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Introduction: Accumulating evidence indicates the effectiveness of cryogenic temperature interventions in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and chronic low back pain. The application of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) in psychiatric aspects of medicine was also noted. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms explaining the beneficial effect of WBC on mood disorders remain unclear. The study aimed to assess the efficacy of repetitive short exposure to extremely low temperatures (WBC) on mood, quality of life as well as on biochemical measures among people diagnosed with depressive episode undergoing pharmacological treatment. Materials and Methods: Prospective randomized, double-blind sham-controlled protocol was used. The study enrolled 92 medically stable adults (aged 20-73 years) with a diagnosis of a depressive episode. The participants were randomly allocated and exposed to 10 whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) sessions (−110°C till −160°C [the experimental group (EG)] or to low, but not cryogenic temperatures −50°C [the control group (CG)]. Thirty participants in the EG and 26 in CG completed the whole study. The primary outcome measures were depressive symptoms evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) as well as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D 17). The quality of life, quality of sexual life, acceptance of the disease and self-reported mood, vitality, and sleep quality were assessed as secondary outcome measures. The study was registered at Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619001600134). Results: The results show evidence for a statistically significant difference in the clinical assessment of depressive symptoms according to HAM-D 17 scale (T4 by group interaction p=0.02), BDI-II (T2 time by group interaction p=0.01), cognitive-affective BDI dimension (T4 by group interaction p=0.00), and somatic BDI dimension (T4 by group

In recent years, bladder cancer (BC) has been reported as one of the most commonly occurring cancers among older people, and its detection is still difficult. Therefore, there is a need to search for additional useful markers of disease. Some studies indicate the important roles of inflammation and oxidative stress (OS) in bladder tumour pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to examine the levels of selected markers of OS, inflammation and angiogenesis in blood plasma/serum samples derived from patients with BC, and a healthy control group. Moreover the degrees of change and strength of correlation between values of the analysed markers and tumour stage or grade were estimated. Concentrations of: malondialdehyde (MDA) and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), and total antioxidant status (TAS) divided into slow (TAS-s) and fast (TAS-f) antioxidants (spectrophotometric measurement), angiogenin (ANG) (immunoenzymatic method) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (immunoturbidimetric method) were determined in both the studied groups. The majority of values of the examined parameters were significantly higher among patients, while subfractions of TAS were significantly lower in comparison to the control group. Moreover, different values and different strengths of correlation between the examined parameters and cancer stage or grade were noticed. The most significant changes for CRP were observed in T2 and for MDA in G3, while the lowest TAS-f activity was revealed in G1 patients. Increased values of OS parameters, angiogenesis and inflammation markers, in combination with reduced TAS subfractions activity in BC are important in its pathogenesis and will be helpful in estimation of patients' condition.

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) are at high risk of unfavorable courses of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with HF. Methods: Data of patients hospitalized in a tertiary hospital in Poland between March 2020 and May 2021 with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were analyzed. The study population was divided into a HF group (patients with a history of HF) and a non-HF group. Results: Out of 2184 patients (65 ± 13 years old, 50% male), 12% had a history of HF. Patients from the HF group were older, more often males, had more comorbidities, more often dyspnea, pulmonary and peripheral congestion, inflammation, and end-organ damage biomarkers. HF patients had longer and more complicated hospital stay, with more frequent acute HF development as compared with non-HF. They had significantly higher mortality assessed in hospital (35% vs. 12%) at three (53% vs. 22%) and six months (72% vs. 47%). Of 76 (4%) patients who developed acute HF, 71% died during hospitalization, 79% at three, and 87% at six months. Conclusions: The history of HF identifies patients with COVID-19 who are at high risk of in-hospital complications and mortality up to six months of follow-up.