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Purpose: Critically ill trauma/surgical patients may experience excessive inflammation, immune and coagulation dysregulation, leading to multiple organ failure (MOF), carrying high mortality rates. Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) and its soluble isoform (sNRP-1) are implicated in immune response regulation, inflammation, and vascular permeability. This study aimed to investigate the possible role of sNRP-1 in trauma/surgical patients in the intensive care unit (ICU)., Patients and Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in a 31-bed ICU and included 81 patients, 43 of whom were trauma/surgical patients and 38 of whom were matched medical patients, comprising the control group. sNRP-1, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-10 levels were measured on admission to the ICU (within 48 hours)., Results: Trauma/surgical patients had significantly higher sNRP-1 (p = 0.027), IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 levels (p<0.05) compared to medical patients. In the entire cohort, sNRP-1 correlated positively with the international normalized ratio (INR) (p = 0.017), the activated partial thromboplastin time (p = 0.026), fibrinogen (p = 0.027), alanine aminotransferase (p = 0.024), and C-reactive protein (p = 0.004). Moreover, sNRP-1 correlated negatively with total protein (p = 0.035), albumin (p = 0.005), and platelets (p = 0.033)., Conclusion: sNRP-1 levels were elevated in critically ill trauma/surgical patients compared to matched medical ICU patients. Further research is needed to elucidate the exact role of sNRP-1 in these patients' pathophysiology., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background & Aims: ESPEN guidelines advocate that energy needs of critically ill patients with COVID 19 should be assessed using indirect calorimetry, if safely available. This study described energy needs of intubated patients with COVID-19 and explores whether neuromuscular blockade administration (NMBAs) is associated with altered energy expenditure., Methods: Resting energy expenditure (REE) and respiratory exchange rate (RER) evaluated among critically ill intubated COVID-19 patients until 28th day of intensive care unit stay (ICU-S) by indirect calorimetry. Paralysed patients were defined as those with drug induced paralysis using cicatracurium, for at least 3 days during their ICU-S., Results: 34 adult COVID 19 patients (59.8% male, 35.2% obese) requiring mechanical ventilation were assessed prospectively. REE measurements suggest a gradual increase of energy needs post 3rd day of ICU-S in both patients without obesity (non ob) ((from 17.8 kcal/kgr up to 29.3 kcal/kgr actual body weight (AcBW) during 28th day of ICU-S, p = 0.011)) and patients with obesity (ob) ((from 18.1 kcal/kgr up to 30.1 kcal/kgr adjusted body weight (AjBW) during 28th day of ICU-S, p = 0.021)). NMBAs use was accompanied by a significant drop in REE, especially during first 7 days of hospitalization, both in non ob (22.9 vs 17.9 kcal/kgr AcBW, p = 0.014) and ob patients (22.5 vs 19.5 kcal/kgr ABW, p = 0.027)., Conclusion: We identified the energy needs of COVID-19 intubated patients and highlighted a significant increase beyond the 1st week in the ICU. Administration of NMBAs should be considered, as it may impact resting energy expenditure., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Coxiella burnetii is a gram-negative bacterium that typically lives and multiplies within monocytes and macrophages of the host, being the etiologic agent of the zoonosis Q fever. Q fever is usually divided into acute and chronic forms, with a significant percentage of patients being asymptomatic. In the wide spectrum of the disease, neurological involvement seems to be extremely rare and peripheral neuropathy presenting with mononeuritis multiplex is one of the possible presentations with low rates of occurrence. Hereby, we present an unusual case of a 55-year-old male with fever and multiple mononeuritis attributed to Q fever and we summarize a short review of C. burnetii infection., (Copyright © 2021 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)