Evidence is mounting to indicate that cancer patients may have more likelihood of having coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but lack consistency. A robust estimate is urgently needed to convey appropriate information to the society and the public, in the time of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis through a comprehensive literature search in major databases in English and Chinese, and two investigators conducted publication selection and data extraction independently. A meta-analysis was used to obtain estimates of pooled prevalence of cancer in patients with COVID-19 and determine the association of cancer with severe events, after assessment of potential heterogeneity, publication bias, and correction for the estimates when necessary. Total 38 studies comprising

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Purpose: We aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical features, laboratory and imaging results, and predictors of poor prognosis for patients with an initial diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) at the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University. Methods: Fifty patients with an initial diagnosis of AE who were admitted to our hospital from May 2014 to May 2018 were enrolled retrospectively. Clinical characteristics and experimental test data, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), were collected from medical records within 24 h of admission. Independent prognostic factors were determined by multivariate logistic regression analysis. A good or poor prognosis for patients was defined based on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). The correlation between the immunotherapy latency and prognostic mRS score was determined using the Spearman rank correlation test. Results: Univariate analysis indicated that increased NLR ( P = 0.001), decreased lymphocyte counts ( P = 0.001), low serum albumin ( P = 0.017), consciousness disorders ( P = 0.001), epileptic seizures ( P = 0.007), extrapyramidal symptoms ( P = 0.042), abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) findings ( P = 0.001), abnormal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings ( P = 0.003), and pulmonary infection complications ( P = 0.000) were associated with the poor prognosis of AE. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that NLR (odds ratio [OR] 2.169, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.029–4.570; P < 0.05) was an independent risk factor for predicting the poor prognosis of AE. NLR > 4.45 was suggested as the cut-off threshold for predicting the adverse outcomes of AE. In addition, we revealed that there was a positive correlation between immunotherapy latency and mRS score (r s = 0.535, P < 0.05). Conclusions: NLR may have predictive value for the poor outcomes of AE. Early initiation of immunotherapy is associated with a good prognosis.

A series of novel benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxide derivatives were synthesized and tested for their inhibitory activity against aldose reductase. Of these derivatives, 17 compounds, having a substituted N2-benzyl group and a N4-acetic acid group on the benzothiadiazine, were found to be potent and selective aldose reductase inhibitors in vitro with IC50 values ranging from 0.032 to 0.975 μM. 9m proved to be the most active in vitro. The eight top-scoring compounds coming from the in vitro test for ALR2 inhibition activity were then tested in vivo, whereby three derivatives, 9i, 9j, and 9m, demonstrated a significantly preventive effect on sorbitol accumulation in the sciatic nerve in the 5-day streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats in vivo. Structure-activity relationship and molecular docking studies highlighted the importance of substitution features of N4-acetic acid group and halogen-substituted N2-benzyl group in the benzothiadiazine scaffold and indicated that substitution with hallogen at C-7 had a remarkably strong effect on ALR2 inhibition potency.