Critically ill patients are at risk of developing gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding due to stress causing mucosal damage. Aim of the study was to determine the effect of oral/ enteral nutrition with or without concomitant pantoprazole on upper GI bleeding in low risk critically ill patients. This was a prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter study conducted with intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving oral/enteral nutritional support. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups including intervention group (received oral/EN plus pantoprazole) and control group (received only oral/EN). A total of 300 patients (intervention group: 152, control group: 148) participated in the study. Overall, 226 (75 %) patients were fed by oral and 74 (25%) patients fed by enteral tube. Median duration of nutritional support 4 (range: 2-33) days. Overt upper GI bleeding was noted only in one patient (0.65%) who was in the intervention group. The overall length of ICU stay of 4 (2-105) days, while ICU stay was significantly longer in the intervention group than in the control group (p=0.006). Our findings seems to indicate that in patients who are at low risk for GI bleeding and under oral/enteral nutritional support, the use of PPIs may not reduce the risk of bleeding, however these results are imprecise because of low event (GI bleeding) rate and limited power.

Bleomycin causes pulmonary fibrosis by increasing free oxygen radicals. Cigarette smoke is a strong oxidant which adversely affects pulmonary tissue. We evaluated the effects of cigarette smoke administered with intratracheal bleomycin on pulmonary tissue. We studied 3 groups of rats (n=10): one group received intratracheal saline and served as a control; one received intratracheal bleomycin (IT) (0.5 U/100 g body weight, single dose on the first day), and one group received intratracheal bleomycin (single dose on first day) and tobacco smoke (two times per day) (IT-S). After 4 weeks, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and xanthine oxidase (XO) were assayed in the homogenate of the lung tissue samples. The severity of interstitial fibrosis was assessed using the grading system described by Ashcroft. There was more intensive fibrosis in the IT and IT-S than in the control samples (P<0.001). The levels of MDA, NO and activity of XO were significantly increased (P<0.001, <0.002 and <0.002, respectively), and SOD activity (P<0.001) was significantly decreased in the IT group when compared to these values in the control group. The concentration of NO was significantly decreased (P<0.002), and SOD activity was significantly increased (P<0.05) in the lung tissue samples of the IT-S group. Theoretically, the combination of cigarette smoke and bleomycin may have a synergistic effect on oxidative lung injury. In conclusion, we showed that inhalation of cigarette smoke provides protection against oxidative stress in the lung tissue of rats with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Objective: To investigate neutrophil/lymphocyte (NLR), lymphocyte/monocyte (LMR), platelet/lymphocyte (PLR) ratios, and the value of these parameters in determining disease severity and progression in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: Study was conducted retrospectively with 182 in-patients and 91 controls due to COVID-19 between April-September 2020 in the chest diseases clinic. Hematological parameters and rates were compared with controls’ parameters. Correlations and differences between hematological parameters and other parameters were investigated. Results: Lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, basophil, hemoglobin, thrombocyte, and LMR were significantly lower. NLR and PLR were higher. There were significant increases in hematological parameters and PLR on discharge. A positive correlation existed between radiological pneumonia severity score, and NLR (r=0.234, p=0.001) and PLR (r=0.128, p=0.042), and significant inverse correlation with LMR (r=-0.206, p=0.003). Positive correlations were detected between NLR (r=0.140, p=0.030) and PLR (r=0.125, p=0.046), and symptom-discharge time, and inverse correlation between LMR, and both symptom-discharge (r=-0.137, p=0.032) and hospital stay time (r=-0.135, p=0.034). A positive correlation existed between CRP, and NLR and PLR on admission and discharge. Conclusion: NLR, LMR and PLR were found as hematological predictors to be used with CRP in following-up COVID-19, showing a significant correlation with disease severity, monitoring responses to treatment and predicting prognosis.