Fetal and infant origins of asthma

Previous studies have suggested that asthma, like other common diseases, has at least part of its origin early in life. Low birth weight has been shown to be associated with increased risks of asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease, and impaired lung function in adults, and increased risks of respiratory symptoms in early childhood. The developmental plasticity hypothesis suggests that the associations between low birth weight and diseases in later life are explained by adaptation mechanisms in fetal life and infancy in response to various adverse exposures. Various pathways leading from adverse fetal and infant exposures to growth adaptations and respiratory health outcomes have been studied, including fetal and early infant growth patterns, maternal smoking and diet, children’s diet, respiratory tract infections and acetaminophen use, and genetic susceptibility. Still, the specific adverse exposures in fetal and early postnatal life leading to respiratory disease in adult life are not yet fully understood. Current studies suggest that both environmental and genetic factors in various periods of life, and their epigenetic mechanisms may underlie the complex associations of low birth weight with respiratory disease in later life. New well-designed epidemiological studies are needed to identify the specific underlying mechanisms. This review is focused on specific adverse fetal and infant growth patterns and exposures, genetic susceptibility, possible respiratory adaptations and perspectives for new studies

Applicazioni diagnostiche e di ricerca della patologia molecolare veterinaria

La biologia molecolare viene applicata efficacemente nello screening di malattie genetiche multifattoriali o recessive degli animali da allevamento intensivo. Due esempi sono la sindrome PSE del suino e delle malattie da accumulo lisosomiale. L\u2019identificazione degli animali portatori e la loro eliminazione dalla riproduzione permette una rapida eradicazione delle patologie. Nel campo delle malattie infettive la biologia molecolare fornisce strategie alternative per la diagnosi di zoonosi e patologie rilevanti per la sanit\ue0 pubblica. Importante esempio riguarda la tubercolosi dove le tecniche di biologia molecolare attraverso la valutazione dell\u2019RNA ribosomiale permettono l\u2019identificazione del micobatterio e la presenza di infezione in animali asintomatici. Altro importante esempio riguarda lo studio delle ecenfalopatie spongiformi. Nel settore oncologico le tecniche di biologia molecolare hanno numerosissime applicazioni tra cui l\u2019identificazione di mutazioni in oncogeni e oncosopressori

Down syndrome fibroblasts and mouse Prep1-overexpressing cells display increased sensitivity to genotoxic stress.

PREP1 (PKNOX1) maps in the Down syndrome (DS) critical region of chromosome 21, is overexpressed in some DS tissues and might be involved in the DS phenotype. By using fibroblasts from DS patients and by overexpressing Prep1 in F9 teratocarcinoma and Prep1(i/i) MEF to single out the role of the protein, we report that excess Prep1 increases the sensitivity of cells to genotoxic stress and the extent of the apoptosis directly correlates with the level of Prep1. The apoptotic response of Prep1-overexpressing cells is mediated by the pro-apoptotic p53 protein that we show is a direct target of Prep1, as its depletion reverts the apoptotic phenotype. The induction of p53 overcomes the anti-apoptotic role of Bcl-X(L), previously shown to be also a Prep1 target, the levels of which are increased in Prep1-overexpressing cells as well. Our results provide a rationale for the involvement of PREP1 in the apoptotic phenotype of DS tissues and indicate that differences in Prep1 level can have drastic effects

Rotavirus laboratory network: results after one year of observation

Fil: Bok, Karin. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Virología; Argentina.Fil: Castagnaro, N C. Instituto de Virología Luis C. Verna, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Diaz, N E. Departamento de Inmunoquímica, Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; Cuba.Fil: Borsa, Ana. Laboratorio de Virología, Hospital Infantil Sor María Ludovica, La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Nates, Silvia V. Instituto de Virología JM Vanella, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Espul, Carlos. Sección Sección Virología, Hospital Central de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Cuello, Héctor. Hospital Central. Sección Virología; Argentina.Fil: Fay O. Centro Tecnológico de Salud Pública, Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Brunet, B. Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Infantil Víctor J. Vilela, Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Ues, O C. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Epidemiología; Argentina.Fil: Santoro, R. Departamento de Mecanismos Moleculares de Enfermedades, DMMD, Universidad de Zurich; Suiza.Fil: Grinstein, S. Laboratorio de Virología, Hospital de Niños, Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, F. Instituto de Virología, CICVyA, INTA-Castelar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Fil: Miceli, Isabel N. P. Dirección de Epidemiología, Ministerio de Salud, Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Jorge A. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Virología; Argentina.Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children and it has been estimated that in Argentina Rotavirus is responsible for 21,000 hospitalizations, 85,000 medical attentions and an annual medical cost of US$ 27 millions. Given that a Rotavirus vaccine is about to be approved, a laboratory network based surveillance system was organized. Herein, we present the results after one year of study. Severe diarrhea was responsible for 9% of pediatric hospitalizations and rotavirus was detected in 42.1% of the diarrhea cases. We estimated that Rotavirus causes 3.8% of pediatric hospitalizations. The number of diarrhea and Rotavirus diarrhea hospitalizations was greater during the first year of life (62% and 71.3%, respectively). The number of diarrhea hospitalizations during the December-May semester was significantly higher than the rest of the year. A Rotavirus diarrhea peak was detected between April and June. These results indicate that Rotavirus is the most important etiological agent of severe diarrhea in Argentine children and show the importance of performing Rotavirus diagnosis in every pediatric hospital. The additional costs will be compensated by many benefits such as better use of antibiotics, improved nosocomial spread control, better handling of hospital beds and of laboratory resources and of the hospitalized patient