Arch Med Sci
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Approximately 1% of the world population has now been infected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). With cases still rising and vaccines just beginning to rollout, we are still several months away from seeing reductions in daily case numbers, hospitalisations, and mortality. Therefore, there is a still an urgent need to control the disease spread by repurposing existing therapeutics. Owing to antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and cardioprotective actions, statin therapy has been considered as a plausible approach to improve COVID-19 outcomes. ⋯ These findings call attention to the need for systematic clinical studies to assess both pre- and in-hospital use of statins as a potential means of reducing COVID-19 disease severity, particularly in terms of reduction of ICU admission and total mortality reduction.
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Several published results have established variations in respect to plasma/serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels and gene polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study gave a more concise estimation on the MIF levels for SLE patients and established the association between MIF polymorphisms and SLE. ⋯ This study provided evidence of significant higher MIF levels in SLE patients and supported the association of MIF-173 C/G and SLE. However, we were not able to establish an association between MIF-794 CATT and SLE.
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Recent medical literature has drawn attention to the possible influence of COVID-19 on the course of pregnancies. As the coherence of results seems to vary, especially in relation to first and second trimester pregnancies, a concise qualitative systematic review can shed light on the most recent data. ⋯ Evidently a limited amount of data is available. Usually, mothers and newborns are discharged from the hospital without any serious complications. Further observations are imperative.
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Monitoring of renal function in acute kidney injury in the pediatric population is complicated by the lack of age-related reference values of new biomarkers. Urinary netrin-1 is a new marker to demonstrate early kidney damage. Netrin-1 has a molecular mass of 72 kDa. It is therefore unlikely that it is filtered by the glomerulus under normal conditions. However, netrin-1 is highly induced after acute and chronic kidney injury and excreted in urine in humans. The aim of the study was to determine the normal concentrations of urinary netrin-1 in healthy full-term newborns. ⋯ This is the first study showing the urinary netrin-1 concentration in healthy full-term newborns. Future investigation is needed to confirm its potential role as a marker of kidney function in this age group.
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Replicative senescence results in dysregulation of cell proliferation and differentiation, which plays a role in the regenerative defects observed during age-related muscle atrophy. Vitamin E is a well-known antioxidant, which potentially ameliorates a wide range of age-related manifestations. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) in modulating the expression of proliferation- and differentiation-associated proteins in senescent human myoblasts during the differentiation phase. ⋯ TRF modulates the expression of regulatory factors related to proliferation and differentiation in senescent human myoblasts and could be beneficial for ameliorating the regenerative defects during aging.