Glutamate infusion associated with reduced rises of p-Copeptin after coronary surgery: Substudy of GLUTAMICS II

Background

Glutamate plays a key role for post-ischaemic recovery of myocardial metabolism. According to post hoc analyses of the two GLUTAMICS trials, patients without diabetes benefit from glutamate with less myocardial dysfunction after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Copeptin reflects activation of the Arginine Vasopressin system and is a reliable marker of heart failure but available studies in cardiac surgery are limited. We investigated whether glutamate infusion is associated with reduced postoperative rises of plasma Copeptin (p-Copeptin) after CABG.

Methods

A prespecified randomised double-blind substudy of GLUTAMICS II. Patients had left ventricular ejection fraction ≤0.30 or EuroSCORE II ≥3.0 and underwent CABG ± valve procedure. Intravenous infusion of 0.125 M L-glutamic acid or saline at 1.65 mL/kg/h was commenced 10–20 min before the release of the aortic cross-clamp and then continued for another 150 min P-Copeptin was measured preoperatively and postoperatively on day one (POD1) and day three. The primary endpoint was an increase in p-Copeptin from the preoperative level to POD1. Postoperative stroke ≤24 h and mortality ≤30 days were safety outcomes.

Results

We included 181 patients of whom 48% had diabetes. The incidence of postoperative mortality ≤30 days (0% vs. 2.1%; p = .50) and stroke ≤24 h (0% vs. 3.2%; p = .25) did not differ between the glutamate group and controls. P-Copeptin increased postoperatively with the highest values recorded on POD1 without significant inter-group differences. Among patients without diabetes, p-Copeptin did not differ preoperatively but postoperative rise from preoperative level to POD1 was significantly reduced in the glutamate group (73 ± 66 vs. 115 ± 102 pmol/L; p = .02). P-Copeptin was significantly lower in the Glutamate group on POD1 (p = .02) and POD 3 (p = .02).

Conclusions

Glutamate did not reduce rises of p-Copeptin significantly after moderate to high-risk CABG. However, glutamate was associated with reduced rises of p-Copeptin among patients without diabetes. These results agree with previous observations suggesting that glutamate mitigates myocardial dysfunction after CABG in patients without diabetes. Given the exploratory nature of these findings, they need to be confirmed in future studies.     

The Potential of Semaglutide Once-Weekly in Patients Without Type 2 Diabetes with Weight Regain or Insufficient Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery—a Retrospective Analysis

Purpose

About 20–25% of patients experience weight regain (WR) or insufficient weight loss (IWL) after bariatric metabolic surgery (BS). Therefore, we aimed to retrospectively assess the effectiveness of adjunct treatment with the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide in non-diabetic patients with WR or IWL after BS.

Materials and Methods

Post-bariatric patients without type 2 diabetes (T2D) with WR or IWL (n?=?44) were included in the analysis. The primary endpoint was weight loss 3 and 6 months after initiation of adjunct treatment. Secondary endpoints included change in BMI, HbA1c, lipid profile, hs-CRP, and liver enzymes.

Results

Patients started semaglutide 64.7?±?47.6 months (mean?±?SD) after BS. At initiation of semaglutide, WR after post-bariatric weight nadir was 12.3?±?14.4% (mean?±?SD). Total weight loss during semaglutide treatment was???6.0?±?4.3% (mean?±?SD, p?<?0.001) after 3 months (3.2 months, IQR 3.0–3.5, n?=?38) and???10.3?±?5.5% (mean?±?SD, p?<?0.001) after 6 months (5.8 months, IQR 5.8–6.4, n?=?20). At 3 months, categorical weight loss was?>?5% in 61% of patients,?>?10% in 16% of patients, and?>?15% in 2% of patients. Triglycerides (OR?=?0.99; p?<?0.05), ALT (OR?=?0.87; p?=?0.05), and AST (OR?=?0.89; p?<?0.05) at baseline were negatively associated with weight loss of at least 5% at 3 months’ follow-up (p?<?0.05).

Conclusion

Treatment options to manage post-bariatric excess weight (regain) are scarce. Our results imply a clear benefit of adjunct treatment with semaglutide in post-bariatric patients. However, these results need to be confirmed in a prospective randomized controlled trial to close the gap between lifestyle intervention and revision surgery in patients with IWL or WR after BS.

