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Objective: This meta-analysis is aimed to quantify the findings of different meta-analyses performed on the association of hepatic and gastrointestinal complications and corona virus diesease (COVID-19) severity. Methods: Four databases i.e., PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and Web of science were used for the systematic search of the literature from January 2020 till July 2021. "Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses (QUOROM) checklist was used to examine the comprehensiveness of reporting in the meta-analysis. Sixteen systematic review and meta-analysis studies met inclusion criteria. Results: Pooled results indicated that diarrhea was a significant symptom in COVID-19 patients (OR=2.70, 95% CI 1.16 to 6.29, p-value 0.020) along with abdominal pain (OR=3.87, 95% CI 2.86 to 5.23, p-value <0.001), nausea (OR=2.81, 95% CI 1.13 to 6.97, p-value 0.030), and vomiting (OR= 2.91, 95% CI 1.31 to 6.49, p-value 0.009). Pooled results also indicated a rise in alanine transaminase (ALT) level (OR= 3.81, 95% CI 1.71 to 8.45 p-value <0.001) and bilirubin level (OR=2.89, 95% CI 1.38 to 6.04, p-value <0.001) in COVID-19 patients. A significant association of aminotransferase (AST) with COVID-19 (OR=5.81, 95% CI 2.82 to 12, p-value <0.001) was also present. Conclusion: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 can cause damage to the liver cells which may lead to an elevated level of inflammatory markers and liver enzymes (ALT/AST). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pitavastatin inhibits 3 hydroxy 3 methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMGCoA) reductase enzyme, preventing cholesterol synthesis along with elevating high density apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1). The present study was designed to evaluate cardioprotective potential of pitavastatin at 1 mg/kg/day and 3 mg/kg/day dose for 14 days in low dose isoproterenol (ISO) (5 mg/kg/day for 7 consecutive days) induced myocardial damage. ISO administration induced significant reduction in endogenous antioxidant enzymes like reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and raised thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) indicating activated lipid peroxidation. Along with this, a significant increase in level of cardiac injury biomarkers vie, creatine kinase (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate amino transferase (AST), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor (TGF-β) as well as brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Histological examination also revealed marked myocardial tissue damage in ISO treated rats. However, pretreatment with pitavastatin (3 mg/kg/day) significantly maintained nearly normal levels of cardiac biomarkers and oxidant antioxidant status as well as lipid peroxidation in ISO induced MI rats. Cardiac histological assessment and infarct size assessment also showed marked reduction in myocardial architecture alteration including infarct size as well as collagen deposition by pitavastatin that strongly supported biochemical findings. These observations strongly corroborate that pitavastatin prevents myocardial damages via up regulation of endogenous oxidants along with its hypocholesterolemic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positron emission tomography using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET) potentially underperforms for staging of patients with grade 1–2 estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate the diagnostic accuracy of FDG PET in this patient population. Suspect tumor lesions detected on conventional imaging and FDG PET were confirmed with pathology or follow up. PET-positive lesions were (semi)quantified with standardized uptake values (SUV) and these were correlated with various pathological features, including the histological subtype. Pre-operative imaging detected 155 pathologically verified lesions (in 74 patients). A total of 115/155 (74.2%) lesions identified on FDG PET were classified as true positive, i.e., malignant (in 67 patients) and 17/155 (10.8%) lesions as false positive, i.e., benign (in 9 patients); 7/155 (4.5%) as false negative (in 7 patients) and 16/155 (10.3%) as true negative (in 14 patients). FDG PET incorrectly staged 16/70 (22.9%) patients. The FDG uptake correlated with histological subtype, showing higher uptake in ductal carcinoma, compared to lobular carcinoma (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Within this study, FDG PET inadequately staged 22.9% of grade 1–2, ER + BC cases. Incorrect staging can lead to inappropriate treatment choices, potentially affecting survival and quality of life. Prospective studies investigating novel radiotracers are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several new 5,6-dihydropyrimidine-2(1 H )-thione derivatives have been prepared and investigated for their potencies for anticonvulsant activity against maximal electroshock (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) test in mice. The acute neurotoxicity was measured by rotarod test. Compounds 3c and 3l were found active in both of the animal models. Further, in vitro GABA-AT enzyme activity assay was carried out to investigate the possible mechanism of action through GABA-AT inhibition. The most potent compounds 3c and 3l showed inhibitory potency (IC 50 ) of 18.42 μM and 19.23 μM, respectively. The molecular modeling was performed for all the synthesized compounds. The docking results were found in concordant with the observed animal studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactic acidosis is a rare metabolic complication that can occur in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 who use metformin. We discuss a 79-year old woman with metformin-associated lactic acidosis (MALA) and acute kidney injury based on gastroenteritis. Patient reported acute blindness which in literature is described as a rare presentation of a metabolic acidosis (regardless of its underlying cause). Immediate treatment with hemodialysis led to improvement of the acidosis and complete recovery of the vision. It is important that patients who use metformin are instructed to consult their health care provider and/or discontinue metformin in case of intercurrent diseases.

