Bilateral facial nerve palsy in a patient with West Nile neuroinvasive disease.

Introduction: Bilateral facial nerve palsy (FNP) is a rare condition that is idiopathic in only 20%. FNP is the most common cranial neuropathy in West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) but is usually unilateral and only a few cases of bilateral FNP have been reported.

Case: We present a case of a 65-year-old woman with confirmed WNND and simultaneous bilateral FNP.

Creatine Intake Is Not Associated With Elevated Circulating Cystatin C Levels in Individuals With and Without Kidney Dysfunction in the General Population.

Objective: The potential adverse effects of dietary creatine on kidney health are rarely addressed at the population level, particularly in individuals with preexisting kidney disease. This study aimed to evaluate the association between dietary creatine intake and serum cystatin C levels in participants with and without kidney failure, utilizing data from the 1999-2001 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) round.

Method: A total of 4969 individuals (50.

HCV Treatment Outcomes in PWID: Impact of Addiction History on SVR12.

People who inject drugs (PWIDs) experience high rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, primarily due to needle sharing and limited healthcare access, resulting in a disproportionate disease burden within this population. This prospective study evaluated treatment outcomes in 432 adult patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) treated with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) at the University Clinical Center of Serbia. Patients were categorized into two groups based on a history of drug addiction: PWIDs (163, 37.

Etiology-Dependent Microbiome Differences in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development.

Chronic liver disease is characterised by persistent inflammation, tissue damage, and regeneration, which leads to steatosis, fibrosis, and, lastly, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC, the most prevalent form of primary liver cancer, is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The gut microbiota plays a fundamental role in human physiology, and disturbances in its critical balance are widely recognised as contributors to various pathological conditions, including chronic liver diseases, both infectious and non-infectious in nature.

Sarcomas of the Head and Neck Region.

Introduction: Sarcomas are relatively rare malignant tumors of mesenchymal origin, representing only about 1% of tumors in the head and neck region.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study involved patients with sarcomas of the head and neck region who were diagnosed and treated over a 5-year period.

Results: Nine patients were included, 4 men and 5 women.

Sex-based differences in CEACAM5 expression in lung cancer.

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5) is expressed in 20-25% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and there is interest in CEACAM5 as a biomarker given its potential for blood-based detection and investigational study as a drug target. Increased expression of CEACAM5 has been observed in semi-solid lung adenocarcinoma lesions, which have an increased prevalence in women and never smokers. Given this association, sex-based differences in CEACAM5 were evaluated.

Preventing mislabeling of organic white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) combining NMR-based foodomics, statistical, and machine learning approach.

Organic foods are among the most susceptible to fraud and mislabeling since the differentiation between organic and conventionally grown food relies on a paper-trail-based system. This study aimed to develop a differentiation model that combines nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), statistical approach (principal component analysis - PCA and partial least square discriminant analysis - PLS-DA), and classification artificial neural network (cANN). The model was tested for hydrophilic and lipophilic extracts of Agaricus bisporus.

The effects of 3-month supplementation with synbiotic on patient-reported outcomes, exercise tolerance, and brain and muscle metabolism in adult patients with post-COVID-19 chronic fatigue syndrome (STOP-FATIGUE): a randomized Placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Purpose: Considering the observed gastrointestinal issues linked to post-COVID-19 myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), beneficially modulating the gut microbiota could offer a safe, cost-effective nutritional strategy. This trial aimed to evaluate the effects of medium-term synbiotic supplementation on patient-reported outcomes, exercise tolerance, and tissue metabolism in patients with post-COVID-19 ME/CFS.

Methods: Between September 2022 and December 2023, we investigated the impact of 3-month supplementation with a synbiotic mixture including L.

Creatine with guanidinoacetic acid improves prefrontal brain oxygenation before, during, and after a cognitive task: A randomized controlled pilot trial.

