Background
The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in haematological patients (HP) has not been comprehensively reported.
Methods
We analysed 39 patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and ...haematological malignancies. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were compared to a matched control group of 53 non‐cancer patients with COVID‐19. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to assess the risk factors associated with poor outcome.
Results
The most frequent haematological diseases were lymphoma (30%) and multiple myeloma (30%). Eighty‐seven % HP developed moderate or severe disease. Patients with haematological malignancies had a significantly higher mortality rate compared to non‐cancer patients (35.9% vs 13.2%; P = .003 (odds ratio 6.652). The worst outcome was observed in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients. Only age >70 years and C reactive protein >10 mg/dl at admission were associated with higher risk of death (odds ratio 34.86, P = .003 and 13.56,P = .03). Persistent viral sheddind was detected in 5 HP. Active chemotherapy, viral load at diagnosis and COVID‐19 therapy were not predictors of outcome.
Conclusion
Mortality of COVID‐19 is significantly higher in patients with haematological malignancies compared to non‐cancer patients. The impact of persistent viral shedding must be considered in order to re‐start therapies and maintain infectious control measures.
The massive utilisation in animal feeding of soy or fishmeal poses severe environmental issues. The insects could be a sustainable protein source. This article documents 150 species of insects that ...are currently commercially available in the EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) region and in North America. Furthermore, the various data regarding body composition are analysed. Amino acids and fatty acids of several insect species are compared with the composition of soy and fishmeal as principal protein sources for animal feeding. As a protein source, insects, depending on the species, have an adequate profile of amino acids. The more frequent limiting amino acids are histidine, lysine, and tryptophan, which could be incorporated into the diet. In conclusion, insects appear to be a sustainable source of protein with an appealing quantity and quality and acceptable nutritive properties. In conclusion, the use of insects as a sustainable protein rich feed ingredient in diets is technically feasible, and opens new perspectives in animal feeding.
•The insects could be a renewable and sustainable protein source.•We review the properties of insect meal for animal feed.•Insects as feed ingredient can contribute to animal health.•Insects have great quantity and quality of protein with good nutritive properties.•This opens new perspectives of insect meal as a renewable source of protein.
Epidemiological studies show that adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) increases longevity; however, few studies are restricted to Mediterranean populations or explore the effect of a MD pattern ...that directly incorporates olive oil. Therefore the relationship between adherence to the MD and mortality was studied within the the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Spain). The EPIC-Spain analysis included 40 622 participants (37·7 % males) aged 29–69 years who were recruited from five Spanish regions in 1992–1996. During a mean follow-up of 13·4 years, 1855 deaths were documented: 913 from cancer, 399 from CVD, 425 from other causes and 118 from unknown causes of death. Risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality was assessed according to the level of adherence to a relative MD (rMED) score, measured using an 18-unit scale incorporating nine selected dietary components. A high compared with a low rMED score was associated with a significant reduction in mortality from all causes (hazard ratio (HR) 0·79; 95 % CI 0·69, 0·91), from CVD (HR 0·66; 95 % CI 0·49, 0·89), but not from overall cancer (HR 0·92; 95 % CI 0·75, 1·12). A 2-unit increase in rMED score was associated with a 6 % (P < 0·001) decreased risk of all-cause mortality. A high olive oil intake and moderate alcohol consumption contributed most to this association. In this Spanish cohort, following an olive oil-rich MD was related to a significant reduction in all-cause mortality, and reduced the risk of mortality from CVD. These results support the important role that the MD pattern has on reducing mortality in Mediterranean countries.
Misreporting characterized by the reporting of implausible energy intakes may undermine the valid estimation of diet-disease relations, but the methods to best identify and account for misreporting ...are unknown. The present study compared how alternate approaches affected associations between selected dietary factors and body mass index (BMI) by using data from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Spain. A total of 24,332 women and 15,061 men 29-65 years of age recruited from 1992 to 1996 for whom measured height and weight and validated diet history data were available were included. Misreporters were identified on the basis of disparities between reported energy intakes and estimated requirements calculated using the original Goldberg method and 2 alternatives: one that substituted basal metabolic rate equations that are more valid at higher BMIs and another that used doubly labeled water-predicted total energy expenditure equations. Compared with results obtained using the original method, underreporting was considerably lower and overreporting higher with alternative methods, which were highly concordant. Accounting for misreporters with all methods yielded diet-BMI relations that were more consistent with expectations; alternative methods often strengthened associations. For example, among women, multivariable-adjusted differences in BMI for the highest versus lowest vegetable intake tertile (β = 0.37 (standard error, 0.07)) were neutral after adjusting with the original method (β = 0.01 (standard error, 07)) and negative using the predicted total energy expenditure method with stringent cutoffs (β = -0.15 (standard error, 0.07)). Alternative methods may yield more valid associations between diet and obesity-related outcomes.
In autumn 2022, the Spanish Influenza National Reference Laboratory (NRL) confirmed the detection of influenza A(H5N1) in samples from two asymptomatic workers linked to an outbreak in a poultry farm ...in Spain. Nasopharyngeal swabs were taken according to a national screening protocol for exposed workers. Absence of symptoms, low viral load and negative serology in both workers suggested environmental contamination. These findings motivated an update of the early detection strategy specifying timing and sampling conditions in asymptomatic exposed persons.
Objective
To explore the association between three previously identified dietary patterns (Western, Prudent and Mediterranean) and prostate cancer (PCa) risk by tumour aggressiveness.
Subjects and ...Methods
The Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study provided dietary and epidemiological information from 15 296 men recruited during the period 1992–1996. The associations between the adherence to the three dietary patterns and PCa risk (global, for Gleason grade groups 6 and >6, and for International Society of Urological Pathology ISUP grade 1 + 2 and ISUP grade 3 + 4 + 5) was explored with multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models stratified by centre and age.
Results
While no effect on PCa risk was detected for the Prudent and Mediterranean dietary patterns, a suggestion of a detrimental effect of the Western dietary pattern was found (hazard ratio HRQ4vsQ1 1.29 95% confidence interval {CI} 0.96;1.72). This effect was only observed for Gleason grade group >6 (HRQ3vsQ1 1.61 95% CI 1.00; 2.59 and HRQ4vsQ1 1.60 95% CI 0.96; 2.67) and in particular ISUP grade 3 + 4 + 5 tumours (HRQ2vsQ1 1.97 95% CI 0.98; 3.93; HRQ3vsQ1 2.72 (95% CI 1.35; 5.51); HRQ4vsQ1 2.29 95% CI 1.07; 4.92).
Conclusions
Our results suggest that a high adherence to a healthy diet such as that represented by the Prudent and Mediterranean dietary patterns is not enough to prevent prostate cancer. Additionally, reducing adherence to a Western‐type diet seems to be necessary.
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a promising option to treat knee osteoarthritis (OA). Their safety and usefulness have been reported in several short-term clinical trials but less information is ...available on the long-term effects of MSC in patients with osteoarthritis. We have evaluated patients included in our previous randomized clinical trial (CMM-ART, NCT02123368) to determine their long-term clinical effect.
A phase I/II multicenter randomized clinical trial with active control was conducted between 2012 and 2014. Thirty patients diagnosed with knee OA were randomly assigned to Control group, intraarticularly administered hyaluronic acid alone, or to two treatment groups, hyaluronic acid together with 10 × 10
or 100 × 10
cultured autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs), and followed up for 12 months. After a follow up of 4 years adverse effects and clinical evolution, assessed using VAS and WOMAC scorings are reported.
No adverse effects were reported after BM-MSCs administration or during the follow-up. BM-MSCs-administered patients improved according to VAS, median value (IQR) for Control, Low-dose and High-dose groups changed from 5 (3, 7), 7 (5, 8) and 6 (4, 8) to 7 (6, 7), 2 (2, 5) and 3 (3, 4), respectively at the end of follow up (Low-dose vs Control group, p = 0.01; High-dose vs Control group, p = 0.004). Patients receiving BM-MSCs also improved clinically according to WOMAC. Control group showed an increase median value of 4 points (- 11;10) while Low-dose and High-dose groups exhibited values of - 18 (- 28;- 9) and - 10 (- 21;- 3) points, respectively (Low-dose vs Control group p = 0.043). No clinical differences between the BM-MSCs receiving groups were found.
Single intraarticular injection of in vitro expanded autologous BM-MSCs is a safe and feasible procedure that results in long-term clinical and functional improvement of knee OA.
In cirrhosis, intestinal dysbiosis, intestinal barrier impairment, and systemic immune system abnormalities lead to gut bacterial translocation (GBT) and bacterial infection. However, intestinal ...immune system dysfunction and its contribution to barrier damage are poorly understood. This study correlates immune system dysregulation in the intestines of rats at different stages of CCl4‐induced cirrhosis with barrier function and pathogenic microbiota. The following variables were addressed in the small intestine: intraepithelial lymphocyte (IEL) and lamina propria lymphocyte (LPL) activation status and cytokine production (flow cytometry), cytokine mRNA and protein expression (quantitative real‐time PCR and immunofluorescence), microbiota composition of ileum content (16S recombinant DNA massive sequencing), permeability (fecal albumin loss), and epithelial junctions (immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence). The intestinal mucosa in rats with cirrhosis showed a proinflammatory pattern of immune dysregulation in IELs and LPLs, which featured the expansion of activated lymphocytes, switch to a T helper 1 (Th1) regulatory pattern, and Th17 reduction. In rats with cirrhosis with ascites, this state was associated with epithelial junction protein disruption, fecal albumin loss, and GBT. Direct correlations (P < 0.01) were observed between elevated interferon gamma (IFNγ)‐expressing T cytotoxic LPLs and fecal albumin and between inflammatory taxa abundance and IFNγ‐producing immune cells in the ileum. Bowel decontamination led to redistributed microbiota composition, reduced proinflammatory activation of mucosal immune cells, normalized fecal albumin levels, and diminished GBT; but there were no modifications in Th17 depletion. Conclusion: The intestinal mucosa of rats with cirrhosis acquires a proinflammatory profile of immune dysregulation that parallels the severity of cirrhosis; this impaired intestinal immune response is driven by gut dysbiosis and leads to disrupted barrier function, promoting GBT.
Due to the expansion of aquaculture and the limited resources available from the sea, it is necessary to find substitutes for fish meal for use in aquaculture. We believe that the use of insect meals ...as an alternative source of animal protein may be an option. To use insects for this purpose, it is necessary to determine the nutritive characteristics of these insects. To determinate the potential of insects as a substitute for fish meal in fish food used in aquaculture, we examined 16 different species, 5 of them as different stage of development, of the orders Coleoptera (4), Diptera (7) and Orthoptera (5). The insect analysed have a higher proportion of fat and less protein than fish meal. With the exceptions of histidine, threonine and lysine, the insects present an amino acid profile similar to fish meal, with Diptera b being the most similar group to fish meal. However, the fatty acid content of insects is very different from that of fish meal which is rich in n-3, especially 14% EPA, 16% DHA, practically absent in insects. The insects have higher ratios of omega 6 and monounsaturated fat. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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