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Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and... Nov 2021This systematic review and meta-analysis determined whether the ergogenic effects of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) ameliorated markers of muscle damage and... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
This systematic review and meta-analysis determined whether the ergogenic effects of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) ameliorated markers of muscle damage and performance following strenuous exercise. In total, 25 studies were included, consisting of 479 participants (age 24.3 ± 8.3 years, height 1.73 ± 0.06 m, body mass 70.8 ± 9.5 kg, females 26.3%). These studies were rated as fair to excellent following the PEDro scale. The outcome measures were compared between the BCAA and placebo conditions at 24 and 48 hours following muscle-damaging exercises, using standardised mean differences and associated -values via forest plots. Our meta-analysis demonstrated significantly lower levels of indirect muscle damage markers (creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase and myoglobin) at 48 hours post-exercise (standardised mean difference [SMD] = -0.41; < 0.05) for the BCAA than placebo conditions, whilst muscle soreness was significant at 24 hours post-exercise (SMD = -0.28 ≤ ≤ -0.61; < 0.05) and 48 hours post-exercise (SMD = -0.41 ≤ ≤ -0.92; < 0.01). However, no significant differences were identified between the BCAA and placebo conditions for muscle performance at 24 or 48 hours post-exercise (SMD = 0.08 ≤ ≤ 0.21; > 0.05). Overall, BCAA reduced the level of muscle damage biomarkers and muscle soreness following muscle-damaging exercises. However, the potential benefits of BCAA for muscle performance recovery is questionable and warrants further investigation to determine the practicality of BCAA for ameliorating muscle damage symptoms in diverse populations. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020191248. BCAA reduces the level of creatine kinase and muscle soreness following strenuous exercise with a dose-response relationship. BCAA does not accelerate recovery for muscle performance.
Topics: Amino Acids, Branched-Chain; Biomarkers; Creatine; Dietary Supplements; Humans; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Myalgia; Myoglobin; Performance-Enhancing Substances; Physical Endurance
PubMed: 34612716
DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2021-0110 -
Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular... Dec 2020Coronavirus disease 2019 has been associated with stroke, particular characteristics of these patients are not fully understood. The adequate management of these... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Coronavirus disease 2019 has been associated with stroke, particular characteristics of these patients are not fully understood. The adequate management of these patients depends on the comprehension of factors such as temporality, clinical presentation and etiology. We hypothesize there is an important temporal relationship between COVID-19 severity and stroke onset.
METHODS
a systematic review of the available literature was conducted using Pubmed and Scopus, studies reporting patients with Coronavirus disease 19 and stroke were included. Clinical, sociodemographic and laboratory characteristics of patients were extracted and analyzed.
RESULTS
Forty-seven studies and 176 patients were included, with a mean age of 63.1 years (SD= 16 n=122), most of them were males (63.2% n=171). The most frequent etiology was cryptogenic 40.9% n=66), and a mean National Institute of Health Stroke Scale of 14.4 points was found (SD= 8.6 n=73). Large vessel occlusion was reported in 65.9% patients (n=91) and these patients were younger with greater stroke severity. D-dimer, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase were elevated in most patients with reported findings. Most patients had severe Coronavirus disease 2019. The mean time from onset of respiratory symptoms to stroke was 9 days (SD=9.9), the shortest time was noted in those with mild and moderate disease.
CONCLUSIONS
There is a trend between the severity of Coronavirus disease 2019 and time to stroke onset. Also, age and stroke severity were found to be related to the development of large vessel occlusion. Inflammation and hypercoagulability markers are elevated in this disease, we propose to not discard hypercoagulability secondary to severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 as an underlying cause of stroke in these patients.
Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; COVID-19; Female; Global Health; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Severity of Illness Index; Stroke; Thrombophilia; Time Factors
PubMed: 32992196
DOI: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2020.105325 -
Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Dec 2021To explore the correlation between cardiac-related comorbidities, cardiac biomarkers, acute myocardial injury, and severity level, outcomes in COVID-19 patients. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Cardiac biomarkers, cardiac injury, and comorbidities associated with severe illness and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis.
