BACKGROUND & AIMS:We compared clinical, laboratory, radiological, and outcome features of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) with pneumonia, with vs without diarrhea. METHODS:We performed a retrospective, single-center analysis of 84 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in Wuhan Union Hospital, China, from January 19 through February 7, 2020. Cases were confirmed by real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Blood samples were analyzed for white blood cell count, lymphocyte count, alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and in some cases, immunoglobulins, complement, lymphocyte subsets, and cytokines. Virus RNA was detected in stool samples by real-time PCR. RESULTS:Of the 84 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, 26 (31%) had diarrhea. The duration of fever and dyspnea in patients with diarrhea was significantly longer than those without diarrhea (all P < .05). Stool samples from a higher proportion of patients with diarrhea tested positive for virus RNA (69%) than from patients without diarrhea (17%) (P < .001). As of February 19, a lower proportion of patients with diarrhea had a negative result from the latest throat swab for SARS-CoV-2 (77%) than patients without diarrhea (97%) (P [ .010), during these patients' hospitalization. Of 76 patients with a negative result from their latest throat swab test during hospitalization, a significantly higher proportion of patients with diarrhea had a positive result from the retest for SARS-CoV-2 in stool (45%) than patients without diarrhea (20%) (P [ .039). CONCLUSIONS:At a single center in Wuhan, China, 31% of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia had diarrhea. A significantly higher proportion of patients with diarrhea have virus RNA in stool than patients without diarrhea. Elimination of SARS-CoV-2 from stool takes longer than elimination from the nose and throat.

As of March 9, 2020, more than 100,000 cases of coronavirus disease-2019 were reported in more than 100 countries with thousands deaths globally. It is now known that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new type of coronavirus causing COVID-19 infection (1). The most common clinical feature of SARS-CoV-2 infection is fever (2). Moreover, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most frequent cause of admission to intensive care unit in COVID-19 patients (1). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a key enzyme in the glycolytic pathway and a cytoplasmic enzyme found in most organs, has been linked to inflammation response and cell damage. Currently, the role of serum LDH levels in ARDS patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 is unclear.Between January 30 and Feb 22, 2020, 77 fever patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection were admitted to the hospital of Changsha Public Health Center. In all patients, fever was defined assessed as follows: reported a fever history during the time from the onset symptom to admission, fever was defined as a rise in body temperature and presence of axillary temperature ≥37.0 ℃. Exclusion criteria included onset symptoms without fever, and patients with cancer. Clinical information of COVID-19 patients such as age, gender, days from onset of symptoms, medical history, physical examination, clinical presentation, laboratory tests, and imaging studies during admission were collected. Laboratory findings including erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin,

ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio and metabolic syndrome in the elderly population of China, and to determine the best critical value of TG/HDL-C in higher risk of metabolic syndrome in this population.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingOur study was conducted in a community physical examination centre in Wuhan, China between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016.ParticipantsThe physical examination data from 1267 elderly people (aged over 65 years) in the community were analysed in this study. The average age of the study participants was 71.64±5.605 years.Primary outcome measuresCorrelation between the TG/HDL-C ratio and metabolic syndrome; the optimum cut-off of the TG/HDL-C ratio for the prediction of metabolic syndrome.ResultsThe TG/HDL-C ratio showed a significant positive correlation with metabolic syndrome (r=0.420, p<0.001) in the elderly Chinese population. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the TG/HDL-C ratio was an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome (OR=3.07 (95% CI: 2.402 to 3.924), p<0.001) after adjusting for blood pressure, blood glucose, age, sex and body mass index. The receiver operating characteristic curves of TG/HDL-C ratio and metabolic syndrome showed that in the elderly population, a TG/HDL-C ratio of 1.49 can be used as the critical value for a higher risk of metabolic syndrome. At this value, the specificity and sensitivity of the measure were optimal (80.8% and 72.4%, respectively).ConclusionIn this study, we found a significant correlation between TG/HDL-C ratio and metabolic syndrome. And high TG/HDL ratio suggests a higher risk of metabolic syndrome among an elderly Chinese population.