The value of urine biochemical parameters in the prediction of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1121-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Liu ◽  
Qingfeng Ma ◽  
Huan Han ◽  
Hanwen Su ◽  
Fang Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundAmong patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the cases of a significant proportion of patients are severe. A viral nucleic acid test is used for the diagnosis of COVID-19, and some hematological indicators have been used in the auxiliary diagnosis and identification of the severity of COVID-19. Regarding body fluid samples, except for being used for nucleic acid testing, the relationship between COVID-19 and routine body fluid parameters is not known. Our aim was to investigate the value of urine biochemical parameters in the prediction of the severity of COVID-19.MethodsA total of 119 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. According to the severity of COVID-19, the patients were divided into three groups (moderate 67, severe 42 and critical 10), and 45 healthy persons were enrolled in the same period as healthy controls. The relationship between the results of urine biochemical parameters and the severity of COVID-19 was analyzed.ResultsThe positive rates of urine occult blood (BLOOD) and proteinuria (PRO) were higher in COVID-19 patients than in healthy controls (p < 0.05); the urine specific gravity (SG) value was lower in patients than in healthy controls (p < 0.05), and the urine potential of hydrogen (pH) value was higher in patients than in healthy controls (p < 0.01). The positive rates of urine glucose (GLU-U) and PRO in the severe and critical groups were higher than those in the moderate group (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively); other biochemical parameters of urine were not associated with the severity of COVID-19.ConclusionsSome urine biochemical parameters are different between patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 and healthy controls, and GLU-U and PRO may be helpful for the differentiation of COVID-19 severity.

Author(s):  
Sonti Sulochana ◽  
Lakshmi Priya Asokan ◽  
. Mathesh ◽  
Chitra Srinivasan

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2), a novel coronavirus causing Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in December 2019, is now a pandemic infectious disease, primarily affecting the respiratory tract. To date, many investigations are available for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. A viral nucleic acid test has been used for the diagnosis of COVID-19, and some hematological indicators have been used in the auxiliary diagnosis and identification of the severity of COVID-19. There are very few studies available in routine urine biochemical parameters and their relation with Covid-19 patients. Aim: This study is aimed to study the changes in urine parameter values in COVID-19 disease and to predict the severity of the disease with the changes in urine parameters. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 patients with COVID-19 were admitted at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital during the study period. All cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR test done on nasopharyngeal swabs during the study period were included. Patients who tested negative by RT-PCR test were considered as controls. The relationship between the results of urine biochemical parameters and the severity of COVID-19 were analysed by Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test. Results: The positive rates of proteinuria (PRO) and leucocytes were more significant in COVID-19 patients than in healthy controls. The urine specific gravity (SG) value was highly significant (p <0.001) while the blood, nitrites in urine, and  potential of hydrogen (pH) value was insignificant. Conclusion: There were some considerable changes in few urine biochemical parameters between patients with the SARS-CoV-2 and healthy controls. So from this study we conclude, proteinuria is helpful for predicting COVID-19 severity and kidney function.


1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1358-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Tjaden ◽  
Greg S. Turner

Spectral characteristics of word initial /s/and /∫/produced by individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and healthy controls were quantified using spectral moment analysis. Coefficients of the first four moments were used as descriptive indices of central tendency, spread of energy, shape, and peakedness. The relationship between select moment coefficients and consonant precision ratings was investigated to explore potential perceptual correlates of the acoustic measures. To examine whether spectra for ALS and healthy speakers were influenced similarly by context, first moment coefficients for three occurrences of /s/in “some” were inspected for individual speakers. Select moment coefficients also were compared to hand-derived spectral measures for a subset of speakers. Results suggest articulatory differences in /s/and /∫/for the present group of ALS speakers and healthy controls, as indexed by between-group differences in first moment coefficients. A linear function accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the relationship between consonant precision ratings and the frequency difference between the first moment for /s/and /∫/. Inspection of first moment coefficients for multiple occurrences of /s/in “some” suggests context influences the first moment in a similar manner for ALS and healthy speakers. The subanalysis comparing moment coefficients and hand-derived spectral measures revealed both similarities and differences in the manner the two measurement techniques reflect spectral shape.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Wertag ◽  
Denis Bratko

