Prevalence of indeterminate tuberculosis interferon-gamma release assays in COVID-19 patients: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and Aims: The reliability of interferon-gamma-release-assays (IGRAs) for tuberculosis (TB) testing in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is unknown. This study aimed to systematically review the prevalence of indeterminate TB-IGRA following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination and to review associated factors. Methods: This systematic literature review was guided according to the PRISMA guidelines by searching PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Clinicalkey, and Cochrane Library. Studies reporting results of TB-IGRA tests (QuantiFERON [QFT]-TB, T-SPOT.TB) in COVID-19 patients or vaccines were included. The random effects model was used to assess the prevalence of indeterminate IGRA results. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the Τ 2 and 95% predictive interval. Results: Of the 273 citations screened, 12 articles were included in the final analysis including a total of 2107 patients. The overall pooled effect size proportion of indeterminate QFT-TB results, estimated in eight studies using the QFT-TB Plus assay, was 0.26 (95% CI: 0.205-0.324, Τ 2 = 0.158). The mean true effect size was 0.26 (95% predictive interval: [0.110-0.500]). A subgroup analysis was not undertaken due to the small number of studies. Indeterminate QFT-TB rates were associated with COVID-19 severity, steroid treatment, inflammation-related parameters, neutrophilia, and lymphopenia. Conclusion: Indeterminate QFT-TB results in COVID-19 patients occur in almost one-quarter of tests performed. Further studies are needed to assess associated factors.

Pancreatic pseudocysts located in the liver: a systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic pseudocysts (PC) are a common complication of both acute and chronic pancreatitis. Most pancreatic pseudocysts are located within the head and the body of the pancreas, but 20% of them are extrapancreatic (pleura, mediastinum, pelvis and spleen). The location of a pseudocyst in the liver is an exceptional event, only thirty three cases are reported in the literature. AIM: This article aimed to report a new case of PC located in the liver combined with a systematic review of reported cases published in peer-reviewed journals. METHODS: A new case of PC located in the liver was reported. An extensive electronic search of the relevant literature since 1990 was carried out using Medline. We retained only the articles reporting one or several cases. When the article was unavailable, we considered the relevant abstracts which should report clinical patterns and therapeutic modalities. Reviews of the literature, systematic reviews, letters to editors and incomplete abstracts were excluded. A descriptive analysis of the collected sample including our case was performed. Morphological, therapeutic and outcome variables were reported. RESULTS: The analysis of 22 cases reported in the literature and our observation provided the following data: 17 men and 6 women with a mean age of 51 +/- 3.2 years. Seventeen patients presented an acute pancreatitis, complicating a chronic pancreatitis in seven cases, alcoholic in six cases, biliary in three cases and traumatic in one case. Six patients presented a chronic pancreatitis. The PC was located in the left lobe of the liver in 12 cases, in the right lobe in 6 cases and interested the two lobes in 5 cases. The lesion was unique in 8 patients and multiple in 15 patients. Fifteen patients were treated by Ultrasound or CT guided percutaneous drainage. Four patients were managed surgically. Three patients had no specific treatment. One patient was successfully treated by endoscopic transpapillary drainage. The evolution was favourable for all patients except in three patients who died. CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatic pseudocyst located in the liver is an exceptional event, commonly following acute pancreatitis, rising in older male, involving the left lobe of the liver and treated by percutaneous drainage.

Selenium and a newly synthesized Thiocyanoacetamide reduce Doxorubicin gonadotoxicity in male rat.

Despite its deleterious effect on healthy cells and highly regenerating cells such as spermatozoa, Doxorubicin (DOX) is still one of the most used anticancer drugs in the last decades. The present work aimed to investigate the ability of the selenium (Se) and the thiocyanoacetamide (T) to reduce DOX toxicity in gonad. Adult male rats were treated with DOX intravenously (i.v.) at 3.7mg/kg/week associated with Se intragastrically (i.g.) at 0.2mg/kg/day or with T at 10mg/kg/day i.g. After 47days of treatment, sperm quality, biochemical parameters, blood cell count and histological changes in liver, testis and epididymis were assessed. The results showed a poor sperm quality, a perturbation of ionic stability and a significant alteration of lipid metabolism and hematological parameters after the sub-chronic administration of DOX. In testis, DOX exerted serious epithelium damage and numerous seminiferous tubules did not present a normal spermatogenesis. In epididymis, epithelium was altered and mastocytes infiltrated the interstitium. DOX did not exert any significant change in liver except dilatations of sinusoid capillaries. DOX association with Se or T reduced its toxicity on some hematological and biochemical parameters. Both combined treatment improved sperm quality and partially restored spermatogenesis as well as testis and epididymis' normal aspect. These findings brought new sights regarding the effect of Se and a new derivative of T in a combined treatment with DOX on germ cells, gonad and liver. The support of these relevant outcomes with further in vitro studies is necessary to highlight the accurate process involved in Se or T protection against DOX induced damages.