Effect of Supplemental Antioxidant-Based Therapy on the Oxidative Stress Level in COVID-19 Patients.

Background: COVID-19 is a disease in several stages starting with virus replication to dysregulation in immune system response, organ failure and recovery/death. Our aim was to determine the effect of Ganoderma lucidum, lycopene, sulforaphane, royal jelly and resveratrol extract on markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, routine laboratory analyses and duration of symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Methods: The oxidative stress parameters and interleukines 6 and 8 (IL-6, IL-8), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were determined in order to estimate the antioxidant and the anti-inflammatory effect of the product using a spectrophotometric and a magnetic bead-based multiplex assay in serum of 30 patients with mild form of COVID-19. Results: Statistically significant differences were obtained for all investigated parameters between the treated patients and the control group. Moreover, significant differences were observed for leukocytes, neutrophil to leukocyte ratio and iron. The average duration of the symptoms was 9.4±0.487 days versus 13.1±0.483 days in the treatment and the control group, respectively (p=0.0003). Conclusion: Our results demonstrated the promising effect of Ge132+NaturalTM on reducing the oxidative stress and the IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α levels, and symptoms duration in COVID-19 patients. The evidence presented herein suggest that the combination of Ganoderma lucidum extract, lycopene, sulforaphane, royal jelly and resveratrol could be used as a potent an adjuvant therapy in diseases accompanied by increased oxidative stress and inflammation.

MRI-based thalamic volumetry in multiple sclerosis using FSL-FIRST: Systematic assessment of common error modes.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: FSL's FMRIB's Integrated Registration and Segmentation Tool (FSL-FIRST) is a widely used and well-validated tool. Automated thalamic segmentation is a common application and an important longitudinal measure for multiple sclerosis (MS). However, FSL-FIRST's algorithm is based on shape models derived from non-MS groups. As such, the present study sought to systematically assess common thalamic segmentation errors made by FSL-FIRST on MRIs from people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). METHODS: FSL-FIRST was applied to generate thalamic segmentation masks for 890 MR images in PwMS. Images and masks were reviewed systematically to classify and quantify errors, as well as associated anatomical variations and MRI abnormalities. For cases with overt errors (n = 362), thalamic masks were corrected and quantitative volumetric differences were calculated. RESULTS: In the entire quantitative volumetric group, the mean volumetric error of FSL-FIRST was 2.74% (0.360 ml): among only corrected cases, the mean volumetric error was 6.79% (0.894 ml). The average percent volumetric error associated with seven error types, two anatomical variants, and motions artifacts are reported. Additional analyses showed that the presence of motion artifacts or anatomical variations significantly increased the probability of error (χ2  = 18.14, p < .01 and χ2  = 64.89, p < .001, respectively). Finally, thalamus volume error was negatively associated with degree of atrophy, such that smaller thalami were systematically overestimated (r = -.28, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In PwMS, FSL-FIRST thalamic segmentation miscalculates thalamic volumetry in a predictable fashion, and may be biased to overestimate highly atrophic thalami. As such, it is recommended that segmentations be reviewed and corrected manually when appropriate for specific studies.

Long-standing multiple sclerosis neurodegeneration: volumetric magnetic resonance imaging comparison to Parkinson's disease, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and elderly healthy controls.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibits neurodegeneration driven disability progression. We compared the extent of neurodegeneration among 112 long-standing MS patients, 37 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, 34 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, 37 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and 184 healthy controls. 3T MRI volumes of whole brain (WBV), white matter (WMV), gray matter (GMV), cortical (CV), deep gray matter (DGM), and nuclei-specific volumes of thalamus, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, and hippocampus were derived with SIENAX and FIRST software. Аge and sex-adjusted analysis of covariance was used. WBV was not significantly different between diseases. MS had significantly lower WMV compared to other disease groups (p < 0.021). Only AD had smaller GMV and CV when compared to MS (both p < 0.001). MS had smaller DGM volume than PD and aMCI (p < 0.001 and p = 0.026, respectively) and lower thalamic volume when compared to all other neurodegenerative diseases (p < 0.008). Long-standing MS exhibits comparable global atrophy with lower WMV and thalamic volume when compared to other classical neurodegenerative diseases.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Usage by Multiple Sclerosis Patients: Results from a Prospective Clinical Study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the factors associated with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) usage by multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Design, Setting/Location: Single-center, prospective clinical study at an academic MS center in the northeastern United States. METHODS: This study included CAM data from 524 MS patients and 304 healthy controls (HC) enrolled in a prospective study of clinical, neuroimaging, and environmental risk factors in MS at an academic MS Center. Clinical, neuroimaging, and disease-modifying treatment data were obtained. In addition, data on usage of CAM modalities, including acupuncture, aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Chinese herbal medicine, chiropractor, electromagnetic therapy, homeopathy, hypnosis, massage, naturopathy, Qi gong, Reiki, therapeutic touch, and bee stings were collected in an in-person interview. RESULTS: The percentages of HC reporting usage of any CAM (32%) was similar to that in MS patients after diagnosis (30.5%). The usage of any CAM was higher in MS patients after MS diagnosis compared to before MS diagnosis (p < 0.001). The three most frequently used CAM for MS patients after MS diagnosis and HC were chiropractor, massage, and acupuncture. The most frequent reasons for CAM use were MS symptom relief, back problems, and pain. In multivariate analysis, female gender, higher education level, MS disease course, and not currently on disease-modifying therapies (DMT) treatment status were associated with CAM usage. CONCLUSIONS: Gender, education level, DMT treatment status, and MS disease course are associated with CAM usage in MS patients. Ever-CAM usage patterns in MS patients are similar to those in HC.