BackgroundAdverse effects in diabetic mothers offspring (DMO) are a major concern of increasing incidence. Among these, chronic central complications in DMO remain poorly understood, and in extreme cases, diabetes can essentially function as a gestational brain insult. Nevertheless, therapeutic alternatives for DMO are limited.MethodsTherefore, we have analyzed the central long-term complications in the offspring from CD1 diabetic mothers treated with streptozotozin, as well as the possible reversion of these alterations by insulin administration to neonates. Brain atrophy, neuronal morphology, tau phosphorylation, proliferation and neurogenesis were assessed in the short term (P7) and in the early adulthood (10 weeks) and cognitive function was also analyzed in the long-term.ResultsCentral complications in DMO were still detected in the adulthood, including cortical and hippocampal thinning due to synaptic loss and neuronal simplification, increased tau hyperphosphorylation, and diminished cell proliferation and neurogenesis. Additionally, maternal diabetes increased the long-term susceptibility to spontaneous central bleeding, inflammation and cognition impairment in the offspring. On the other hand, intracerebroventricular insulin administration to neonates significantly reduced observed alterations. Moreover, non-invasive intranasal insulin reversed central atrophy and tau hyperphosphorylation, and rescued central proliferation and neurogenesis. Vascular damage, inflammation and cognitive alterations were also comparable to their counterparts born to nondiabetic mice, supporting the utility of this pathway to access the central nervous system.ConclusionsOur data underlie the long-term effects of central complications in DMO. Moreover, observed improvement after insulin treatment opens the door to therapeutic alternatives for children who are exposed to poorly controlled gestational diabetes, and who may benefit from more individualized treatments.

A high risk of thrombotic complications has been observed among severely ill COVID-19 patients. Viscoelastic tests (VET) have shown a hypercoagulable profile in these patients, although so far there is no clear evidence on the use of these tools as predictors of risk in the clinical course of patients. In this study we aimed to evaluate the association between Quantra® sonorheometry VET parameters, standard coagulation tests and inflammatory markers in 69 patients with COVID-19 on hospital admission with disease severity and outcome. Inflammatory markers were elevated in a high percentage of patients, as were coagulation-related parameters such as fibrinogen and D-dimer levels. Quantra® sonorheometry analysis revealed increased clot stiffness (CS), especially due to increased fibrinogen contribution (FCS) in 63.7%. Analysis of clot stability to lysis (CSL) on the Quantra showed a value of 100%, suggesting hypofibrinolysis, in 32.4%. Age > 65 years, elevated values of fibrinogen, D-dimer, LDH, increased CS and CSL were significantly associated with worsening disease. The combination of elevated FCS and D-dimer values showed a particularly high prognostic value in distinguishing patients with severe symptomatology. In conclusion, FCS measured by Quantra® system and its combination with D-dimer could be established as a powerful tool to identify poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients on hospital admission.

