European review for medical and pharmacological sciences最新文献

Background: Madelung's disease is a rare disorder characterized by massive deposits of excess subcutaneous fat around the neck, shoulders, arms, and other parts of the body. It has a high prevalence among middle-aged alcoholic men in Mediterranean countries and a low incidence in Asian populations. Although patients with Madelung's disease are often associated with a variety of alcohol-induced metabolic disorders, the comorbidity of alcoholic cardiomyopathy is rarely reported, probably because of its low incidence or neglect by clinicians.

Case report: A 67-year-old man with a 10-year history of soft fat masses in the neck developed chest tightness and shortness of breath on exertion for the past 2 years. Laboratory tests revealed elevated γ-glutamyl transferase, glucose intolerance, hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, and anemia. Computed tomography of the neck showed symmetric nonencapsulated fat deposits, mainly in the anterior cervical regions. Echocardiography showed left heart enlargement and severe global left ventricular systolic dysfunction with an ejection fraction of 31%. Coronary angiography revealed 40-50% stenoses of the left anterior descending and right coronary arteries. After the exclusion of other causes of dilated cardiomyopathy, the patient was finally diagnosed with type I Madelung's disease and alcoholic cardiomyopathy. He underwent lifestyle changes, including reducing his alcohol intake, and received full pharmacological treatment for heart failure. One and a half years later, his cardiac function was partially restored, and all metabolic abnormalities improved except for elevated liver enzymes.

Conclusions: Alcohol use disorder should be assessed in patients with newly diagnosed Madelung's disease. Screening for alcoholic cardiomyopathy in alcoholic patients with Madelung's disease is necessary for early detection of cardiac abnormalities and intervention to improve the prognosis of this group of patients.

Objective: Low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS) is a dangerous postoperative complication in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). This study aims to develop and evaluate a nomogram model that can reliably identify risk variables for postoperative LCOS in elderly patients suffering from ATAAD.

Patients and methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 310 elderly patients with ATAAD admitted to Fujian Medical University Union Hospital were included and categorized into the LCOS and non-LCOS groups. Stepwise logistic regression was used to analyze independent predictors of LCOS, and a nomogram was constructed. The best clinical decision points were found using decision analysis and a clinical impact curve.

Results: Postoperative LCOS occurred in 22 (7.1%) of elderly patients with ATAAD. Independent risk factors for postoperative LCOS were age, smoking history, aortic cross-clamp (ACC), coronary heart disease (CHD), and preoperative shock. The nomogram constructed based on the identified risk factors showed good performance.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that preventive treatment can be administered when needed when the risk of LCOS in older patients with ATAAD after surgery is >60%. This study contributes to developing a methodology that may improve therapeutic decision-making in older patients and provides insights for assessing the risk of LCOS.

The article "Fas/FasL induces myocardial cell apoptosis in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion rat model", by X.-M. Liu, Z.-M. Yang, X.-K. Liu, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2017; 21 (12): 2913-2918- PMID: 28682425 has been retracted by the Editor in Chief. Following some concerns raised on PubPeer (link: https://pubpeer.com/publications/29CE1A59A8180E414855FA3871BCAC), the Editor in Chief has started an investigation to assess the validity of the results as well as possible figure manipulation. The authors were informed about the journal's investigation but remained unresponsive and have not provided the manuscript's raw data. The journal's investigation revealed a figure overlap between panels 10 U/mL and 100 U/mL in Figure 1. Consequently, the Editor in Chief mistrusts the results presented and has decided to retract the article. This article has been retracted. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/12953.

Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2023; 27 (6): 2182-2188-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202303_31751-PMID: 37013735, published on March 30, 2023. After publication, the authors have contacted the journal to correct and update information contained in the Acknowledgments section. Therefore, the Acknowledgments are corrected as follows: • This study was supervised by Prof. Dr. Engin Deveci. He has agreed and accepted the final version of the published article. All authors, including Prof. Dr. Engin Deveci, have agreed to this change and provided a confirmation letter signed by all parties. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/31751 There are amendments to this paper. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

Objective: Preeclampsia (PE) affects only about 10% of women who meet the criteria for obesity based on their body mass index (BMI). Obesity is suggested to play a role in preeclampsia pathophysiology, and in addition to BMI, associated biomarkers with higher sensitivity and specificity, such as with adipokines from adipose tissue, are needed to enable clinical risk assessment. This study aimed to investigate obese pregnant women with and without PE by comparing clinical profiles and adipokine profiles specific to general adipose tissue (adiponectin and leptin).

