What to expect and when: benznidazole toxicity in chronic Chagas' disease treatment

Background: Benznidazole is one of the two most effective antiparasitic drugs for Chagas' disease treatment. However, knowledge about its toxicity profile is mostly based on post-marketing observational studies. Objectives: Our study combines data from two prospective clinical trials designed to assess the safety of the drug newly produced by ELEA Laboratories (Abarax(R)). Methods: Eligible participants were selected using a consecutive sampling strategy in the CINEBENZ and BIOMARCHA studies between 2013 and 2016 (EUDRACT 2011-002900-34 and 2012-002645-38, respectively, and clinicaltrials.gov NCT01755403 and NCT01755377, respectively). Enrolled subjects received treatment with 5 mg/kg/day benznidazole orally in two divided doses for 8 weeks and were followed up fortnightly. Results: We observed 305 adverse reactions in 85 of 99 participants (85.9%). Each patient had a median of three adverse reactions, 89.5% were mild and the median duration was 12 days. Most adverse reactions appeared in the first month of treatment except arthritis and peripheral neuropathy. Twenty-six patients did not complete treatment: 2 were withdrawn, 1 for ectopic pregnancy and 1 for epilepsy relapse due to cysticercosis; 2 were lost to follow-up; and 22 were owing to adverse reactions, two of them severe. We observed some unexpected adverse reactions that have not been described previously, such as psychiatric symptoms, erectile dysfunction, menstrual cycle alterations and lung infiltration. Conclusions: There is a very high frequency of adverse reactions to benznidazole. Most adverse reactions are mild, but the treatment burden is significant and unexpected reactions are not rare. Severe reactions are uncommon, but they can be life-threatening. Further studies are necessary to optimize treatment

Expression patterns and genetic variation of the ovine skeletal muscle transcriptome of sheep from five Spanish meat breeds

The goal of the current study is to analyse the gene expression profile of the ovine skeletal muscle as well as to characterize the genetic variation of transcripts expressed in such tissue. This aim has been achieved by sequencing the longissimus dorsi transcriptomes of 50 sheep distributed in five pools representing the Canaria de Pelo, Roja Mallorquina, Gallega, Xisqueta and Ripollesa Spanish autochthonous breeds. Approximately, 363 million reads per pool have been produced and 71.9-82.9% have been successfully mapped to the ovine genome in a paired-end mode (2 X 75 bp). The 200 most expressed muscle transcripts (-1% of the total transcript count) account for 51% (Canaria de Pelo) to 67% (Gallega) of the total ovine skeletal muscle mRNA expression. These highly expressed genes play key roles in pathways related with striated muscle contraction, gluconeogenesis, glycolysis, citric acid cycle and respiratory electron transport. RNA-Sequencing of muscle transcripts has also revealed that -72% of the SNPs detected with this approach are shared by at least two pools, and 10% of them segregate in the five pools under analysis. Most of the substitutions detected by RNA-Seq are synonymous or missense and only a minority are predicted to have consequences on protein function

Sección abierta de homenaje a Laura Rubio

Sección abierta de homenaje a Laura Rubi

Moving from decline to revival in post-industrial cities: an examination of why Baltimore's tourism strategies do not work

Citations of sources, conclusions, or opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the author and do not reflect the policies or views of staff or others affiliated with the Institute for Policy Studies or Johns Hopkins University

Regional Definitions in the European Union: A Question of Disparities?

