Factors associated with disease severity and mortality among patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the factors associated with disease severity and mortality in Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is imperative to effectively triage patients. We performed a systematic review to determine the demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological factors associated with severity and mortality in COVID-19. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase and WHO database for English language articles from inception until May 8, 2020. We included Observational studies with direct comparison of clinical characteristics between a) patients who died and those who survived or b) patients with severe disease and those without severe disease. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed by two authors independently. RESULTS: Among 15680 articles from the literature search, 109 articles were included in the analysis. The risk of mortality was higher in patients with increasing age, male gender (RR 1.45, 95%CI 1.23-1.71), dyspnea (RR 2.55, 95%CI 1.88-2.46), diabetes (RR 1.59, 95%CI 1.41-1.78), hypertension (RR 1.90, 95%CI 1.69-2.15). Congestive heart failure (OR 4.76, 95%CI 1.34-16.97), hilar lymphadenopathy (OR 8.34, 95%CI 2.57-27.08), bilateral lung involvement (OR 4.86, 95%CI 3.19-7.39) and reticular pattern (OR 5.54, 95%CI 1.24-24.67) were associated with severe disease. Clinically relevant cut-offs for leukocytosis(>10.0 x109/L), lymphopenia(< 1.1 x109/L), elevated C-reactive protein(>100mg/L), LDH(>250U/L) and D-dimer(>1mg/L) had higher odds of severe disease and greater risk of mortality. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of the factors associated of disease severity and mortality identified in our study may assist in clinical decision-making and critical-care resource allocation for patients with COVID-19.

Clinical effectiveness of a pylorus-preserving procedure on total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation.

BACKGROUND: The impact of pylorus preserving procedures (PP) on total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) has not been examined. This study aimed to investigate the clinical impact of the PP on TPIAT. METHODS: The Baylor Simmons Transplant Institute database was queried to identify seventy-three patients who underwent TPIAT from 2006 to 2014. All patients were investigated in postoperative complications, long-term nutritional status, and graft function. RESULTS: Patients with PP did not face worse outcomes in terms of delayed gastric emptying and length of hospital stay. Also, nutritional status and metabolic outcome, such as body weight, serum albumin level, serum vitamin level, HbA1c level, graft survival rate and insulin independent rate, were similar between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical results including the graft function indicated that patients undergoing TPIAT with PP did not amplify surgical complications such as delayed gastric emptying and showed no significant advantage of nutrition and metabolic outcome.

Monitoring of beta cell replacement outcomes.

Pancreatic islet transplantation is a promising beta cell replacement treatment for patients with "brittle" type 1 diabetes (T1D) or intractable chronic pancreatitis to restore or preserve pancreatic endocrine function. Early after transplant, a significant islet mass is lost due to an innate inflammatory response, and further loss of the islet graft occurs over time due to immune response, drug toxicity, or metabolic exhaustion. Thus, clinically feasible techniques are essential to monitor islet graft function and survival to maintain appropriate therapy. Currently, islet graft function is monitored using blood glucose levels, insulin and C-peptide levels, and islet imaging. However, these tests are influenced by physiological changes, including beta cell stimulation. Biomarkers that are independent of metabolic stimuli would be more accurate and reliable in detecting islet damage. Antibodies against islet autoantigens are useful but not reliable markers of islet injury due to their presence during the pretransplant period. Several islet-specific proteins such as Glutamate decarboxylase-65, doublecortin, protein phosphatase 1, regulatory (inhibitor) subunit 1A, ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1, and the high-mobility group box-1 protein have been proposed as candidates to monitor islet damage, but these biomarkers have short half-lives and unreliable detection. Unmethylated insulin DNA has been studied in T1D patients and has been documented as a highly correlative and selective biomarker for beta cell death. More recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) that are selectively expressed in islets have been shown to provide sensitive and accurate quantification of islet damage. Analysis of plasma samples from autologous and allogeneic islet transplant patients has demonstrated the value of miRNA-375 as a specific biomarker to accurately assess islet damage. Use of selective, sensitive, and measurably reproducible biomarkers of islets will lead to effective monitoring of beta cell replacement therapy and may also lead to development of preventative and interventional treatment strategies to improve outcomes.

MiR-375 and miR-200c as predictive biomarkers of islet isolation and transplantation in total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation.

BACKGROUND: Total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) is a promising treatment for refractory chronic pancreatitis. Predictable biomarkers for the endocrine function after transplantation would be helpful in selecting patients for TPIAT. This study aims to identify novel biomarkers for predicting the outcome of islet isolation and transplantation in TPIAT patients. METHODS: This paper studied microRNA of 31 TPIAT patients and 11 deceased donors from plasma samples before TPIAT. MiR-7, miR-200a, miR-200c, miR-320, and miR-375 were analyzed along with patient characteristics and the outcomes of islet isolation and transplantation via univariate and multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: MiR-375 before TPIAT showed a significant correlation with ∆C-peptide (r = -0.396, P = 0.03) and post-digestion islet count (r = -0.372, P = 0.04). And also miR-200c was significantly correlated with insulin requirement, C-peptide, and SUITO index at 1 year after transplantation. Moreover it was confirmed that miR-200c was a predictable factor of endocrine outcome in multi regression analysis (coefficient = -7.081, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that miR-375 and miR-200c could potentially serve as novel biomarkers in predicting the islet yield in islet isolation and the metabolic function after transplantation for chronic pancreatitis patients.