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Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Circulating soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme (sACE2)2, the main receptor for SARS-CoV-2, together with components of the renin-angiotensin system promote infection and disease severity., Objective: This pilot study followed the time-course of sACE2 levels in relation to systemic cytokines in severe and moderate COVID-19 patients treated with remdesivir/dexamethasone in combination., Methods: Peripheral blood was obtained upon admission from 30 patients (12 with moderate disease and 18 with severe disease) and 14 patients with PCR-confirmed mild COVID-19. Severe and moderate patients were treated with remdesivir (200mg/first day and 100mg/day for the remaining days) and dexamethasone (100mg/day). 6 healthy control subjects (HC) were also enrolled. Serum interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 and sACE2 levels were measured by ELISA at baseline and during treatment in severe and moderate patients and at baseline in mild and HCs., Results: Baseline sACE2 levels were lower in severe (p = 0.0005) and moderate (p = 0.0022) patients than in patients with mild COVID-19 and in HC (p = 0.0023 and p = 0.0012 respectively). Treatment significantly increased sACE2 levels in patients with moderate disease (p = 0.0156) but only 50% of patients with severe disease showed enhanced levels compared to baseline. Systemic IL-6 and IL-8 levels were higher in all patient groups compared with HC and were not significantly affected over time or by remdesivir/dexamethasone treatment for 5 days., Conclusion: Serum sACE2 levels increase in severe COVID-19 patients as they recover over time whilst circulating cytokines are unaffected. Future studies should link these results to clinical outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Introduction: Fatigue is one of the common symptoms of sarcoidosis, which occurs in about 50-70% of patients., Aim: Considering that there are no valid Iranian questionnaires for evaluating fatigue in sarcoidosis, in the present study, for the first time, we translated Fatigue Questionnaire into Persean and evaluated its validity and reliability among Iranian patients with sarcoidosis., Material and Methods: In methodological research, English version of Fatigue assessment scale (FAS) 10 items questionnaire which is designed to assess physical or mental fatigue in chronic disease patients, was translated into Persian and back-translated into English. Its validity and reliability were studied on the one hundred and thirteen confirmed sarcoidosis patients are referring to respiratory referral hospital of Iran. Reliability analysis was performed by estimation of Cronbach`s alpha test., Results: According to the cut-off point of 22.84 (74%) of the studied patients were suffering from fatigue. The internal consistency calculation revealed that the alpha value of the physical fatigue and mental fatigue was 0.945 and 0.896, respectively., Conclusion: We concluded that the existence of questions number 4 and 10 in the questionnaire reduces the continuity of the questions, and therefore we suggest applying the FAS questionnaire without the two questions 4 and 10. This study showed that FAS questionnaire was very practical and can routinely be applied to assess the fatigue scale in sarcoidosis patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between premicroalbuminuria and metabolic syndrome in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)., Methods: In this case - control study, we analyzed the medical records of 78 women (mean age ±SD was 27.2± 2.5 years) with PCOS and 63 controls (mean age ±SD was 26.9±2.4 years) from an endocrinology outpatient center of Buali university hospital Qazvin city in Iran during 2008 to 2010. Anthropometric characteristics, Albumin/Creatinine Ratio (ACR), Lipid profile, Liver enzyme concentration and occurrence of metabolic syndrome were compared between the two groups. Premicroalbuminuria was defined as ACR>7mg/g., Results: Premicroalbuminuria was found in 53.8% of PCOS and 33.3% of control group (p value=0.015). Patients with PCOS and premicroalbuminuria had higher serum levels of fasting insulin and glucose, blood pressure and more waist circumference compared to PCOS patients who had ACR<7mg/g. Fifty percent of patients with PCOS and ACR>7mg/g fulfilled criteria of metabolic syndrome; whereas no case of metabolic syndrome was found in PCOS patients without premicroalbuminuria., Conclusions: Premicroalbuminuria is more prevalent in patients with PCOS compared to normal individuals. Metabolic syndrome is more frequently seen in patients with PCOS and premicroalbuminuria against patients with ACR<7mg/g.