Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center

About: Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Allele. The organization has 6297 authors who have published 6917 publications receiving 198369 citations.

Effects of Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers and ACE (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme) Inhibitors on Virus Infection, Inflammatory Status, and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19 and Hypertension: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Abstract: With the capability of inducing elevated expression of ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), the cellular receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) or ACE inhibitors treatment may have a controversial role in both facilitating virus infection and reducing pathogenic inflammation We aimed to evaluate the effects of ARBs/ACE inhibitors on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a retrospective, single-center study One hundred twenty-six patients with COVID-19 and preexisting hypertension at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Wuhan from January 5 to February 22, 2020, were retrospectively allocated to ARBs/ACE inhibitors group (n=43) and non-ARBs/ACE inhibitors group (n=83) according to their antihypertensive medication One hundred twenty-five age- and sex-matched patients with COVID-19 without hypertension were randomly selected as nonhypertension controls In addition, the medication history of 1942 patients with hypertension that were admitted to Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 1 to December 31, 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak were also reviewed for external comparison Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected, analyzed, and compared between these groups The frequency of ARBs/ACE inhibitors usage in patients with hypertension with or without COVID-19 were comparable Among patients with COVID-19 and hypertension, those received either ARBs/ACE inhibitors or non-ARBs/ACE inhibitors had comparable blood pressure However, ARBs/ACE inhibitors group had significantly lower concentrations of hs-CRP (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; P=0049) and PCT (procalcitonin, P=0008) Furthermore, a lower proportion of critical patients (93% versus 229%; P=0061) and a lower death rate (47% versus 133%; P=0216) were observed in ARBs/ACE inhibitors group than non-ARBs/ACE inhibitors group, although these differences failed to reach statistical significance Our findings thus support the use of ARBs/ACE inhibitors in patients with COVID-19 and preexisting hypertension

Iron (III) induces aggregation of hyperphosphorylated τ and its reduction to iron (II) reverses the aggregation: implications in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract: Iron as well as aluminum is reported to accumulate in neurons with neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. Previously we demonstrated that aluminum (III) shows phosphate-dependent binding with hyperphosphorylated τ (PHFτ), the major constituent of NFTs, thereby inducing aggregation of PHFτ. Herein we report that iron (III) can also induce aggregation of soluble PHFτ. Importantly, for the aggregation of PHFτ to occur, iron in the oxidized state (III) is essential since iron in the reduced state (II) lacks such ability. Furthermore, iron (III)-induced aggregation is reversed by reducing iron (III) to iron (II). Thus the iron-participating aggregation is mediated not only by τ phosphorylation but also by the transition of iron between reduced (II) and oxidized (III) states. Further incubation of insoluble PHFτ aggregates isolated from AD brain with reducing agents produced liberation of solubilized PHFτ and iron (II), indicating that PHFτ in association with iron (III) constitutes the insoluble pool of PHFτ. These results indicate that iron might play a role in the aggregation of PHFτ leading to the formation of NFTs in AD brain.