AIMS
To explore the correlation between cardiac-related comorbidities, cardiac biomarkers, acute myocardial injury, and severity level, outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
METHOD
Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, Cochrane Library databases, medRxiv, and Sinomed were reviewed systemically. Various types of clinical research reporting cardiac-related comorbidities, cardiac biomarkers including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), troponin I (TnI), high sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI), creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), myoglobin (Myo), N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and acute cardiac injury grouped by severity of COVID-19 were included. Outcome measures were events and total sample size for comorbidities, acute cardiac injury, and laboratory parameters of these biomarkers. The study was performed with Stata version 15.1.
RESULTS
Seventy studies, with a total of 15,354 cases were identified. The results showed that COVID-19's severity was related to cardiovascular disease. Similar odds ratios (ORs) were achieved in hypertension except for severe versus critical group (OR = 1.406; 95% CI, 0.942-2.097; p = .095). The relative risk (RR) of acute cardiac injury is 7.01 (95% CI, 5.64-8.71) in non-survivor cases. When compared with the different severity of cardiac biomarkers, the pool OR of CK, CK-MB, TnI, Myo and LDH were 2.683 (95% CI, 0.83-8.671; p = .106; I = 0%), 2.263 (95% CI, 0.939-5.457; p = .069), 1.242 (95% CI, 0.628-2.457; p = .534), 1.756 (95% CI, 0.608-5.071; p = .298; I = 42.3%), 1.387 (95% CI, 0.707-2.721; p = .341; I = 0%) in the critical versus severe group, whose trends were not similar to other groups. The standard mean differences (SMD) of CK and TnI in the critical versus severe group were 0.09 (95% CI, -0.33 to 0.50; p = .685; I = 65.2%), 0.478 (95% CI, -0.183 to 1.138; p = .156; I = 76.7%), which means no difference was observed in the serum level of these indicators.
CONCLUSION
Most of the findings clearly indicate that hypertension, cardiovascular disease, acute cardiac injury, and related laboratory indicators are associated with the severity of COVID-19. What is now needed are cross-national prospectively designed observational or clinical trials that will help improve the certainty of the available evidence and treatment decisions for patients.
Topics: Biomarkers; COVID-19; Creatine Kinase, MB Form; Humans; SARS-CoV-2; Troponin I
PubMed: 34405950
DOI: 10.1002/iid3.471 -
The Journal of Infection Jun 2020To better inform efforts to treat and control the current outbreak with a comprehensive characterization of COVID-19. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
To better inform efforts to treat and control the current outbreak with a comprehensive characterization of COVID-19.
METHODS
We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CNKI (Chinese Database) for studies published as of March 2, 2020, and we searched references of identified articles. Studies were reviewed for methodological quality. A random-effects model was used to pool results. Heterogeneity was assessed using I. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's test.
RESULTS
43 studies involving 3600 patients were included. Among COVID-19 patients, fever (83.3% [95% CI 78.4-87.7]), cough (60.3% [54.2-66.3]), and fatigue (38.0% [29.8-46.5]) were the most common clinical symptoms. The most common laboratory abnormalities were elevated C-reactive protein (68.6% [58.2-78.2]), decreased lymphocyte count (57.4% [44.8-69.5]) and increased lactate dehydrogenase (51.6% [31.4-71.6]). Ground-glass opacities (80.0% [67.3-90.4]) and bilateral pneumonia (73.2% [63.4-82.1]) were the most frequently reported findings on computed tomography. The overall estimated proportion of severe cases and case-fatality rate (CFR) was 25.6% (17.4-34.9) and 3.6% (1.1-7.2), respectively. CFR and laboratory abnormalities were higher in severe cases, patients from Wuhan, and older patients, but CFR did not differ by gender.
