Patients with severe undernutrition had lower current weight, BMI, MAC, and CC compared with well-nourished patients. Undernutrition did not increase the risk of death; however, it did increase the relative risk for a longer hospital stay by 2.5.

No abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is defined as a reproductive endocrine disease that results in a low-grade inflammatory and prooxidant state. Dietary factors, including omega-3 fatty acids, may have a key role in improving metabolic disorders in PCOS patients. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in patients with PCOS. A systematic literature search of Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus and Lilacs, until November 2019, was conducted. Randomized clinical trials that reported inflammatory and oxidative stress markers as endpoints in women with PCOS receiving omega-3 fatty acid supplementation were included. The pooled estimates of the weighted mean differences (WMD) and the standard mean differences (SMD) were calculated. Random effect models were adopted to measure the pooled outcomes. Among the 323 studies retrieved, 10 fulfilled the inclusion criteria for a meta-analysis. We founded a significant decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) [SMD: −0.29 (95%CI: −0.56 to −0.02) mg/L] and an increase of adiponectin [WMD: 1.42 (95%CI 1.09 to 1.76) ng/ml] concentrations in the intervention group when compared with the placebo group. No statistically significant results were found in the meta-analysis for visfatin, nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH) or malondialdehyde (MDA) levels or total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The data suggest that supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids could reduce the inflammatory state in women with PCOS, through a decrease in hs-CRP and an increase in adiponectin levels.

No abstract

Hydroxyurea has long been used for the treatment of sickle cell anemia (SCA), and its clinical effectiveness is related to the induction of fetal hemoglobin (HbF), a major modifier of SCA phenotypes. However, there is substantial variability in response to hydroxyurea among patients with SCA. While some patients show an increase in HbF levels and an ameliorated clinical condition under low doses of hydroxyurea, other patients present a poor effect or even develop toxicity. However, the effects of genetic polymorphisms on increasing HbF levels in response to hydroxyurea in patients with SCA (Hb SS) have been less explored. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to assess whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affect HbF levels in patients with SCA treated with hydroxyurea. Moreover, we performed pathway analysis using the set of genes with SNPs found to be associated with changes in HbF levels in response to hydroxyurea among the included studies. The systematic literature search was conducted on Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, and Web of Science. Seven cohort studies were included following our inclusion and exclusion criteria. From the 728 genetic polymorphisms examined in the included studies, 50 different SNPs of 17 genes were found to be associated with HbF changes in patients with SCA treated with hydroxyurea, which are known to affect baseline HbF but are not restricted to them. Enrichment analysis of this gene set revealed reactome pathways with the lowest adjusted p-values and highest combined scores related to VEGF ligand–receptor interactions (R-HSA-194313; R-HSA-195399) and the urea cycle (R-HSA-70635). Pharmacogenetic studies of response to hydroxyurea therapy in patients with SCA are still scarce and markedly heterogeneous regarding candidate genes and SNPs examined for association with HbF changes and outcomes, suggesting that further studies are needed. The reviewed findings highlighted that similar to baseline HbF, changes in HbF levels upon hydroxyurea therapy are likely to be regulated by multiple loci. There is evidence that SNPs in intron 2 of BCL11A affect HbF changes in response to hydroxyurea therapy, a potential application that might improve the clinical management of SCA.Systematic Review Registration: (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=208790).