Citicoline may prevent cognitive decline in patients with cerebrovascular disease

Introduction: Neuroprotective drugs such as citicoline could improve cognitive performance and quality of life. We studied the effect of citicoline treatment and its association with Vascular Risk Factors (VRF) and APOE on cognition in patients with Subjective Cognitive Complaints (SCC) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Methods: This is an observational and prospective study with citicoline during 12 months follow-up. Eighty-one subjects who met criteria for SCC/MCI, aged 50–75 years with VRF were included and prescribed citicoline 1g/day. Subjects with previous cognitive impairment and any other central nervous system affection were excluded. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test and paired samples t-test were used to analyze the change in neuropsychological performance. Results: Mean age of the sample was 68.2 (SD 6.8) years and 26 (32.09%) were females. Fifteen subjects (24.6%) were APOE-ε4 carriers, fifty-six (76.7%) had hypertension, fifty-eight (79.5%) had dyslipidemia, twenty-one (28.8%) had diabetes mellitus and twenty-six (35.6%) had cardiopathy. Thirty-two (43.8%) subjects were diagnosed as SCC and forty-one (56.16%) as MCI. During the follow-up, Tweny-six patients (81.25%) in the group of SCC remained stable, six subjects (18.8%) converted to MCI. Twelve patients (29.9%) with MCI reverted to SCC and twenty-nine patients (70.7%) remained stable. At follow-up, SCC subjects had an improvement in the global language domain (p=0.03), naming (p<0.001), attention (p=0.01) and visuospatial abilities (p<0.01). MCI group showed an improvement in the screening test (p=0.03), delayed memory (p<0.01), global cognition (p=0.04) and in cognitive flexibility (p=0.03). Presence of APOE-ε4 had no impact on the above findings. Discussion: SCC subjects showed an improvement in language and attention domains, while those with MCI performed better after 12 months in total scores of MoCA and RBANS domains, some converting back to SCC. This supports the idea that citicoline may prevent cognitive decline in patients with cognitive deficits

Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in wild ruminants in Spain

Trabajo presentado a la: XII Reunión de Ungulados Silvestres Ibéricos (RUSI). Vila Real, Portugal. 1-2 octubre.Peer reviewe

Evolution of Th2 responses : Characterization of IL-4/13 in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) and studies of expression and biological activity

Acknowledgements This research was funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) of the European Union (Grant Agreement 311993 TARGETFISH). T.W. received funding from the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland). MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference number HR09011) and contributing institutions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Development of a targeted amplicon sequencing method for genotyping Cyclospora cayetanensis from fresh produce and clinical samples with enhanced genomic resolution and sensitivity

Outbreaks of cyclosporiasis, an enteric illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, have been associated with consumption of various types of fresh produce. Although a method is in use for genotyping C. cayetanensis from clinical specimens, the very low abundance of C. cayetanensis in food and environmental samples presents a greater challenge. To complement epidemiological investigations, a molecular surveillance tool is needed for use in genetic linkage of food vehicles to cyclosporiasis illnesses, estimation of the scope of outbreaks or clusters of illness, and determination of geographical areas involved. We developed a targeted amplicon sequencing (TAS) assay that incorporates a further enrichment step to gain the requisite sensitivity for genotyping C. cayetanensis contaminating fresh produce samples. The TAS assay targets 52 loci, 49 of which are located in the nuclear genome, and encompasses 396 currently known SNP sites. The performance of the TAS assay was evaluated using lettuce, basil, cilantro, salad mix, and blackberries inoculated with C. cayetanensis oocysts. A minimum of 24 markers were haplotyped even at low contamination levels of 10 oocysts in 25 g leafy greens. The artificially contaminated fresh produce samples were included in a genetic distance analysis based on haplotype presence/absence with publicly available C. cayetanensis whole genome sequence assemblies. Oocysts from two different sources were used for inoculation, and samples receiving the same oocyst preparation clustered together, but separately from the other group, demonstrating the utility of the assay for genetically linking samples. Clinical fecal samples with low parasite loads were also successfully genotyped. This work represents a significant advance in the ability to genotype C. cayetanensis contaminating fresh produce along with greatly expanding the genomic diversity included for genetic clustering of clinical specimens

The gastrointestinal nematode Trichostrongylus colubriformis down-regulates immune gene expression in migratory cells in afferent lymph

