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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) persists throughout the world with over 65 million registered cases of survivors with post-COVID-19 sequelae, also known as LongCOVID-19 (LongC). LongC survivors exhibit various symptoms that span multiple organ systems, including the nervous system. To search for neurological markers of LongC, we investigated the soluble biomolecules present in the plasma and the proteins associated with plasma neuronal-enriched extracellular vesicles (nEVs) in 33 LongC patients with neurological impairment (nLongC), 12 COVID-19 survivors without any LongC symptoms (Cov), and 28 pre-COVID-19 healthy controls (HC). COVID-19 positive participants were infected between 2020 and 2022, not hospitalized, and were vaccinated or unvaccinated before infection. IL-1β was significantly increased in both nLongC and Cov and IL-8 was elevated in only nLongC. Both brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cortisol were significantly elevated in nLongC and Cov compared to HC. nEVs from people with nLongC had significantly elevated protein markers of neuronal dysfunction, including amyloid beta 42, pTau181 and TDP-43. This study shows chronic peripheral inflammation with increased stress after COVID-19 infection. Additionally, differentially expressed nEV neurodegenerative proteins were identified in people recovering from COVID-19 regardless of persistent symptoms.

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disease, linked to local and systemic inflammation and predisposing patients to a higher risk of associated comorbidities. Cytokine levels are not widely available for disease progression monitoring due to high costs. Validated low-cost and reliable markers are needed for assessing disease progression and outcome. This study aims to assess the reliability of blood-count-derived inflammatory markers as disease predictors and to identify prognostic factors for disease severity. Patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into three study groups according to disease severity measured by the Body Surface Area (BSA) score: mild, moderate, and severe psoriasis. White blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (d-NLR), systemic immune index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI) positively were correlated with disease severity (p < 0.005). d-NLR, NLR, and SII are independent prognostic factors for mild and moderate psoriasis (p < 0.05). d-NLR is the only independent prognostic factor for all three study groups. Moderate psoriasis is defined by d-NLR values between 1.49 and 2.19. NLR, PLR, d-NLR, MLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI are useful indicators of systemic inflammation and disease severity in psoriasis.

During training camps, training load is purposefully intensified. Intensified training loads (TL) are associated with psychological variations, increased fatigue, insufficient recovery, decreased muscular performance, and biological changes in adult athletes, but whether these changes occur during training camps in youth athletes has not been established. The aim of this study was to assess changes in psychometric status, vertical jump performance (i.e., height), and hematological markers before and after an intensive training camp in youth soccer players. In this case, 15male youth soccer players (mean ± SD: age: 14.8 ± 0.4 years; height: 172.0 ± 6.9 cm, body mass: 60.8 ± 7.9 kg; training experience: 5.2 ± 0.7 years) completed a 2-week training program consisting of 1 week of moderate TL (MT) and 1 week of intensive training camp (TC). Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), TL, monotony, strain, and psychometric status (total quality of recovery (TQR) and well-being indices (sleep, stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness) were monitored before each first daily training session across two weeks. The profile of mood states (POMS), countermovement jump (CMJ) height, and blood markers (complete blood count, urea, and creatinine) were assessed before and after TC. TL (d = 5.39, large), monotony (d = 3.03, large), strain (d = 4.38, large), and well-being index (d = 7.5, large) scores increased and TQR (d = 4.6, large) decreased during TC. The TC increased tension, fatigue, and total mood disturbance and decreased vigor (all p p < 0.01, d = 0.52, moderate), creatinine (p < 0.01, d = 1.29, large), and leukocyte concentration (p < 0.01, d = 1.4, large) and granulocyte concentration (p < 0.01, d = 1.93, large) increased after TC. Percentage of lymphocytes (p < 0.05, d = 1.17, large) and monocytes (p < 0.01, d = 1.05, large) decreased while the percentage of granulocytes (p < 0.05, d = 0.86, large) increased significantly. Well-being, quality of recovery, mood, granulocyte concentration, and creatinine were all altered during the week-long intensified training camp. These results may provide coaches with valuable information about psychometric status and physiological fatigue and recovery of youth soccer players to better prescribe and adjust training loads during intensive training periods.

