhäuser and Gordon Holmes syndromes are clinical syndromes defined by early-onset ataxia and hypogonadism plus chorioretinal dystrophy (Boucher-Neuhäuser syndrome) or brisk reflexes (Gordon Holmes syndrome). Here we uncover the genetic basis of these two syndromes, demonstrating that both clinically distinct entities are allelic for recessive mutations in the gene PNPLA6. In five of seven Boucher-Neuhäuser syndrome/Gordon Holmes syndrome families, we identified nine rare conserved and damaging mutations by applying whole exome sequencing.

[Cut-off point of epicardial adipose tissue thickness for predicting metabolic syndrome in Venezuelan population].

Objective: To define an echocardiographically-assessed cut-off point for epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness associated to metabolic syndrome (MS) components in Venezuelan subjects.

Methods: Fifty-two subjects aged 20-65 years diagnosed with MS according to International Diabetes Federation criteria and 45 sex- and age-matched controls were selected. Blood glucose and plasma lipids were tested; EAT thickness and left ventricular mass were measured by echocardiography.

[Epicardial adipose tissue: more than a simple fat deposit?].

Obesity increases the risk of development of atherosclerosis. However, this risk significantly depends on adipose tissue distribution in the body and ectopic accumulation of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). Recent evidence suggests that each visceral fat deposit is anatomically and functionally different.