Angiotensin-converting-enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism, ACE activity, and COVID-19: A rather controversial hypothesis. A case-control study.

Accumulating data has shown a contribution of the renin-angiotensin system in COVID-19 pathogenesis. The role of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism as a risk factor in developing COVID-19 disease comes from epidemiological data and is controversially discussed. We conducted a retrospective case-control study and assessed the impact of ACE I/D genotype in COVID-19 disease prevalence and severity. In 81 COVID-19 patients explicitly characterized and 316 controls, recruited during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, ACE I/D genotype, and ACE activity were determined. A generalized linear model was used and Poisson regression analysis estimated the risk ratios (RRs) of alleles and genotypes for disease severity. DD patients had almost 2.0-fold increased risk (RR: 1.886, confidence limit [CL] 95%: 1.266-2.810, p = 0.0018) of developing a more severe disease when contrasted to ID and II individuals, as did D allele carriers compared to I carriers (RR: 1.372; CL 95%: 1.051-1.791; p = 0.0201). ACE activity (expressed as arbitrary units, AU/L) was lower in patients (3.62 ± 0.26) than in controls (4.65 ± 0.13) (p < 0.0001), and this reduction was observed mainly among DD patients compared to DD controls (3.97 ± 0.29 vs. 5.38 ± 0.21; p = 0.0014). Our results demonstrate that ACE DD genotype may predispose to COVID-19 increased disease severity via a mechanism associated, at least in part, with the significant fall in their ACE activity. Our findings suggest a more complex pattern of synergy between this polymorphism and ACE activity in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy individuals and set the grounds for large-scale studies assessing ACE genotype-based optimized therapies with ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers.

Circulating adiponectin and leptin in relation to myelodysplastic syndrome: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Adiponectin plays a protective role in several malignancies, including myeloblastic leukemia, whereas leptin may increase the proliferation of progenitor cells and may stimulate leukemic cell growth in vitro. We investigated the role of adiponectin and leptin levels in the etiopathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a preleukemic condition with increasing incidence which has recently been associated with obesity. METHODS: In a case-control study, 101 cases with incident, histologically confirmed primary MDS and 101 controls matched on gender and age were studied between 2004 and 2007, and blood samples were collected. RESULTS: Higher serum adiponectin levels were associated with lower risk of MDS by bivariate analysis and after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and serum levels of leptin (p < 0.001). Subjects in the third quartile for leptin levels had a lower risk of MDS than controls, and low leptin concentrations were observed in low-risk MDS patients with normal or good prognostic karyotype after adjusting for age, gender and body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating adiponectin and leptin may play an important role in MDS etiopathogenesis. Future studies are needed to confirm these associations and to explore underlying mechanisms.

Kinetics of circulating fetuin-A may predict mortality independently from adiponectin, high molecular weight adiponectin and prognostic factors in critically ill patients with sepsis: A prospective study.

PURPOSE: Fetuin-A and adiponectin, major hepatokine and adipokine respectively, have been implicated in systematic inflammation. Our aim was to jointly investigate whether kinetics of circulating fetuin-A, adiponectin and its isoform HMWA predict 28-day mortality in sepsis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective study, serum fetuin-A, adiponectin and HMWA were determined in 102 ICU patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of SEPSIS-3, at enrollment and one week after, and in 102 healthy controls matched on age and gender. RESULTS: Serum fetuin-A was significantly lower in septic patients than controls (p<0.001). Among septic patients, those with septic shock and nonsurvivors presented lower fetuin-A, but higher adiponectin and HMWA compared to patients with sepsis and survivors respectively, both at baseline and day 7 (p<0.001). Fetuin-A exhibited negative correlations with APACHE II, CRP, procalcitonin, adiponectin and IL-6 but a positive one with albumin. Reduced fetuin-A as well as lower serum kinetics of fetuin-A (HR: 0.55, 95% C.I. 0.34-0.91, p=0.02), adiponectin but not HMWA were independently associated with 28-day mortality adjusting for age, gender, BMI, APACHE II, septic shock and laboratory biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating fetuin-A kinetics may be a prognostic biomarker in septic patients. More research is essential to elucidate fetuin-A's ontological role in sepsis pathophysiology.

Higher fetuin-A, lower adiponectin and free leptin levels mediate effects of excess body weight on insulin resistance and risk for myelodysplastic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Excess body weight has been implicated in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). We thus explored the role of serum fetuin-A reflecting ectopic hepatic fat deposition when storage capacity of adipocytes has been exceeded, free leptin reflecting overall fat mass and adiponectin reflecting visceral fat mass, all potential mediators of the effects of obesity on insulin resistance and, consequently, to MDS risk. MATERIALS & METHODS: In a hospital-based case-control study, we studied 101 cases with incident, histologically confirmed primary MDS and 101 controls matched on gender, age and date of diagnosis, between 2004 and 2007. Serum fetuin-A, adiponectin, leptin, leptin receptor, free leptin and insulin were determined. RESULTS: Higher serum fetuin-A, lower adiponectin and lower free leptin were all individually and independently associated with higher risk of MDS before and after controlling for matching and risk factors, such as age, gender, date of diagnosis, body mass index (BMI), family history of lymphohematopoietic cancer, smoking history and serum insulin. Interestingly, we have shown that these associations were prominent among overweight/obese individuals and persisted after controlling for BMI and serum insulin indicating that their effects are above and beyond insulinemia only. CONCLUSION: Elevated serum fetuin-A but lower adiponectin and free leptin are associated with higher risk of MDS particularly among overweight/obese individuals. These findings suggest that the association between excessive weight gain and the risk of MDS could be mediated by fetuin-A, adiponectin and free leptin, which may have potential clinical and preventive implications.

Hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypokalemia following hydrofluoric acid chemical injury.

Dermal exposure to hydrofluoric acid could potentially result in severe serum calcium and magnesium depletion induced by binding with fluoride anion. This report describes the case of a 48-year-old man who developed hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia accompanied by hypokalemia-an interesting finding-following a chemical injury with exposure to 70% hydrofluoric acid. Successful treatment included administration of calcium gluconate and magnesium both intravenously and topically.

Adiponectin and resistin are associated with risk for myelodysplastic syndrome, independently from the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) system.

AIM: Obesity has been implicated in the aetiology of myelogenous leukaemia and myelodysplasia (MDS). We hypothesised that altered secretion of adiponectin and resistin may underlie this association. We thus investigated the role of both total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin and resistin in MDS. METHODS: In a case-control study, we studied 101 cases with incident, histologically confirmed primary MDS and 101 controls matched on gender and age between 2004 and 2007. Total and HMW adiponectin, resistin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP-3) were determined. RESULTS: Lower serum total or HMW adiponectin and/or resistin levels were independently associated with higher risk of MDS controlling for age, gender, BMI and serum levels of leptin, IGF-I and IGFBP-3 (p<0.002). Although total and HMW adiponectin were both significantly inversely associated with MDS when modelled either in quartiles or continuously, HMW did not offer any substantial additional predictive value over total adiponectin (Odds ratio (OR)=0.91 versus 0.93 for a 1 microg/ml change, respectively). IGF-I was positively associated with MDS by bivariate analysis and both IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were higher in advanced MDS and higher risk stages, but were not significantly and independently associated with MDS. CONCLUSION: Total and HMW adiponectin may have a protective role in MDS, whereas resistin levels may be decreased via a compensatory mechanism.