Cell identity and nucleo-mitochondrial genetic context modulate OXPHOS performance and determine somatic heteroplasmy dynamics

Heteroplasmy, multiple variants of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the same cytoplasm, may be naturally generated by mutations but is counteracted by a genetic mtDNA bottleneck during oocyte development. Engineered heteroplasmic mice with nonpathological mtDNA variants reveal a nonrandom tissue-specific mtDNA segregation pattern, with few tissues that do not show segregation. The driving force for this dynamic complex pattern has remained unexplained for decades, challenging our understanding of this fundamental biological problem and hindering clinical planning for inherited diseases. Here, we demonstrate that the nonrandom mtDNA segregation is an intracellular process based on organelle selection. This cell type-specific decision arises jointly from the impact of mtDNA haplotypes on the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system and the cell metabolic requirements and is strongly sensitive to the nuclear context and to environmental cues

Salt effect of KBr on the liquid-liquid equilibrium of the water/ethanol/1-pentanol system

Liquid-liquid equilibrium data for the water/ethanol/1-pentanol/potassium bromide systems were experimentally determined at 25° C and 40ºC. The experimental data were correlated through the NRTL and UNIFAC-Dortmund models for the activity coefficient, with the estimation of new binary interaction parameters for both models, corresponding to the salt-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions for the NRTL model and the ion-ion and solvent-ion interactions for the UNIFAC-Dortmund model. The results obtained have shown that the NRTL model was more able to represent equilibrium data for the studied systems

Atypical manifestations of hepatitis A virus infection

Acute hepatitis due to the hepatitis A virus usually has a short, benign and self-limited course, without causing chronic hepatitis. However, some cases have an atypical presentation, such as relapsing hepatitis, prolonged or persistent cholestasis, fulminant hepatic failure, or liver failure associated with autoimmune hepatitis. The typical clinical course of acute hepatitis A virus infection is spontaneous remission in 90% of the cases, but atypical cases have a prevalence that varies from less than 1 to 20%, depending on the manifestation (overall prevalence ∼7%). There is little information on the atypical clinical courses of hepatitis A virus infection and the lack of recognizing those presentations in clinical practice often results in carrying out numerous studies and treatments that not only are unnecessary, but can also be harmful. The aim of the present article was to describe 3 clinical cases of atypical hepatitis A infection and provide a literature review of such cases. Resumen: La hepatitis aguda por virus de hepatitis A usualmente sigue un curso corto, benigno y autolimitado sin ocasionar una hepatitis crónica, sin embargo en algunos casos puede manifestarse mediante formas atípicas como son hepatitis recurrente, colestasis prolongada o persistente, falla hepática fulminante o asociada a hepatitis autoinmune. El curso clínico típico de la infección aguda por el virus de hepatitis A es hacia una remisión espontánea en más del 90% de los casos, sin embargo los cursos atípicos presentan una prevalencia que varía de <1 – 20% según la manifestación (global ∼7%). Existe poca información sobre los cursos clínicos atípicos por la infección del virus de hepatitis A y es relevante mencionar que la falta de reconocimiento de estos, a menudo ocasiona en la práctica clínica la realización de múltiples estudios y tratamientos que además de innecesarios pueden resultar perjudiciales. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo describir 3 casos clínicos representativos de la infección atípica por virus de hepatitis A y una revisión de la literatura sobre los mismos. Keywords: Hepatitis virus A, Atypical, Persistent cholestasis, Relapsing, Fulminant hepatitis, Palabras clave: Virus hepatitis A, Atípico, Colestasis persistente, Recurrente, Hepatitis fulminant