The oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve is generally left-shifted in COVID-19 patients at admission to hospital, and this is associated with lower mortality.

Lung damage caused by SARS-Cov-2 virus results in marked arterial hypoxia, accompanied in many cases by hypocapnia. The literature is inconclusive as to whether these conditions induce alteration of the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen. We studied the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curves (ODCs) of 517 patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for whom arterial blood gas analysis (BGA) was performed upon hospitalization (i.

At-admission HbA levels in hospitalized COVID-19 participants with and without known diabetes.

Background: To examine glycaemic status, and the impact of at-admission HbA1c levels on outcome, in a large group of participants hospitalized for COVID-19.

Methods: We inclued 515 participants with confirmed COVID-19 infection, with or without known diabetes, who met the following additional criteria: 1) age > 18 years, 2) HbA was determined at admission; 3) fasting plasma glucose was determined in the week of admission, and 4) discharge or death was reached before the end of the study. We examined attributes of participants at admission and 3-6 months post-discharge.

Blood eosinophil count as predictor of asthma exacerbation. A meta-analysis.

Background: Evidence about the association of high blood eosinophil count with asthma exacerbation is inconsistent and unclear. The objective of this meta-analysis was to determine whether elevated blood eosinophil count predicts asthma exacerbation.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and additional databases, without any language restriction.

Empagliflozin reduces the levels of CD36 and cardiotoxic lipids while improving autophagy in the hearts of Zucker diabetic fatty rats.

The EMPA-REG OUTCOME (Empagliflozin, Cardiovascular Outcome Event Trial in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM)) trial made evident the potentiality of pharmacological sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibition for treating patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Since the effect of empagliflozin or other SGLT2 inhibitors on the whole cardiac metabolic profile was never analysed before, and with the purpose to contribute to elucidate the benefits at cardiac level of the use of empagliflozin, we explored the effect of the treatment with empagliflozin for six weeks on the cardiac metabolomic profile of Zucker diabetic fatty rats, a model of early stage T2DM, using untargeted metabolomics approach. Empagliflozin reduced significantly the cardiac content of sphingolipids (ceramides and sphingomyelins) and glycerophospholipids (major bioactive contributing factors linking insulin resistance to cardiac damage) and decreased the cardiac content of the fatty acid transporter cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36); induced significant decreases of the cardiac levels of essential glycolysis intermediaries 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate, and regulated the abundance of several amino acids of relevance as tricarboxylic acid suppliers and/or in the metabolic control of the cardiac function as glutamic acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid and sarcosine.

Postprandial glycemic response in a non-diabetic adult population: the effect of nutrients is different between men and women.

Background: There is a growing interest in the pathopysiological consequences of postprandial hyperglycemia. It is well known that in diabetic patients 2 h plasma glucose is a better risk predictor for coronary heart disease than fasting plasma glucose. Data on the glycemic response in healthy people are scarce.

Continuous glucose monitoring is more sensitive than HbA1c and fasting glucose in detecting dysglycaemia in a Spanish population without diabetes.

Aims: To investigate whether continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) reveals patterns of glycaemic behaviour, the detection of which might improve early diagnosis of dysglycaemia.

Methods: A total 1521 complete days of valid CGM data were recorded under real-life conditions from a healthy sample of a Spanish community, as were matching FPG and HbA1 data. No participant was pregnant, had a history of kidney or liver disease, or was taking drugs known to affect glycaemia.

Corrected Fructosamine improves both correlation with HbA and diagnostic performance.

Aims: There is increasing interest in using fructosamine measurements in screening for or managing diabetes, yet uncertainty remains as to whether these measurements should be corrected for variation in serum protein concentrations.

Methods: We considered all sets of simultaneous measurements of fructosamine, albumin, total serum protein (TP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA recorded in our laboratory over 10years. The relationships between fructosamine and other variables were studied by multivariate linear regression and other analyses, and receiver operating curves (ROCs) were analysed to compare the diabetes screening performance of uncorrected fructosamine to those of albumin-corrected fructosamine (FA) and TP-corrected fructosamine (FA).

Impact of Mean Cell Hemoglobin on Hb A1c-Defined Glycemia Status.

Background: Several hematological alterations are associated with altered hemoglobin A (Hb A). However, there have been no reports of their influence on the rates of exceeding standard Hb A thresholds by patients for whom Hb A determination is requested in clinical practice.

Methods: The initial data set included the first profiles (complete blood counts, Hb A, fasting glucose, and renal and hepatic parameters) of all adult patients for whom such a profile was requested between 2008 and 2013 inclusive.

High incidence of hypoglycemia in stable insulin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus: continuous glucose monitoring vs. self-monitored blood glucose. Observational prospective study.

Objectives: Hypoglycemia is a limiting factor in the achievement of strict glycemic control. The primary objective of this 9-week study was to determine the frequency of hypoglycemia in patients with stable insulin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus by comparing self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) measurement with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).

Methods: This was an observational prospective study.

Influence of the glycation gap on the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Aims: The results of using HbA1C-based criteria for diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes have been reported to differ from those obtained using fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). We aimed to determine whether these discrepancies might be due to the influence of the glycation gap.