Flavonoids are naturally occurring compounds widely distributed in the Citrus genus. These natural compounds have many health benefits, mainly for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. In fact, some these compounds are components of drug products with approved indications for peripheral vascular insufficiency and hemorrhoids. However, information on pharmacological effects of these compounds remains disperse and there is scarce comprehensive analysis of whole data and evidence. These kinds of evidence analyses could be necessary in drug design and the development of novel and innovate drug products in diabetes and hypertension. We aimed to systematically search for evidence on the efficacy of citroflavonoids in diabetes and hypertension in in vivo models. We searched four literature databases based on a PICO strategy. After database curation, twenty-nine articles were retrieved to analyze experimental data. There was high heterogeneity in both outcomes and methodology. Naringenin and hesperetin derivates were the most studied citroflavonoids in both experimental models. More investigation is still needed to determine its potential for drug design and development.

Background: Blood biomarkers are first-line tools for identifying periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). C-reactive protein (CRP) is currently recognized as the standard biomarker for PJI diagnosis. Other recently reported novel biomarkers, including plasma fibrinogen, platelet count, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet count/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have also shown promise in diagnosing PJI. This study aimed to evaluate whether these biomarkers were superior to CRP for identifying PJI. Methods: Patients who underwent revision hip or knee arthroplasty at our hospital from January 2008 to September 2020 were included consecutively and divided into infected and non-infected groups according to the 2013 International Consensus Meeting Criteria. Blood samples were collected preoperatively, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), CRP, interleukin-6, fibrinogen, platelet count, MLR, NLR, and PLR were analyzed. The diagnostic values of the tested biomarkers and their combinations were compared with CRP based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) using the z-test. Classification trees were constructed to explore more accurate combinations of the tested markers for identifying PJI. Results: A total of 543 patients were included, of whom 245 had PJI. Among the tested biomarkers, CRP with a cutoff of 7.39 mg/L showed the highest AUC, which gave a sensitivity of 79.1% and specificity of 86.0%. The AUCs of pairwise combinations of tested markers including CRP also were inferior to CRP itself, as were combinations derived from classification trees. Conclusions: Preoperative serum CRP with a low cutoff may be the best reliable blood biomarker for identifying PJI, and those traditional or novel available blood biomarkers could not further improve the diagnostic ability on the basis of CRP.

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disease, linked to local and systemic inflammation and predisposing patients to a higher risk of associated comorbidities. Cytokine levels are not widely available for disease progression monitoring due to high costs. Validated low-cost and reliable markers are needed for assessing disease progression and outcome. This study aims to assess the reliability of blood-count-derived inflammatory markers as disease predictors and to identify prognostic factors for disease severity. Patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into three study groups according to disease severity measured by the Body Surface Area (BSA) score: mild, moderate, and severe psoriasis. White blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (d-NLR), systemic immune index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI) positively were correlated with disease severity ( p < 0.005). d-NLR, NLR, and SII are independent prognostic factors for mild and moderate psoriasis ( p < 0.05). d-NLR is the only independent prognostic factor for all three study groups. Moderate psoriasis is defined by d-NLR values between 1.49 and 2.19. NLR, PLR, d-NLR, MLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI are useful indicators of systemic inflammation and disease severity in psoriasis.

In athletic horses, prolonged and intense training gives rise to an imbalance between the production of free radicals and antioxidant molecules, leading to oxidative stress. Considering the relation between exercise and oxidative stress in horses, the present work aims to validate the Kit Radicaux Libres (KRL) test as a tool to verify the influence of taming, training and racing on the total blood antioxidant activity and some haematochemical parameters. Five Italian Standardbred racehorses (two males and three females, aged 12 ± 1 months) from the same training center were selected and monitored upon arrival and during the following year until the racing season. Blood samples were obtained at different timepoints, corresponding to different steps of training. The data showed that KRL values were higher (p < 0.001) before the beginning of the taming period and at 60 days of taming, compared with the training and racing periods; additionally, the total protein value was affected by the training program, whereas no effects of training on muscle enzymes were detected. These results confirm that exercise plays a role in the production of free radicals and show that the KRL test may represent a valid method to determine oxidative stress in athletic horses.

Synbiotics intake can alter the composition of intestinal microbes beneficially. We aimed to detect the changes in the intestinal microbiomes of 37 healthy elderly Korean women after the intake of a synbiotic drink. This was a longitudinal study controlled with a temporal series, including a control period of 3 weeks before intake, synbiotic intake for 3 weeks, and a washout period of 3 weeks. Fecal microbiota composition was analyzed by sequencing the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA. Physical fecal activity increased with improvement in fecal shape. Thirty intestinal bacterial taxa were observed to change only after the intake period. In particular, Ellagibacter appeared only after ingestion. In addition, the abundance of Terrisporobacter showed a positive correlation with C-reactive protein, triglyceride. Lachnospiraceae_uc, Eubacterium_g5, and Blautia had a positive correlation with creatinine, whereas PAC001100_g had a negative correlation with creatinine. Short-term (3 weeks) intake of symbiotic organisms changes the composition of the gut microbiota in healthy elderly Korean women.