Background: Post-transplant high dose cyclophosphamide (PT-CY) effectively prevents graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after unmanipulated HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The use of PT-CY in HLA-identical donor is less explored. In this study, we analyzed the results of PT-CY for GVHD prophylaxis in matched unrelated donor (MUD) HSCT and compared them with those obtained after prophylaxis with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), methotrexate (MTX) and cyclosporine (CsA). Methods: 132 matched unrelated donor HSCT from 4 Spanish centers have been analyzed: 60 performed between 2010 and 2018 using ATG-MTX-CsA and 72 performed between 2014 and 2018 using PT-CY. Results: Baseline characteristics and post-transplant complications are shown in Table 1. Peripheral blood was used as graft source in 92% of the patients in the ATG group and in 78% in the PT-CY group. GVHD prophylaxis consisted in rabbit ATG either 2mg/kg days -4 to -2 (41 patients, 68%) or 0.5mg/m2 on day -3 followed by 1mg/kg days -2 and -3 (19 patients, 32%), MTX days +1, +3, +6 and +11, and CsA from day -1 in the ATG group. The PT-CY group received cyclophosphamide 50 mg/kg/d on days +3 and +4, followed by either CsA or tacrolimus plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) from day +5 in 30 patients (42%), or cyclophosphamide on days +3 and +5 combined with CsA or tacrolimus in 42 patients (58%; 16 out of them also received sirolimus due to 9/10 HLA-match). Cumulative incidence of grade II-IV (67% vs 46%, p=0.008) and III-IV (34% vs 3%, p=0.003) acute GVHD, were significantly higher in the ATG group (Figure 1). There were no differences in the 2-year cumulative incidence of chronic moderate to severe GVHD (23% vs 24%, p=0.86). After a median follow-up of 78 months for the ATG group and 26 months for the PT-CY group, no differences were found in the 2-year overall survival (58% vs 60%, p=0.475), 2-year event-free survival (51% vs 50%, p=0.961) and the composite endpoint of GVHD-free and relapse-free survival (44% vs 40%, p=0.742). The 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse (22% vs 26%, p=0.67) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) (24% vs 22%, p=0.68) were also similar between both groups. However, NRM in the ATG group was due to GVHD in 9 out of 16 patients, while in the PT-CY group NRM was mostly due to infections and organ toxicity and only 3 out of 15 patients died due to GVHD. The incidence of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome was low in both groups (0% vs 4%, p=0.11). CMV reactivation rates were similar (40% vs 51%, p=0.191). However, both hemorrhagic cystitis and EBV reactivation were higher in the ATG group (56% vs 12%, p=0.00, and 5% vs 0%, p=0.05, respectively). Conclusions: In our experience, GVHD prophylaxis using PT-CY combined with additional immunosuppression after MUD HSCT, using mostly peripheral blood as graft source, resulted in lower incidence of aGVHD compared to prophylaxis based on ATG-MTX-CsA. Although no impact on non-relapse mortality was observed, GVHD associated mortality was higher in the ATG group as well as cystitis and EBV reactivations. Prospective studies with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these observations. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: High incidence of life-threatening thrombotic complications is observed in severely ill COVID-19 patients. D-dimer may help evaluate disease severity and predict outcomes at hospital admission. However, its non-specificity and long analysis times strongly constrain its clinical value. Viscoelastic tests (VET) are widely available rapid point-of-care devices that have been shown to detect a hypercoagulable state (increased clot stiffness and fibrinolysis shutdown) as major contributors of the thrombotic complication in COVID-19. Nevertheless, based on the data obtained so far, definitive conclusions have not been drawn. Objectives: We aim to evaluate the association between VET parameters, standard coagulation tests and inflammation markers assessed in COVID-19 patients at hospital admission with disease severity and outcomes. Patients/Methods: A total of 69 COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization were included in the study. The pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic state was analyzed by a panel of inflammation markers (IL-6, CRP, LDH, ferritin), routine coagulation tests (PT, aPTT, platelet count, fibrinogen, D-dimer) and a SEER sonorheometry VET profile (Quantra System). Results: Inflammatory markers IL-6, CRP, LDH and ferritin were elevated in a high percentage of patients (73.6%, 89.2%, 57.1% and 52.4%), as were coagulation-related parameters such as fibrinogen (81.4%) and D-dimer levels (66.2%). Quantra analysis revealed increased clot stiffness (CS) in 34.8%, particularly due to increased fibrinogen contribution (FCS) in 63.7%. Increased clot stability to lysis (CSL) was observed in 32.4%. Age > 65 years, elevated values of fibrinogen, D-dimer, LDH, increased clot stiffness and resistance to clot lysis were significantly associated with worsening disease. The Quantra FCS parameter showed a particularly high prognostic value in distinguishing patients with severe symptomatology. Conclusion: The global study of hemostasis by the whole blood point-of-care Quantra VET system may be a powerful tool for identifying poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients at hospital admission. In particular, FCS measured by Quantra could be established as a plausible prognostic marker to aid the clinical management of COVID-19 patients.