Association of cortisol serum levels as a prognostic factor in threat of pre-term birth

Background: Prematurity is one of the leading causes of death in children. In Mexico there is a frequency of 12% of preterm birth and this leads to significant maternal-fetal complications comprising 31.5% of neonatal morbidity and mortality. The patient who receives obstetric care in the gynecology service at the naval medical center requires prevention, diagnosis and treatment of threat of preterm birth to reduce perinatal and neonatal complications. Serum cortisol levels was determined as a prognostic factor for the threat of preterm birth in patients with obstetric care at the Naval Medical Center, it is a relatively easy parameter to obtain and would support a timely treatment.Methods: We used a quantitative, non-experimental, retrospective descriptive study of 30 patients with risk factors to develop preterm birth threats in gynecology service of the naval medical center from January to December 2018, which were taken 3 milliliters of peripheral blood to measure serum cortisol concentrations for later analysis. For statistical analysis of the present study, it was used Shapiro Wilk test. Likewise, Pearson's test was performed to measure the degree of association between the dependent and independent variable. Student's t-test was implemented to compare cortisol levels of pregnant women.Results: A total of 30 patients of these were analyzed, the mean age was 30.4 years (SD±5.184). The gestation weeks the average value was 30.63 weeks (SD±4.781). A student t test was performed where the cortisol values of pregnant women were compared with an average value of 2,586 (95% CI 0.45-472) and a t value=2,476 and a p=0.019 lower value of the significance value of 0.05 rejecting the null hypothesis. Which indicates that cortisol levels can be used as a predictive marker of the threat of preterm birth, considering it as an independent factor for this situation to occur in pregnant patients. The variables of the cortisol level and the weeks of gestation Pearson=-0.061 and a significance of p=0.747 were correlated (there being no strong enough relationship between the study variables). Regarding the triggers, it is observed that the highest factor was for urinary tract infection 40% n=12, abnormal uterine activity 20% n=6, followed by premature membrane rupture 16.7% n=5.Conclusions: The risk factors associated with the threat of preterm birth can be multiple, encompassing them in three important areas such as socioeconomic, psycho-emotional and clinicopathological, of the latter, nine of which are most frequent in our population are urinary infection, abnormal uterine activity and premature rupture of membranes. Regarding the association of cortisol levels as a prognostic factor for the threat of preterm birth taking it into account as an independent factor, it can be concluded that it is not statistically significant, however, according to what is reported in the literature, It should be considered as one of the multiple risk factors, considering this timely premise to boost the development of new research in the field

Identificación del receptor SV2 isoforma A en cáncer de mama in vitro e in vivo

Tesis (Maestría en Ciencias de la Salud), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, SEPI, ESM, 2010, 1 archivo PDF, (64 páginas). tesis.ipn.m

Unveiling the G4-PAMAM capacity to bind and protect Ang-(1-7) bioactive peptide by molecular dynamics simulations

Angiotensin-(1-7) re-balance the Renin-Angiotensin system affected during several pathologies, including the new COVID-19; cardiovascular diseases; and cancer. However, one of the limiting factors for its therapeutic use is its short half-life, which might be overcome with the use of dendrimers as nanoprotectors. In this work, we addressed the following issues: (1) the capacity of our computational protocol to reproduce the experimental structural features of the (hydroxyl/amino)-terminated PAMAM dendrimers as well as the Angiotensin-(1-7) peptide; (2) the coupling of Angiotensin-(1-7) to (hydroxyl/amino)-terminated PAMAM dendrimers in order to gain insight into the structural basis of its molecular binding; (3) the capacity of the dendrimers to protect Angiotensin-(1-7); and (4) the effect of pH changes on the peptide binding and covering. Our Molecular-Dynamics/Metadynamics-based computational protocol well modeled the structural experimental features reported in the literature and our double-docking approach was able to provide reasonable initial structures for stable complexes. At neutral pH, PAMAM dendrimers with both terminal types were able to interact stably with 3 Angiotensin-(1-7) peptides through ASP1, TYR4 and PRO7 key amino acids. In general, they bind on the surface in the case of the hydroxyl-terminated compact dendrimer and in the internal zone in the case of the amino-terminated open dendrimer. At acidic pH, PAMAM dendrimers with both terminal groups are still able to interact with peptides either internalized or in its periphery, however, the number of contacts, the percentage of coverage and the number of hydrogen bonds are lesser than at neutral pH, suggesting a state for peptide release. In summary, amino-terminated PAMAM dendrimer showed slightly better features to bind, load and protect Angiotensin-(1-7) peptides. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10822-022-00470-5

