Urbanisation is associated with prevalence of childhood asthma in diverse, small rural communities in Ecuador

BACKGROUND: Studies conducted in transitional communities from Africa and Asia have pointed to the process of urbanisation as being responsible for the increase in asthma prevalence in developing regions. In Latin America, there are few published data available on the potential impact of urbanisation on asthma prevalence. The aim of the present study was to explore how the process of urbanisation may explain differences in asthma prevalence in transitional communities in north-eastern Ecuador. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: An ecological study was conducted in 59 communities in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. Indicators of urbanisation were grouped into three indices representing the processes associated with urbanisation: socioeconomic, lifestyle and urban infrastructure. Categorical principal components analysis was used to generate scores for each index and a fourth index--a summary urbanisation index--was derived from the most representative variables in each of the three indices. The authors analysed the associations between community asthma prevalence and the indices, as well as with each indicator variable of every group. The overall prevalence of asthma was 10.1% (range 0-31.4% between communities). Three of the four indices presented significant associations with community asthma prevalence: socioeconomic (r = 0.295, p = 0.023), lifestyle (r = 0.342, p = 0.008) and summary urbanisation index (r = 0.355, p = 0.006). Variables reflecting better socioeconomic status and a more urban lifestyle were associated with greater asthma prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide evidence that the prevalence of asthma increases with increasing levels of urbanisation in transitional communities, and factors associated with greater socioeconomic level and changes towards a more urban lifestyle may be particularly important

Risk factors for atopic and non-atopic asthma in a rural area of Ecuador

Background: Asthma has emerged as an important public health problem of urban populations in Latin America. Epidemiological data suggest that a minority of asthma cases in Latin America may be associated with allergic sensitisation and that other mechanisms causing asthma have been overlooked. The aim of the present study was to investigate risk factors for atopic and non-atopic asthma in school-age children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 3960 children aged 6–16 years living in Afro-Ecuadorian rural communities in Esmeraldas province in Ecuador. Allergic diseases and risk factors were assessed by questionnaire and allergic sensitisation by allergen skin prick reactivity. Results: A total of 390 (10.5%) children had wheeze within the previous 12 months, of whom 14.4% had at least one positive skin test. The population-attributable fraction for recent wheeze associated with atopy was 2.4%. Heavy Trichuris trichiura infections were strongly inversely associated with atopic wheeze. Non-atopic wheeze was positively associated with maternal allergic symptoms and sedentarism (watching television (>3 h/day)) but inversely associated with age and birth order. Conclusions: The present study showed a predominance of non-atopic compared with atopic wheeze among schoolchildren living in a poor rural region of tropical Latin America. Distinct risk factors were associated with the two wheeze phenotypes and may indicate different causal mechanisms. Future preventive strategies in such populations may need to be targeted at the causes of non-atopic wheeze

PDR-1/hParkin negatively regulates the phagocytosis of apoptotic cell corpses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Apoptotic cell death is an integral part of cell turnover in many tissues, and proper corpse clearance is vital to maintaining tissue homeostasis in all multicellular organisms. Even in tissues with high cellular turnover, apoptotic cells are rarely seen because of efficient clearance mechanisms in healthy individuals. In Caenorhabditis elegans, two parallel and partly redundant conserved pathways act in cell corpse engulfment. The pathway for cytoskeletal rearrangement requires the small GTPase CED-10 Rac1 acting for an efficient surround of the dead cell. The CED-10 Rac pathway is also required for the proper migration of the distal tip cells (DTCs) during the development of the C. elegans gonad. Parkin, the mammalian homolog of the C. elegans PDR-1, interacts with Rac1 in aged human brain and it is also implicated with actin dynamics and cytoskeletal rearrangements in Parkinsons's disease, suggesting that it might act on engulfment. Our genetic and biochemical studies indicate that PDR-1 inhibits apoptotic cell engulfment and DTC migration by ubiquitylating CED-10 for degradation

PDR-1/hParkin negatively regulates the phagocyosis of apoptotic cell corpses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Apoptotic cell death is an integral part of cell turnover in many tissues, and proper corpse clearance is vital to maintaining tissue homeostasis in all multicellular organisms. Even in tissues with high cellular turnover, apoptotic cells are rarely seen because of efficient clearance mechanisms in healthy individuals. In Caenorhabditis elegans, two parallel and partly redundant conserved pathways act in cell corpse engulfment. The pathway for cytoskeletal rearrangement requires the small GTPase CED-10 Rac1 acting for an efficient surround of the dead cell. The CED-10 Rac pathway is also required for the proper migration of the distal tip cells (DTCs) during the development of the C. elegans gonad. Parkin, the mammalian homolog of the C. elegans PDR-1, interacts with Rac1 in aged human brain and it is also implicated with actin dynamics and cytoskeletal rearrangements in Parkinsons's disease, suggesting that it might act on engulfment. Our genetic and biochemical studies indicate that PDR-1 inhibits apoptotic cell engulfment and DTC migration by ubiquitylating CED-10 for degradation

