No abstract available.
Diabetes Mellitus* ; Herpes Zoster*

Background: The search for simple clinical and laboratory markers to help predict the clinical severity of patients presenting with COVID-19 has prompted this study to look at the predictive value of urine L-FABP (Liver Type-Fatty Acid Binding Protein) point-of-care test kit at the initial presentation of COVID-19 patients to the hospital. Methods: The validation study prospectively included 109 consecutive patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, mean age of 52.2 years (range 19-84) presenting at the Emergency Rooms of 4 participating Metro-Manila hospitals from February to April 2021, with available data for analysis for 103 patients. Urine L-FABP POC (Point-of-Care) test and other clinical parameters and the level of severity of COVID-19 were determined at Day 0, Day 4 and Day 7. Computations for Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive and Negative Predictive values and Likelihood ratios were performed. Results: Twenty-three patients tested positive for urine L-FABP, out of the 103 patients analyzed, while 80 tested negative. Of the 23 patients who tested positive for urine L-FABP, 6 has progressed in severity, while 17 did not progressed. Of the 80 patients who tested negative for urine L-FABP, 13 progressed, while 67 did not progressed in severity. Giving a Sensitivity of 31.58%, Specificity of 79.76%, Positive predictive value of 26.09%, Negative predictive value of 83.75%. Combining urine L-FABP and initial clinical parameters like SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) criteria to predict progression of severity yielded a higher Specificity of 91.67 % and Negative Predictive value of 84.62%. Conclusions The study shows the utility of initial urine L-FABP POC test as a negative screening test in triaging adult patients presenting to the ER with mild to moderate COVID-19. Patients at the ER with a negative urine L-FABP test, will most likely not progressed to severe COVID-19. Combining clinical parameters like SIRS Criteria with the urine L-FABP result can increase the negative predictive value.
COVID-19

Background and Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global health concern affecting more than 400 million people worldwide. Diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, and cardiovascular complications lead to debilitating effects to patients. To prevent these, the treatment goal is to lower the blood sugar levels and maintain at a normal range which is achieved through conventional treatments like insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents. However, the high cost of these medications implicates patient treatment outcomes. Hence, alternatives are sought for including the use of herbal medicines. Momordica charantia (MC) and Lagerstroemia speciosa (LS) are common herbal medicines used to manage T2DM. In the Philippines, these herbal preparations are validated for their glucose lowering effects and are commonly found in combination in food supplements. The study aims to screen the possible mechanisms of compounds present in these herbal medicines which can offer possible explanations for their synergistic effects and rationalization of their combination in preparations. Methods: Network pharmacology was employed to determine pivotal proteins that are targeted by MC and LS compounds. Molecular docking was then done to evaluate the favorability of the binding of these compounds toward their target proteins. Results: Our results showed that TNF, HSP90AA1, MAPK3, ALDH2, GCK, AKR1B1, TTR and RBP4 are the possible pivotal targets of MC and LS compounds in T2DM. Conclusion Terpenoids from MC and decanoic acid from LS are the compounds which showed favorable binding towards pivotal protein targets in T2DM. By binding towards the different key proteins in T2DM, they may exhibit their synergistic effects. However, the results of this study are bound to the limitations of computational methods and experimental validation are needed to verify our findings.
Molecular Docking Simulation ; Network Pharmacology ; Momordica charantia