Phenotyping Type 2 Diabetes in Terms of Myocardial Insulin Resistance and Its Potential Cardiovascular Consequences: A New Strategy Based on 18F-FDG PET/CT

Cardiovascular risk; Myocardial insulin resistance; Type 2 diabetesRisc cardiovascular; Resistència miocàrdica a la insulina; Diabetis tipus 2Riesgo cardiovascular; Resistencia miocárdica a la insulina; Diabetes tipo 2Background: Systemic insulin resistance is generally postulated as an independent risk factor of cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, the role of myocardial insulin resistance (mIR) remains to be clarified. Methods: Two 18F-FDG PET/CT scans were performed on forty-three T2D patients at baseline and after hyperinsulinemic–euglycemic clamp (HEC). Myocardial insulin sensitivity (mIS) was determined by measuring the increment in myocardial 18F-FDG uptake after HEC. Coronary artery calcium scoring (CACs) and myocardial radiodensity (mRD) were assessed by CT. Results: After HEC, seventeen patients exhibited a strikingly enhancement of myocardial 18F-FDG uptake and twenty-six a marginal increase, thus revealing mIS and mIR, respectively. Patients with mIR showed higher mRD (HU: 38.95 [33.81–44.06] vs. 30.82 [21.48–38.02]; p = 0.03) and CACs > 400 (AU: 52% vs. 29%; p = 0.002) than patients with mIS. In addition, HOMA-IR and mIS only showed a correlation in those patients with mIR. Conclusions: 18F-FDG PET combined with HEC is a reliable method for identifying patients with mIR. This subgroup of patients was found to be specifically at high risk of developing cardiovascular events and showed myocardial structural changes. Moreover, the gold-standard HOMA-IR index was only associated with mIR in this subgroup of patients. Our results open up a new avenue for stratifying patients with cardiovascular risk in T2D.This research was funded by the Carlos III Health Institute and the European Regional Development Fund (PI16/02064 and PI20/01588) and AGAUR (2017SGR1303 and 2017SGR1144)

Identification of Myocardial Insulin Resistance by Using Liver Tests: A Simple Approach for Clinical Practice

Cardiovascular risk; Myocardial insulin resistance; Non-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseRiesgo cardiovascular; Resistencia a la insulina del miocardio; Enfermedad del higado graso no alcoholicoRisc cardiovascular; Resistència a la insulina del miocardi; Malaltia del fetge gras no alcohòlicBackground: We report that myocardial insulin resistance (mIR) occurs in around 60% of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and was associated with higher cardiovascular risk in comparison with patients with insulin-sensitive myocardium (mIS). These two phenotypes (mIR vs. mIS) can only be assessed using time-consuming and expensive methods. The aim of the present study is to search a simple and reliable surrogate to identify both phenotypes. Methods: Forty-seven patients with T2D underwent myocardial [18F]FDG PET/CT at baseline and after a hyperinsulinemic–euglycemic clamp (HEC) to determine mIR were prospectively recruited. Biochemical assessments were performed before and after the HEC. Baseline hepatic steatosis index and index of hepatic fibrosis (FIB-4) were calculated. Furthermore, liver stiffness measurement was performed using transient elastography. Results: The best model to predict the presence of mIR was the combination of transaminases, protein levels, FIB-4 score and HOMA (AUC = 0.95; sensibility: 0.81; specificity: 0.95). We observed significantly higher levels of fibrosis in patients with mIR than in those with mIS (p = 0.034). In addition, we found that patients with mIR presented a reduced glucose uptake by the liver in comparison with patients with mIS. Conclusions: The combination of HOMA, protein, transaminases and FIB-4 is a simple and reliable tool for identifying mIR in patients with T2D. This information will be useful to improve the stratification of cardiovascular risk in T2D.This work was supported by the Carlos III Health Institute and the European Regional Development Fund (PI16/02064, PI20/01588) and the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of Catalonia (2017SGR1303)

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

How do women living with HIV experience menopause? Menopausal symptoms, anxiety and depression according to reproductive age in a multicenter cohort

CatedresBackground: To estimate the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and anxiety/depression and to assess the differences according to menopausal status among women living with HIV aged 45-60 years from the cohort of Spanish HIV/AIDS Research Network (CoRIS). Methods: Women were interviewed by phone between September 2017 and December 2018 to determine whether they had experienced menopausal symptoms and anxiety/depression. The Menopause Rating Scale was used to evaluate the prevalence and severity of symptoms related to menopause in three subscales: somatic, psychologic and urogenital; and the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire was used for anxiety/depression. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) of association between menopausal status, and other potential risk factors, the presence and severity of somatic, psychological and urogenital symptoms and of anxiety/depression. Results: Of 251 women included, 137 (54.6%) were post-, 70 (27.9%) peri- and 44 (17.5%) pre-menopausal, respectively. Median age of onset menopause was 48 years (IQR 45-50). The proportions of pre-, peri- and post-menopausal women who had experienced any menopausal symptoms were 45.5%, 60.0% and 66.4%, respectively. Both peri- and post-menopause were associated with a higher likelihood of having somatic symptoms (aOR 3.01; 95% CI 1.38-6.55 and 2.63; 1.44-4.81, respectively), while post-menopause increased the likelihood of having psychological (2.16; 1.13-4.14) and urogenital symptoms (2.54; 1.42-4.85). By other hand, post-menopausal women had a statistically significant five-fold increase in the likelihood of presenting severe urogenital symptoms than pre-menopausal women (4.90; 1.74-13.84). No significant differences by menopausal status were found for anxiety/depression. Joint/muscle problems, exhaustion and sleeping disorders were the most commonly reported symptoms among all women. Differences in the prevalences of vaginal dryness (p = 0.002), joint/muscle complaints (p = 0.032), and sweating/flush (p = 0.032) were found among the three groups. Conclusions: Women living with HIV experienced a wide variety of menopausal symptoms, some of them initiated before women had any menstrual irregularity. We found a higher likelihood of somatic symptoms in peri- and post-menopausal women, while a higher likelihood of psychological and urogenital symptoms was found in post-menopausal women. Most somatic symptoms were of low or moderate severity, probably due to the good clinical and immunological situation of these women