Abstract. Prosocial behavior is intended to benefit others rather than oneself and is positively linked to personality traits such as Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility, and usually negatively to the Dark Triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy). However, a significant proportion of the research in this area is conducted solely on self-report measures of prosocial behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between prosociality and the basic (i.e., HEXACO) and dark personality traits, comparing their contribution in predicting both self-reported prosociality and prosocial behavior. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that the Dark Triad traits explain prosociality and prosocial behavior above and beyond the HEXACO traits, emphasizing the importance of the Dark Triad in the personality space.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin F. Brückmann ◽  
Jürgen Hennig ◽  
Matthias J. Müller ◽  
Stanislava Fockenberg ◽  
Anne-Marthe Schmidt ◽  
...  

Summary Depression risk is associated with a late chronotype pattern often described as an ‘evening chronotype’. Fluctuations in mood over consecutive days have not yet been measured according to chronotype in in-patients with depression. A total of 30 in-patients with depression and 32 healthy controls matched for gender and age completed a chronotype questionnaire and twice-daily ratings on mood for 10 consecutive days (registered in the German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00010215). The in-patients had Saturdays and Sundays as hospital-leave days. The relationship between chronotype and daily mood was mediated by the weekday–weekend schedule with higher levels of negative affect in the evening-chronotype patient subgroup at weekends. Results are discussed with respect to a probably advantageous standardised clinical setting with early morning routines, especially for patients with evening chronotypes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 175628482199358
Author(s):  
Nikita Hanning ◽  
Adam L. Edwinson ◽  
Hannah Ceuleers ◽  
Stephanie A. Peters ◽  
Joris G. De Man ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a complex and heterogeneous disorder. Sensory, motor and barrier dysfunctions are the key physiological endophenotypes of IBS. Our aim is to review studies evaluating barrier dysfunction in adults and children with IBS, as well as to link those changes with IBS symptomatology and quality of life. Methods: A comprehensive and systematic review of multiple databases was performed up to March 2020 to identify studies comparing intestinal permeability in IBS patients with healthy controls. Both in vivo and in vitro studies were considered. Results: We identified 66 studies, of which 27 used intestinal probes to quantify barrier function. The prevalence of barrier dysfunction differed between PI-IBS (17–50%), IBS-D (37–62%) and IBS-C (4–25%). At a group level, permeability was increased compared with healthy controls in IBS-D (9/13 studies) and PI-IBS (4/4 studies), but only a minority of IBS-C (2/7 studies) and not in the only IBS-M study. All four studies in children with IBS demonstrated loss of barrier function. A heterogeneous set of tight junction genes were found to be altered in small and large intestines of adults with IBS, but these have not been evaluated in children. Positive associations were identified between barrier dysfunction and bowel disturbances (6/9 studies), abdominal pain (9/13 studies), overall symptom severity (1/6 studies), depression and anxiety (1/1 study) and quality of life (1/4 studies). Fecal slurry or supernatants of IBS patients were found to induce barrier disruption in animal models (5/6 studies). Conclusions: Barrier dysfunction is present in a significant proportion of adult and all pediatric IBS studies, especially in the IBS-D and PI-IBS subtype. The majority of studies indicated a positive association between loss of barrier function and symptoms such as abdominal pain and changes in the bowel function.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. McCutcheon ◽  
Toby Pillinger ◽  
Maria Rogdaki ◽  
Juan Bustillo ◽  
Oliver D. Howes

