•The clinical significance of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in CSF of individuals with suspected CNS infection remains unclear.•EBV DNA in CSF is occasionally found in the immunocompetent ...population.•EBV was frequently found together with other microbes in CSF and associated with encephalitis and poor prognosis.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based testing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples has greatly facilitated the diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) infections. However, the clinical significance of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in CSF of individuals with suspected CNS infection remains unclear. We wanted to gain a better understanding of EBV as an infectious agent in immunocompetent patients with CNS disorders.
We identified cases of EBV-associated CNS infections and reviewed their clinical and laboratory characteristics. The study population was drawn from patients with EBV PCR positivity in CSF who visited Pusan National University Hospital between 2010 and 2019.
Of the 780 CSF samples examined during the 10-year study period, 42 (5.4 %) were positive for EBV DNA; 9 of the patients (21.4 %) were diagnosed with non-CNS infectious diseases, such as optic neuritis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and idiopathic intracranial hypotension, and the other 33 cases were classified as CNS infections (22 as encephalitis and 11 as meningitis). Intensive care unit admission (13/33 patients, 39.3 %) and presence of severe neurological sequelae at discharge (8/33 patients, 24.2 %) were relatively frequent. In 10 patients (30.3 %), the following pathogens were detected in CSF in addition to EBV: varicella-zoster virus (n = 3), cytomegalovirus (n = 2), herpes simplex virus 1 (n = 1), herpes simplex virus 2 (n = 1), Streptococcus pneumomiae (n = 2), and Enterococcus faecalis (n = 1). The EBV-only group (n = 23) and the co-infection group (n = 10) did not differ in age, gender, laboratory data, results of brain imaging studies, clinical manifestations, or prognosis; however, the co-infected patients had higher CSF protein levels.
EBV DNA in CSF is occasionally found in the immunocompetent population; the virus was commonly associated with encephalitis and poor prognosis, and frequently found together with other microbes in CSF.
Traditionally a disease of hepatologists, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has recently become a major concern for a broad spectrum of health care providers. Endocrinologists and those caring ...for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are at center stage, as T2DM appears to worsen the course of NAFLD and the liver disease makes diabetes management more challenging. However, the nature of this relationship remains incompletely understood. Although the increasing prevalence of NAFLD is frequently attributed to the epidemic of obesity and is often oversimplified as the "hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome," it is a much more complex disease process that may also be observed in nonobese individuals and in patients without clinical manifestations of the metabolic syndrome. It carries both metabolic and liver-specific complications that make its approach unique among medical conditions. Diabetes appears to promote the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the more severe form of the disease, and increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Patients and physicians face many uncertainties, including fragmented information on the natural history of the disease, challenges in the diagnosis of NASH, and few pharmacological agents with proven efficacy. However, recent advances in diagnosis and treatment, combined with the risk of serious consequences from inaction, call for health care providers to be more proactive in the management of patients with T2DM and NASH.
Adiponectin is the richest adipokine in human plasma, and it is mainly secreted from white adipose tissue. Adiponectin circulates in blood as high-molecular, middle-molecular, and low-molecular ...weight isoforms. Numerous studies have demonstrated its insulin-sensitizing, anti-atherogenic, and anti-inflammatory effects. Additionally, decreased serum levels of adiponectin is associated with chronic inflammation of metabolic disorders including Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis. However, recent studies showed that adiponectin could have pro-inflammatory roles in patients with autoimmune diseases. In particular, its high serum level was positively associated with inflammation severity and pathological progression in rheumatoid arthritis, chronic kidney disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, adiponectin seems to have both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects. This indirectly indicates that adiponectin has different physiological roles according to an isoform and effector tissue. Knowledge on the specific functions of isoforms would help develop potential anti-inflammatory therapeutics to target specific adiponectin isoforms against metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases. This review summarizes the current roles of adiponectin in metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases.
COVID-19 and the nervous system Berger, Joseph R.
