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Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has robustly affected the global healthcare and economic systems and it was caused by coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The clinical presentation of the disease ranges from a flu-like illness to severe pneumonia and death. Till September 2022, the cumulative number of cases exceeded 600 million worldwide and deaths were more than 6 million. Colchicine is an alkaloid drug that is used in many autoinflammatory conditions e.g., gout, familial Mediterranean fever, and Behçet's syndrome. Colchicine inhibits the production of superoxide and the release of interleukins that stimulate the inflammatory cascade. Colchicine decreases the differentiation of myofibroblast and the release of fibrotic mediators including transforming growth factor (TGF-β1) that are related to the fibrosis. Moreover, colchicine has been used to traet viral myocarditis caused by CMV or EBV, interstitial pneumonia, and pericarditis resulting from influenza B infection. Additionally, colchicine is considered safe and affordable with wide availability. Objective: The aim of the current study was to assess the evidence of colchicine effectiveness in COVID-19 treatment. Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was done till May 2022 and yielded 814 articles after ranking the articles according to authors and year of publication. Only 8 clinical trials and cohort studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included for further steps of data collection, analysis, and reporting. Results: This meta-analysis involved 16,488 patients; 8146 patients in the treatment group and 8342 patients in the control group. The results showed that colchicine resulted in a significant reduction in the mortality rate among patients received colchicine in comparison with placebo or standard care (RR 0.35, 95%CI: 0.15–0.79). Colchicine resulted in a significant decrease in the need for O2 therapy in patients with COVID-19 (RR 0.07, 95%CI 0.02–0.27, P = 0.000024). However, colchicine had no significant effect on the following outcomes among COVID-19 patients: the need for hospitalization, ICU admission, artificial ventilation, and hospital discharge rate. Among the PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients, colchicine decreased the hospitalization rate (RR 0.75, 95%CI 0.57–0.99, P = 0.042). However, colchicine had no effect on mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation among this subgroup. Conclusion: Colchicine caused a significant clinical improvement among COVID-19 patients as compared with the standard care or placebo, in terms of the need for O2, and mortality. This beneficial effect could play a role in the management of COVID-19 especially severe cases to decrease need for oxygen and to decrease mortality among these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: vitamin D deficiency has long been associated with decreased immune function and can lead to viral infections. Studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 infection. However, it is unclear whether treatment with vitamin D can reduce the associated risk of COVID-19 infection. Objective: the current meta-analysis aimed to determine whether vitamin D supplementation had a positive or negative impact on COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods: for this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched the following databases; CENTERAL, Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, EMBASE and Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB, for studies published till February 20, 2022, using key terms. Besides, reference lists of relevant studies were identified. We considered randomized trials (RCTs) and cohort studies as potentially eligible when patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection and received vitamin D supplementation versus a placebo or standard-of-care control. We identified a total of 718 articles, of which 4 RCTs and 3 cohort studies which meet eligible criteria. The seven studies included in our meta-analysis involved 1238 subjects. We considered 7 outcomes to be measured in our meta-analysis which are duration of COVID-19 illness till recovery, need for O2 therapy, need for ICU admission, need for artificial ventilation, fatal prognosis, time to negative PCR and need for hospitalization. Results: vitamin D supplement decreased the period of hospital stay in SARS-CoV2 positive patients. There was no clear protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on the need for oxygen therapy. There was no reduction on need for ICU admission in SARS-CoV2 patients treated with vitamin D supplementation. There was a significant reduction on need for artificial ventilation in patients treated with vitamin D supplementation. Our meta-analysis showed that there is no reduction on fatal prognosis in patients treated with vitamin D supplementation. Only one RCT evaluated time to negative PCR; this study was conducted in India and showed that vitamin D supplementation helped to achieve SARS-CoV-2 RNA negativity in greater proportion of COVID-19 patients with vitamin D supplementation. Conclusion: administration of vitamin D after diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection reduces the period of hospital stay and also reduces the need for artificial ventilation.

Abstract Background Telemedicine has a great role in delivering clinical services when distance and time are critical factors. Although this tool does not replace a medical examination, it was inevitably needed service during COVID-19 pandemic as it avoided the need for a patient’s visit, particularly at times when confinement measures are being enforced. As technology is sweeping the earth, the role of telemedicine should be evaluated precisely as an ongoing service with great emphasis on patient’s satisfaction. Patients and methods Participants of telepsychiatric services using Ain Shams University platform for three consecutive months (July, August, and September 2021) were enrolled in the study. Data were collected using Google form, and patients were approached via telephone calls. De novo questionnaire for assessing patient’s satisfaction was conducted in Arabic to assess patient satisfaction. Results A total of 104 participants receiving video consultation. Positive attitude towards remote consultations was concluded, where 80.8% (84) of the patients were satisfied from telepsychiatry services. Conclusion Our study highlights high degree of satisfaction among patients receiving telepsychiatry consultations provided by Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

Background: Telemedicine has a great role in delivering clinical services when distance and time are critical factors. Although this tool does not replace a medical examination, it was inevitably needed service during COVID-19 pandemic as it avoided the need for a patient's visit, particularly at times when confinement measures are being enforced. As technology is sweeping the earth, the role of telemedicine should be evaluated precisely as an ongoing service with great emphasis on patient's satisfaction. Patients and methods: Participants of telepsychiatric services using Ain Shams University platform for three consecutive months (July, August, and September 2021) were enrolled in the study. Data were collected using Google form, and patients were approached via telephone calls. De novo questionnaire for assessing patient's satisfaction was conducted in Arabic to assess patient satisfaction. Results: A total of 104 participants receiving video consultation. Positive attitude towards remote consultations was concluded, where 80.8% (84) of the patients were satisfied from telepsychiatry services. Conclusion: Our study highlights high degree of satisfaction among patients receiving telepsychiatry consultations provided by Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University, Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vitiligo is melanocyte death that is affected by oxidative stress which elevated levels of reactive oxygen species can elicit an immune response, and ultimately cause melanocytic death. Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the impact of Narrowband Ultraviolet B (NBUVB) and excimer laser phototherapy on C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 3B expression in vitiligo patients and its impact on vitiligo improvement. Patients and methods: CXCR3B mRNA expression was measured in skin of 25 patients suffering from non-segmental vitiligo before and after generalized 'NBUVB' and targeted phototherapy 'Excimer laser'. All biopsies were kept in - 80C till RNA extraction that was performed utilizing QIAGEN RNeasy Little Pack, QuantiTect Switch Record Unit and QuantiNova SYBR Green PCR Unit. Results: After phototherapy patients with vitiligo had higher CXCR3B mRNA levels, in addition, this was higher in excimer bunch treatment than NBUVB. Conclusion: Such findings draw attention to CXCR3B as an inherited abnormality in vitiligo patients' skin and raise concerns about its potential contributions in maintaining vitiligo or triggering relapses & chronicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]