Tomato geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase isoform 1 is involved in the stress-triggered production of diterpenes in leaves and strigolactones in roots

Carotenoids are photoprotectant pigments and precursors of hormones such as strigolactones (SL). Carotenoids are produced in plastids from geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP), which is diverted to the carotenoid pathway by phytoene synthase (PSY). In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), three genes encode plastid-targeted GGPP synthases (SlG1 to SlG3) and three genes encode PSY isoforms (PSY1 to PSY3). Here, we investigated the function of SlG1 by generating loss-of-function lines and combining their metabolic and physiological phenotyping with gene co-expression and co-immunoprecipitation analyses. Leaves and fruits of slg1 lines showed a wild-type phenotype in terms of carotenoid accumulation, photosynthesis, and development under normal growth conditions. In response to bacterial infection, however, slg1 leaves produced lower levels of defensive GGPP-derived diterpenoids. In roots, SlG1 was co-expressed with PSY3 and other genes involved in SL production, and slg1 lines grown under phosphate starvation exuded less SLs. However, slg1 plants did not display the branched shoot phenotype observed in other SL-defective mutants. At the protein level, SlG1 physically interacted with the root-specific PSY3 isoform but not with PSY1 and PSY2. Our results confirm specific roles for SlG1 in producing GGPP for defensive diterpenoids in leaves and carotenoid-derived SLs (in combination with PSY3) in roots

BET Inhibition-Induced GSK3β Feedback Enhances Lymphoma Vulnerability to PI3K Inhibitors

The phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)-glycogen synthase kinase \u3b2 (GSK3\u3b2) axis plays a central role in MYC-driven lymphomagenesis, and MYC targeting with bromodomain and extraterminal protein family inhibitors (BETi) is a promising treatment strategy in lymphoma. In a high-throughput combinatorial drug screening experiment, BETi enhance the antiproliferative effects of PI3K inhibitors in a panel of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and Burkitt lymphoma cell lines. BETi or MYC silencing upregulates several PI3K pathway genes and induces GSK3\u3b2 S9 inhibitory phosphorylation, resulting in increased \u3b2-catenin protein abundance. Furthermore, BETi or MYC silencing increases GSK3\u3b2 S9 phosphorylation levels and \u3b2-catenin protein abundance through downregulating the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes UBE2C and UBE2T. In a mouse xenograft DLBCL model, BETi decrease MYC, UBE2C, and UBE2T and increase phospho-GSK3\u3b2 S9 levels, enhancing the anti-proliferative effect of PI3K inhibitors. Our study reveals prosurvival feedbacks induced by BETi involving GSK3\u3b2 regulation, providing a mechanistic rationale for combination strategies. In this study, Derenzini et al. demonstrate that BET inhibitors enhance lymphoma vulnerability to PI3K inhibitors by inducing GSK3\u3b2 feedback in a MYC-dependent manner and by downregulating E2-ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, which further enhance the feedback. These data provide the rationale for combining BET and PI3K inhibitors in lymphoma therapy

Diagnostico situacional sobre la fecundidad como problema de salud pública

Graficas, tablas, encuestaLa planificación familiar es un derecho que tiene todo hombre y toda mujer a decidir voluntariamente en qué momento y cuántos hijos desean y puedan tener. Toda pareja debe definir cuándo, cómo y con qué planificar el nacimiento de sus hijos puesto que son ellos responsables de velar por su bienestar. Estos planes no solo ayudan a prevenir embarazos no deseados, sino también a proteger la salud de las mujeres, espaciar el nacimiento de sus hijos, evitar abortos clandestinos así como infecciones de transmisión sexual como el VIH. La planificación familiar contribuye a mejorar la calidad de vida de los seres humanos, evitando embarazos no deseados, permitiendo a las parejas programar su descendencia. Los jóvenes pueden dedicar su tiempo y su esfuerzo a su capacitación y aprendizaje. Los padres con menor número de hijos tienen una mejor capacidad de proveer alimento, ropa, salud, vivienda y educación a sus niños. Los métodos de planificación familiar protegen la vida de la mujer con alto riesgo materno. Hacia el futuro solo la planificación familiar, podrá garantizar la supervivencia de la humanidad, ya que ante recursos naturales escasos como el agua y los suelos fértiles, el crecimiento demográfico no controlado disminuye la oportunidad de vida en el planeta.No Abstrac

Importance of reliability in evaluating the quality of exams in health sciences

Importance of reliability in evaluating the quality of exams in health science

Fertilización del trigo (Triticum sativum L.) en suelos influenciados por cenizas volcánicas del Departamento de Nariño, Colombia.

