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Introduction: Uric acid is produced during the metabolism of nucleotide and adenosine triphosphate and contains the final product of human purine metabolism. It acts both as an antioxidant and pro-inflammatory marker and has a positive association with visceral fat in overweight subjects. The aim of the present study is to find an association of uric acid level with certain anthropometric parameters in subjects having type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: The study included 124 urban drug-naive diabetic Indian subjects above 18 years of age from the general population of the city of North India. Uric acid concentrations were estimated by the uricase method. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentrations were estimated by the glucose oxidase-peroxidase method. Anthropometric measurements and information on lifestyle factors and disease history were collected through in-person meeting. Results: All participants of the study subjects had a body mass index (BMI) of more than 23.5. BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio, waist circumference, neck circumference, weight, age, sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), skinfold thickness, and body roundness index were positively correlated with the serum uric acid level. The correlation of weight, BMI, SAD, and WHR was statistically significant. Conclusion: We found that serum uric acid level increases as body fat content increases. Statistical data show remarkable results for a significant correlation of uric acid level with BMI, WHR, SAD, and FPG. Hypertrophy occurs as a result of inflammatory processes and oxidative stress when the supply of energy starts to exceed the storage capacity of adipocytes, as a result, adipokines such as interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and tumor-necrosis factor-alpha are released more frequently which lead to low-grade chronic inflammation. Uric acid levels are much lean toward visceral obesity than overall body fat content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc deficiency is linked to poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients while clinical trials with zinc demonstrate better clinical outcomes. The molecular targets and mechanistic details of the anti-coronaviral activity of zinc remain obscure. We show that zinc not only inhibits the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) with nanomolar affinity, but also viral replication. We present the first crystal structure of the Mpro–Zn2+ complex at 1.9 Å and provide the structural basis of viral replication inhibition. We show that Zn2+ coordinates with the catalytic dyad at the enzyme active site along with two previously unknown water molecules in a tetrahedral geometry to form a stable inhibited Mpro–Zn2+ complex. Further, the natural ionophore quercetin increases the anti-viral potency of Zn2+. As the catalytic dyad is highly conserved across SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and all variants of SARS-CoV-2, Zn2+ mediated inhibition of Mpro may have wider implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an arbovirus disease caused by chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an alphavirus of Togaviridae family. Transmission follows a human-mosquito-human cycle starting with a mosquito bite. Subsequently, symptoms develop after 2–6 days of incubation, including high fever and severe arthralgia. The disease is self-limiting and usually resolve within 2 weeks. However, chronic disease can last up to several years with persistent polyarthralgia. Overlapping symptoms and common vector with dengue and malaria present many challenges for diagnosis and treatment of this disease. CHIKF was reported in India in 1963 for the first time. After a period of quiescence lasting up to 32 years, CHIKV re-emerged in India in 2005. Currently, every part of the country has become endemic for the disease with outbreaks resulting in huge economic and productivity losses. Several mutations have been identified in circulating strains of the virus resulting in better adaptations or increased fitness in the vector(s), effective transmission, and disease severity. CHIKV evolution has been a significant driver of epidemics in India, hence, the need to focus on proper surveillance, and implementation of prevention and control measure in the country. Presently, there are no licensed vaccines or antivirals available; however, India has initiated several efforts in this direction including traditional medicines. In this review, we present the current status of CHIKF in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Obesity has become a challenge for global public health. The global prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled in the past decades (World Health Organization). Obesity may lead to changes in the sympathetic regulation of cardiovascular function, thus favoring the development of cardiovascular complications. Aim: To find a correlation between various obesity indices (body mass index, waist-height ratio, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio) and heart rate recovery in healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 apparently healthy subjects aged 18–30 years were enrolled and were divided into two groups on the absence and presence of a family history of cardiovascular disease. The treadmill testing was done in the exercise lab of the physiology department of the medical institute. Exercise testing of the subjects was conducted according to the standard Bruce protocols. Results: There was a negative correlation between various obesity indices and heart rate recovery but we did not get a statistically signification association between them. Conclusion: In our study, we have found no statistically significant association between various obesity indices and heart rate recovery. Thus measuring obesity indices in the younger age group will not lead to much significance in terms of heart rate recovery and may be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Role of the kidney in outcome of heart failure patients has been a topic of extensive research. Many studies showed that progressive renal dysfunction is often due to decreased blood supply to the kidney which in turn is due to progressive impairment of cardiac function. Most of the studies tried to find out the role of renal dysfunction by estimating serum creatinine and blood urea but none had been succeeded. So clinicians are still in search of a reliable prognostic factor for the heart failure patients. In this longitudinal, self control, interventional study, Ejection Fraction (EF) of 52 patient of AMI was measured by echocardiography before and after angioplasty. Statistical software IBM SPSS trial version 16 was used for analysis of data. We found that as blood urea level increases, improvement in EF decreases. Serum creatinine showed a positive correlation with improvement in EF. It can be hypothesized that patients with higher blood urea showed adverse outcome after PCI while increasing serum creatinine levels showed improvement in EF after percutaneous intervention (PCI) in AMI patients. Increased blood urea level is associated with poor prognosis while an increased serum creatinine level is associated with improved prognosis after PCI in AMI patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]