Journal of Inflammatory Diseases
Volume:25 Issue: 3, Autumn 2021

Electrolyte disorders, particularly hyponatremia, have been reported in a considerable number of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The current study aims to evaluate the risk factors, symptoms, and prognosis of hyponatremia in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

In this retrospective cohort study, 467 patients with COVID-19 were divided into 4 groups based on the sodium level at the time of admission: normal, mild hyponatremia, moderate hyponatremia, and severe hyponatremia. Symptoms, laboratory findings, and prognosis were compared among these groups. The risk factors for the occurrence of moderate/severe hyponatremia and the association of hyponatremia with in-hospital mortality were investigated using logistic regression analysis.

Hyponatremia was diagnosed in 60% of the patients. The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe hyponatremia was 80.7%, 15.1%, and 4.2%, respectively. The severity of the clinical symptoms and level of hypoxia showed no significant difference between the groups. White blood cells count was significantly higher and lymphocyte percentage was significantly lower in hyponatremia groups compared to the normal group. The history of chronic kidney disease was an independent risk factor for the moderate/severe hyponatremia (Adjusted OR=5.11, 95%CI: 1.72-15.2, P=0.003). After adjustment of different risk factors, moderate/severe hyponatremia remained a significant independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality (OR=2.58, 95%CI: 1.13-5.88, P=0.024).

Hyponatremia is prevalent in COVID-19 patients. However, it is not definitely associated with severity of COVID-19 at the time of admission. Moderate/severe hyponatremia is associated with higher in-hospital mortality rate despite the similarity of disease severity between the sodium groups.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease with a high mortality rate among older people.

The current study aims to investigate the death rate and related factors among hospitalized older patients with COVID-19 in Qazvin, Iran.

In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, 430 older inpatients with COVID-19 (Mean±SD age: 72.83±8.81) admitted to two hospitals in Qazvin, Iran were randomly selected. Their information was extracted from their electronic health records. Independent t-test, chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used for the data analysis.

Hypertension (n=234, 54.4%), diabetes mellitus (n=148, 34.4%), and cardiovascular diseases (n=127, 29.4%) were the most prevalent comorbidities. Dyspnea (n=300, 69.8%), cough (n=232, 54.0%), fever (n=186, 43.3%), and general malaise (n=168, 39.1%) were the most frequent clinical symptoms. There was in-hospital mortality in 108 (25.1%) older inpatients. Multivariate regression results showed that the risk of in-hospital death was significantly related to the inpatients’ age (OR=1.037, 95%CI=1.007-1.068), white blood cell count (OR=1.187, 95%CI=1.114-1.264), hemoglobin level (OR=0.812, 95%CI=0.720-0.914), platelet count (OR=0.993, 95%CI=0.989-0.996), and oxygen saturation level (OR=0.950, 95%CI=0.967-0.932) at the time of admission.

Older age, white blood cell count, hemoglobin level, oxygen saturation level, and platelet count are predictors of death among older inpatients with COVID-19. Identification of these risk factors can assist the healthcare providers for timely intervention for the prevention of death.

The acute respiratory syndrome named “COVID-19” is caused by a novel coronavirus called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Lack of specific antiviral drugs or proper vaccination has led to the development of new therapeutic methods against this virus.
Objective The Mpro 3Clpro is the main protease of the SARS-CoV-2 which plays an important role in replication and transcription of the virus. Therefore, targeting this enzyme is a valuable approach for drug development.

In the present study, the structural properties of 69 anti-migraine and 212 anti-HIV drugs were first obtained from Drug Bank database. To select the appropriate drugs for the enzyme inhibition, the AutoDock Vina software was used. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method was applied for better recognition of the structural changes.

We identified Rimegepant (PubChem ID: 51049968), Dihydroergotamine (PubChem ID: 10531) and Ergotamine (PubChem ID: 8223) as potential inhibitors of Mpro 3Clpro. These complexes were equilibrated after 70 ns.

Among these compounds, the anti-migraine drug “Rimegepant” showed the highest affinity for binding to the Mpro 3Clpro (-60.8 kJ/mol). This study provides enough evidence for further accomplishment of the identified compounds in the development of effective therapeutics methods against COVID-19.

Coronavirus (CoV) is a group of viruses that cause disease in humans and animals. These viruses contain crown-shaped spike glycoproteins on their surface.

We conducted a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study on a series of 36 compounds of allicin to assess their antiviral activities against the main protease of COVID-19.

In the present descriptive-analytic study, the information on the structure of compounds, the COVID-19 protease enzyme, and the Allicin derivatives was obtained from the databases such as the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics’ Protein Data Bank (PDB) and PubChem. The QSAR method, analysis of correlations and multiple linear regressions were carried out. Six molecular descriptors such as constitutional and molecular topology descriptors were selected for the model. Finally, molecular docking was performed in iGEMDOCK 2.1 software.