Materials and methods: This meta-analysis was conducted following the PRISMA and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023478706). We utilized Cochrane, Scopus, and PubMed/Medline databases. The Cochrane ROBINS-I instrument was employed to assess the quality of studies. Pooled standard mean difference (SMD) and p-value were analyzed using a random-effects model with the DerSimonian-Laird method, while subgroup analysis with the Chi-square test and the inconsistency index (I2) were used to assess potential sources of heterogeneity.

Results: Three observational studies included a total of 2,646 obese pregnant women and found that adiponectin was more likely to have a lower level in pregnant women with obesity [SMD=-0.32; 95% CI: -0.34-0.17, p=0.003] and leptin was more likely to be higher in obese pregnant women with PE rather than non-PE [SMD=0.53; 95% CI: -0.19-1.08, p<0.00001].

Conclusions: Adiponectin levels were more likely to be lower in pregnant women with obesity in the PE group than in the non-PE group, and leptin levels were more likely to be higher.

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD), a common degenerative disease of the central nervous system in the elderly, has become the third largest health killer after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and tumors. Based on the fact that Alzheimer's disease is a disease with multiple etiologies and complex pathology, a single target is bound to have a limited curative effect, and the synergy of multiple links and multiple targets is expected to achieve a better curative effect. The aim of this study is to investigate the brain targeting of a drug modified by chitosan, based on the new nanodrug delivery system for treating Alzheimer's disease developed by the research group.

Materials and methods: Chitosan with good biocompatibility, biosorption, and degradation products that can protect and promote the regeneration of nerve cells was selected to combine with galantamine, a natural representative cholinesterase inhibitor, to develop a new nano drug delivery system for nasal delivery of anti-Alzheimer's disease with a multi-target synergistic effect. Synchronous analysis was conducted on the blood and brain tissue drug concentrations after intravenous and nasal administration of the original drug solution and system solution. The brain targeting index (DTI) is used to evaluate the brain targeting effect of the nano-drug delivery system after intranasal administration.

Results: The blood concentration of galantamine original drug solution and galantamine system solution after intravenous injection and nasal show that in the two administration methods of intravenous injection and nasal administration, under the same administration method, the time point of the system reaching the highest blood drug concentration is much higher than that of the original drug. The content of galantamine in plasma samples and tissue samples indicate that after intravenous administration and intranasal administration of the galantamine system, at the same time point, the drug concentration in brain tissue was far greater than that of the original drug of galantamine, and the duration was also longer. The concentration of drugs in brain tissue decreased gradually in the order of olfactory bulb, olfactory tract, brain, and cerebellum. In the brain tissues of the olfactory bulb, olfactory tract, cerebrum, and cerebellum, the drug concentration of the galantamine system after intravenous injection is lower than that after nasal administration.

Conclusions: This study concludes that compared with the original drug solution, the nano drug delivery system has significant brain targeting for nasal administration, and intravenous injection also has brain targeting. In the olfactory bulb, olfactory tract, brain, and cerebellum, the brain targeting index at the olfactory bulb is the highest, and the targeting is the best.

Objective: Carbon monoxide (CO), a toxic gas, poses a significant threat to human health. Children, pregnant women, and elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable to this toxicity. This study aims to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of pediatric, pregnant, and geriatric patients.

Patients and methods: The study included pediatric, pregnant, and geriatric patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CO poisoning, excluding those with complete file data and those with carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels below 5% (for children and pregnant patients) and 10% (for elderly patients). Patients aged < 18 years, > 65 years, and pregnant patients admitted to the adult and pediatric emergency departments were included in the study; statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS Inc., with a p-value of < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results: For pediatric patients, a statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of their main complaints, which were primarily attributed to neurological and general symptoms. A positive correlation was found between follow-up time and several factors, including white blood cell (WBC) count and troponin, lactate, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and COHb levels. For pregnant patients, no in-hospital mortality was observed in the patients included in this study. A significant negative correlation was identified between age and both COHb and hemoglobin (Hb) levels. A strong positive correlation was found between the COHb levels and hospital follow-up time. For elderly patients, no significant differences were found between the two treatment modalities. Notably, higher COHb levels on admission were associated with a more fatal in-hospital course, with COHb levels > 40% of all patients requiring intubation.

