The contribution of HIV point-of-care tests in early HIV diagnosis: community-based HIV testing monitoring in Catalonia, 1995 to 2018

Infeccions per VIH; Serveis de salut; DiagnòsticInfecciones por VIH; Servicios de salud; DiagnósticoVIH infections; Health services; DiagnosisBackground: Community-based HIV testing services combined with the use of point-of-care tests (POCT) have the potential to improve early diagnosis through increasing availability, accessibility and uptake of HIV testing. Aim: To describe community-based HIV testing activity in Catalonia, Spain, from 1995 to 2018, and to evaluate the impact of HIV POCT on the HIV continuum of care.Methods: A community-based network of voluntary counselling and testing services in Catalonia, Spain has been collecting systematic data on activity, process and results since 1995. A descriptive analysis was performed on pooled data, describing the data in terms of people tested and reactive screening test results. Results: Between 1995 and 2018, 125,876 HIV tests were performed (2.1% reactive). Since the introduction of HIV POCT in 2007, a large increase in the number of tests performed was observed, reaching 14,537 tests alone in 2018 (1.3% reactive). Men who have sex with men (MSM), as a proportion of all people tested, has increased greatly over time reaching 74.7% in 2018. The highest percentage of reactive tests was found in people who inject drugs followed by MSM. The contribution of community-based HIV testing to the overall total notified cases in the Catalonia HIV registry has gradually increased, reaching 37.9% in 2018, and 70% of all MSM cases. In 2018, the percentage of individuals with a reactive screening test who were linked to care was 89.0%. Conclusion: Our study reinforces the important role that community-based HIV POCT has on the diagnosis of HIV in key populations

Exploring allele specific methylation in drug dependence susceptibility

Drug dependence is a neuropsychiatric condition that involves genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. Allele-specific methylation (ASM) is a common and stable epigenetic mechanism that involves genetic variants correlating with differential levels of methylation at CpG sites. We selected 182 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) described to influence cis ASM in human brain regions to evaluate their possible contribution to drug dependence susceptibility. We performed a case-control association study in a discovery sample of 578 drug-dependent patients (including 428 cocaine-dependent subjects) and 656 controls from Spain, and then, we followed-up the significant associations in an independent sample of 1,119 cases (including 589 cocaine-dependent subjects) and 1,092 controls. In the discovery sample, we identified five nominal associations, one of them replicated in the follow-up sample (rs6020251). The pooled analysis revealed an association between drug dependence and rs6020251 but also rs11585570, both overcoming the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. We performed the same analysis considering only cocaine-dependent patients and obtained similar results. The rs6020251 variant correlates with differential methylation levels of cg17974185 and lies in the first intron of the CTNNBL1 gene, in a genomic region with multiple histone marks related to enhancer and promoter regions in brain. Rs11585570 is an eQTL in brain and blood for the SCP2 and ECHDC2 genes and correlates with differential methylation of cg27535305 and cg13461509, located in the promoter regions of both genes. To conclude, using an approach that combines genetic and epigenetic data, we highlighted the CTNNBL1, SCP2 and ECHDC2 genes as potential contributors to drug dependence susceptibility

Xarxa Epidemilològica d'Investigació sobre Malalties Rares (REpIER)

Investigació epidemiològica; Malalties orfes; InvestigadorsEpidemiological research; Orphan diseases; ResearchersInvestigación epidemiológica; Enfermedades huérfanas; InvestigadoresEl projecte Xarxa Epidemiològica d’Investigació sobre Malalties Rares (REpIER) pretén desenvolupar un programa d’investigació epidemiològica per a les malalties rares a Espanya, que aporti un millor coneixement de la situació de les malalties rares, en els seus aspectes clínics, epidemiològics i terapèutics, i que a la vegada proporcioni una orientació més adient per al desenvolupament de protocols d’actuació sociosanitaris.The Epidemiological Network on Rare Diseases Research aims to develop a program of epidemiological research for rare diseases in Spain, which should provide a better understanding of the situation of rare diseases in their clinical, epidemiological and therapeutic and at the same time should provide a more suitable orientation for the development of social health protocols.El proyecto Red Epidemiológica de Investigación sobre Enfermedades Raras (REpIER) pretende desarrollar un programa de investigación epidemiológica para las enfermedades raras en España, que aporte un mejor conocimiento de la situación de las enfermedades raras, en sus aspectos clínicos, epidemiológicos y terapéuticos , y que a la vez proporcione una orientación más adecuada para el desarrollo de protocolos de actuación sociosanitarios

Protocol de la prova de detecció ràpida del VHC per a HSH i persones trans

Virus de l’hepatitis C; HSH; Persones trans; Cribatge comunitariVirus de la hepatitis C; HSH; Personas trans; Cribado comunitarioHepatitis C virus; MSM; Trans people; Community screeningL'objectiu d'aquest protocol és crear un programa de cribratge comunitari del VHC per a HSH i persones trans no infectats pel VIH que tenen pràctiques de risc i/o utilitzen la PrEP

