Background: The severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a multifactorial condition. An increasing body of evidence argues for a direct implication of vitamin D deficiency, low serum calcium on poor outcomes in COVID-19 patients. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between these two factors and COVID-19 in-hospital mortality. Materials: This is a prospective study, including 120 severe cases of COVID-19, admitted at the department of Reanimation-Anesthesia. Vitamin D was assessed by an immuno-fluoroassay method. Total serum calcium by a colorimetric method, then, corrected for serum albumin levels. The association with in-hospital mortality was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve, proportional Cox regression analyses and the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: Hypovitaminosis D and hypocalcemia were very common, occurring in 75% and 35.8% of patients. When analyzing survival, both were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality in a dose-effect manner (p Log-Rank ¼ 0.009 and 0.001 respectively). A cutoff value of 39 nmol/l for vitamin D and 2.05 mmol/l for corrected calcemia could predict poor prognosis with a sensitivity of 76% and 84%, and a specificity of 69% and 60% respectively. Hazard ratios were (HR ¼ 6.9, 95% CI [2.0-24.1], p ¼ 0.002 and HR ¼ 6.2, 95% CI [2.1-18.3], p ¼ 0.001) respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the high frequency of hypocalcemia and hypovitaminosis D in severe COVID-19 patients and provides further evidence of their potential link to poor shortterm prognosis. It is, therefore, possible that the correction of hypocalcemia, as well as supplementation with vitamin D, may improve the vital prognosis.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 is a very fast-spreading infectious disease. Severe forms are marked by a high mortality rate. The objective of this study is to identify routine biomarkers that can serve as early predictors of the disease progression. This is a prospective, single-center, cohort study involving 330 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients who were admitted at the University Hospital of Blida, Algeria in the period between the 27th of March and 22nd of April 2020. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive performance of biomarkers, assessed at admission, in the early warning of progression toward severity. Multivariate logistic regression was used to quantify the independent risk for each marker. After an average follow-up period of 13.9 ± 3.5 days, 143 patients (43.3%) were classified as severe cases. Six biological abnormalities were identified as potential risk markers independently related to the severity: elevated urea nitrogen (>8.0 mmol/L, OR ¼ 9.3 [2.7-31.7], p < .00001), elevated CRP (>42mg/L, OR ¼ 7.5 [2.4-23.3], p ¼ .001), decreased natremia (<133. 6 mmol/L, OR ¼ 6.0 [2.0-17.4], p ¼ .001), decreased albumin (<33.5 g/L, OR ¼ 5.2 [1.7-16.6], p ¼ .003), elevated LDH (>367 IU/L, OR ¼ 4.9 [1.7-14.2], p ¼ .003) and elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (>7.99, OR ¼ 4.2, [1.4-12.2], p ¼ .009). These easy-to-measure, time-saving and very low-cost parameters have been shown to be effective in the early prediction of the COVID-19 severity. Their use at the early admission stage can improve the risk stratification and management of medical care resources in order to reduce the mortality rate.

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Objective: Several studies have shown an association between low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular complications are the most prevalent cause of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The aim of our study was to determine the risk factors related to macroangiopathy among hypertensive diabetic patients with vitamin D deficiency. Design and method: Retrospective study, conducted on 1756 type 2 diabetics with hypertension in whom a vitamin D assay was done in the internal medicine department in the area of Blida during the period from April 2020 to November 2022. Results: 63.1% of patients had high blood pressure at the first examination. In addition, hyperuricemia was present in 39.8% patients, NASH (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) was also present in 34.6% patients, hypertriglyceridemia in 48.3% patients, hypercholesterolemia in 60.2% patients and mixed dyslipidemia in 46.7% patients. Microalbuminuria, as a cardiovascular risk factor was positive in 39.2% patients. 61 % patients had at least one macrovascular complication. The univariate analysis showed a significant association between macroangiopathy and male gender (p = 0.029), HbA1c > 9.5% (p = 0.008), the cumulative number of cardiovascular risk factors > 5 (p 24 pg / mL (p = 0.007). Multivariate regression analysis showed that cumulative cardiovascular risk factors > 5 (OR = 13.9 [95% CI: 1.4 -137.6], p = 0.024), presence of microangiopathy (OR = 22 [95% CI: 2.2 - 215.4], p = 0.008) and HbA1c > 9.5% (OR = 36.6 [95% CI: 2.6 - 505]; p = 0.007) were predictor factors of macroangiopathy among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and Vitamine D deficiency. Conclusions: In hypertensive diabetic patients, cardiovascular diseases were the consequence of the additive effects of traditional risk factors with the participation of vitamin D deficiency.

Objective: The association diabetes-high blood pressure (BP) is frequent. It increases the cardiovascular risk and accelerates the onset of degenerative complications of diabetes. The aim of the present study was to test the effect of the hypertension-diabetes association on the degenerative complications of diabetes and to determine the proportion and the factors associated with uncontrolled hypertension. Design and method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 2129 type 2 diabetic hypertensive patients aged 40 years or over, followed in the internal medicine department of hospital of Blida (Algeria), between February 2020 to November 2022. Results: The average age was 46 ± 6.6 years, with a female predominance (73.5%). Hypertension was present in 60.4% of normal weight patients, in 55.1% of overweight patients and 62.8% of obese patients with a significant difference (p = 0.03). Macroangiopathy was observed in 57% of patients with mainly ischemic heart disease (44%). It was significantly more frequent in patients with LDL-c greater than 1.3 g/l and hypoHDLemia less than 0.35 g/l. The proportion of uncontrolled hypertension (BP > 140/90) was 55% including 13% of cases of severe hypertension (BP > 180/110). Resistant hypertension was found in 21% of cases. This poor blood pressure control was correlated with insulin treatment (p = 0.05), insufficient physical activity (p = 0.03), treatment duration greater than 10 years (p = 0.01) and a number of tablets greater than 2 (p = 0.031). We did not find a significant difference between the level of BP control and the seniority of diabetes, the body mass index, the presence of degenerative complications, the intellectual and socioeconomic level. The analytical study showed no positive association between the onset of hypertension and the following factors: the HbA1c level and the duration of diabetes progression. We found a strong correlation between the degenerative complications of diabetes and the presence of hypertension: retinopathy (p = 0.05), neuropathy (p = 0.02), nephropathy (p = 0.001), coronary artery disease (p = 0.001), cerebrovascular accidents (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Our study highlights the positive effect of hypertension on the degenerative complications of diabetes. Optimal control of blood pressure figures is imperative to limit the development of these complications and improve life expectancy.