fateme saljoughi

 Diabetes medications can have dramatic effects on controlling the disease and achieving the therapeutic goals of people with diabetes, but most of them have side effects. Given the role of brown algae in maintaining blood glucose levels, their investigation can provide valuable information for the control and treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Accordingly, this study investigated the effect of Sargassum glaucescens on blood glucose levels in diabetic rats.

 Forty-six randomly selected rats were assigned to five groups. The control group was fed the normal diet, and diabetic rats were induced by streptozotocin (STZ) and a high-fat diet (HFD). The other groups included the diabetes+low dose insulin group, diabetes+high dose insulin, and diabetic rats that received Sargassum Glaucescens 20% alga powder added to fatty food. Weekly blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), the amount of drinking water, food consumed, urine volume, glucose tolerance test (GTT), and insulin tolerance test (ITT) underwent measurement.

 The mean of ITT in the diabetic group was significantly higher than in the control group (P=0.001), which indicates insulin resistance in these groups. The lowest blood glucose concentration was in the high-dose insulin group; weekly blood glucose, GTT, ITT, and HbA1c in the alga group did not change compared to diabetes. However, some indicators, such as HbA1c, were better in the group receiving algae than in the low-dose insulin group. The weight of the group receiving algae increased until the third week, but it decreased after that, and at the end of the study, it was lower in this group than in the control group (P<0.001).

 The study findings revealed that Sargassum Glaucescens algae had no significant effect on serum glucose, GTT, ITT, or HbA1c in the studied rats.

The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 are diverse from a simple common cold symptom to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the present study, we attempted to identify the associated factors in surviving COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients based on their clinical characteristics.
This retrospective study was performed on 114 laboratory‑confirmed COVID‑19 patients admitted to the intensive care units of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Demographic, medical, clinical manifestations at admission time, and outcome data were obtained from the patient’s medical records.
Of 114 participants included in this study, 64.9% were men. Their mean age was approximately 54 years old, 69.3% of them died and 30.7% of them were discharged. The mortality rate was 2.96 times higher in people who had ARDS compared to their counterparts, 1.37 times higher in people under non-invasive ventilation, and 3.56 times higher in people under invasive mechanical ventilation.
Three common underlying diseases among them were hypertension in 34.2%, diabetes in 23.7%, and cardiovascular diseases in 17.5% of them. Alive and dead patients significantly differed only in the following laboratory tests: D-dimer, urea, troponin, Procalcitonin, and ferritin.
The mortality rate among COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU is generally high. Dyspnea, as the initial presentation and comorbidity, especially hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, may be associated with a higher risk of developing severe disease and consequent mortality. Therefore, D-dimer, urea, troponin, Procalcitonin, and ferritin at the time of hospital admission could predict the severity of the disease and its probable mortality.

There is sparse information to describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In a single-center retrospective observational study, 50 patients infected with COVID-19 were studied. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and treatment data were collected and analyzed. Outcomes of critically ill patients and noncritically ill patients were compared. 

The mean age of the patients was 48.8 years, with male predominance. Dry cough, fever, and dyspnea were the most complaining symptoms on admission. Chronic medical illnesses before admission were present in 56% of the patients. The most common laboratory abnormalities were lymphopenia, neutrophilia, thrombocytopenia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, high serum creatinine level, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, and increasing ESR and CRP levels. Bilateral mixed ground-glass opacity and consolidation were observed in chest CT scan of most patients. Some patients required supplemental oxygen and some needed invasive mechanical ventilation. Blood oxygen saturation was different between survivors and nonsurvivors. 10% of patients died, of whom 60% were men. 40% of dead cases had chronic medical illnesses; 60% underwent invasive mechanical ventilation.

Among the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection, the frequent clinical presentation was with a wide range of signs and symptoms. The laboratory changes suggest that COVID-19 infection may be related to cellular immune deficiency, myocardial, hepatic, and kidney injury. Additional research is needed to elucidate COVID-19 pathogenesis.

In 2019 a newly emerged coronavirus was detected by the Center for disease control (CDC) in China. Nucleic acid sequencing from nose and throat swab samples of patients revealed that it was like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). World Health Organization (WHO) named it coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and reported more than 100000 positive tests until March 2020 for COVID-19. During the past 20 years, the world has been affected by three coronavirus epidemics, SARS-COV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and COVID-19 that make world attention. The mortality rate of COVID-19 was more than other coronaviruses, but because of more people affected by it, it seems that it has a less fatality rate compared with MERS- CoV. Initial data showed that more than 80% of patients did not have any symptoms or may had light symptoms. 15% showed severe pneumonia, 5% became critically ill, and developed multiorgan dysfunction and septic shock. Due to the epidemic of emerging viruses and the lack of information about it, this study aimed to provide a quick overview of the most recent studies in the world. To perform this review, keywords such as COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 were retrieved using the medical subject headings (MeSH) system and then searched in English in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases.COVID-19 virus enters its genome into the cells by binding to Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in some organs such as the lungs. Although the transmission route is unclear, it enters the body through respiratory droplets. The clinical symptoms includ fever, cough, dyspnea, myalgia, confusion, headache, sore throat, rhinorrhea, chest pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, malaise, and convulsion. The standard diagnostic method is Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), but due to the time-consuming and sensitivity and the existing errors in this technique, chest CT and hematologic data are preferred. No definitive cure for the virus has been suggested so far, but antiviral drugs such as Oseltamivir, Ganciclovir, Lopinavir, Ritonavir and Remdesivir, and the anti-malarial drug Chloroquine phosphate and Interferon are in use until the discovery of the vaccine.