Background. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection elicits inflammatory manifestations that relate with a “cytokine storm.” Objective. The aim of this research was to assess the role of circulating interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and other inflammatory markers in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on metabolic functions and accompanying clinical complications. Patients and Methods. A total of 165 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia were examined for medical features and inflammatory markers such as blood IL-6, CRP, ferritin, LDH, neutrophil/lymphocyte index (NLI), D-Dimer, and Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW). Regression analyses concerning electronically collected medical data were adjusted by appropriate factors and confounding variables. Results. Plasma IL-6 determinations evidenced a consistent association with hospital stay days, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, and mortality rates. Similar trends were found for other proinflammatory variables, where ferritin and NLI showed a remarkable value as surrogates. Hyperglycaemia and the Charlson Comorbidity Index Score were positively associated with the inflammatory response induced by the SARS-COV-2 infection. An unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking and alcoholic drinks consumption as well as excessive body adiposity influenced inflammatory-related outcomes in the screened patients. Conclusion. IL-6 together with other inflammatory biomarkers accompanied poor clinical and metabolic outcomes in COVID-19-infected patients. IL-6 may result in a suitable proxy to individually categorise patients in order to manage this infectious pandemic.

Interactions between anti-hypertensive agents (ACEI), comorbidities, inflammation, and stress status may impact hospital stay duration in COVID-19 patients. This retrospective study analyzed epidemiological data, comorbidities, metabolic/inflammatory markers, and clinical information from 165 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. In a multiple linear regression model, an IL-6 higher than 100 mg/L, glucose at admission (baseline levels at the hospital entry), and the interaction between ACEI administration and LDH predicted the days of hospital admission (P < 0.001). In conclusion, hypertensive patients suffering more severe inflammatory condition assessed by LDH levels clinically benefited more and reduced the hospital stay when prescribed ACEI agents than those with lower systemic baseline inflammation at admission.

Purpose. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are not considered typical microorganisms causing infective endocarditis (IE). The objective was to determine variables associated with IE in patients with CoNS bacteremia. Methods. Analysis of the clinical characteristics of patients with CoNS bacteremia admitted to a university hospital in Madrid (Spain) from 2021 to December 2022 according to the occurrence of IE. Results. During the study period, 106 patients with CoNS bacteremia were detected. Twelve patients presented IE (11.3%). Echocardiogram was performed in all patients with IE and in 73 patients without IE (78.5%; p = 0.117). Of the 7 patients with heart valve prostheses, 5 patients (71.4%) had IE (p < 0.001). Patients with IE more frequently had positive blood cultures more than 12 hours after the first extraction (58.3% vs. 10.2%; p < 0.001). There was a tendency to associate community-acquired bacteremia with an increased risk of IE (p = 0.075). Attributable mortality was higher in patients with IE relative to all other patients (16.7% vs. 1.1%; p = 0.033). The multivariate analysis included having valve prosthesis and persistent bacteremia for more than 12 hours. Both were significant: valve prosthesis OR 38.6 (95% CI 5.8–258; p < 0.001) and persistent bacteremia OR 2.6 (95% CI 1.1–6.8; p = 0.046). Conclusion. A high percentage of cases of CNS bacteremia may be due to IE. Some of the variables related to a higher risk of IE, such as having a valvular prosthesis or presenting positive blood cultures for more than 12 hours, should lead us to rule out or confirm the presence of IE by performing echocardiography.