Comparison of procalcitonin levels with blood culture results and foci of infection in septic patients.

Background And Aim: Large number of studies proved undisputable role of procalcitonin (PCT) in sepsis diagnosis. Moreover, potential of procalcitonin to predict blood culture results according to Gram staining, different types of pathogens and foci of infection is discussed lately. The primary aim of our study was to compare the PCT levels in septic patients with documented Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteraemia.

Psychosocial hybrid interventions for weight and sedentary behavior management among patients with severe mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and other psychosis have been associated with risk of premature mortality, predominantly due to cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of hybrid psychosocial interventions combining face-to-face and eHealth components for patients with severe mental disorders on reduction of weight and waist circumference.

Method: The electronic search on PubMED, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science were conducted, and data were extracted twice.

Th17 lymphocytes and Interleukin-17A during the course of severe community acquired pneumonia, comparison with etiology and outcome.

Objective: Observational study of patients diagnosed with severe community acquired pneumonia (sCAP) carried out to evaluate levels of interleukin 17A (IL-17A) and T helper 17 (Th17) lymphocyte count in peripheral circulation and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in the early course of sCAP of different etiology and to compare them with patient's characteristics and outcome.

Material And Methods: Cohort of 74 patients with sCAP was analyzed and respective microbial etiology established. According to pathogens, 3 subgroups of patients were created: bacterial, viral and mixed etiology.

Bacteremia in Patients with Sepsis in the ICU: Does It Make a Difference?

Sepsis (and septic shock) is on of the most common causes of death worldwide. Bacteremia often, but not necessarily, occurs in septic patients, but the impact of true bacteremia on a patient's clinical characteristics and outcome remains unclear. The main aim of this study was to compare the characteristics and outcome of a well-defined cohort of 258 septic patients with and without bacteremia treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary center hospital in Prague, Czech Republic.

Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on Mortality and Viral Load in Severely Ill Patients with COVID-19.

The use of convalescent plasma (CP) appeared to be a promising, easily available and safe way of treatment of severe COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Conducted in 2020 and 2021, our study of 52 severely to critically ill COVID-19 patients who received CP plasma as a treatment and of 97 controls found no difference in 30-day or 90-day mortality rates. A significant viral load drop in most patients (4.

Hybrid and Remote Psychosocial Interventions Focused on Weight and Sedentary Behavior Management Among Patients with Severe Mental Illnesses: a Systematic Review.

Severe mental illness could be defined through its diagnosis, disability, and duration, and one of their main characteristics is the high prevalence of some clinical conditions such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. Although the promotion of a healthier lifestyle has been demonstrated as an effective strategy to reduce both body mass index and abdominal circumference in this population, there is a lack of studies focusing on digital intervention in this population. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy of studies that used digital technologies to reduce weight, body mass index (BMI) and abdominal circumference in individuals with severe mental illness.

Mental health of healthcare workers of Latin American countries: a review of studies published during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Identify and review articles that evaluated mental health of HCW of Latin American countries (except Brazil), published during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: We systematically searched EMBASE, PsycINFO, Scopus, PUBMED/ Medline, Web of Science, PePSIC, and Scielo for articles published during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two independent researchers reviewed titles and abstracts and then, for eligible studies, extracted data from full texts.

A placebo-controlled, randomised pilot trial of N-acetylcysteine or placebo for cessation of tobacco smoking.

Smoking represents a significant health threat to the population, however there remains a core group of consistent smokers that are largely unable to break the addiction. Novel therapies are required to assist this group with cessation. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a nutraceutical supplement that has shown efficacy compared to placebo in previous pilot studies for assisting smokers to quit or reduce their consumption of cigarettes.

Cognitive Profile and Relationship with Quality of Life and Psychosocial Functioning in Mood Disorders.

Background: Comparisons between healthy controls (HCs) and individuals with mood disorders have shown more cognitive dysfunction among the latter group, in particular in bipolar disorder (BD). This study aimed to characterize the pattern of cognitive function of BD and major depressive disorder (MDD) and compare them to HC using the (CogState Research Battery) CSRB™.

Method: Participants were tested, comprising the following domains: processing speed, attention, working memory, visual memory, executive functions, and verbal memory.

Cognition-immune interactions between executive function and working memory, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and soluble TNF receptors (sTNFR1 and sTNFR2) in bipolar disorder.

Objectives: This study examined cognition-immune interactions, specifically executive function, working memory, peripheral levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and soluble tumour necrosis factor receptors-1 and -2 (sTNFR1 and 2) levels in bipolar disorder (BD) patients in comparison with controls.

Methods: Thirty-one BD participants and twenty-seven controls participated in the study. The neurocognitive assessment was performed through three of CogState Research Battery tasks for executive function and working memory.

Myristic Acid Serum Levels and Their Significance for Diagnosis of Systemic Inflammatory Response, Sepsis, and Bacteraemia.

Myristic acid is identified as a metabolite with the highest diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in the metabolome of patients with bacteraemia. Its significant decrease has been observed in patients with septic shock not responding to treatment. Another study has reported a close correlation of myristic acid levels with the outcome of severe trauma patients.

Minocycline as adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder: Pooled data from two randomized controlled trials.

