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Introduction: Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection resulting in COVID-19 disease is associated with widespread inflammation and a prothrombotic state, resulting in frequent venous thromboembolic (VTE) events. It is currently unknown whether anticoagulation is protective for VTE events. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to identify predictors of VTE in COVID-19. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and Ovid databases for relevant observational studies of VTE in COVID-19 disease. The effect size for predictors of VTE was calculated using a random-effects model and presented as forest plots. Heterogeneity among studies was expressed as Q statistics and I 2 . Bias was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale for all identified observational studies. Publication bias was assessed with funnel plot analysis. Results: We identified 28 studies involving 6053 patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The overall pooled prevalence of VTE events was 20.7%. Male sex was associated with a higher risk of VTE events, whereas prior history of VTE, smoking, and cancer were not. VTE events were significantly higher in severely ill patients, mechanically ventilated patients, those requiring intensive care admission, and those with a low PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio (P/F ratio). Chronic comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease, heart failure, renal disease, and pulmonary disease, did not increase the risk of VTE events. Patients with VTE had higher leukocyte counts and higher levels of D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin. The occurrence of VTE was associated with increased length of stay but did not impact mortality. Therapeutic and prophylactic doses of anticoagulation were not protective against VTE. Conclusion: VTE in COVID-19 is associated with male gender and severe disease but not with traditional risk factors for VTE. The occurrence of VTE does not appear to be mitigated by either prophylactic or therapeutic anticoagulation. The occurrence of VTE in this population is associated with an increased length of stay but does not appear to impact mortality.

Background We compared the in-hospital complications, outcomes, cost, and length of stay (LOS) between angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided PCI in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the USA. Methods A nationwide inpatient database was queried to identify patients >18 years with STEMI who underwent angiography-guided and IVUS-guided PCI from January 2016 to December 2016. We compared the in-hospital mortality, complications, cost, and LOS between the two groups. Results We identified 100,485 patients who underwent angiography-guided PCI and 5,460 patients who underwent IVUS-guided PCI. In-hospital mortality was not statistically different (odds ratio [OR] 0.76, 95% CI 0.46 − 1.22, P = 0.24). Patients who underwent PCI with IVUS were more likely to have coronary artery dissection (OR 4.26, 95% CI 2.34 − 7.7, p =

DNA based ionophores can mediate efficient ion transport and are crucial to understand the biological role of their natural counterparts. Here authors engineer a telomeric DNA G-quadruplex based ionophore which transports K+ in a stimuli responsive manner.

Background: Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) is a common occurrence in elderly patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We conducted a retrospective study to identify the impact of CAS on in-hospital outcomes following TAVR. Methods: We queried the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for 2016–2017 and identified patients who underwent TAVR with concomitant CAS using the ICD-10 codes. The primary endpoint of our study was in-hospital mortality and acute ischemic stroke. Results: We identified 80,740 TAVR-related hospitalizations. Of these, 6.9% (N = 5555) patients had concomitant CAS. The mean age for CAS patients was 80 ± 7.4 years. Females were represented equally in both groups. Traditional comorbidities like dyslipidemia [78.3% (N = 4350) vs. 68.2% (N = 51261); P

We sincerely thank Dr Andrew Whyte, who keenly reviewed our case report and came up with critical reasoning to justify his thoughts and critique with regard to our published article, “An Unusual Case of Acquired Angioedema and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Renal Significance in a Middle-Aged Caucasian Female.” We agree with the author that hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis can be a reasonable contender as a diagnosis in this case. There are indeed some features in this case that do not entirely fit either classic presentation of acquired angioedema or hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis. Both diseases being equally rare, we tried to focus on the association of proliferative glomerulonephritis with angioedema-like features in this patient and considered acquired angioedema as the unifying diagnosis.

Acquired angioedema due to deficiency of C1 esterase inhibitor is also called acquired angioedema and is abbreviated as C1INH-AAE. It is a rare syndrome of recurrent episodes of angioedema, without urticaria, and in some patients, it is associated with B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders. Kidney involvement is rare in this condition. The monoclonal immunoglobulin secreted by a nonmalignant or premalignant B-cell or plasma cell clone, causing renal damage that represents a group of disorders which are termed as monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance (MGRS). In this article, we report a rare case of acquired C1 esterase deficiency angioedema and acute kidney injury with renal biopsy-proven MGRS. We present a 64-year-old Caucasian woman who presented with 2 weeks of recurring urticaria and new onset of acute kidney injury. She was diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathy–associated proliferative glomerulopathy through kidney biopsy, and serological workup came back positive for C1 esterase deficiency, implying acquired angioedema. Acquired angioedema is a rare disease with systemic involvement. Recurrent allergic manifestations and acute kidney injury should prompt MGRS as a differential.

VGF (non-acronymic)is a secreted chromogranin/secretogranin that gives rise to a number of bioactive peptides by a complex proteolysis mechanism. VGF-derived peptides exert an extensive array of biological effects in energy metabolism, mood regulation, pain, gastric secretion function, reproduction and, perhaps, cancer. It is therefore surprising that very little is known about receptors and binding partners of VGF-derived peptides and their downstream molecular mechanisms of action. Here, using affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry-based protein identification, we have identified the heat shock cognate 71 kDa protein A8 (HSPA8)as a binding partner of human TLQP-21 on the surface of human neuroblastomaSH-SY5Y cells. Binding of TLQP-21 to membrane associated HSPA8 in live SH-SY5Y cells was further supported by cross-linking to live cells. Interaction between HSPA8 and TLQP-21 was confirmed in vitro by label-free Dynamic Mass Redistribution (DMR) studies. Furthermore, molecular modeling studies show that TLQP-21 can be docked into the HSPA8 peptide binding pocket. Identification of HSPA8 as a cell surface binding partner of TLQP-21 opens new avenues to explore the molecular mechanisms of its physiological actions, and of pharmacological modulation thereof.

Heterojunction diodes are fabricated using a low-temperature chemical bath deposition of oriented and crystalline ZnO nanowires on a  <1 1 1>  p-silicon substrate. The electrical transport properties of the heterojunction are investigated at various temperatures by measuring current–voltage (I–V) characteristics in the range of 90–390 K. A thermionic emission (TE) model is used to analyze the transport behavior. The deviation in the experimental value of Richardson’s constant for ZnO nanowires is obtained from I–V–T measurement. The temperature dependence of the effective barrier height and ideality factor is attributed to the inhomogeneous barrier height distribution at the n-ZnO NW/p-Si hetero-interface. The TE and barrier inhomogeneity model are simultaneously used to extract the appropriate value of the Richardson’s constants in three different temperature regions. Linear fittings for three different temperature regions suggest multiple Gaussian distributions of barrier heights at the junction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]