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Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are at increased risk of mortality and morbidity with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to severe immune dysfunction. Methods:A literature search was performed on PubMed, Cochrane, and Clinical trials.gov from the date of inception to 12/08/2021. We identified 19 original studies reporting data on COVID-19 in HSCT recipients after screening 292 articles.Data were extracted following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines. Quality evaluation was done using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) quality assessment tool. Inter-study variance was calculated using Der Simonian-Laird Estimator. Pooled analysis was conducted using MetaXL. A randomeffects model was used to estimate the proportions with 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: Of 6711 patients in 19 studies, 2031 HSCT patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were analyzed. The median age of patients was 56.9 (range 1-81.6) years, and 63% patients were men according to 14 studies. The median time from transplant to SARS-CoV-2 infection for autologous (auto) and allogeneic (allo) HSCT patients was 23.2 (0.33-350.5) months and 16.4 (0.2-292.7) months, respectively. The median follow-up time after COVID-19 diagnosis was 28 (0-262) days. The COVID-19 mortality rate was 19% (95% CI 0.15-0.24, I 2 = 76%, n = 373/2031). The pooled mortality rate was 17% (95% CI 0.12-0.24, I 2 = 78%, n = 147/904) in auto-HSCT patients and 21% (95% CI 0.16-0.25, I 2 = 60%, n = 231/1103) in allo-HSCT patients.Conclusions: HSCT recipients have a high risk of mortality and clinical complications due to COVID-19. There is a need for ongoing vigilance, masks, and social distancing, vaccination, and aggressive management of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HSCT recipients.

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ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to assess magnetic resonance (MR) planimetric measurements and MR parkinsonism index (MRPI) in differentiating progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) from Parkinson’s disease (PD) using 1.5 and 3 T MRI scanner.Subjects and methodsAfter ethical approval was obtained, analysis of 34 consecutive patients with PSP, 34 patients with PD and 34 healthy controls (HCs) was performed. HCs were age-matched adults without any history of neurodegenerative disease or movement disorders. Retrospective data from the past 10 years (from January 2006 to December 2015) were obtained from the Hospital Information Management System, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. The measurements of pons area–midbrain area ratio (P/M) and MCP width–superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP) width ratio (MCP/SCP) were used, and MRPI was calculated by the formula ([P/M]×[MCP/SCP]).ResultsMidbrain area and SCP width in patients with PSP (19 males, 15 females; mean age =66.7 years) were significantly (P<0.001) smaller than in patients with PD (20 males, 14 females; mean age =66.7 years) and control participants (17 males, 17 females; mean age =66.1 years). P/M and MCP/SCP were significantly higher in patients with PSP than in patients with PD and control participants. All measurements showed some overlap of values between patients with PSP and patients from PD group and control participants. MRPI value was significantly higher in patients with PSP (mean 21.00) than in patients with PD (mean 9.50; P<0.001) and control participants (mean 9.6; P<0.001), without any overlap of values among groups. No correlation was found between the duration of disease, PSP rating scale, PSP staging system and MRPI in this study. No patient with PSP received a misdiagnosis when the index was used (sensitivity and specificity, 100%).ConclusionMRPI should be made an essential part of all MRI brain reporting whenever differentiation between PD and PSP is sought for.

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Highland barley brewer's spent grain (BSG), being China's brewing industry's major by-product is the focus of current research. The aim of the present study was to scrutinize the effects of ultrasound and heat pretreatments on enzymatic hydrolysis of highland barley BSG protein hydrolysates (HBSGPH) and evaluate the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis time on the antioxidant activity of hydrolysates by Alcalase. Different ultrasonic waves (40 and 50 kHz) and heat pretreatment temperatures (50 and 100°C) were chosen and the pretreatment time was 15, 30, and 60 min. The obtained results revealed that the ultrasound pretreatment of highland barley BSG protein at 40 and 50 kHz has significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced about 57 and 67% of oxygen radical absorption capacity of obtained hydrolysate over the untreated substrate. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhdrazl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (DRSA) 28%, metal chelating activity (MCA) 54%, superoxide radical scavenging activity (SRSA) 18%, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (HRSA) 25% of HBSGPH at 50 kHz were also improved (P < 0.05) significantly. HBSGPH from heat treatment at 100°C showed no SRSA and HRSA scavenging activities but improved significantly (P < 0.05) about 27% ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay values. In the present work, the resultant HBSGPH had stronger antioxidant properties with ultrasound pretreatment at 50 kHz and the enzymatic hydrolysis after 4 hr was facilitating the enzymatic release of antioxidant peptides from HBSGPH.Practical Application: Highland barley BSG is attracting toward natural food products due to its potent natural antioxidants to overcome the risk of diseases and are beneficial for human health.

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