The obtained multi-parametric model reported a correlation coefficient of about 0.89, indicating that the model was able to satisfactory predict the antiviral activity of allicin compounds.

The findings obtained can be valuable in designing, synthesizing, and developing novel antiviral agents with allicin-based scaffold.

It has been reported that less than 5% of women experience recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). different matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have proteolysis function with a main role in the stable development of the fetus.

This study aims to assess the associations between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2509013 C>T and rs11225395 G>A) of MMP-8 gene and RPL among 130 Iranian women with a history of RPL and 130 controls.

Genotyping of the MMP-8 gene was done for the two polymorphisms by using Sanger sequencing method.

High frequency of AA genotype (OR: 2.5, 95%CI:1.02-4.1, P<0.01) and A allele (OR:1.95, 95% CI:0.95-3.1, P<0.001) of rs11225395 G>A polymorphism in patients compared to controls. This high frequency was also reported in the haplotypes and combined genotypes of polymorphism.

The MMP-8 gene may be involved in RPL risk and is a potential biomarker for RPL susceptibility.

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death and physical disabilities. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is one of the useful indicators of blood pressure with the ability to show the risk of peripheral artery disease. This study aims to investigate the relationship between medication adherence and the ABI lavue in patients with hypertension.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 250 patients with hypertension referred to medical health centers in Karaj, Iran were enrolled using a convenience sampling method. To collect data, a demographic form and the 8-item morisky medication adherence scale (MMAS-8) were used. Also, the ABI was measured manually using an acoustic Doppler probe. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, v. 25.

The Mean±SD of the right and left ABI were 1.055±0.134 and 1.036±0.113, respectively. The Mean±SD of MMAS-8 score was 5.88±1.74. It was found that 127 patients (50.8%) had low adherence level, 68 (27.2%) had moderate adherence level, and only 55 (22%) had high adherence level. There was a positive significant correlation between patients’ medication adherence and the ABI value. Moreover, a statistically significant difference was observed in the mean scores of the ABI in patients with three different levels of medication adherence.

The medication adherence is poor among hypertensive patients in Karaj. It is related to the ABI such that with the decrease of medication adherence, the ABI value decreases. Therefore, adherence to medication regimen in patients with hypertension can be effective in preventing arterial complications.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a parasitic infection with significant health problems and economic burden in most of developing countries. The current study aims to investigate the 10-year prevalence of human CE and the demographic and clinical characteristics of operated patients in Qazvin province, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, the medical records of CE patients who had undergone surgery in two hospitals of Qazvin Province from 2009 to 2019 were studied.

There was 203 CE cases in ten years, corresponding to a surgical incidence rate of 1.49 in 100,000 people. Of these, 99(48.8%) were male, and 104 (51.2%) were female. Patients’ age ranged from 8 to 86 years, with a mean age of 43±19.16 years. A significantly higher CE incidence was reported in patients aged 20-40 years. The majority of patients were housekeeper (48.8%), and the CE was diagnosed in almost all patients by imaging techniques. Involved organs were liver (n=119, 58.6%) and lungs (n=64, 31.5%), and their concurrent involvement was 4.5% (n=9). The highest CE incidence was recorded in 2015 (n=35, 17.2%). Affected organ and number of cysts had significant association with the CE recurrence in operated patients.

The CE has had a uneven incidence trend in Qazvin Province during 2009-2019. A further epidemiological study is recommended to evaluate more risk factors of CE for its control in this area.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly become a pandemic since it was first reported in late December 2019. Serological reports are of great value to medical specialists in developing health policies. The detection of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) level in COVID-19 patients can specify a preclinical infection or previous exposure to the virus.

This study aims to assess the IgG rate in patients with COVID-19.

This is a cross-sectional study on 172 patients with confirmed COVID-19 (having positive PCR test) in Qazvin, Iran in 2020, including 86 inpatients and 86 outpatients. In order to measure the IgG levels, the serum samples were collected 3-5 weeks after onset of their clinical symptoms. Data were statistically analyzed in SPSS software v. 20, considering the significance level of P<0.05.

Of 172 patients, 81(94.2%) inpatients and 74(86%) outpatients tested positive for IgG, while 5(5.8%) inpatients and 10(11.6%) outpatients tested negative for IgG. The mean IgG level in inpatients was significantly higher than in outpatients (P<0.001) 3-5 weeks after a positive PCR test.

The amounts of IgG in the sera of COVID-19 patients 3-5 weeks after the onset of symptoms can help health care authorities develop policies and control strategies by determining the burden of disease, monitoring the spread of disease, and estimating the epidemiological factors.