Background: A key role of oxidative stress has been highlighted in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. However, little has been said about oxidative stress status (OSS) of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in intensive care unit (ICU). Material and Methods: Biomarkers of the systemic OSS included antioxidants (9 assays), trace elements (3 assays), inflammation markers (4 assays) and oxidative damage to lipids (3 assays). Results: Blood samples were drawn after 9 (7–11) and 41 (39–43) days of ICU stay, respectively in 3 and 6 patients. Vitamin C, thiol proteins, reduced glutathione, γ-tocopherol, β-carotene and PAOT® score were significantly decreased compared to laboratory reference values. Selenium concentration was at the limit of the lower reference value. By contrast, the copper/zinc ratio (as a source of oxidative stress) was higher than reference values in 55% of patients while copper was significantly correlated with lipid peroxides (r = 0.95, p < 0.001). Inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein and myeloperoxidase) were significantly increased when compared to normals. Conclusions: The systemic OSS was strongly altered in critically ill COVID-19 patients as evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation but also by deficits in some antioxidants (vitamin C, glutathione, thiol proteins) and trace elements (selenium).

The intake of OC significantly increases the lipid peroxidation in women aged 40-48 years. This may represent a potential cardiovascular risk factor for these women.

A neurysms are permanent vascular dilatations that involve the aorta in ≤10% of subjects >65 years of age, with more than half localized in the infrarenal aorta.1,2 Their rupture causes death in ≤90% of cases, 2,3 and according to recent trials, the operative mortality does not exceed 5%. 4 The aneurysm maximal diameter identifies the time point when the risk of rupture exceeds that of repair, hence indicating a preventive intervention in asymptomatic patients. [5][6][7] Research, however, has been driven toward more patient-specific risk assessment because aneurysms above the critical diameter thresholds may never rupture, whereas smaller aneurysms will. 8-10 Clinical Perspective on p 91Rupture occurs when the wall stress exceeds the wall strength. Aortic geometry can be used for finite element simulations (FES) 11,12 providing, among other estimates, wall stress. Before rupture occurs, wall stress is involved in aneurysmal expansion and remodeling; the latter triggers and amplifies numerous biological mechanisms that may result in apposition of an intraluminal thrombus with its own biomechanical 13 and biological characteristics. [14][15][16][17] The biological activity of the aortic wall can be evaluated indirectly through energy consumption using 18 F-fluoro-deoxy-glucose ( 18 F-FDG) as a tracer for positron emission tomographic (PET) imaging. 18 18 F-FDG uptake is not uncommon in aortic aneurysms 19,20 and has been shown to correlate with the amount of inflammatory cells, proteolytic activity, and risk of rupture. [21][22][23] Xu et al 24 previously evidenced associations among biological activity, wall stress estimates, and rupture in 3 patients with aortic aneurysms. The actual relationship between biomechanical parameters and biological activity, however, has never been studied in large series.Our study was designed to assess the relationship and the independent determinants between biomechanical estimates of wall stress and 18 F-FDG uptake in unruptured aortic aneurysms. The mean number of these areas per examination was 1.6 (18 of 11) in thoracic aortic aneurysms versus 0.25 (14 of 57) in abdominal aortic aneurysms, whereas the mean number of increased uptake areas colocalizing with highest wall stress and stress/strength index areas was 0.55 (6 of 11) and 0.02 (1 of 57), respectively. Quantitatively, 18 F-FDG positron emission tomographic uptake correlated positively with both wall stress and stress/strength index (P<0.05). Background-The18 F-FDG uptake was particularly high in subjects with personal history of angina pectoris and familial aneurysm. Conclusions-Increased Methods Study PatientsThis study is part of a larger trial aiming to determine the role of 18 F-FDG PET in aortic aneurysm rupture risk assessment as approved by the institutional review board. 25 It included 53 patients (45 men) with aortic aneurysm who underwent ≥1 whole-body 18 F-FDG PET examination using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) for attenuation correction in a single center within a 5-year period. All pat...

The present study emphasizes the potential role of the oxidative stress in AAA disease and suggests that an antioxidant therapy could be of interest to delay AAA progression.