16α- 18 F-fluoro-17β-estradiol ( 18 F-FES) is a PET tracer characterizing the expression of the estrogen receptor (ER). Because therapy can interfere with the kinetics and biodistribution of 18 F-FES, the aim of this study was to describe the biodistribution of 18 F-FES in patients with metastatic ER-positive (ER+) breast cancer undergoing treatment with rintodestrant (G1T48), a novel selective ER degrader. Methods: Eight patients underwent 18 F-FES PET/CT imaging at baseline, 4-6 wk during treatment with rintodestrant (interim), and after treatment. After intravenous administration of 200 MBq (±10%) of 18 F-FES, a 50-min dynamic PET/CT scan of the thorax was obtained, followed by a whole-body PET/CT scan 60 min after injection. Blood samples were drawn for measuring whole blood and plasma activity concentration and the parent fraction of 18 F-FES. Volumes of interest were placed in the aorta ascendens and in healthy tissues on both dynamic and whole-body PET scans. SUVs and target-to-blood ratios (TBRs) were calculated. Areas under the curve (AUCs) of input functions and time-activity curves were calculated as a measure of uptake in different regions. Results: 18 F-FES concentration in whole blood (and plasma) significantly ( P < 0.05) increased at interim with median AUCs of 96.6, 116.6, and 110.3 at baseline, interim, and after treatment, respectively. In ER-expressing tissues, that is, the uterus and the pituitary gland, both SUV and TBR showed high 18 F-FES uptake at baseline, followed by a decrease in uptake at interim (uterus: SUV -50.6% and TBR -58.5%; pituitary gland: SUV -39.0% and TBR -48.3%), which tended to return to baseline values after treatment (uterus: SUV -21.5% and TBR -37.9%; pituitary gland: SUV -14.2% and TBR -26.0%, compared with baseline). In other healthy tissues, tracer uptake remained stable over the 3 time points. Conclusion: The biodistribution of 18 F-FES is altered in blood and in ER-expressing healthy tissues during therapy with rintodestrant. This indicates that rintodestrant alters the kinetics of the tracer, possibly affecting interpretation and quantification of 18 F-FES uptake. Of note, 6 d or more after treatment with rintodestrant ended, the biodistribution returned to baseline values, consistent with recovery of ER availability after washout of the drug., (© 2022 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.)

Unlabelled: (18)F-fluoroazomycin arabinoside ((18)F-FAZA) is a PET tracer of tumor hypoxia. However, as hypoxia often is associated with decreased perfusion, the delivery of (18)F-FAZA may be compromised, potentially disturbing the association between tissue hypoxia and (18)F-FAZA uptake. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the relationship between tumor perfusion and (18)F-FAZA uptake., Methods: Ten patients diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer underwent subsequent dynamic (15)O-H2O and (18)F-FAZA PET scans with arterial sampling. Parametric images of both (15)O-H2O-derived perfusion (tumor blood flow [TBF]) and volume of distribution (V(T)) of (18)F-FAZA were generated. Next, multiparametric classification was performed using lesional and global thresholds. Voxels were classified as low or high TBF and (18)F-FAZA V(T), respectively. Finally, by combining these initial classifications, voxels were allocated to 4 categories: lowTBF-lowV(T), lowTBF-highV(T), highTBF-lowV(T), and highTBF-highV(T)., Results: A total of 13 malignant lesions were identified in the 10 patients. The TBF and (18)F-FAZA V(T) values (average ± SD) across all lesions were 0.45 ± 0.20 mL·cm(-3)·min(-1) and 0.94 ± 0.31 mL·cm(-3), respectively. The averages of all lesional median values for TBF and (18)F-FAZA V(T) were 0.37 ± 0.15 mL·cm(-3)·min(-1) and 0.85 ± 0.18 mL·cm(-3), respectively. Multiparametric analysis showed that classified voxels were clustered rather than randomly distributed. Several intralesion areas were identified where (18)F-FAZA V(T) was inversely related to TBF. On the other hand, there were also distinct areas where TBF as well as (18)F-FAZA V(T) were decreased or increased., Conclusion: The present data indicate that spatial variation of (18)F-FAZA uptake is not necessarily inversely related to TBF. This suggests that decreased TBF may result in flow-limited delivery of (18)F-FAZA. Areas with both high (18)F-FAZA uptake and high TBF values suggest that high (18)F-FAZA uptake, possibly suggesting hypoxia, may occur despite high TBF values. In conclusion, multiparametric evaluation of the spatial distributions of both TBF and (18)F-FAZA uptake may be helpful for understanding the (18)F-FAZA signal., (© 2016 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.)