Lipids are indispensable in the SARS-CoV-2 infection process. The clinical significance of plasma lipid profile during COVID-19 has not been rigorously evaluated. We aim to ascertain the association of the plasma lipid profile with SARS-CoV-2 infection clinical evolution. Observational cross-sectional study including 1411 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and an available standard lipid profile prior (n: 1305) or during hospitalization (n: 297). The usefulness of serum total, LDL, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol to predict the COVID-19 prognosis (severe vs mild) was analysed. Patients with severe COVID-19 evolution had lower HDL cholesterol and higher triglyceride levels before the infection. The lipid profile measured during hospitalization also showed that a severe outcome was associated with lower HDL cholesterol levels and higher triglycerides. HDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were correlated with ferritin and D-dimer levels but not with CRP levels. The presence of atherogenic dyslipidaemia during the infection was strongly and independently associated with a worse COVID-19 infection prognosis. The low HDL cholesterol and high triglyceride concentrations measured before or during hospitalization are strong predictors of a severe course of the disease. The lipid profile should be considered as a sensitive marker of inflammation and should be measured in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: An urgent need in dietary assessment is the development of short tools that provide valid assessments of dietary quality for use in time-limited settings. The present study assessed concurrent and construct validity of the short Diet Quality Screener (sDQS) and brief Mediterranean Diet Screener (bMDSC) questionnaires. Design: Relative validity was measured by comparing three dietary quality indicesthe Diet Quality Index (DQI), the modified Mediterranean Diet Score (mMDS) and the Antioxidant Score (ANTOX-S) -derived from the two questionnaires with those from multiple 24 h recalls over 12 months. Construct validity was demonstrated by correlations between average nutrient intake recorded on multiple 24 h recalls and the DQI, mMDS and ANTOX-S derived by the short screeners. Setting: Both short questionnaires were administered to 102 participants recruited from a population-based survey in Spain. Results: DQI, mMDS and ANTOX-S correlated (P , 0?001) with the corresponding 24 h recall indices (r 5 0?61, 0?40 and 0?45, respectively). Limits of agreement lay between 96 and 126 %, 59 and 144 % and 61 and 118 % for the DQI, ANTOX-S and mMDS, respectively. Dietary intakes of fibre, vitamin C, vitamin E, Mg and K reported on the 24 h recalls were positively associated (P , 0?04) with the DQI, mMDS and ANTOX-S indices. Conclusions: The sDQS and bMDSC provide reasonable approximations to food-based dietary indices and accurately situate subjects within the indices constructed for the present validation study. Keywords Validation Short screener Construct validity Diet quality Mediterranean dietNon-communicable diseases such as CVD and cancer are estimated to be responsible for 60 % of world deaths, and dietary habits appear to be strong determinants for their development (1) . Therefore, analysis of dietary habits in large populations to identify dietary deficiencies is of paramount importance. FFQ are widely used to estimate food intake in large epidemiological settings. However, full-length FFQ are time consuming for participants and thus are unsuitable for routine clinical use and for non-dietary studies incorporating a broad spectrum of measurements. For this reason, several brief screening tools have been developed to assess intakes of major food groups. Most of these short dietary questionnaires focus on one or two dietary components (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) . Only a few brief screeners assess a broader range of dietary intake (8,9) , an approach that might help to identify subjects at nutritional risk by indicating their level of adherence to diet quality recommendations. To address the need for a brief, effective instrument, we designed short dietary screeners for two different settings. The brief Mediterranean Diet Screener (bMDSC) is intended to assess adherence to the healthy Mediterranean dietary pattern. The short Diet Quality Screener (sDQS) was created to estimate overall diet quality in primary-care settings. We calculated a modified Mediterranean Diet Score (mMDS) and an y A full roster of REGIC...

Aim Assessing the effect of statin therapy at hospital admission for COVID-19 on in-hospital mortality. Methods and Results Retrospective observational study. Patients taking statins were 11 years older and had significantly more comorbidities than patients who were not taking statins. A genetic matching (GM) procedure was performed prior to analysis of the mortality risk. A Cox proportional hazards model was used for the cause-specific hazard (CSH) function, and a competing-risks Fine and Gray (FG) model was also used to study the direct effects of statins on risk. Data from reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-confirmed 2157 SARS-CoV-2-infected patients (1234 men, 923 women; age: 67 y/o (IQR 54-78)) admitted to the hospital were retrieved from the clinical records in anonymized manner. 353 deaths occurred. 581 patients were taking statins. Univariate test after GM showed a significantly lower mortality rate in patients on statin therapy than the matched non-statin group (19.8% vs. 25.4%, χ2 with Yates continuity correction: p = 0.027). The mortality rate was even lower in patients (n = 336) who maintained their statin treatments during hospitalization compared to the GM non-statin group (17.4%; p = 0.045). The Cox model applied to the CSH function (HR = 0.58(CI: 0.39-0.89); p = 0.01) and the competing risks FG model (HR = 0.60(CI: 0.39-0.92); p = 0.02) suggest that statins are associated with reduced COVID-19-related mortality. Conclusions A lower SARS-CoV-2 infection-related mortality was observed in patients treated with statin therapy prior to hospitalization. Statin therapy should not be discontinued due to the global concern of the pandemic or in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the concurrent and construct validity of two diet-quality indices, a modified Mediterranean diet score (mMDS) and a Mediterranean-like diet score (MLDS) additionally incorporating unhealthy food choices, as determined by an FFQ. Design: A validation study assessing FFQ intake estimates compared with ten or more unannounced 24 h recalls. Pearson's correlation coefficients, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Bland-Altman plots and the limits of agreement method were used to assess the between-method agreement of scores. Construct validity was shown using associations between nutrient intakes derived from multiple 24 h recalls and the mMDS and MLDS derived from the FFQ. Setting: Gerona, Spain. Subjects: A total of 107 consecutively selected participants from a populationbased cross-sectional survey. Results: Pearson's correlations for the energy-adjusted mMDS and MLDS compared with multiple recalls were 0?48 and 0?62, respectively. The average FFQ energy-adjusted mMDS and MLDS were 102 % and 98 % of the recall-based mMDS and MLDS estimates, respectively. The FFQ under-and overestimated dietary recall estimates of the energy-adjusted MLDS by 28 % and 25 %, respectively, with slightly wider boundaries for the mMDS (31 % and 34 %). The ICC, which assesses absolute agreement, was similar to Pearson's correlations (mMDS 5 0?48 and MLDS 5 0?61). The mean differences between methods were similar across the range of average ratings for both scores, indicating the absence of bias. The FFQderived mMDS and MLDS correlated in the anticipated directions with intakes of eleven (73?3 %) and thirteen of fifteen nutrients (86?7 %), respectively. Conclusions: The FFQ provides valid estimates of diet quality as assessed by the mMDS and MLDS.