Se presentan y discuten los resultados más sobresalientes de experimentos efectuados en fincas de agricultores para establecer las dosís adecuadas de fertilizantes en este cultivo. Entre 1956 y 1972 se establecieron pruebas regionales sobre respuesta del trigo a la aplicación de fertilizantes en Nariño. Los suelos donde se realizaron los ensayos eran ácidos, con bajo contenido de materia orgánica y altos en K intercambiable. Las dosis de fertilizantes utilizados variaron entre 0 y 100 kg/ha de N, 0 a 225 kg/ha de P2O5 y entre 0 y 50 kg/ha de K2O. Como fuente de N se empleó sulfato de amonio y úrea, de P, superfosfato triple y Escorias Thomas y de K, cloruro y sulfato de potasio. Se deben hacer aplicaciones combinadas de N y P en dosis de 60 kg/ha de N y 150 kg/ha de P2O5 en aquellos suelos con menos de 6 por ciento de materia orgánica y de 30 ppm de P (Bray II). En suelos con contenidos más altos de matería orgánica y P se puede aplicar hasta 30 kg/ha de N y 75 kg/ha de P2O5. Conviene agregar hasta 50 kg/ha de K2O para evitar agotamiento de K en el suelo. La fertilización nitrogenada es económicamente muy eficiente, en cambio la fertilización fosfatada es poco eficiente, especialmente en suelos con más de 30 ppm de P (Bray II)Trigo-Triticum aestiv

Enfermedad renal oculta en pacientes con rasgo drepanocítico

Sickle cell trait is usually seen as a benign condition but has been shown to cause different pathological consequences. Within these associations, one of the most important is the increased risk of chronic kidney disease in these individuals. This study aims to determine the prevalence of occult renal disease identified in people with the condition. The study was conducted in the population of the community of Ciriboya, Colón, Honduras in January 2015. With a sample of 20 people, over 18 years, which were identified with sickle cell trait in a previous research. Validated screening tool for Occult Renal Disease (SCORED) was applied in each participant, hemoglobin levels, glucose, blood pressure and proteinuria were determined, also medical history and risk factors were recorded. Data were entered and processed in the software Epi info 7. The sample included 13 women (65%) and 7 men (35%) in the age range between 19 and 83 years with an SD of 18.4, in which the prevalence of increased risk for kidney disease was found in 45 % of the study subjects. To give a special attention to people with sickle cell trait, since it is no longer considered a harmless condition, under the circumstances of the increase in pathological complications it can cause. Tracking those identified with an increased risk of kidney disease is recommended.El rasgo drepanocítico es casi siempre visto como una condición benigna pero se ha demostrado que puede causar diferentes consecuencias patológicas. Dentro de esta asociación, una de las más importantes, es el riesgo aumentado de enfermedad renal crónica en estos individuos. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo determinar la prevalencia de enfermedad renal oculta en personas identificados con rasgo drepanocítico. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo y transversal en una muestra de la población de la comunidad de Ciriboya, del departamento de Colón, Honduras en enero del año 2015. Participaron 20 personas, mayores de 18 años, las cuales fueron identificadas con rasgo drepanocítico en una investigación previa. Para calcular el riesgo se utilizó la herramienta validada de tamizaje para Enfermedad Renal Oculta (SCORED), se determinaron los niveles de hemoglobina, glucosa en ayunas, tensión arterial y proteinuria, así mismo se registraron antecedentes patológicos y factores de riesgo de cada persona. Los datos fueron ingresados y procesados en el programa Epi info 7 y el nivel de riesgo para enfermedad renal fue calculado mediante los puntajes que este instrumento establece. La muestra estudiada fue de 13 mujeres (65%) y 7 hombres (35%) en un rango de edad entre 19 y 83 años con una SD de 18.4, se encontró una prevalencia de riesgo aumentado de enfermedad renal en el 45% de los sujetos de estudio. Las personas con rasgo drepanocítico deben de recibir un seguimiento clínico especial considerando el riesgo aumentado de padecimiento de enfermedad renal en la población estudiada