The novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is a highly contagious infectious disease declared by the World Health Organization to be a pandemic and a global public health emergency. During outbreaks, health care workers are submitted to an enormous emotional burden as they must balance the fundamental “duty to treat” with their parallel duties to family and loved ones. The aims of our study were to evaluate disease perceptions, levels of stress, emotional distress, and coping strategies among medical staff (COVID-19 versus non-COVID-19 departments) in a tertiary pulmonology teaching hospital in the first month after the outbreak of COVID-19. One hundred and fifteen health care workers completed four validated questionnaires (the brief illness perception questionnaire, perceived stress scale, the profile of emotional distress emotional, and the cognitive coping evaluation questionnaire) that were afterwards interpreted by one psychologist. There was a high level of stress and psychological distress among health care workers in the first month after the pandemic outbreak. Interestingly, there were no differences between persons that worked in COVID-19 departments versus those working in non-COVID-19 departments. Disease perceptions and coping mechanisms were similar in the two groups. As coping mechanisms, refocusing on planning and positive reappraisal were used more than in the general population. There is no difference in disease perceptions, levels of stress, emotional distress, and coping strategies in medical staff handling COVID-19 patients versus those staff who were not handling COVID-19 patients in the first month after the pandemic outbreak.

Background: Osteopontin (OPN) has been implicated in bone remodeling by activating the resorption process. We aimed to study the relationship between OPN, bone mineral density (BMD), bone turnover markers, vitamin D, and osteoporotic vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: Serum levels of OPN, osteocalcin, collagen type 1 cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX), bone alkaline phosphatase, and vitamin D were assessed in 214 postmenopausal women. Bone mineral density was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in lumbar spine and femoral neck, and osteoporotic vertebral fractures by radiographs. Results: Osteopontin levels were significantly higher in osteoporosis group versus osteopenic and normal group (all P < 0.05). The cutoff values of OPN for osteoporosis diagnosis were of 9.47 μg/L at the lumbar spine (area under the curve, 0.67; 95% confidence interval, 0.58–0.75; P < 0.001) and 10.15 μg/L at the femoral neck (area under the curve, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.624–0.77; P = 0.0001), respectively. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures had significantly higher levels of OPN than those without vertebral fractures (15.69 ± 13.26 vs 12.63 ± 12.46 μg/L; P = 0.02). Significant negative correlations were found between OPN and BMD, which persisted after the adjustment for age at the lumbar spine. Osteopontin levels were directly correlated with bone turnover markers (osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase, and CTX). No significant correlation was found between OPN and vitamin D. Multiple regression analysis showed that age, waist circumference, and CTX were independent predictors of serum OPN levels. Conclusions: High levels of OPN in postmenopausal women are associated with low BMD, increased levels of bone turnover markers, and osteoporotic vertebral fractures. These findings suggest that OPN might play some role in the pathophysiology of postmenopausal osteoporosis and warrant further clinical investigations.

Background. Adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing cytokine, has been shown to reduce proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis in experimental models. We assessed the relationship of plasma adiponectin to the progression of kidney disease in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. Methods. T2D nonnephrotic patients with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >30 ml/min and without acute cardiovascular/inflammatory conditions were included. Laboratory standard evaluation, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR), total plasma adiponectin, and CRP (C-reactive protein) were determined at inclusion and the end of study. Results. Eighty-six patients (62.79% male) were followed up for 20.53±5.46 months. Baseline GFR was 72.85±26.29 ml/min and UACR was 20.53 (interquartile range 6.82–86.39) mg/g. At baseline adiponectin was significantly correlated to UACR (r =0.40, p =0.0001), HDL cholesterol (r =0.30, p =0.005), GFR (r =− 0.23, P =0.04), body mass index (BMI) (r =− 0.26, P =0.02) and waist circumference (r =−0.27, p =0.01). In multiple regression UACR (p =0.0003) and BMI (p =0.03) were significantly related to baseline adiponectin. The progression of kidney disease was estimated as the difference (D) between end and baseline UACR/month and between end and baseline GFR/month. None of the baseline parameters correlated to ΔGFR, but adiponectin inversely (r =− 0.26, p =0.02) correlated to ΔUACR. In multiple regression only adiponectin (p <0.0001) predicted ΔUACR. A computed progression index (PI) resulting from a linear combination of GFR and UACR was also used to assess progression. Baseline adiponectin was significantly correlated to ΔPI between end of study and baseline (r =− 0.43, p <0.0001), and predicted Δ PI in multiple regression (p =0.009). Conclusion. Low plasma adiponectin predicts progression of kidney disease in T2D patients.