Combination of obesity and co-morbidities leads to unfavorable outcomes in COVID-19 patients

ObjectiveObesity has been described as a significant independent risk factors of COVID-19. We aimed to study the association between obesity, co-morbidities and clinical outcomes of COVID-19.MethodsClinical data from 417 patients were collected retrospectively from the Al Kuwait Hospital, Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, who were admitted between March and June 2020. Patients were divided according to their body mass index (BMI). Various clinical outcomes were examined: presenting symptoms, severity, major co-morbidities, ICU admission, death, ventilation, ARDS, septic shock and laboratory parameters.ResultsThe average BMI was 29 ± 6.2 kg/m². BMI alone was not associated with the outcomes examined. However, class II obese patients had more co-morbidities compared to other groups. Hypertension was the most significant co-morbidity associated with obesity. Patients with BMI above the average BMI (29 kg/m²) and presence of underlying co-morbidities showed significant increase in admission to ICU compared to patients below 29 kg/m² and underlying co-morbidities (21.7% Vs. 9.2%), ARDS development (21.7% Vs. 10.53%), need for ventilation (8.3% Vs. 1.3%), and mortality (10% Vs. 1.3%).ConclusionsOur data suggests that presence of underlying co-morbidities and high BMI work synergistically to affect the clinical outcomes of COVID-19.     

Oxygen uptake,heart rate and activities of locomotor muscles during a critical swimming speed protocol in the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata

Oxygen uptake, heart rate and contraction frequencies of slow oxidative (SO) and fast glycolytic (FG) muscle were measured simultaneously in gilthead seabream Sparus aurata submitted to stepwise increases in current speed in a swimming respirometer. Variation in oxygen uptake was closely related to variation in heart rate, over initial steps these rose in concert with an increase in contraction frequency of SO muscle. There was an asymptote in oxygen uptake and heart rate at high speeds that reflected a transition from exclusive use of aerobic SO muscle to a combination of SO and anaerobic FG muscle, and which preceded fatigue.     

Mycosynthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles and their activity against some human pathogenic bacteria

The aim of this study was to biosynthesis silver nanoparticles from the fungus Nigrospora sphaerica isolated from soil samples and to examine their activity against five human pathogenic strains of bacteria viz. Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus using disc diffusion method. The synergistic effect of silver nanoparticles in combination with commonly used antibiotic Gentamycin against the selected bacteria was also examined. The synthesized silver nanoparticles from free-cell filtrate were characterized by using UV–Vis spectrophotometer analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). UV–Vis spectrophotometer analysis showed a peak at 420 nm indicating the synthesis of silver nanoparticles, FTIR analysis verified the detection of protein capping of silver nanoparticles while SEM micrographs revealed that the silver nanoparticles are dispersed and aggregated and mostly having spherical shape within the size range between 20 and 70 nm. The synthesized silver nanoparticles exhibited a varied growth inhibition activity (15–26 mm diam inhibition zones) against the tested pathogenic bacteria. A remarkable increase of bacterial growth inhibition (26–34 mm diam) was detected when a combination of silver nanoparticles and Gentamycin was used. A significant increase in fold area of antibacterial activity was observed when AgNPs in combination with Gentamycin was applied. The synthesized silver nanoparticles produced by the fungus N. sphaerica is a promising to be used as safe drug in medical therapy due to their broad spectrum against pathogenic bacteria.