Conclusions: Vulnerable populations are at increased risk of exposure to CO, and the study results emphasize the necessity of heightened awareness and preventive measures to safeguard these individuals from CO poisoning.

The article "LncRNA UCA1 affects osteoblast proliferation and differentiation by regulating BMP-2 expression", by R.-F. Zhang, J.-W. Liu, S.-P. Yu, D. Sun, X.-H. Wang, J.-S. Fu, Z. Xie, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (16): 6774-6782-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_201908_18715-PMID: 31486475 has been retracted by the authors for the following reasons: - The data presented in the manuscript require further validation, which may affect the results. After careful consideration, we have decided to withdraw it to ensure its reliability and reproducibility. All authors concur with this decision. This article has been retracted. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/18715.

Objective: The use of scoring systems contributes to the faster identification of septic patients, especially those at a high risk of a fatal outcome. The best scoring system does not exist, so the search for the optimal one is always current. The aim of this study is to estimate the prognostic value of the six scoring systems in predicting 24-hour mortality among septic patients presented at the emergency department.

Patients and methods: An observational retrospective study was conducted in the Emergency Triage Room (ETR) of the Emergency Center (EC) at the University Clinical Center of Serbia (UCCS) in Belgrade. Consecutive septic patients, according to the Sepsis-3 definition, with or without shock, presented to the ETR and then hospitalized in Intensive Care Units were included in the study. Mortality data within 24 h and on the 28th day were extracted from the Hospital information system or the National mortality database. Scoring systems including sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA), quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), National early warning score (NEWS), sepsis patient evaluation in the emergency department (SPEED), and mortality in emergency department sepsis (MEDS) were analyzed for all patients utilizing the available data. The primary outcome of this study was death within 24 hours of triage. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the most effective scoring system. Lactate was then added to this system to enhance its predictive accuracy.

Results: Nineteen out of 120 patients included in the study (15.8%) experienced death within 24 hours of triage. The twenty-eight-day mortality rate was 55%. SOFA score demonstrated the highest predictive value for 24-hour mortality but was only moderately predictive overall, with an area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.755 (95% CI 0.625-0.885). SPEED, MEDS, and NEVS exhibited modest discriminatory power [0.673 (95% CI 0.543-0.803), 0.665 (95% CI 0.536-0.794), 0.630 (95% CI 0.528-0.724)], while SIRS and qSOFA remained insignificant in predicting 24-hour mortality. The predictive value of the SOFA score was increased by the addition of lactate (AUC 0.865, 95% CI 0.736-0.995; p=0.0081). All scores demonstrated better and satisfactory predictive power for 28-day mortality.

Conclusions: SOFA, with the addition of lactate, is a complex but reliable tool for the early stratification of septic patients who are presenting at an emergency department.

The article "Correlation between COVID-19 and air pollution: the effects of PM2.5 and PM10 on COVID-19 outcomes", by E. Kalluçi, E. Noka, K. Bani, X. Dhamo, I. Alimehmeti, K. Dhuli, G. Madeo, C. Micheletti, G. Bonetti, C. Zuccato, E. Borghetti, G. Marceddu, M. Bertelli, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2023; 27 (6 Suppl): 39-47-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202312_34688-PMID: 38112947 has been retracted by the Editor in Chief. Following concerns raised on PubPeer, the Editor in Chief has initiated an investigation to evaluate the validity of the results. Despite the authors' prompt responses to the identified issues, the Editor in Chief has decided to withdraw the article due to significant errors in the text and final statements, as well as undisclosed conflicts of interest. The Publisher apologizes if these concerns have not been detected during the review process. The authors have been informed about the retraction. This article has been retracted. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/34688.