Graphical abstract

     

Utility of rotational thromboelastometry in total hip replacement revision surgery (case-control study)

Total hip replacement revision surgery is accompanied by significant blood loss. Using rotational thrombelastometry (ROTEM) perioperatively to diagnose coagulopathy may help to provide rapid aimed therapy and thus decrease blood loss and the consumption of transfusion products. The aim of this case-control study was to find out whether point of care using of ROTEM may reduce blood loss and the consumption of blood transfusion products in hip replacement revision surgery.Data were prospectively collected from patients who underwent hip replacement revision surgery in the period 2017 to 2018 when the management of bleeding and coagulopathy was based on the results of ROTEM. Data were compared with a group of historical controls for the period 2015 to 2016 when bleeding and coagulopathy management was not based on ROTEM results. The consumption of blood transfusion products and perioperative blood loss were compared between the groups.The total number of analyzed patients was 90. Forty five patients were analyzed in the ROTEM group and the same number of patients were analyzed in the non-ROTEM group. Significantly decreased perioperative consumption of fresh frozen plasma and packed red blood cells was found in the ROTEM, as well as decreased perioperative blood loss comparing to non-ROTEM group. All data were statistically different with P < .05.Perioperative management of bleeding and coagulopathy based on the results of ROTEM during hip replacement revision surgery seems to help to decrease perioperative blood loss and the consumption of blood transfusion products, especially fresh frozen plasma.     

The role of BDNF methylation and Val66Met in amygdala reactivity during emotion processing

Epigenetic alterations of the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene have been associated with psychiatric disorders in humans and with differences in amygdala BDNF mRNA levels in rodents. This human study aimed to investigate the relationship between the functional BDNF‐Val⁶⁶Met polymorphism, its surrounding DNA methylation in BDNF exon IX, amygdala reactivity to emotional faces, and personality traits. Healthy controls (HC, n = 189) underwent functional MRI during an emotional face‐matching task. Harm avoidance, novelty seeking and reward dependence were measured using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). Individual BDNF methylation profiles were ascertained and associated with several BDNF single nucleotide polymorphisms surrounding the BDNF‐Val⁶⁶Met, amygdala reactivity, novelty seeking and harm avoidance. Higher BDNF methylation was associated with higher amygdala reactivity (x = 34, y = 0, z = ?26, t₍₁₆₆₎ = 3.00, TFCE = 42.39, p_(FWE) = .045), whereby the BDNF‐Val⁶⁶Met genotype per se did not show any significant association with brain function. Furthermore, novelty seeking was negatively associated with BDNF methylation (r = ?.19, p = .015) and amygdala reactivity (r = ?.17, p = .028), while harm avoidance showed a trend for a positive association with BDNF methylation (r = .14, p = .066). The study provides first insights into the relationship among BDNF methylation, BDNF genotype, amygdala reactivity and personality traits in humans, highlighting the multidimensional relations among genetics, epigenetics, and neuronal functions. The present study suggests a possible involvement of epigenetic BDNF modifications in psychiatric disorders and related brain functions, whereby high BDNF methylation might reduce BDNF mRNA expression and upregulate amygdala reactivity.     

Seawater activated TiO2 photocatalyst for degradation of organic compounds

The world's oceans are polluted by a continuous inflow of plastic. Plastic fragments finally into microplastic, which can be taken up, for example by plankton, and subsequently by the entire ocean food web. An approach to reduce plastic pollution constitutes the accelerated microplastic degradation in marine environments. TiO₂ (anatase) is commonly used as an oxidative photocatalyst and well known to catalyze the degradation of organic compounds upon UV irradiation.In this study, a selective activation of TiO₂ (anatase) particles encapsulated by Ca- or Sr-polyphosphate is presented. The TiO₂ polyphosphate core-shell particles are envisaged as additives in plastic products. The highly concentrated cations from seawater, viz. Na⁺ and Mg²⁺, displace the Ca²⁺ or Sr²⁺ cations from the polyphosphate shell. As a result, the polyphosphate coating dissolves and thus the photocatalytically active TiO₂ core is released. The stability of the TiO₂ polyphosphate particles in potable water and the seawater activated disintegration of methylene blue, methyl methacrylate, terephtalic acid, and poly(vinyl alcohol) was shown. It has been demonstrated, that the sweetwater stable polyphosphate coating degrades in the presence of seawater, which could be monitored by the activation of the TiO₂ (anatase) photocatalyst.