CONCLUSIONS
The majority of COVID-19 cases are symptomatic with a moderate CFR. Patients living in Wuhan, older patients, and those with medical comorbidities tend to have more severe clinical symptoms and higher CFR.
Topics: COVID-19; China; Coronavirus Infections; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; Risk Factors
PubMed: 32283155
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.03.041 -
Journal of Stroke Sep 2020Various neurological findings including stroke in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been described, although no clarity exists regarding the nature...
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Various neurological findings including stroke in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been described, although no clarity exists regarding the nature and pattern of this association. This systematic review aims to report the characteristics of stroke in patients with COVID-19.
METHODS
Three authors independently searched Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and PubMed starting from inception up to May 22, 2020. The data for individual patients was extracted where available from published reports including clinical and laboratory parameters and analysed for any significant associations between variables.
RESULTS
We identified 30 relevant articles involving 115 patients with acute or subacute stroke with COVID-19. The mean±standard deviation age was 62.5±14.5 years. Stroke was ischemic in majority of the patients (101 [87.8%]). Hypertension (42 [42%]), dyslipidaemia (24 [26.1%]), and diabetes (23 [23.2%]) were the major vascular risk factors. Most of the patients (80 [85.1%]) had COVID-19 symptoms at the time of stroke with a median interval of 10 days to stroke from the diagnosis of COVID-19. Three-fourths (86 [74.8%]) of the patients were critically ill which frequently delayed the diagnosis of stroke. High levels of D-dimer, and ferritin were observed in these patients. Patients with COVID-19 and stroke had a high mortality (47.9%). Factors associated with mortality were intensive care unit admission, having two or more vascular risk factors, particularly smoking and high levels of D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase.
CONCLUSIONS
The association between stroke and COVID-19 is probably multifactorial including an amalgamation of traditional vascular risk factors, proinflammatory and a prothrombotic state. Prospectively collected data is required in the future to confirm this hypothesis.
PubMed: 33053948
DOI: 10.5853/jos.2020.02264 -
PloS One 2021To describe the laboratory parameters and biomarkers of the cytokine storm syndrome associated with severe and fatal COVID-19 cases. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
To describe the laboratory parameters and biomarkers of the cytokine storm syndrome associated with severe and fatal COVID-19 cases.
METHODS
A search with standardized descriptors and synonyms was performed on November 28th, 2020 of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, LILACS, and IBECS to identify studies of interest. Grey literature searches and snowballing techniques were additionally utilized to identify yet-unpublished works and related citations. Two review authors independently screened the retrieved titles and abstracts, selected eligible studies for inclusion, extracted data from the included studies, and then assessed the risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Eligible studies were those including laboratory parameters-including serum interleukin-6 levels-from mild, moderate, or severe COVID-19 cases. Laboratory parameters, such as interleukin-6, ferritin, hematology, C-Reactive Protein, procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, and D-dimer, were extracted from the studies. Meta-analyses were conducted using the laboratory data to estimate mean differences with associated 95% confidence intervals.
DATA SYNTHESIS
The database search yielded 9,620 records; 40 studies (containing a total of 9,542 patients) were included in the final analysis. Twenty-one studies (n = 4,313) assessed laboratory data related to severe COVID-19 cases, eighteen studies (n = 4,681) assessed predictors for fatal COVID-19 cases and one study (n = 548) assessed laboratory biomarkers related to severe and fatal COVID-19 cases. Lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated levels of interleukin-6, ferritin, D-dimer, aspartate aminotransferase, C-Reactive-Protein, procalcitonin, creatinine, neutrophils and leucocytes were associated with severe and fatal COVID-19 cases.
CONCLUSIONS
This review points to interleukin-6, ferritin, leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, C-Reactive Protein, procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, and D-dimer as important biomarkers of cytokine storm syndrome. Elevated levels of interleukin-6 and hyperferritinemia should be considered as red flags of systemic inflammation and poor prognosis in COVID-19.