AbstractAlterations in cortical inter-areal functional connectivity, and aberrant glutamatergic signalling are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia but the relationship between the two is unclear. We used multimodal imaging to identify areas of convergence between the two systems. Two separate cohorts were examined, comprising 195 participants in total. All participants received resting state functional MRI to characterise functional brain networks and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to measure glutamate concentrations in the frontal cortex. Study A investigated the relationship between frontal cortex glutamate concentrations and network connectivity in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Study B also used 1H-MRS, and scanned individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls before and after a challenge with the glutamatergic modulator riluzole, to investigate the relationship between changes in glutamate concentrations and changes in network connectivity. In both studies the network based statistic was used to probe associations between glutamate and connectivity, and glutamate associated networks were then characterised in terms of their overlap with canonical functional networks. Study A involved 76 individuals with schizophrenia and 82 controls, and identified a functional network negatively associated with glutamate concentrations that was concentrated within the salience network (p < 0.05) and did not differ significantly between patients and controls (p > 0.85). Study B involved 19 individuals with schizophrenia and 17 controls and found that increases in glutamate concentrations induced by riluzole were linked to increases in connectivity localised to the salience network (p < 0.05), and the relationship did not differ between patients and controls (p > 0.4). Frontal cortex glutamate concentrations are associated with inter-areal functional connectivity of a network that localises to the salience network. Changes in network connectivity in response to glutamate modulation show an opposite effect compared to the relationship observed at baseline, which may complicate pharmacological attempts to simultaneously correct glutamatergic and connectivity aberrations.


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 974
Author(s):  
Hayfa Sharif ◽  
Caroline L. Hoad ◽  
Nichola Abrehart ◽  
Penny A. Gowland ◽  
Robin C. Spiller ◽  
...  

Background: Functional constipation in children is common. Management of this condition can be challenging and is often based on symptom reports. Increased, objective knowledge of colonic volume changes in constipation compared to health could provide additional information. However, very little data on paediatric colonic volume is available except from methods that are invasive or require unphysiological colonic preparations. Objectives: (1) To measure volumes of the undisturbed colon in children with functional constipation (FC) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and provide initial normal range values for healthy controls, and (2) to investigate possible correlation of colonic volume with whole gut transit time (WGTT). Methods: Total and regional (ascending, transverse, descending, sigmoid, and rectum) colon volumes were measured from MRI images of 35 participants aged 7–18 years (16 with FC and 19 healthy controls), and corrected for body surface area. Linear regression was used to explore the relationship between total colon volume and WGTT. Results: Total colonic volume was significantly higher, with a median (interquartile range) of 309 mL (243–384 mL) for the FC group than for the healthy controls of 227 mL (180–263 mL). The largest increase between patients and controls was in the sigmoid colon–rectum region. In a linear regression model, there was a positive significant correlation between total colonic volume and WGTT (R = 0.56, p = 0.0005). Conclusions: This initial study shows increased volumes of the colon in children with FC, in a physiological state, without use of any bowel preparation. Increased knowledge of colonic morphology may improve understanding of FC in this age group and help to direct treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Li ◽  
Fengyan Zhang ◽  
Lu Wang ◽  
Yifan Zhang ◽  
Tingting Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Numerous studies have identified impaired decision making (DM) under both ambiguity and risk in adult patients with schizophrenia. However, the assessment of DM in patients with adolescent-onset schizophrenia (AOS) has been challenging as a result of the instability and heterogeneity of manifestations. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Game of Dice Task (GDT), which are frequently used to evaluate DM respectively under ambiguity and risk, are sensitive to adolescents and neuropsychiatric patients. Our research intended to examine the performance of DM in a relatively large sample of patients with AOS using the above-mentioned two tasks. We also aimed to take a closer look at the relationship between DM and symptom severity of schizophrenia. Methods We compared the performance of DM in 71 patients with AOS and 53 well-matched healthy controls using IGT for DM under ambiguity and GDT for DM under risk through net scores, total scores and feedback ration. Neuropsychological tests were conducted in all participants. Clinical symptoms were evaluated by using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in 71 patients with AOS. Pearson’s correlation revealed the relationship among total score of DM and clinical and neuropsychological data. Results Compared to healthy controls, patients with AOS failed to show learning effect and had a significant difference on the 5th block in IGT and conducted more disadvantageous choices as well as exhibited worse negative feedback rate in GDT. Apart from DM impairment under risk, diminished DM abilities under ambiguity were found related to poor executive function in AOS in the present study. Conclusions Our findings unveiled the abnormal pattern of DM in AOS, mainly reflected under the risky condition, extending the knowledge on the performance of DM under ambiguity and risk in AOS. Inefficient DM under risk may account for the lagging impulse control and the combined effects of developmental disease. In addition, our study demonstrated that the performance on IGT was related to executive function in AOS.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003693302199424
Author(s):  
Gaoli Liu ◽  
Bicheng Zhang ◽  
Shaowen Zhang ◽  
Haifeng Hu ◽  
TingTing Liu