TFEB; Beyond Its Role as an Autophagy and Lysosomes Regulator

Transcription factor EB (TFEB) is considered the master transcriptional regulator of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis, which regulates target gene expression through binding to CLEAR motifs. TFEB dysregulation has been linked to the development of numerous pathological conditions; however, several other lines of evidence show that TFEB might be a point of convergence of diverse signaling pathways and might therefore modulate other important biological processes such as cellular senescence, DNA repair, ER stress, carbohydrates, and lipid metabolism and WNT signaling-related processes. The regulation of TFEB occurs predominantly at the post-translational level, including phosphorylation, acetylation, SUMOylating, PARsylation, and glycosylation. It is noteworthy that TFEB activation is context-dependent; therefore, its regulation is subjected to coordinated mechanisms that respond not only to nutrient fluctuations but also to stress cell programs to ensure proper cell homeostasis and organismal health. In this review, we provide updated insights into novel post-translational modifications that regulate TFEB activity and give an overview of TFEB beyond its widely known role in autophagy and the lysosomal pathway, thus opening the possibility of considering TFEB as a potential therapeutic target

Use of Antioxidants for the Neuro-Therapeutic Management of COVID-19

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an emergent infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths throughout the world. COVID-19 infection’s main symptoms are fever, cough, fatigue, and neurological manifestations such as headache, myalgias, anosmia, ageusia, impaired consciousness, seizures, and even neuromuscular junctions’ disorders. In addition, it is known that this disease causes a series of systemic complications such as adverse respiratory distress syndrome, cardiac injury, acute kidney injury, and liver dysfunction. Due to the neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19, damage in the central nervous system has been suggested as well as the neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV-2. It is known that CoV infections are associated with an inflammation process related to the imbalance of the antioxidant system; cellular changes caused by oxidative stress contribute to brain tissue damage. Although anti-COVID-19 vaccines are under development, there is no specific treatment for COVID-19 and its clinical manifestations and complications; only supportive treatments with immunomodulators, anti-vascular endothelial growth factors, modulating drugs, statins, or nutritional supplements have been used. In the present work, we analyzed the potential of antioxidants as adjuvants for the treatment of COVID-19 and specifically their possible role in preventing or decreasing the neurological manifestations and neurological complications present in the disease

Trends in Gliosis in Obesity, and the Role of Antioxidants as a Therapeutic Alternative

Obesity remains a global health problem. Chronic low-grade inflammation in this pathology has been related to comorbidities such as cognitive alterations that, in the long term, can lead to neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroinflammation or gliosis in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus has been related to the effect of adipokines, high lipid levels and glucose, which increase the production of free radicals. Cerebral gliosis can be a risk factor for developing neurodegenerative diseases, and antioxidants could be an alternative for the prevention and treatment of neural comorbidities in obese patients. Aim: Identify the immunological and oxidative stress mechanisms that produce gliosis in patients with obesity and propose antioxidants as an alternative to reducing neuroinflammation. Method: Advanced searches were performed in scientific databases: PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCO, and the Science Citation index for research on the physiopathology of gliosis in obese patients and for the possible role of antioxidants in its management. Conclusion: Patients with obesity can develop neuroinflammation, conditioned by various adipokines, excess lipids and glucose, which results in an increase in free radicals that must be neutralized with antioxidants to reduce gliosis and the risk of long-term neurodegeneration