XV International Congress of Control Electronics and Telecommunications: "The role of technology in times of pandemic and post-pandemic: innovation and development for strategic social and productive sectors"

La anterior selección, motivados por la aseveración de Manuel Castells -hace casi 20 años ya- que la innovación y la difusión de la tecnología parecía ser la herramienta apropiada para el desarrollo en la era de la información. Este 2020, sin embargo, ante la situación disruptiva que aquejó y aqueja a la sociedad red como una estructura social emergente de la Era de la Información basada en redes de producción, energizadas por el poder y la experiencia; falló y debe reencontrar su rumbo. Es así que los problemas acuciantes, ahora, fueron: la atención sanitaria y la superación de la epidemia de Sars Cov 2; tomó forma la, hasta entonces, visión irrealista de Castells que … no podemos avanzar con nuestros modelos de desarrollo actual, destruyendo nuestro entorno y excluyendo a la mayor parte de la humanidad de los beneficios de la revolución tecnológica más extraordinaria de la historia, sin sufrir una devastadora reacción por parte de la sociedad y la naturaleza. Fue así que el Cuarto Mundo, específicamente, donde la suficiencia de recurso humano, de capital, trabajo, información y mercado -vinculados todos a través de la tecnología- supuso que atendería eficazmente a través de la población que podía por su capacidad hacer uso racional y profesional del conocimiento, las necesidades de la mayoritaria población vulnerable y vulnerada. Por lo anterior, poner en el centro a las personas, en entornos de tarea y trabajo globales hiperconectados combinando espacios físicos, corrientes de información con canales de conexión expeditos, y formando profesionales del conocimiento que asuman y afronten los retos derivados de la transformación digital de empresas, universidades, y organizaciones, pero en condiciones de equidad y sujetos de prosperidad, será el desafío en los escenarios presentes y futuros inmediatos.The previous selection, motivated by the assertion of Manuel Castells -almost 20 years ago- that innovation and diffusion of technology seemed to be the appropriate tool for development in the information age. This 2020, however, in the face of the disruptive situation that afflicted and continues to afflict the network society as an emerging social structure of the Information Age based on production networks, energized by power and experience; He failed and must find his way again. Thus, the pressing problems now were: health care and overcoming the Sars Cov 2 epidemic; Castells' until then unrealistic vision took shape that... we cannot advance with our current development models, destroying our environment and excluding the majority of humanity from the benefits of the most extraordinary technological revolution in history, without suffering a devastating reaction from society and nature. It was thus that the Fourth World, specifically, where the sufficiency of human resources, capital, work, information and market - all linked through technology - meant that it would serve effectively through the population that could, due to its capacity, make rational use. and knowledge professional, the needs of the majority vulnerable and vulnerable population. Therefore, putting people at the center, in hyperconnected global task and work environments, combining physical spaces, information flows with expedited connection channels, and training knowledge professionals who assume and face the challenges derived from the digital transformation of companies, universities, and organizations, but in conditions of equality and subject to prosperity, will be the challenge in the present and immediate future scenarios.Bogot

Switching TNF antagonists in patients with chronic arthritis: An observational study of 488 patients over a four-year period

The objective of this work is to analyze the survival of infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab in patients who have switched among tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists for the treatment of chronic arthritis. BIOBADASER is a national registry of patients with different forms of chronic arthritis who are treated with biologics. Using this registry, we have analyzed patient switching of TNF antagonists. The cumulative discontinuation rate was calculated using the actuarial method. The log-rank test was used to compare survival curves, and Cox regression models were used to assess independent factors associated with discontinuing medication. Between February 2000 and September 2004, 4,706 patients were registered in BIOBADASER, of whom 68% had rheumatoid arthritis, 11% ankylosing spondylitis, 10% psoriatic arthritis, and 11% other forms of chronic arthritis. One- and two-year drug survival rates of the TNF antagonist were 0.83 and 0.75, respectively. There were 488 patients treated with more than one TNF antagonist. In this situation, survival of the second TNF antagonist decreased to 0.68 and 0.60 at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Survival was better in patients replacing the first TNF antagonist because of adverse events (hazard ratio (HR) for discontinuation 0.55 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.84)), and worse in patients older than 60 years (HR 1.10 (95% CI 0.97-2.49)) or who were treated with infliximab (HR 3.22 (95% CI 2.13-4.87)). In summary, in patients who require continuous therapy and have failed to respond to a TNF antagonist, replacement with a different TNF antagonist may be of use under certain situations. This issue will deserve continuous reassessment with the arrival of new medications. © 2006 Gomez-Reino and Loreto Carmona; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele