Nutrition
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Clinical manifestations of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can include gastrointestinal signals and symptoms. Individuals with previous clinical conditions that usually enroll gut dysbiosis have been identified as being at high risk to develop more severe infectious phenotypes. Actually, intestinal dysbiosis has been observed in infected patients and potentially linked to systemic hyperinflammation. ⋯ While COVID-19's pathophysiology is not fully understood, it seems relevant to consider the interactions of candidate therapeutic drugs with the host, gut microbiota, and SARS-CoV-2. Here we summarize scientific evidence supporting the potential relevance of these interactions and suggest that unfavorable clinical data on hydroxychloroquine administration in COVID-19 may have been influenced by the dose provided and its impact on gut dysbiosis. The proposition is based on preliminary data on gut microbiota composition from individuals with inactive systemic lupus erythematosus under exclusive continuous hydroxychloroquine treatment, displaying a direct correlation between drug doses and markers typically associated with gut dysbiosis.
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Observational Study
Phase angle is associated with length of hospital stay, readmissions, mortality, and falls in patients hospitalized in internal-medicine wards: A retrospective cohort study.
The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of bioimpedance phase angle (PA) on selected clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized in internal-medicine wards. ⋯ In internal-medicine wards, bioimpedance-derived PA emerged as a predictor of length of hospital stay, hospital readmission, falls, and mortality. The present findings suggest that in the hospital setting, PA assessment could be useful in identifying patients at higher risk who need specific nutritional support.
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The aim of this study was to compare the effects of muscle wasting according to measures obtained by different limb muscle mass indexes, to find the best mortality predictor among outpatients with cirrhosis. ⋯ The results suggest that using ULMMI is better than AMMI for predicting mortality of outpatients with cirrhosis, thus offering a better measure to detect muscle wasting in this population using DXA.
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The influence of body composition on clinical outcomes in individuals with gastric cancer (GC) undergoing radical gastrectomy after neoadjuvant treatment (NT) remains unclear. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the association between body composition before NT or after NT and clinical outcomes in individuals with GC receiving multimodal treatments. ⋯ Body composition measured by computed tomography could predict NT-related adverse events, postoperative complications, and long-term survival in multimodal treatments for GC. More meaningfully, adipose-tissue status has significant prognostic value for individuals with advanced GC.
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Increased risk of preterm birth (PTB) in women with endometriosis is considered to be associated with chronic inflammatory conditions. Accordingly, we hypothesized that a prepregnancy antiinflammatory diet is a potential form of preconception care for preventing PTB in women with endometriosis and conducted this study to investigate the correlation of a prepregnancy antiinflammatory diet with obstetric outcomes in this patient population. ⋯ This study suggests a distinct effect of an antiinflammatory diet on more severe obstetric outcomes, specifically PTB before 34 wk and low birth weight <1500 g, for women with endometriosis. Preconception lifestyle can improve perinatal mortality and morbidity among these women.