Topics: Biomarkers; C-Reactive Protein; COVID-19; Cytokine Release Syndrome; Ferritins; Humans; Interleukin-6; Leukocytes; SARS-CoV-2; Severity of Illness Index
PubMed: 34185801
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253894 -
European Heart Journal. Acute... Sep 2020Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic impacting 213 countries/territories and more than 5,934,936 patients worldwide. Cardiac injury has been reported... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Cardiac injury is associated with severe outcome and death in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic impacting 213 countries/territories and more than 5,934,936 patients worldwide. Cardiac injury has been reported to occur in severe and death cases. This meta-analysis was done to summarize available findings on the association between cardiac injury and severity of COVID-19 infection. Online databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched to detect relevant publications up to 20 May 2020, using relevant keywords. To pool data, a fixed- or random-effects model was used depending on the heterogeneity between studies. In total, 22 studies with 3684 COVID-19 infected patients (severe cases=1095 and death cases=365) were included in this study. Higher serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (weighted mean difference (WMD) =108.86 U/L, 95% confidence interval (CI)=75.93-141.79, <0.001) and creatine kinase-MB (WMD=2.60 U/L, 95% CI=1.32-3.88, <0.001) were associated with a significant increase in the severity of COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, higher serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (WMD=213.44 U/L, 95% CI=129.97-296.92, <0.001), cardiac troponin I (WMD=26.35 pg/mL, 95% CI=14.54-38.15, <0.001), creatine kinase (WMD=48.10 U/L, 95% CI=0.27-95.94, = 0.049) and myoglobin (WMD=159.77 ng/mL, 95% CI=99.54-220.01, <0.001) were associated with a significant increase in the mortality of COVID-19 infection. Cardiac injury, as assessed by serum analysis (lactate dehydrogenase, cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase (-MB) and myoglobin), was associated with severe outcome and death from COVID-19 infection.
Topics: Betacoronavirus; Biomarkers; COVID-19; Coronavirus Infections; Creatine Kinase, MB Form; Heart Diseases; Humans; Myocardium; Observational Studies as Topic; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; SARS-CoV-2; Troponin I
PubMed: 32567326
DOI: 10.1177/2048872620937165 -
Aging Jun 2020With the rising number of COVID-19 cases, global health resources are strained by the pandemic. No proven effective therapies or vaccines for this virus are currently... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
IMPORTANCE
With the rising number of COVID-19 cases, global health resources are strained by the pandemic. No proven effective therapies or vaccines for this virus are currently available. In order to maximize the use of limited medical resources, distinguishing between mild and severe patients as early as possible has become pivotal.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically review evidence for the risk factors of COVID-19 patients progressing to critical illness.
EVIDENCE REVIEW
We conducted a comprehensive search for primary literature in both Chinese and English electronic bibliographic databases. The American agency for health research and quality tool was used for quality assessment. A meta-analysis was undertaken using STATA version 15.0.
RESULTS
Twenty articles (4062 patients) were eligible for this systematic review and meta-analysis. First and foremost, we observed that elderly male patients with a high body mass index, high breathing rate and a combination of underlying diseases (such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) were more likely to develop severe COVID-19 infections. Second, compared with non-severe patients, severe patients had more serious symptoms such as fever and dyspnea. Besides, abnormal laboratory tests were more prevalent in severe patients than in mild cases, such as elevated levels of white blood cell counts, liver enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, as well as decreased levels of lymphocytes and albumin.
INTERPRETATION
This is the first systematic review exploring the risk factors for severe illness in COVID-19 patients. Our study may be helpful for clinical decision-making and optimizing resource allocation.
Topics: Aging; Betacoronavirus; COVID-19; Coronavirus Infections; Critical Illness; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 32575078
DOI: 10.18632/aging.103383 -
Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical... 2020- Purpose: Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 infection has become a global pandemic. The cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute cardiac... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
UNLABELLED
- Purpose: Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 infection has become a global pandemic. The cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute cardiac injury with unknown pathophysiologic mechanism has become increasingly prevalent. However, it is not yet understood how the extent of cardiac injury differs with the intensity of viral infection. In the current study, we aimed to assess the association between elevated cardiac biomarkers and the severity of COVID-19 infection.