During training camps, training load is purposefully intensified. Intensified training loads (TL) are associated with psychological variations, increased fatigue, insufficient recovery, decreased muscular performance, and biological changes in adult athletes, but whether these changes occur during training camps in youth athletes has not been established. The aim of this study was to assess changes in psychometric status, vertical jump performance (i.e., height), and hematological markers before and after an intensive training camp in youth soccer players. In this case, 15male youth soccer players (mean ± SD: age: 14.8 ± 0.4 years; height: 172.0 ± 6.9 cm, body mass: 60.8 ± 7.9 kg; training experience: 5.2 ± 0.7 years) completed a 2-week training program consisting of 1 week of moderate TL (MT) and 1 week of intensive training camp (TC). Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), TL, monotony, strain, and psychometric status (total quality of recovery (TQR) and well-being indices (sleep, stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness) were monitored before each first daily training session across two weeks. The profile of mood states (POMS), countermovement jump (CMJ) height, and blood markers (complete blood count, urea, and creatinine) were assessed before and after TC. TL (d = 5.39, large), monotony (d = 3.03, large), strain (d = 4.38, large), and well-being index (d = 7.5, large) scores increased and TQR (d = 4.6, large) decreased during TC. The TC increased tension, fatigue, and total mood disturbance and decreased vigor (all p <0.01). CMJ performance p < 0.01, d = 0.52, moderate), creatinine (p < 0.01, d = 1.29, large), and leukocyte concentration (p < 0.01, d = 1.4, large) and granulocyte concentration (p < 0.01, d = 1.93, large) increased after TC. Percentage of lymphocytes (p < 0.05, d = 1.17, large) and monocytes (p < 0.01, d = 1.05, large) decreased while the percentage of granulocytes (p < 0.05, d = 0.86, large) increased significantly. Well-being, quality of recovery, mood, granulocyte concentration, and creatinine were all altered during the week-long intensified training camp. These results may provide coaches with valuable information about psychometric status and physiological fatigue and recovery of youth soccer players to better prescribe and adjust training loads during intensive training periods.

Background: Blood biomarkers are first-line tools for identifying periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). C-reactive protein (CRP) is currently recognized as the standard biomarker for PJI diagnosis. Other recently reported novel biomarkers, including plasma fibrinogen, platelet count, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet count/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have also shown promise in diagnosing PJI. This study aimed to evaluate whether these biomarkers were superior to CRP for identifying PJI., Methods: Patients who underwent revision hip or knee arthroplasty at our hospital from January 2008 to September 2020 were included consecutively and divided into infected and non-infected groups according to the 2013 International Consensus Meeting Criteria. Blood samples were collected preoperatively, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), CRP, interleukin-6, fibrinogen, platelet count, MLR, NLR, and PLR were analyzed. The diagnostic values of the tested biomarkers and their combinations were compared with CRP based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) using the z-test. Classification trees were constructed to explore more accurate combinations of the tested markers for identifying PJI., Results: A total of 543 patients were included, of whom 245 had PJI. Among the tested biomarkers, CRP with a cutoff of 7.39 mg/L showed the highest AUC, which gave a sensitivity of 79.1% and specificity of 86.0%. The AUCs of pairwise combinations of tested markers including CRP also were inferior to CRP itself, as were combinations derived from classification trees., Conclusions: Preoperative serum CRP with a low cutoff may be the best reliable blood biomarker for identifying PJI, and those traditional or novel available blood biomarkers could not further improve the diagnostic ability on the basis of CRP.

In athletic horses, prolonged and intense training gives rise to an imbalance between the production of free radicals and antioxidant molecules, leading to oxidative stress. Considering the relation between exercise and oxidative stress in horses, the present work aims to validate the Kit Radicaux Libres (KRL) test as a tool to verify the influence of taming, training and racing on the total blood antioxidant activity and some haematochemical parameters. Five Italian Standardbred racehorses (two males and three females, aged 12 ± 1 months) from the same training center were selected and monitored upon arrival and during the following year until the racing season. Blood samples were obtained at different timepoints, corresponding to different steps of training. The data showed that KRL values were higher ( p < 0.001) before the beginning of the taming period and at 60 days of taming, compared with the training and racing periods; additionally, the total protein value was affected by the training program, whereas no effects of training on muscle enzymes were detected. These results confirm that exercise plays a role in the production of free radicals and show that the KRL test may represent a valid method to determine oxidative stress in athletic horses.