Preliminary studies suggest that creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) may function as moderate vasodilators, enhancing tissue oxygen saturation. However, the potential effects of this combination on brain oxygenation in humans remain unknown. The primary objective of this randomized controlled pilot trial was to assess cerebral blood oxygenation indices following a 7-day administration of a mixture containing creatine and GAA in healthy adults.

Optimizing Hepatitis C Treatment Monitoring: Is Sustained Virologic Response at 4 Weeks Becoming the New Standard?

This study, conducted at two university-based infectious disease clinics, included 216 patients with chronic hepatitis C. The primary objective was to assess the positive and negative predictive values, sensitivity, and specificity of achieving a sustained virological response (SVR) at 4 weeks compared to 12 weeks post-therapy. The results demonstrated a maximum sensitivity of 100% for achieving SVR at 12 weeks after reaching SVR at 4 weeks for all analyzed genotypes, except for genotype 1b treated with EBR/GZR therapy, where the specificity was 75%.

Immune Modulation by Epstein-Barr Virus Lytic Cycle: Relevance and Implication in Oncogenesis.

EBV infects more than 90% of people globally, causing lifelong infection. The phases of the EBV life cycle encompass primary infection, latency, and subsequent reactivation or lytic phase. The primary infection usually happens without noticeable symptoms, commonly in early life stages.

The Impact of Short-Term Supplementation With Guanidinoacetic Acid and Creatine Versus Creatine Alone on Body Composition Indices in Healthy Men and Women: Creatine-Guanidinoacetic Acid Affects Body Composition.

The main objective of this pilot study was to compare the effects of short-term supplementation with a mixture containing creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) versus creatine alone on body composition indices in men and women. Twenty-three apparently healthy young adults (mean age: 21.4 ± 0.

Is there a relationship between attitudes of general practitioners/family doctors and attitudes of their patients regarding industry-sponsored clinical investigations? A cross-sectional survey in a convenience sample of doctors and patients across nine European countries.

Aim: To assess the relationship between the attitudes of general practitioners/family medicine doctors (GP/FD) and of their patients toward industry-sponsored clinical research.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey included volunteer GPs/FDs who then enrolled and interviewed their patients. Data were analyzed in hierarchical models (patients nested in GPs/FDs, nested in countries/regions).

Post-marketing surveilance study of creatine-guanidinoacetic acid safety in healthy adults.

A post-marketing surveillance study assessed the adverse events and possible risk of elevated homocysteine levels after the supplementation with creatine-guanidinoacetic acid mixture in apparently healthy adults. The participants were recruited through social media platforms and online discussion boards, with side effects and total plasma homocysteine (T-Hcy) levels evaluated regularly during a supplementation period of 6 months. Thirthy eight individuals ( = 38, 34.

Liquid- and Semisolid-Filled Hard Gelatin Capsules Containing Alpha-Lipoic Acid as a Suitable Dosage Form for Compounding Medicines and Dietary Supplements.

Liquid-filled hard gelatin capsules may have pertinent advantages both for therapeutic effect and extemporaneous preparations of medicines. Alpha lipoic acid is a substance used in medicines and dietary supplements and there is a need for creating an appropriate formulation which would be suitable for each individual patient or consumer. Based on its biopharmaceutical and physical chemical characteristics, eight different capsule formulations were designed and characterized.

Hydrogen as an innovative nootropic in health and disease.

Molecular hydrogen (H, dihydrogen) is an antioxidant and signaling molecule with potent antioxidative, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Despite the growing interest in H2 as a potential therapeutic agent, the evidence regarding its potential as a nootropic remains limited. Only a handful of studies on the human population have evaluated its effects, although there are suggestive indications of its efficacy.

Clinical and epidemiological risk factors associated with hospitalization and mortality rate of COVID-19 patients in Banja Luka County: A retrospective observational cohort study on 40,000 patients.

Context: Since beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) it became clear that severe forms of this infection have primarily affected patients with chronic conditions.

Aims: The aim of the study was to explore clinical and epidemiological characteristics associated with COVID 19 outcomes.

