Time Course of Biochemical and Metabolic Parameters During and After COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Long COVID is characterized by the persistence of symptoms among individuals who are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The enduring impact of these long-term effects on the health and well-being of those affected cannot be denied. METHOD: About 470 patients with SARS-CoV-2 were consecutively recruited in this longitudinal study. The participants were entered into moderate, severe, and critical groups. 235 out of 470 participants were female. The levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), alanine transaminase (SGPT), aspartate aminotransferase (SGOT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine (Cr), urea, uric acid (UA), and total protein (TP) were measured during hospitalization and again at one and three months after infection. The levels of Zn and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were also measured only during hospitalization. RESULT: COVID-19 severity was associated with high levels of glucose, urea, Cr, ALT, AST, ALP, and HbA1c, and low levels of Zn, UA, and TP. There were significant sex differences for these markers at all three-time points. Glucose, urea, Cr, ALT, AST, and ALP all decreased three months after infection, whereas the levels of UA and TP returned towards normal. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 infection affects the levels of multiple biochemical factors in a gender-dependent manner. The biochemical changes become more tangible with increasing disease severity, and several of these predict mortality. Levels begin to return to normal after the acute phase of the disease, but in some individuals, at three months, several markers were still not within the normal range. Whether the trajectory of these changes can predict long COVID requires further testing.

Ellagic acid prevents cognitive and hippocampal long-term potentiation deficits and brain inflammation in rat with traumatic brain injury.

AIMS: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains one of the main clinical problems globally and is a common cause of death among youth. Cognitive defects such as thinking, memory and behavior or mental health disorders are considered as the most frequent effects of severe and moderate TBI. It has been reported that ellagic acid (EA), a natural polyphenol, exhibits protective effects against oxidative damage. This study was performed to examine the EA preventive effects on cognitive impairments, long-term potentiation (LTP) deficits in hippocampus and brain inflammation induced by diffuse TBI in rat. MAIN METHODS: Subchronic oral administration of 100 mg/kg EA, 7 consecutive days before induction of trauma (once daily) was used to elucidate the EA effects on passive avoidance memory and hippocampal LTP following TBI. To illustrate the possible mechanisms related to the preventive effects of EA on brain function following TBI, brain content of IL-1ß, IL-6 and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability were determined. KEY FINDINGS: EA pretreatment significantly (P<0.001) prevented TBI-induced memory and hippocampal LTP impairments in rat. Furthermore TBI induced elevation in brain content of IL-1ß, IL-6 and BBB permeability were decreased significantly (P<0.001) due to EA pre-treatment. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings suggest that EA can prevent cognitive and LTP deficits and also prevent brain inflammation following TBI.

Neuroprotective antioxidant effect of sex steroid hormones in traumatic brain injury.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of sex steroid hormones on brain edema, BBB permeability, brain antioxidant enzyme activity, and MDA level after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in ovarectomized (OVX) rats. Female rats were divided into six (One sham and 5 TBI) groups including: vehicle, estrogen in physiologic (33.3 µg/kg) and pharmacologic (1mg/kg) doses, progesterone in physiologic (1.7 mg/kg) and pharmacological doses (8mg/kg). The results showed that compared to vehicle group, estrogen and progesterone groups showed significantly lower brain water content (P<0.001). Evans blue content was significantly lower in both estrogen doses and in progesterone physiologic dose (P<0.001). Evans blue content was significantly higher in progesterone pharmacologic dose (P<0.001). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly higher in estrogen and progesterone pharmacologic doses (P<0.001). Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was significantly lower in estrogen physiologic dose (P<0.001). It was concluded that the neuroprotective effect of different doses of sex steroid hormones after TBI, may be mediated by changes in oxidant agent activity.