COVID-19 vaccination for patients with epilepsy: A Chinese expert consensus.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in late 2019 and has since spread worldwide. More than 600 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and over 6 million have died. Vaccination against COVID-19 is one of the best ways to protect humans. Epilepsy is a common disease, and there are approximately 10 million patients with epilepsy (PWE) in China. However, China has listed "uncontrolled epilepsy" as a contraindication for COVID-19 vaccination, which makes many PWE reluctant to get COVID-19 vaccination, greatly affecting the health of these patients in the COVID-19 epidemic. However, recent clinical practice has shown that although a small percentage of PWE may experience an increased frequency of seizures after COVID-19 vaccination, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination for PWE far outweigh the risks, suggesting that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and recommended for PWE. Nonetheless, vaccination strategies vary for different PWE, and this consensus provides specific recommendations for PWE to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure on arterial stiffness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension: a meta-analysis.

Arterial stiffness has been recognized as a predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in hypertensive patients. However, the impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on arterial stiffness in patients with OSA and hypertension remains inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis to determine whether effective CPAP therapy could decrease arterial stiffness. Two reviewers independently searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library prior to March 5, 2015. Information on characteristics of subjects, study design and pre- and post-CPAP treatment of arterial stiffness was extracted for analysis. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was used to analyze the summary estimates for CPAP therapy. Three articles with 186 patients were included in this meta-analysis, including two observational studies and one randomized controlled study. The meta-analysis showed that CPAP was associated with a statistically significant decrease in arterial stiffness in patients with OSA and hypertension (SMD = -0.65, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = -1.14 to -0.16, z = 2.60, p = 0.009). Our meta-analysis suggested that CPAP among OSA and hypertensive patients was significantly associated with a decrease in arterial stiffness. Further prospective large-scale multicenter RCTs are needed to explore the precise impact of CPAP therapy on arterial stiffness in patients with OSA and hypertension.

Artesunate restores spatial learning of rats with hepatic encephalopathy by inhibiting ammonia-induced oxidative damage in neurons and dysfunction of glutamate signaling in astroglial cells.

BACKGROUND: Artesunate (ART) is an antimalarial drug with potential anti-inflammatory effect. This study aimed to explore the potential protective role of ART in hepatic encephalopathy (HE), involving its function against ammonia toxicity. METHODS: HE rats were induced by the administration of thioacetamide (TAA, 300mg/kg/day). Spatial learning ability was tested in both Morris water and eight-arm radial maze. Rat cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) were prepared for ammonia treatment in vitro, in line with SH-SY5Y and C6 cells. ART was administrated at 50 or 100mg/kg/day in vivo or added at 50 or 100µM in vitro. Oxidative damages were evaluated by the changes of cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and glutathione (GSH) content, while glutamate uptake and release, and the activities of glutamine synthetase (GS) and Na+K+-ATPase were measured to indicate the dysfunction of glutamate signaling. RESULTS: Decreased escape latency and increased numbers of working errors were observed in TAA-induced HE rats, which could be significantly restored by ART at a dosage-dependent manner. Decreased cell viability and GSH content and increased ROS accumulation were detected in ammonia-treated SH-SY5Y and CGNs, while ammonia-treated C6 cells showed reduced glutamate uptake, increased glutamate release, and decrease of GSH content, GS and Na+K+-ATPase activity. In contrast, ART, especially at 100µM, strongly reversed all changes induced by ammonia, showing a similar dosage-dependent manner in vitro. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a new neuroprotective role of ART in the pathogenesis of HE, by protecting neurons and astroglial cells from ammonia-induced damages and dysfunctions.