Background: Randomized controlled clinical trials that have investigated minocycline as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder have proved promising. Data from two studies were pooled to evaluate more definitively whether the addition of minocycline to standard treatment for major depressive disorder leads to an improvement of depressive symptoms when compared with placebo.

Methods: Both studies were multi-site, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials of minocycline 200 mg/day added to treatment as usual during a 12-week period.

Kinetics of Myristic Acid Following Accidentally Induced Septic Response.

Myristic acid was identified as a metabolite with the highest diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in the metabolome of patients with bacteraemia. Subsequently, its significant decrease was observed in patients in septic shock not responding to treatment. In our study we have captured myristic acid serum level kinetics in 96 hours following accidental intravenous self-administration of eubiotic Hylak forte causing infection-like systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).

Sepsis Diagnostics in the Era of "Omics" Technologies.

Sepsis is a multifactorial clinical syndrome with an extremely dynamic clinical course and with high diverse clinical phenotype. Early diagnosis is crucial for the final clinical outcome. Previous studies have not identified a biomarker for the diagnosis of sepsis which would have sufficient sensitivity and specificity.

Immunotherapy of Sepsis: Blind Alley or Call for Personalized Assessment?

Sepsis is the most frequent cause of death in noncoronary intensive care units. In the past 10 years, progress has been made in the early identification of septic patients and their treatment. These improvements in support and therapy mean that mortality is gradually decreasing, however, the rate of death from sepsis remains unacceptably high.

Epidemiology of hospital-acquired pneumonia: Results of a Central European multicenter, prospective, observational study compared with data from the European region.

Background: Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is associated with high mortality. In Central Europe, there is a dearth of information on the prevalence and treatment of HAP. This project was aimed at collecting multicenter epidemiological data on patients with HAP in the Czech Republic and comparing them with supraregional data.

Sepsis biomarkers.

Sepsis is the most frequent cause of death in non-coronary intensive care units (ICUs). In the past 10 years, progress has been made in the early identification of septic patients and in their treatment and these improvements in support and therapy mean that the mortality is gradually decreasing but it still remains unacceptably high. Leaving clinical diagnosis aside, the laboratory diagnostics represent a complex range of investigations that can place significant demands on the system given the speed of response required.

Presence of hypogammaglobulinemia - a risk factor of mortality in patients with severe sepsis, septic shock, and SIRS.

In this retrospective study we assessed the frequency of hypogammaglobulinemia in 708 patients with SIRS, severe sepsis and septic shock. We evaluated the relationship between hypogammaglobulinemia IgG, IgM and 28 day mortality. Total of 708 patients and 1,513 samples were analyzed.

Probiotic treatment with Probioflora in patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis without organ failure.

Background: We previously demonstrated that probiotic prophylaxis, in patients with predicted severe pancreatitis, did not prevent infectious complications but unexpectedly increased the risk of bowel ischemia and mortality. The suggestion that these negative findings are only observed in the presence of organ failure at the start of probiotic treatment has not been confirmed.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis, all patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis without initial organ failure admitted to a medium care facility of a teaching hospital in Prague from January 2003 to December 2010 were included.

Spontaneous breathing of heliox using a semi-closed circuit: a bench study.

Introduction: The use of helium-oxygen mixture (heliox) for ventilation has an advantage in patients with obstruction of the airways. The physical properties of helium enable an easier gas flow through the airways; this enables easier breathing for the patient when compared to standard ventilation of air. A high cost of heliox falls within the factors that limit the use of heliox in clinical practice.

TREM-1 expression on monocytes is not a parameter specific for infectious etiology of systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Unlabelled: Determination of mTREM-1 expression on monocytes has been investigated as a perspective diagnostic method to distinguish infectious from non-infectious etiology of the inflammation.

The Aims Of Our Study Were: i) to investigate the expression of TREM-1 on monocytes in septic patients and in those after elective spinal surgery without infection; ii) to assess the dynamics of mTREM-1 expression on monocytes and its association with the outcome in patients with severe sepsis. Fifty two patients with severe sepsis, 20 healthy volunteers, and 20 patients after elective spinal surgery were involved in our study.

Genomic polymorphism and sepsis--is there a reason for optimism?

There is no doubt that, in infectious disease, genetic predisposition plays a very important role in clinical outcome. Sepsis is a polygenic syndrome initiated by infection. A fact confounding the situation is that two factors--the macroorganism and the microorganism--are at play at the same time; hence of genotype effect must be assessed in light of their interaction.

Induction of procalcitonin in liver transplant patients treated with anti-thymocyte globulin.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the early postoperative kinetics of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) with different immunosuppressive regimens.

Methods: PCT and CRP serum concentrations were measured in a group of 28 OLTx recipients before induction of anesthesia, at 4 and 8 hours following graft reperfusion, and daily until postoperative day 4. The same parameters were determined in 12 patients undergoing liver resection without conjunctive immunosuppressive therapy.

Hemodynamic parameters in a surgical devascularization model of fulminant hepatic failure in the minipig.

Animal models of fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) are important for studying the pathophysiology of this process and for evaluation of the efficacy of artificial and bioartificial liver support systems. In experiments, hemodynamic parameters were monitored in a group of minipigs with FHF induced by surgical devascularization, and compared with those in a control group. During the experiment, animals were analgosedated and were on mechanical lung ventilation.