CASELLAS A. and GALLEY C. C. (1999) Regional definitions in the European Union: a question of disparities?, Reg. Studies 33 , 551-558. This paper explores the concept of regional disparities in the European Union (EU) and challenges the present regional classification. The EU Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, referred to by the French acronym NUTS, is very heterogeneous in character. Tiny islands, cities, large rural regions and entire countries are considered to be comparable units for analysis. A reformulation of regional boundaries and the comparison to the US case helps to show that regional disparities within the EU are overstated as an artifact of the present regional definitions. Our findings show that the EU regional nomenclature should be more coherent if it is to be used as the basis for regional development policies. CASELLAS A. et GALLEY C. C. (1999) La delimitation des regions au sein de l'Union europeenne: s'agit-il des ecarts? Reg. Studies 33 , 551-558. Cet article cherche a examiner la notion d'ecarts regionaux au sein de l'Union europeenne (Ue) et a debattre le classement actuel des regions. Le champ de la Nomenclature des unites territoriales statistiques (NUTS) de l'Union europeenne est tres heterogene. Ilots, villes, grandes regions rurales et pays entiers sont consideres des unites territoriales comparables. Une nouvelle delimitation des regions et une comparaison avec la situation aux Etats-Unis laissent voir que les ecarts regionaux au sein de l'Union europeenne s'averent exageres en fonction de la delimitation actuelle. Les resultats montrent que la nomenclature regional e del'Union europeenne devrait etre plus coherente si l'on compte s'en servir pour elaborer des politiques d'amenagement du territoire. CASELLAS A. und GALLEY C. C. (1999) Regionale Definitionen in der Europaischen Union: Eine Frage von Ungleichheiten?, Reg. Studies 33 , 551-558. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht den Begriff regionaler Ungleichheiten in der Europaischen Union (EU) und stellt ihre gegenwartige Regionalklassifikation in Frage. Systematik der GebietseinheitenfurdieStatistik inderEU, diemit demfranzosischen Akronym NUTS bezeichnet wird, ist wesensmassig sehr unterschiedlich. Winzige Inseln, Stadte, ausgedehnte landliche Gebiete und ganze Lander werden als fur Analysen vergleichbare, einander ahnliche Einheiten aufgefasst. Die Neubestimmung regionaler Grenzen und ein Vergleich mit den Vereinigten Staatentragt dazu bei, die Uberbetonung der regionalen Ungleichheiten innerhalb der EU aufzuzeigen, die Ergebnisse der gegenwartig geltenden Regional definitionen sind. Die Befunde der Autoren weisen darauf hin, dass die Regional nomenklatur der EU schlussiger sein musste, wenn sie als Grundlage fur Entwicklungspolitik verwendbar sein soll.European Union-US, Regional Disparities, Nomenclature Of Territorial, Units For Statistics (NUTS), Metropolitan Areas,

Las relaciones de género en las políticas locales y en el desarrollo económico del Pirineo Catalán. Doi: 10.5212/Rlagg.v.3.i2.076086

El presente artículo explora la contribución de las mujeres en las estrategias de desarrollo local en un área de montaña. El estudio analiza roles políticos y económicos desde una perspectiva de género en la Cataluña rural. Se considera la sorprendentemente baja participación en la política local de las mujeres en Cataluña en comparación con el conjunto de España, al igual que la medida en que las decisiones de las mujeres difieren de las de los hombres con respecto a los enfoques empresariales para el desarrollo económico local. El documento también analiza la participación de las mujeres en la toma de decisiones, investigando si tienen la capacidad de involucrar a actores locales innovadores en la formulación de políticas. Se presentan las características económicas del Pirineo Catalán. La investigación aplica metodologías cualitativas y cuantitativas, incluyendo entrevistas en profundidad e información elaborada a través de bases de datos

What to expect and when: benznidazole toxicity in chronic Chagas' disease treatment

Background: Benznidazole is one of the two most effective antiparasitic drugs for Chagas' disease treatment. However, knowledge about its toxicity profile is mostly based on post-marketing observational studies. Objectives: Our study combines data from two prospective clinical trials designed to assess the safety of the drug newly produced by ELEA Laboratories (Abarax(R)). Methods: Eligible participants were selected using a consecutive sampling strategy in the CINEBENZ and BIOMARCHA studies between 2013 and 2016 (EUDRACT 2011-002900-34 and 2012-002645-38, respectively, and clinicaltrials.gov NCT01755403 and NCT01755377, respectively). Enrolled subjects received treatment with 5 mg/kg/day benznidazole orally in two divided doses for 8 weeks and were followed up fortnightly. Results: We observed 305 adverse reactions in 85 of 99 participants (85.9%). Each patient had a median of three adverse reactions, 89.5% were mild and the median duration was 12 days. Most adverse reactions appeared in the first month of treatment except arthritis and peripheral neuropathy. Twenty-six patients did not complete treatment: 2 were withdrawn, 1 for ectopic pregnancy and 1 for epilepsy relapse due to cysticercosis; 2 were lost to follow-up; and 22 were owing to adverse reactions, two of them severe. We observed some unexpected adverse reactions that have not been described previously, such as psychiatric symptoms, erectile dysfunction, menstrual cycle alterations and lung infiltration. Conclusions: There is a very high frequency of adverse reactions to benznidazole. Most adverse reactions are mild, but the treatment burden is significant and unexpected reactions are not rare. Severe reactions are uncommon, but they can be life-threatening. Further studies are necessary to optimize treatment