Toxicological and Epigenetic Studies of Two Types of Ale Beer, Tyrosol and Iso-Alpha Humulone

Although many benefits drawn from beer consumption are claimed, the epidemiological records are contradictory with respect to cancer prevention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible health-related activities involving genome safety and the ageing processes of two types of lyophilised ale beers (blond and stout), as well as two of their bioactive compounds (tyrosol and iso-alpha humulone). A multipurpose trial set of in vivo toxicity, antitoxicity, mutagenicity, antimutagenicity, lifespan and healthspan assays using Drosophila melanogaster were used. In parallel, several in vitro assays were designed using the cancer cell line HL-60 in order to establish the possible chemopreventive activity of the selected substances, where epigenetic modulation of DNA methylation changes, clastogenic activity and tumour cell inhibition growth were evaluated. The safety of the four substances was confirmed: lyophilised blond ale beer (LBAB), lyophilised stout ale beer (LSAB), tyrosol and iso-alpha humulone were neither toxic nor genotoxic. Moreover, all substances, except tyrosol, revealed the ability to protect individual genomes against oxidative radicals and to exert antimutagenic activity against the genotoxin hydrogen peroxide. With respect to the degenerative process indicators of lifespan and healthspan, tyrosol was the only compound that did not exert any influence on the life extension of Drosophila; LBAB induced a significant lifespan extension in D. melanogaster; LSAB and its distinctive compound iso-alpha humulone induced a reduction in longevity. The in vitro assays showed the cytotoxic activity of LBAB, LSAB and tyrosol against HL-60 cells. Moreover, proapoptotic DNA fragmentation or DNA strand breakage was observed for both types of beers and iso-alpha humulone at different concentrations. Furthermore, the lyophilised ale beers and tyrosol exhibited an increasing genome-wide methylation status, while iso-alpha humulone exhibited a demethylation status in repetitive cancer cell sequences. Although the biological activities assigned to beer consumption cannot be linked to any specific molecule/element due to the complexity of the phenolic profile, as well as the multifactor brewing process, the results obtained let us propose lyophilised ale beers as safe potential nutraceutical beverages when consumed in moderate amounts. The prevention of toxicity and genetic oxidative damage, as well as the induction of tumor cell death and modulation of the methylation status, are the key activities of beer that were shown in the present research

Toxicological Studies of Czech Beers and Their Constituents

Background: Czech beers are unique because they are brewed using specific technology at a particular latitude and for being entirely produced in the area of the Czech Republic. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of toxicological e ects of a variety of freeze-dried Czech beers, their raw materials (malts, hops and yeast) and processed-beer (wort, hopped wort and young beer). Methods: In vivo assays to evaluate the safety and protective e ects in the Drosophila melanogaster eukaryotic system, and the in vitro evaluations of chemopreventive and DNA damage activity using the HL-60 tumour human cell line were carried out. Results: The safe e ects for all the analysed substances and general protective e ects against H2O2 were shown both at the individual and genomic level in the Drosophila animal model, with some exceptions. Moreover, all the substances were able to inhibit the tumour cell growth and to induce DNA damage in the HL-60 cells at di erent levels (proapoptotic, single/double strands breaks and methylation status). Conclusions: The promising e ects shown by freeze-dried Czech beers due to their safety, protection against a toxin, chemopreventive potential and the induction of DNA damage in tumour cells, allow the proposition of Czech beer as a beverage with nutraceutic potentia

Cyclosporine A in hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia patients to prevent the development of interstitial lung disease: a pilot randomized clinical trial

Abstract Post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a new entity that frequently causes pulmonary fibrosis and can become chronic. We performed a single-center parallel-group open-label pilot randomized clinical trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of cyclosporine A (CsA) in the development of ILD in the medium term among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive CsA plus standard of care or standard of care alone. The primary composite outcome was the percentage of patients without ILD 3 months after diagnosis of pneumonia and not requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) (response without requiring IMV). The key secondary composite outcomes were the percentage of patients who achieve a response requiring IMV or irrespective of the need for IMV, and adverse events. A total of 33 patients received at least one dose of CsA plus standard of care (n = 17) or standard of care alone (n = 16). No differences were found between the groups in the percentage of patients who achieved a response without requiring IMV or a response requiring IMV. A higher percentage of patients achieved a response irrespective of the need for IMV in the CsA plus standard of care group although the RR was almost significant 2.833 (95% CI, 0.908–8.840; p = 0.057). No differences were found between the groups for adverse events. In hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, we were unable to demonstrate that CsA achieved a significant effect in preventing the development of ILD. (EU Clinical Trials Register; EudraCT Number: 2020-002123-11; registration date: 08/05/2020)

Estableciendo "puentes" entre la Universidad y el tejido social madrileño : cómo los estudiantes de la Asignatura Ciudad y Urbanismo pueden colaborar en la búsqueda de soluciones urbanísticas a históricas reclamaciones vecinales en el entorno de Puente de Vallecas

Publicación de los trabajos elaborados por los estudiantes del curso 2022/23 de la asignatura Ciudad y Urbanismo (35001304) de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid en el marco de un proyecto de Aprendizaje-Servicio y reflexiones sobre el proceso tanto de los agentes sociales que formaron parte del mismo, como de los profesores que ha participado en la docencia