Assessment of the Negative Factors for the Clinical Outcome in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Purpose: Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are more susceptible to viral and bacterial infections, facing a more severe prognosis and higher mortality rates. The study's main aim was to evaluate the survival and mortality rates of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and SARS-CoV-2 virus infection alongside the main factors influencing the prognosis. Patients and Methods: The present study included 186 patients with T2DM and SARS-CoV-2 virus infection admitted to the COVID-19 Department of the "Pius Brînzeu" Emergency Clinical County University Hospital between November 2020 and March 2021. Patients had investigations performed upon arrival in the emergency room and during hospitalization. We analyzed the risk of negative prognosis based on clinical data (oxygen saturation (SatO2), respiratory rate (RR), lung damage), glycemic control (HbA1c, glycemia at hospital admission), and the duration of T2DM. Results: The mortality rate in the studied group was 36.6%. All deceased patients had previously been diagnosed with hypertension; 95.58% had a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 kg/m2, and 79.41% presented with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Compared to those who recovered, statistically significant differences were observed in BMI, glycemic levels at admission, glycosylated hemoglobin levels (HbA1c), SatO2, RR, and lung damage. Valid statistically significant predictors for death in T2DM patients with COVID-19 were hyperglycemia at admission > 198mg/dl, HbA1c> 8.6%, and SatO2≤ 87%. Conclusion: SatO2, glycemia at hospital admission, and HbA1c had the highest sensitivity and specificity to predict the prognosis of T2DM patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Glycemic control is essential in the prognosis of patients with DM and COVID-19 infection. The prognosis was worse if other comorbidities were associated, especially hypertension and CVD.

Metformin and empagliflozin modulate monoamine oxidase-related oxidative stress and improve vascular function in human mammary arteries.

Monoamine oxidases (MAOs), mitochondrial enzymes with two isoforms, A and B, have been recently recognized as significant contributors to oxidative stress in the cardiovascular system. The present study was purported to assess the effect of metformin and empagliflozin on MAO expression, oxidative stress and vascular reactivity in internal mammary arteries harvested from overweight patients with coronary heart disease subjected to bypass grafting. Vascular rings were prepared and acutely incubated (12 h) with high glucose (GLUC, 400 mg/dL) or angiotensin II (AII, 100 nM) and metformin (10 µM) and/or empagliflozin (10 µM) and used for the assessment of MAO expression (qRT-PCR and immune histochemistry), reactive oxygen species (ROS, confocal microscopy and spectrophotometry), and vasomotor function (myograph). Ex vivo stimulation with GLUC or AII increased both MAOs expression, ROS production and impaired relaxation to acetylcholine (ACh) of the vascular rings. All effects were alleviated by incubation with each antidiabetic drug; no cumulative effect was obtained when the drugs were applied together. In conclusion, MAO-A and B are upregulated in mammary arteries after acute stimulation with GLUC and AII. Endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress were alleviated by either metformin or empagliflozin in both stimulated and non-stimulated vascular samples harvested from overweight cardiac patients.

Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) and the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) in Romanian Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

Background and Objectives: Anxiety disorders are common in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) and have a negative impact on diabetes-related self-management and, therefore, on patients' evolution and prognosis. In this context, it becomes necessary to accurately and easily assess anxiety and self-management behaviours. Thus, the aim of this research was translation and cultural adaptation for Romanian patients and validation of two instruments used for assessing diabetes self-management and anxiety, namely the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) and the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). Materials and Methods: The Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Questionnaire (SDSCA) and the DSMQ instruments for assessing diabetes self-management, as well as the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the SPIN instruments for assessing anxiety, have been administered to 117 patients from Timisoara, Romania, previously diagnosed with DM. Results: The SPIN has proven to have good internal consistency, excellent acceptability of its questions without non-responders and a median completion time of 3 min and 10 s, an excellent test−retest performance (Spearman's rho = 0.971, p < 0.001 between two administrations of the test) and good validity in comparison with the GAD-7, a previously validated and comprehensive instrument. The DSMQ has also proven to have acceptable internal consistency, excellent acceptability of its questions without non-responders and a median completion time of 2 min and 28 s; however, it has shown a weak, positive correlation without statistical significance in comparison with the SDSCA, a previously validated questionnaire. Conclusions: The SPIN, translated in Romanian and culturally adapted, is a valid tool for the screening of social phobias in individuals with DM. The DSMQ requires additional data for its validation in DM patients from Romania.