Background: Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections are the predominant cause of economic losses in sheep. Infections are controlled almost exclusively by the use of anthelmintics which has lead to the selection of drug resistant nematode strains. An alternative control approach would be the induction of protective immunity to these parasites. This study exploits an ovine microarray biased towards immune genes, an artificially induced immunity model and the use of pseudo-afferent lymphatic cannulation to sample immune cells draining from the intestine, to investigate possible mechanisms involved in the development of immunity.\ud \ud Results: During the development of immunity to, and a subsequent challenge infection with Trichostrongylus colubriformis, the transcript levels of 2603 genes of cells trafficking in afferent intestinal lymph were significantly modulated (P < 0.05). Of these, 188 genes were modulated more than 1.3-fold and involved in immune function. Overall, there was a clear trend for down-regulation of many genes involved in immune functions including antigen presentation, caveolar-mediated endocytosis and protein ubiquitination. The transcript levels of TNF receptor associated factor 5 (TRAF5), hemopexin (HPX), cysteine dioxygenase (CDO1), the major histocompatability complex Class II protein (HLA-DMA), interleukin-18 binding protein (IL-18BP), ephrin A1 (EFNA1) and selenoprotein S (SELS) were modulated to the greatest degree.\ud \ud Conclusions: This report describes gene expression profiles of afferent lymph cells in sheep developing immunity to nematode infection. Results presented show a global down-regulation of the expression of immune genes which may be reflective of the natural temporal response to nematode infections in livestock

Non-motor symptom burden in patients with Parkinson's disease with impulse control disorders and compulsive behaviours : results from the COPPADIS cohort

The study was aimed at analysing the frequency of impulse control disorders (ICDs) and compulsive behaviours (CBs) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in control subjects (CS) as well as the relationship between ICDs/CBs and motor, nonmotor features and dopaminergic treatment in PD patients. Data came from COPPADIS-2015, an observational, descriptive, nationwide (Spain) study. We used the validated Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson's Disease-Rating Scale (QUIP-RS) for ICD/CB screening. The association between demographic data and ICDs/CBs was analyzed in both groups. In PD, this relationship was evaluated using clinical features and treatment-related data. As result, 613 PD patients (mean age 62.47 ± 9.09 years, 59.87% men) and 179 CS (mean age 60.84 ± 8.33 years, 47.48% men) were included. ICDs and CBs were more frequent in PD (ICDs 12.7% vs. 1.6%, p < 0.001; CBs 7.18% vs. 1.67%, p = 0.01). PD patients had more frequent previous ICDs history, premorbid impulsive personality and antidepressant treatment (p < 0.05) compared with CS. In PD, patients with ICDs/CBs presented younger age at disease onset, more frequent history of previous ICDs and premorbid personality (p < 0.05), as well as higher comorbidity with nonmotor symptoms, including depression and poor quality of life. Treatment with dopamine agonists increased the risk of ICDs/CBs, being dose dependent (p < 0.05). As conclusions, ICDs and CBs were more frequent in patients with PD than in CS. More nonmotor symptoms were present in patients with PD who had ICDs/CBs compared with those without. Dopamine agonists have a prominent effect on ICDs/CBs, which could be influenced by dose

Impact of COVID-19 infection on the outcome of patients with ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We evaluated whether stroke severity, functional outcome, and mortality are different in patients with ischemic stroke with or without coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. METHODS: A prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study in Catalonia, Spain. Recruitment was consecutive from mid-March to mid-May 2020. Patients had an acute ischemic stroke within 48 hours and a previous modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0 to 3. We collected demographic data, vascular risk factors, prior mRS score, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, rate of reperfusion therapies, logistics, and metrics. Primary end point was functional outcome at 3 months. Favourable outcome was defined depending on the previous mRS score. Secondary outcome was mortality at 3 months. We performed mRS shift and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: We evaluated 701 patients (mean age 72.3±13.3 years, 60.5% men) and 91 (13%) had COVID-19 infection. Median baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was higher in patients with COVID-19 compared with patients without COVID-19 (8 [3–18] versus 6 [2–14], P=0.049). Proportion of patients with a favourable functional outcome was 33.7% in the COVID-19 and 47% in the non-COVID-19 group. However, after a multivariable logistic regression analysis, COVID-19 infection did not increase the probability of unfavourable functional outcome. Mortality rate was 39.3% among patients with COVID-19 and 16.1% in the non-COVID-19 group. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, COVID-19 infection was a risk factor for mortality (hazard ratio, 3.14 [95% CI, 2.10–4.71]; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ischemic stroke and COVID-19 infection have more severe strokes and a higher mortality than patients with stroke without COVID-19 infection. However, functional outcome is comparable in both groups

Ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate and carboxymethyl cellulose microstructures prepared using electrohydrodynamics and green solvents

Cellulose derivatives are an attractive sustainable material used frequently in biomaterials, however their solubility in safe, green solvents is not widely exploited. In this work three cellulose derivatives; ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate and carboxymethyl cellulose were subjected to electrohydrodynamic processing. All were processed with safe, environmentally friendly solvents; ethanol, acetone and water. Ethyl cellulose was electrospun and an interesting transitional region was identified. The morphological changes from particles with tails to thick fibres were charted from 17 to 25 wt% solutions. The concentration and solvent composition of cellulose acetate (CA) solutions were then changed; increasing the concentration also increased fibre size. At 10 wt% CA, with acetone only, fibres with heavy beading were produced. In an attempt to incorporate water in the binary solvent system to reduce the acetone content, 80:20 acetone/water solvent system was used. It was noted that for the same concentration of CA (10 wt%), the beading was reduced. Finally, carboxymethyl cellulose was electrospun with poly(ethylene oxide), with the molecular weight and polymer compositions changed and the morphology observed