Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the caused disease-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has affected so far >6,000,000 people worldwide, with variable grades of severity, and has already inflicted >350,000 deaths. SARS-CoV-2 infection seems severely affected by background diseases such as diabetes mellitus and its related complications, that seem to be favoring the most severe manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 and, therefore, require special attention in clinical care units. The present literature review focus on addressing several hypotheses explaining why diabetic patients could develop multi-organ failure in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infections. Undoubtedly, as diabetes related complications are present it is expected to emphasize the severity of the COVID-19. Dermatological complications can occur and worsen in diabetic patients, and diseases such as acanthosis nigricans and psoriasis are prone to more severe manifestations of COVID-19. Approaches to treat SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, based on different solutions i.e. plasma therapy, use of antiviral compounds, development of vaccines or new therapeutic agents are ongoing.
Autologous cells replacement therapy by liver to pancreas transdifferentiation (TD) allows diabetic patients to be also the donors of their own therapeutic tissue. Aim: To analyze whether the efficiency of the process is affected by liver donors’ heterogeneity with regard to age, gender and the metabolic state. Materials & methods: TD of liver cells derived from nondiabetic and diabetic donors at different ages was characterized at molecular and cellular levels, in vitro. Results: Neither liver cells proliferation nor the propagated cells TD efficiency directly correlate with the age (3–60 years), gender or the metabolic state of the donors. Conclusion: Human liver cells derived from a wide array of ages and metabolic states can be used for autologous cells therapies for diabetics.
Background
Insulin producing cells generated by liver cell transdifferentiation, could serve as an attractive source for regenerative medicine. The present study assesses the relationship between DNA methylation pTFs induced liver to pancreas transdifferentiation.
Results
The transdifferentiation process is associated with DNA demethylation, mainly at gene regulatory sites, and with increased expression of these genes. Active inhibition of DNA methylation promotes the pancreatic transcription factor-induced transdifferentiation process, supporting a causal role for DNA demethylation in this process.
Conclusions
Transdifferentiation is associated with global DNA hypomethylation, and with increased expression of specific demethylated genes. A combination of epigenetic modulators may be used to increase chromatin accessibility of the pancreatic transcription factors, thus promoting the efficiency of the developmental process.
Background: Liver cells represent an attractive source of cells for autologous regenerative medicine. The present study assesses the liver cells’ stability during in vitro expansion, as a prerequisite for therapeutic use. Results: The human liver cell cultures in this study were propagated efficiently in vitro for at least 12 passages. No significant changes in morphology, intracellular ultrastructures and characteristic markers expression were found during in vitro expansion of cells from all analyzed donors. However, expanded cells derived from male donors of >60 years old, lost the Y chromosome. Conclusion: Liver-derived cell cultures adopt a proliferative, stable mesenchymal phenotype, through an epithelial to mesenchymal transition process. The molecular and phenotypic changes of the cells during propagation are uniform, despite the heterogeneity of the different donors. Loss of Y chromosome occurs after cells’ propagation in elder male donors.
Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is a very important pathogenic link in children with gastroduodenal pathologies. The bacterial implication, in the pathogeny of the digestive diseases and in the development of some extradigestive diseases, is very well known nowadays. The prevalence of the infection differs between geografic areas, it is declining in the developed countries and it is high in the population of the countries in development. It is a fact that there are bacteria which affect specifically an organ, but in the same time, can lead to systemic alterations throughout the entire body. The chronic infection with H. Pylori is associated with anaemia, weight and height loss. The increase of the quality and accuracy inidentifying the H. Pylori infection leads to a low rate of complications of the infection by applying the correct and early treatment.
The infection with Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) represents an important issue of public health. Aim. Establishing the prevalence of H. pylori infection in children and presenting the cases according to the gastritis type by performing upper digestive endoscopies. Material and method. The retrospective study referred to a period of 5 years and included 1269 children evaluated by upper endoscopy to establish the H. pylori infection rate. Results. The frequency of H. pylori in the case of acute gastritis was significantly more reduced (34.78%) than in the case of chronic gastritis (54.94%). Referring to the 10 types of gastritis, the most frequent ones are purpuric (43.66%), nodular purpuric (25.93%) and nodular antral (15.84%). At the other end, atrophic and hypertrophic gastritis were positioned. The most frequent associations pointed out endoscopically are those with 1st degree esophagitis - 51.6%, duodenitis – 45.07% and purpuric duodenitis – 24.74%.Conclusions. The H. pylori infection is the most frequent etiologic factor for chronic gastritis (54.94%). The early identification of the infection is essential to destroy the bacteria and to prevent the development of various types of gastritis that are later on endoscopically identified.
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