Settings And Design: The retrospective observational study included 40,692 citizens of Banja Luka County, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were confirmed as reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive on COVID-19 at a primary healthcare centre from March 2020 to September 2022.

The impact of six-week dihydrogen-pyrroloquinoline quinone supplementation on mitochondrial biomarkers, brain metabolism, and cognition in elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To assess the impact of medium-term supplementation with dihydrogen and pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) on mitochondrial biomarkers, brain metabolism, and cognition in elderly individuals diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

Design: A parallel-group, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind experimental design, maintaining a 1:1 allocation ratio between the experimental group (receiving the dihydrogen-producing minerals and PQQ) and the control group (receiving the placebo) throughout the trial.

Setting And Participants: Thirty-four elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment (mean age 71.

Molnupiravir's real-world effectiveness in COVID-19 outpatients at high risk of severe disease: a single-center study.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started in March 2020. Since then, there has been an urgent need for effective therapeutic methods to manage the disease. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of molnupiravir in reducing the need for hospitalization in at-risk, non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Metadherin-driven promotion of cancer stem cell phenotypes and its effect on immunity in hepatocellular carcinoma.

In this editorial we provide commentary on the article published by Wang , featured in the recent issue of the in 2024 We focus on the metadherin (MTDH), also known as astrocyte elevated gene-1 or lysine rich CEACAM1, and its effects on cancer stem cells (CSCs) and immunity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the most common primary liver cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Most HCC cases develop in the context of liver cirrhosis.

Eight-Week Creatine-Glucose Supplementation Alleviates Clinical Features of Long COVID.

Preliminary studies demonstrated beneficial effects of dietary creatine across different post-viral fatigue syndromes. Creatine is often co-administered with glucose to improve its potency yet whether glucose boost the efficacy of creatine in long COVID remains currently unknown. In this report, we investigate the effects of 8-wk creatine intake with and without glucose on patient-reported outcomes, exercise tolerance, and tissue creatine levels in patients with long COVID.

In vivo femtosecond laser nanosurgery of the cell wall enabling patch-clamp measurements on filamentous fungi.

Studying the membrane physiology of filamentous fungi is key to understanding their interactions with the environment and crucial for developing new therapeutic strategies for disease-causing pathogens. However, their plasma membrane has been inaccessible for a micron-sized patch-clamp pipette for pA current recordings due to the rigid chitinous cell wall. Here, we report the first femtosecond IR laser nanosurgery of the cell wall of the filamentous fungi, which enabled patch-clamp measurements on protoplasts released from hyphae.

Diabetes management, dietary supplements use and the effect of coronavirus pandemic on diabetes patients in Serbia: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a significant public health challenge in Serbia, mirroring the situation in other European middle-income countries. The aims of this study were to examine the disease-related characteristics and management of diabetes, as well as the prevalence of use of dietary supplements (DS) among diabetes patients in Serbia, and to analyze the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on DM patients in Serbia.

Methods: The study was carried out as an online, observational, cross-sectional study involving 422 adult diabetes type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) patients residing in Serbia.

Creatine supplementation combined with breathing exercises reduces respiratory discomfort and improves creatine status in patients with long-COVID.

Eight long-COVID patients with moderate fatigue that had lasted for ≥3 months were recruited. All patients were allocated in a double-blind parallel-group design to receive either 4 g of creatine per day plus breathing exercises (study group) or breathing exercises only (control group) for 3 months. Creatine induced a significant increase in tissue total creatine levels for all 14 locations evaluated in the present study ( P < 0.

Effects of HMB on Endurance Performance in a Healthy Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Fernández-Landa, J, Todorovic, N, Santibañez-Gutierrez, A, Ostojic, SM, Calleja-González, J, Sekulic, D, and Mielgo-Ayuso, J. Effects of HMB on endurance performance in a healthy population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res 38(4): e202-e210, 2024-β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) has been used extensively as a dietary supplement for athletes and physically active people.