Bmc Med
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Observational Study
The association between assisted reproductive technology and cardiac remodeling in fetuses and early infants: a prospective cohort study.
Limited data exist regarding the potential impact of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on cardiac remodeling. In particular, whether different ART techniques are related to different cardiac alterations remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate cardiac changes in fetuses and infants arising from ART and fetal cardiac alterations in fetuses conceived by specific ART procedures. ⋯ Our analysis demonstrated that subclinical cardiac remodeling and dysfunction were evident in ART fetuses, although these alterations did not persist in early infancy. In addition, various ART procedures may cause the same unfavorable changes in the fetal heart.
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is considered a disorder of gut-brain interaction (DGBI), presenting as chronic abdominal pain and altered defaecation. Symptoms are often food related. Much work in the field has focused on identifying physiological, immune and microbial abnormalities in the colon of patients; however, evidence of small intestinal immune activation and microbial imbalance has been reported in small studies. The significance of such findings has been largely underappreciated despite a growing body of work implicating small intestinal homeostatic imbalance in the pathogenesis of DGBIs. ⋯ Given the association of IBS symptoms with food intake in a large proportion of patients and the emerging evidence of immune activation in these patients, the current literature suggests the pathogenesis of IBS is not limited to the colon but rather may involve dysfunction of the entire intestinal tract. It remains unclear if regional variation in IBS pathology explains the various symptom phenotypes and further work should consider the intestinal tract as a whole to answer this question.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Physical activity enhances the improvement of body mass index and metabolism by inulin: a multicenter randomized placebo-controlled trial performed in obese individuals.
Dietary interventions targeting the gut microbiota have been proposed as innovative strategies to improve obesity-associated metabolic disorders. Increasing physical activity (PA) is considered as a key behavioral change for improving health. We have tested the hypothesis that changing the PA status during a nutritional intervention based on prebiotic supplementation can alter or even change the metabolic response to the prebiotic. We confirm in obese subjects and in high-fat diet fed mice that performing PA in parallel to a prebiotic supplementation is necessary to observe metabolic improvements upon inulin. ⋯ We conclude that PA level is an important determinant of the success of a dietary intervention targeting the gut microbiota.
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Data on the relations between kidney function abnormalities and stroke in type 2 diabetes are limited. We evaluated the associations of kidney function abnormalities and chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages with incident stroke in a large sample of adults with type 2 diabetes. ⋯ In a large sample of adults with type 2 diabetes, increasing albuminuria and worsening stages of early CKD were independently associated with higher risk of incident stroke.
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SARS-CoV-2 infection portends a broad range of outcomes, from a majority of asymptomatic cases to a lethal disease. Robust correlates of severe COVID-19 include old age, male sex, poverty, and co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. A precise knowledge of the molecular and biological mechanisms that may explain the association of severe disease with male sex is still lacking. Here, we analyzed the relationship of serum testosterone levels and the immune cell skewing with disease severity in male COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Recovery or failure to reinstate testosterone levels is strongly associated with survival or death, respectively, from COVID-19 in male patients. Our data suggest an early inhibition of the central LH-androgen biosynthesis axis in a majority of patients, followed by full recovery in survivors or a peripheral failure in lethal cases. These observations are suggestive of a significant role of testosterone status in the immune responses to COVID-19 and warrant future experimental explorations of mechanistic relationships between testosterone status and SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes, with potential prophylactic or therapeutic implications.