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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 raised in 2019 (COVID-19) affects the lung tissue and other organs, specifically the heart.The current study evaluated 120 hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 between March 2021 and February 2022. Patients' demographics, vital signs, electrocardiogram abnormalities, clinical laboratory tests, including troponin I (TPI), mortality, and discharge type, were recorded.Among the 120 hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19, 54 (45.0%) patients were male, with an average age of 63.2 ± 1.4. Many patients have chronic comorbidities, including hypertension (51.6%), diabetes mellitus (34.1%), and ischemic heart disease (17.5%). The in-hospital and six months after the discharge mortality were 45.8% and 21.5%, respectively. Cardiac injury was observed in 14 (11.7%) patients with a mean TPI level of 8.386 ± 17.89 μg/L, and patients with cardiac injury had higher mortality than those without cardiac injury (P 0.001). Furthermore, the cardiac injury was meaningfully correlated with age (ρ = 0.182, P = 0.019), history of ischemic heart disease (ρ = 0.176, P = 0.05), hospitalisation result and mortality (ρ = 0.261, P = 0.004), inpatient in ICU (ρ = 0.219, P = 0.016), and serum levels of urea (ρ = 0.244, P = 0.008) and creatinine (ρ = 0.197, P = 0.033). Additionally, the discharge results were significantly correlated with oxygen saturation with (ρ = -0.23, P = 0.02) and without (ρ = -0.3, P = 0.001) oxygen therapy, D-dimer (ρ = 0.328, P = 0.019), LDH (ρ = 0.308, P = 0.003), urea (ρ = 0.2, P = 0.03), and creatinine (ρ = 0.17, P = 0.06) levels.Elevated TPI levels are associated with increased mortality in severe COVID-19 patients. Therefore, TPI may be a beneficial biofactor for early diagnosis of cardiac injury and preventing a high mortality rate.

Background Normal weight obesity (NWO) is defined by a normal body mass index (BMI) but a high percentage body fat (%BF) composition. We aimed to examine the hypothesis that subjects having NWO are at higher risk for cardio metabolic abnormalities compared to normal body weight subjects with low body fat content. Method In this cross sectional study 2439 adults' normal body Mass Index were recruited as part of the Mashhad Stroke and Heart Atherosclerotic Disorders (MASHAD) cohort study. We measured 6 cardio-metabolic risk factors: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FBG), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and serum C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Two models were evaluated: in model A, the categorization of individuals utilized cut off values of BMI: 18.5–25 and %BF: > 25 in men and >30 in women; in model B, the cut off values used were BMI: 18.5–25 and BF% with cut-offs depending on age: 20–39 years, >19% and >32%; 40–59 years, >21% and 33% and 60–79 years, > 24% and 35% for men and women were used, respectively. Cardiovascular risk estimates were made using QRISK2. SPSS version 18(SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA) was used for all statistical analyses. GraphPad Prism 6 for figures was used. Result Of the 2439 individuals with a normal BMI, 38.5% were found to be in high group and 61.5% were placed in normal weight groups for %BF in model A. In model B, 53.8% and 46.2% were found to be in the normal and high groups for %BF. The odds ratio for the presence of a metabolic abnormality for the high %BF group was 1.82 (95% CI, 1.42–2.34) and for high QRISK was 5.79 (95%CI, 4.17–8.02) after adjusted for age, in model A. In model B, the odds ratio for the presence of a metabolic abnormality for the high %BF group was 2.02 (95% CI, 1.68–2.42) and for high QRISK was 6.03 (95%CI, 4.45–8.08) after adjusted for sex. Conclusion It can be stated that if body fat analysis among normal weight individuals can have an important contribution to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and other obesity-related conditions.

Background The role of dietary patterns in metabolic syndrome has not been investigated sufficiently among Iranian population. The aim of this study is to investigate the association of major dietary patterns with the risk of metabolic syndrome and its components among healthy individuals of Iran. Methods This is a cross-sectional study that was performed on 5895 men and women who participated in MASHAD study project. Factor analysis was employed to determine major dietary patterns with regard to a validated 65-item food frequency questionnaire. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using international diabetes federation (IDF). Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between dietary patterns and metabolic syndrome risk to generate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Three major dietary patterns (Balanced, Western and high carbohydrate) were identified. The Western pattern showed a positive association with metabolic syndrome (OR [95%CI] for highest vs. lowest tertile: 1.58 [1.21–2.06]; p value = 0.001). The high carbohydrate dietary pattern was associated with higher metabolic syndrome risk (OR [95%CI] for highest vs. lowest tertile: 1.17 [1.02–1.33]; P value = 0.022). The Balanced dietary pattern was unrelated to metabolic syndrome, but was related to some individual risk factors for metabolic syndrome. Conclusions These results suggest that the Western and high carbohydrate patterns are associated with an increased risk for metabolic syndrome among Iranian adults. The causality of these associations needs to be confirmed.

Summary Background & aims Several genome-wide-association-studies have identified genetic variants in a region on chromosome 9p21 that are associated with an increased risk of Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. Here we have explored the interaction of a genetic variant of the CDKN2A/B-rs10811661 gene locus with cardiovascular risk factors and environmental-exposures (e.g., diet and physical activity) in 1165 individuals recruited from the Mashhad-Stroke and Heart-Atherosclerotic-Disorders cohort. Methods Genotyping was carried out using TaqMan-real-time-PCR based method. The association of CDKN2A/B-rs10811661 locus and its interaction with dietary intake in association with the main determinants of dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular-risk-factors were assessed in 2 cohorts. Results Our data showed that obese subjects with a TT genotype had a higher level of TG, TG/HDL ratio and Hs-CRP, compared to the subjects with the wild type genotype, or individuals with a normal BMI. Moreover, the presence of a TT genotype was associated with increased risk of hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance and CVD. These effects were more pronounced in the sub-group with low physical activity and a high dietary energy intake (e.g., the interaction between TT genotype and total energy intake on serum cholesterol was positive (RERI: 0.2, 95%CI (−0.96–1.3), AP: 0.1, 95%CI (−0.5–0.7) and SI: 1.2, 95%CI (0.3–5.1))). Conclusions We have found a significant association between the CDKN2A-rs10811661 polymorphism with cardiovascular risk factors and dyslipidemia in a non-diabetic population. It is possible that a low energy diet and high physical activity could ameliorate the unfavorable effects of T allele of CDKN2A/B locus. Functional analysis is warranted to investigate the value of this genetic biomarker of CVD risk in obese people.