Aims To search for biochemical indicators that can identify symptomatic patients with COVID-19 whose nucleic acid could turn negative within 14 days, and assess the prognostic value of these biochemical indicators in patients with COVID-19. Patients and methods We collected the clinical data of patients with COVID-19 admitted to our hospital, by using logistic regression analysis and AUC curves, explored the relationship between biochemical indicators and nucleic acid positive duration, the severity of COVID-19, and hospital stay respectively. Results A total of two hundred and thirty-three patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in the study. We found patients whose nucleic acid turned negative within 14 days had lower LDH, CRP and higher ALB ( P < 0.05). ROC curve results indicated that lower LDH, TP, CRP and higher ALB predicted the nucleic acid of patients turned negative within 14 days with statistical significance( P < 0.05), AST, LDH, CRP and PCT predicted the severe COVID-19 with statistical significance, and CRP predicted hospital stay >31days with statistical significance ( P < 0.05). After verification, the probability of nucleic acid turning negative within 14 days in patients with low LDH (<256 U/L), CRP (<44.5 mg/L) and high ALB (>35.8 g/L) was about 4 times higher than that in patients with high LDH, CRP and low ALB ( P < 0.05). Conclusions LDH, CRP and ALB are useful prognostic marker for predicting nucleic acid turn negative within 14 days in symptomatic patients with COVID-19.


2018 ◽  
Vol 315 (1) ◽  
pp. L1-L10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsukasa Okamoto ◽  
Susan K. Mathai ◽  
Corinne E. Hennessy ◽  
Laura A. Hancock ◽  
Avram D. Walts ◽  
...  

The common gain-of-function MUC5B promoter variant ( rs35705950 ) is the strongest risk factor for the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). While the role of complement in IPF is controversial, both MUC5B and the complement system play a role in lung host defense. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between complement component 3 (C3) and MUC5B in patients with IPF and in bleomycin-induced lung injury in mice. To do this, we evaluated C3 gene expression in whole lung tissue from 300 subjects with IPF and 175 healthy controls. Expression of C3 was higher in IPF than healthy controls {1.40-fold increase [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.31–1.50]; P < 0.0001} and even greater among IPF subjects with the highest-risk IPF MUC5B promoter genotype [TT vs. GG = 1.59-fold (95% CI 1.15–2.20); P < 0.05; TT vs. GT = 1.66-fold (95% CI 1.20–2.30); P < 0.05]. Among subjects with IPF, C3 expression was significantly higher in the lung tissue without microscopic honeycombing than in the lung tissue with microscopic honeycombing [1.40-fold increase (95% CI 1.23– 1.59); P < 0.01]. In mice, while bleomycin exposure increased Muc5b protein expression, C3-deficient mice were protected from bleomycin-induced lung injury. In aggregate, our findings indicate that the MUC5B promoter variant is associated with higher C3 expression and suggest that the complement system may contribute to the pathogenesis of IPF.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document