Journal of neurovirology,
04/2020, Letnik:
26, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A pandemic due to novel coronavirus arose in mid-December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and in 3 months’ time swept the world. The disease has been referred to as COVID-19, and the causative agent has been ...labelled SARS-CoV-2 due to its genetic similarities to the virus (SARS-CoV-1) responsible for the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic nearly 20 years earlier. The spike proteins of both viruses dictate tissue tropism using the angiotensin-converting enzyme type 2 (ACE-2) receptor to bind to cells. The ACE-2 receptor can be found in nervous system tissue and endothelial cells among the tissues of many other organs.
Neurological complications have been observed with COVID-19. Myalgia and headache are relatively common, but serious neurological disease appears to be rare. No part of the neuraxis is spared. The neurological disorders occurring with COVID-19 may have many pathophysiological underpinnings. Some appear to be the consequence of direct viral invasion of the nervous system tissue, others arise as a postviral autoimmune process, and still others are the result of metabolic and systemic complications due to the associated critical illness. This review addresses the preliminary observations regarding the neurological disorders reported with COVID-19 to date and describes some of the disorders that are anticipated from prior experience with similar coronaviruses.
Objectives
his review evaluated implant survival in geriatric patients (≥75 years) and/or the impact of systemic medical conditions.
Materials and Methods
Systematic literature searches were ...performed to identify studies reporting on geriatric subjects with dental implants and on implant patients who had any of the seven most common systematic conditions among geriatric patients. Meta‐analyses were performed on the postloading implant survival rates. The impact of systemic medical conditions and their respective treatment was qualitatively analyzed.
Results
A total of 6,893 studies were identified; of those, 60 studies were included. The fixed‐effects model revealed an overall implant survival of 97.3% (95% CI: 94.3, 98.7; studies = 7) and 96.1% (95% CI: 87.3, 98.9; studies = 3), for 1 and 5 years, respectively. In patients with cardiovascular disease, implant survival may be similar or higher compared to healthy patients. High implant survival rates were reported for patients with Parkinson's disease or diabetes mellitus type II. In patients with cancer, implant survival is negatively affected, namely by radiotherapy. Patients with bone metastases receiving high‐dose antiresorptive therapy (ART) carry a high risk for complications after implant surgery. Implant survival was reported to be high in patients receiving low‐dose ART for treatment of osteoporosis. No evidence was found on implant survival in patients with dementia, respiratory diseases, liver cirrhosis, or osteoarthritis.
Conclusions
Implant prostheses in geriatric subjects are a predictable treatment option with a very high rate of implant survival. The functional and psychosocial benefits of such intervention should outweigh the associated risks to common medical conditions.
To describe the clinical features, therapeutic interventions, and patient outcomes of gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage in individuals with a telomere biology disorder, including dyskeratosis ...congenita, Hoyeraal–Hreidarsson syndrome, Revesz syndrome, and Coats plus.
Clinical Care Consortium for Telomere Associated Ailments members were invited to contribute data on individuals with telomere biology disorders at their institutions who experienced GI bleeding. Patient demographic, laboratory, imaging, procedural, and treatment information and outcomes were extracted from the medical record.
Sixteen patients who experienced GI hemorrhage were identified at 11 centers. Among 14 patients who underwent genetic testing, 8 had mutations in TINF2, 4 had mutations in CTC1 or STN1, and 1 patient each had a mutation in TERC and RTEL1. Ten patients had a history of hematopoietic cell transplantation. The patients with Coats plus and those without Coats plus had similar clinical features and courses. Angiodysplasia of the stomach and/or small bowel was described in 8 of the 12 patients who underwent endoscopy; only 4 had esophageal varices. Various medical interventions were trialed. No single intervention was uniformly associated with cessation of bleeding, although 1 patient had a sustained response to treatment with bevacizumab. Recurrence was common, and the overall long-term outcome for affected patients was poor.
GI bleeding in patients with telomere biology disorders is associated with significant morbidity and with vascular ectasias rather than varices.
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