Methods: For 430 patients without previously diagnosed diabetes for whom an OGTT had been requested in normal clinical practice, FPG, fructosamine and HbA1C were measured at the time of the test and again 1 month later.

Estimation of the glycation gap in diabetic patients with stable glycemic control.

Objective: The glycation gap (the difference between measured A1C and the value predicted by regression on fructosamine) is stable and is associated with microvascular complications of diabetes but has not hitherto been estimated within a clinically useful time frame. We investigated whether two determinations 30 days apart suffice for a reasonably reliable estimate if both A1C and fructosamine exhibit stability.

Research Design And Methods: We studied 311 patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes for whom simultaneous measurements of A1C and serum fructosamine had been made on at least two occasions separated by 1 month (t(0) and t(1)).

Intrapersonal HbA(1c) variability and the risk of progression of nephropathy in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Aim: To investigate the association between nephropathy and HbA(1c) variability (assessed as the standard deviation of each patient's HbA(1c) measurements) among patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Albumin excretion rate and HbA(1c) were measured in 2103 patients followed up for a mean 6.6 years.

The influence of valproic acid and carbamazepine treatment on serum biotin and zinc levels and on biotinidase activity.

We determined the serum concentration of biotin, zinc, antiepileptic drugs, and biotinidase enzyme activity in 20 children treated with valproic acid, in 10 children treated with carbamazepine, and in 75 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. There were no significant differences in the serum levels of biotin, and biotinidase enzyme activity between the patients treated with valproic acid, the patients treated with carbamazepine, and the control group. Zinc serum levels were lower in the patients treated with valproic acid and with carbamazepine than in the control group, but within the normal range.

Progression of nephropathy in type 2 diabetes: the glycation gap is a significant predictor after adjustment for glycohemoglobin (Hb A1c).

Background: The glycation gap has been proposed as an index of nonglycemic determinants of glycated hemoglobin (Hb A(1c)). We investigated whether it predicts progression of nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients.

Methods: We recorded albumin excretion rate, Hb A(1c), and serum fructosamine in 2314 patients over an average of 6.

Therapeutic criteria in communicating childhood hydrocephalus.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of cerebral blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery measured by transcranial Doppler as criteria to therapeutic action in communicating hydrocephalic children.

Methods: In eight non-tumoral communicating hydrocephalic infants, ranging from five to 18 months of age, monitored from 18 to 36 months (mean time of follow-up: 24.25 months), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oxypurines (hypoxanthine and xanthine) and uric acid levels were compared by means of the Evans' index, the mean weekly increase in cranial circumference, and the transcranial Doppler measurements.

Evolution of subclinical hypothyroidism in children treated with antiepileptic drugs.

The concentration levels of serum free thyroxine, serum free triiodothyronine, and thyroid-stimulating hormone were measured in 20 children receiving carbamazepine, 32 children receiving valproic acid, and 5 children receiving phenobarbital at the following times: (1) during chronic treatment, and (2) 3 months after the end of treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Patients during chronic treatment revealed significant changes in serum thyroid hormones, especially the children treated with carbamazepine and valproic acid. A number of children receiving long-term therapy with the two last antiepileptic drugs had varying grades of subclinical hypothyroidism.

Tissue-polypeptide-specific antigen levels in diabetic patients with normal and pathological biochemical profiles.

Objectives: To identify causes for the raised TPS levels seen in diabetic patients.

Design And Methods: Relationships between TPS levels and biochemical markers for glycaemic control, hepatic dysfunction and renal dysfunction were investigated in 402 diabetic patients, none with evidence of cancer.

Results: Median TPS level (range) was 34.

Treatment of mitochondrial encephalomyopathies with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor.

Five females with mitochondrial encephalomyopathies were treated for 3 to 7 years with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (allopurinol, oral route, 20 mg/kg/day, in 2 or 3 doses daily). Clinical course was monitored in all patients. In addition, various metabolic variables, namely blood lactic acid, blood adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, and adenosine monophosphate were monitored, as well as energy charge.

Evolution of serum lipids and lipoprotein (a) levels in epileptic children treated with carbamazepine, valproic acid, and phenobarbital.

The concentration levels of serum lipids and lipoprotein (a) were measured in 20 children receiving carbamazepine, 25 children receiving valproic acid, and 5 children receiving phenobarbital at the following times: (1) during chronic treatment while eating a normal diet, (2) during chronic treatment while eating a low-fat diet (children treated with carbamazepine and phenobarbital with high levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), and (3) 3 months after the end of treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Patients during chronic treatment and eating a normal diet revealed significant changes in lipids, but when we reevaluated the groups of children treated with carbamazepine and phenobarbital when they were eating a low-fat diet and reevaluated the three groups of children 3 months after the end of treatment, a complete return to normal of all parameters was observed. These data demonstrate that the changes induced by these drugs are transient, reversible, and influenced by a low-fat diet.

Effect of ultrasonic scaling on salivary lactate dehydrogenase.

Purpose: To determine Lactate Dehydrogenase Activity (LDHA) in whole saliva in individuals with periodontal disease and the effect of ultrasonic scaling on this enzyme activity.

Methods: A study group of 50 patients with PD (Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs > or = 3) was selected at random. Half of the patients (n=25) received ultrasonic periodontal treatment (Group 1).