Immunodensity and mRNA expression of A<Subscript>2A</Subscript> adenosine,D<Subscript>2</Subscript> dopamine,and CB<Subscript>1</Subscript> cannabinoid receptors in postmortem frontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia: effect of antipsychotic treatment

Rationale  

Dopamine D₂ receptors are the main target of antipsychotic drugs. In the brain, D₂ receptors coexpress with adenosine A_2A and CB₁ cannabinoid receptors, leading to functional interactions.     

High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy for the treatment of acute respiratory failure secondary to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia out of ICU

Introduction and objectives

High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HFNC) has been successfully used for the treatment of acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) secondary to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and being effective in reducing progression to invasive mechanical ventilation. The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of HFNC on a hospital ward for the treatment of AHRF secondary to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and its impact on the need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and endotracheal intubation. Other objectives include identifying potential physiological parameters and/or biomarkers for predicting treatment failure and assessing the clinical course and survival.

Methods

Observational study based on data collected prospectively between March 2020 and February 2021 in a single hospital on patients diagnosed with AHRF secondary to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia who received HFNC outside an ICU.

Results

One hundred and seventy-one patients out of 1090 patients hospitalised for SARS-CoV-2 infection. HFNC was set as the ceiling of treatment in 44 cases; 12 survived (27.3%). Among the other 127 patients, intubation was performed in 25.9% of cases with a mortality of 11.8%. Higher creatinine levels (OR 1.942, 95% CI 1.04; 3.732; p = 0.036) and Comorbidity-Age-Lymphocyte-LDH (CALL) score (OR 1.273, 95% CI 1.033; 1.617; p = 0.033) were associated with a higher risk of intubation. High platelet count at HFNC initiation was predictive of good treatment response (OR 0.935, 95% CI 0.884; 0.983; p = 0.012).

Conclusions

HFNC outside an ICU is a treatment with high success rate in patients with AHRF secondary to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, including in patients in whom this therapy was deemed to be the ceiling of treatment.     

Relative telomere length impact on mortality of COVID-19: Sex differences

Increasing age is associated with severity and higher mortality of COVID-19. Telomere shortening is associated with higher risk of infections and may be used to identify those patients who are more likely to die. We evaluated the association between relative telomere length (RTL) and COVID-19 mortality. RTL was measured in patients hospitalized because of COVID-19. We used Kaplan–Meier method to analyze survival probabilities, and Cox regression to investigate the association between RTL and mortality (30 and 90 days). Six hundred and eight patients were included in the analysis (mean age =72.5 years, 41.1% women, and 53.8% Caucasic). During the study period, 75 people died from COVID-19 and 533 survived. Lower RTL was associated with a higher risk of death in women either at 30 (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] (aHR) = 3.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05–10.00; p = 0.040) and at 90 days (aHR = 3.57; 95%CI = 1.23–11.11; p = 0.019). Lower RTL was associated with a higher risk of dying of COVID-19 in women. This finding suggests that RTL has an essential role in the prognosis of this subset of the population.