Association of the PLCB1 gene with drug dependence

Genetic factors involved in the susceptibility to drug addiction still remain largely unknown. MiRNAs seem to play key roles in the drug-induced plasticity of the brain that likely drives the emergence of addiction. In this work we explored the role of miRNAs in drug addiction. With this aim, we selected 62 SNPs located in the 3'UTR of target genes that are predicted to alter the binding of miRNA molecules and performed a case-control association study in a Spanish sample of 735 cases (mainly cocaine-dependent subjects with multiple drug dependencies) and 739 controls. We found an association between rs1047383 in the PLCB1 gene and drug dependence that was replicated in an independent sample (663 cases and 667 controls). Then we selected 9 miRNAs predicted to bind the rs1047383 region, but none of them showed any effect on PLCB1 expression. We also assessed two miRNAs binding a region that contains a SNP in linkage disequilibrium with rs1047383, but although one of them, hsa-miR-582, was found to downregulate PLCB1, no differences were observed between alleles. Finally, we explored the possibility that PLCB1 expression is altered by cocaine and we observed a significant upregulation of the gene in the nucleus accumbens of cocaine abusers and in human dopaminergic-like neurons after cocaine treatment. Our results, together with previous studies, suggest that PLCB1 participates in the susceptibility to drug dependence

FAIM-L Is an IAP-Binding Protein That Inhibits XIAP Ubiquitinylation and Protects from Fas-Induced Apoptosis

The neuronal long isoform of Fas Apoptotic Inhibitory Molecule (FAIM-L) protects from death receptor (DR)-induced apoptosis, yet its mechanism of protection remains unknown. Here, we show that FAIM-L protects rat neuronal Type II cells from Fas-induced apoptosis. XIAP has previously emerged as a molecular discriminator that is upregulated in Type II and downregulated in Type I apoptotic signaling. We demonstrate that FAIM-L requires sustained endogenous levels of XIAP to protect Type II cells as well as murine cortical neurons from Fas-induced apoptosis. FAIM-L interacts with the BIR2 domain of XIAP through an IAP-binding motif, the mutation of which impairs the antiapoptotic function of FAIM-L. Finally, we report that FAIM-L inhibits XIAP auto-ubiquitinylation and maintains its stability, thus conferring protection from apoptosis. Our results bring new understanding of the regulation of endogenous XIAP by a DR antagonist, pointing out at FAIM-L as a promising therapeutic tool for protection from apoptosis in pathological situations where XIAP levels are decreased.This work was funded by the Spanish Government Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas, CB06/05/1104 to J.X.C.), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SAF2010–19953 to J.X.C.; SAF2012–31485 to V.J.Y.), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CP11/00052 to M.F.S.), and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Suport als Grups de Recerca Consolidats 2009SGR346). F.M.-F. and L.P.-F. are supported by postgraduate fellowships from the Spanish Government Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. J.U. is supported by a postgraduate fellowship from the Generalitat de Catalunya. R.S.M. and V.J.Y. were under the Juan de la Cierva and the Ramon y Cajal programs, respectively, from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain), cofinanced by the European Social Fund. M.F.S. is under the Miguel Servet program from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund

Synthesis and thermoelectric properties of noble metal ternary chalcogenide systems of Ag-Au-Se in the forms of alloyed nanoparticles and colloidal nanoheterostructures

The optimization of a material functionality requires both the rational design and precise engineering of its structural and chemical parameters. In this work, we show how colloidal chemistry is an excellent synthetic choice for the synthesis of novel ternary nanostructured chalcogenides, containing exclusively noble metals, with tailored morphology and composition and with potential application in the energy conversion field. Specifically, the Ag-Au-Se system has been explored from a synthetic point of view, leading to a set of Ag2Se-based hybrid and ternary nanoparticles, including the room temperature synthesis of the rare ternary Ag3AuSe2 fischesserite phase. An in-depth structural and chemical charac-terization of all nanomaterials has been performed, which proofed especially useful for unravelling the reaction mecha-nism behind the formation of the ternary phase in solution. The work is complemented with the thermal and electric characterization of a ternary Ag-Au-Se nanocomposite with promising results: we found that the use of the ternary nano-composite represents a clear improvement in terms of thermoelectric energy conversion as compared to a binary Ag-Se nanocomposite analogue

Més de 20 anys de cribratge del VIH de base comunitària a Catalunya

Cribatge; VIH; Serveis de base comunitàriaCribado; VIH; Servicios de base comunitariaScreening; HIV; Community-based servicesDescriure l’activitat de cribratge del VIH en els serveis de base comunitària que participen a la xarxa DEVO entre 1995 i 2018 per tal d’avaluar la contribució del cribratge del VIH de base comunitària al continu d’atenció al VIH

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Ahora / Ara

La cinquena edició del microrelatari per l’eradicació de la violència contra les dones de l’Institut Universitari d’Estudis Feministes i de Gènere «Purificación Escribano» de la Universitat Jaume I vol ser una declaració d’esperança. Aquest és el moment en el qual les dones (i els homes) hem de fer un pas endavant i eliminar la violència sistèmica contra les dones. Ara és el moment de denunciar el masclisme i els micromasclismes començant a construir una societat més igualitària. Cadascun dels relats del llibre és una denúncia i una declaració que ens encamina cap a un món millor