METHODS
A systematic literature search was performed across PubMed and Embase databases from December 1, 2019 to July 10, 2020, to identify studies that reported cardiac biomarkers of troponin (TnI) and creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) in patients with COVID-19. These studies compared non-severe patients with severe patients, or survivors with non-survivors or medical patients with critically ill patients. The data were extracted for TnI, CK-MB, N-terminal-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-BNP), D-dimer, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin 6 (IL-6). Wherever possible, the data were pooled for meta-analysis (Review Manager, RevMan. version 5.3) with standard or weighted mean or median difference and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).
RESULTS
A total of 25 studies involving 5,626 patients were included in the present analysis. More severe COVID-19 infection was found to be associated with higher mean values of TnI (-0.54 [-0.72, -0.36]) (ng/mL), CK-MB (-1.55 [-2.23, -0.88]) (ng/mL) and (-4.75 [-13.31, 3.82]) (units/L), NT-BNP (-815.7 [-1073.97, -557.42]) (pg/mL), D-dimer (-1.4 [-2.04, -0.77]) (mcg/mL), and LDH (-176.59 [-224.11, -129.06]) (units/L), as well as CRP (-64.03 [-68.88, -59.19]) (mg/L) and IL-6 (-22.59 [-29.39, -15.79]) (pg/mL).
CONCLUSIONS
There is significant association between elevated cardiac biomarkers and the severity of COVID-19, which underlines the increased risk of acute cardiac injury with more severe viral infection. This highlights the need to understand the cardiac history among the COVID-19 patients during initial assessment and for monitoring.
Topics: Biomarkers; COVID-19; Coronavirus Infections; Heart Diseases; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral
PubMed: 33086028
DOI: 10.18433/jpps31501 -
International Immunopharmacology Sep 2022Ozone adjuvant in COVID-19 management showed conflicting results in prior studies. Here, we aimed to comprehensively evaluate benefits and side effects of ozone as... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
Ozone adjuvant in COVID-19 management showed conflicting results in prior studies. Here, we aimed to comprehensively evaluate benefits and side effects of ozone as adjuvant therapy in COVID-19 patients.
METHODS
Systematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Springer, medRxiv, and ProQuest for articles investigating ozone as adjuvant therapy in COVID-19. Clinical and laboratory outcomes, mortality, length of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and adverse events were assessed.
RESULTS
Thirteen studies were included in this review. Case-control studies, but not randomized controlled trials (RCTs), showed a decrease in mortality following ozone therapy (OR = 0.24 (95% CI [0.07-0.76]), p = 0.02, I = 0%, fixed-effect). However, ozone therapy did not improve the length of hospital stay (SMD = -0.99 (95 %CI -2.44 to 0.45), p = 0.18, I = 84%, random-effects) and ICU admission (RR = 0.57 (95 %CI [0.05-6.71]), I = 73%, p = 0.65, random-effects). Consecutive case control studies suggested that ozone therapy significantly improved levels of D-dimer (p = 0.0060), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH; p = 0.0209), C-reactive protein (CRP; p = 0.0040) and interleukin (IL)-6 (p = 0.0048) as compared to standard therapy alone.
CONCLUSIONS
The beneficial effect of ozone in COVID-19 management seems to be limited to the improvements of laboratory parameters among severe patients, including the reduction of IL-6, LDH, CRP, and D-dimer levels. Meanwhile, other study endpoints, such as mortality, length of stay and ICU admission, were not improved following ozone therapy, although it may partly be due to a shorter duration of viral clearance. Furthermore, no serious adverse event was reported following ozone therapy, suggesting its high safety profile. (PROSPERO ID: CRD42021278018).
Topics: Hospitalization; Humans; Intensive Care Units; Length of Stay; Ozone; COVID-19 Drug Treatment
PubMed: 35803132
DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109014