Identificación de sujetos a riesgo de deficiencia de hierromediante el Indicé Receptor Soluble de Transferrina-Log Ferritina sérica en hombres afrodescendientes residentes en San Basilio de Palenque y Cartagena de Indias, DTyC., Bolívar, Colombia.

En el ámbito mundial, sin distingo de raza, edad, género ni procedencia geográfica, la anemia de mayor prevalencia es la anemia ferropénica. De la misma forma, son insuficientes los reportes nacionales e internacionales sobre la prevalencia de los estados subclínicos de hierro, especialmente en comunidad afrodescendiente. El objetivo de la investigación fue caracterizar una población masculina afrodescendiente de 73 hombres sanos con edades comprendidas entre los 16 y 30 años mediante el comportamiento del índice (sTfR- Log F.S.), residentes en San Basilio de Palenque y en Cartagena de Indias DTyC. Se determinaron los índices primarios eritroides: hemoglobina (Hb), hematocrito (Hto), estudio de sangre periférica (E.S.P.); el receptor soluble de transferrina (sTfR), la ferritina sérica (F.S.) y el índice receptor soluble de transferrina – Logaritmo de la ferritina sérica (sTfR-Log F.S.) El análisis estadístico se realizó mediante el software de SPSS versión 17,0.   En la población de San Basilio de Palenque el hallazgo hematológico por el algoritmo de mayor frecuencia se asoció a la enfermedad crónica acompañada de deficiencia de hierro en el 41.6%, seguido de deficiencia subclínica de hierro estadio II con un 33.3%. En Cartagena el hallazgo de mayor frecuencia fue la enfermedad crónica con deficiencia de hierro en 49%, seguido de deficiencia subclínica de hierro estadio II 20.41%. Las dos poblaciones evidenciaron un comportamiento hematológico similar en las diferentes variables, constituyéndose estos resultados en pioneros para futuras investigaciones de los estadios subclínicos que anteceden la deficiencia de hierro en afrodescendientes colombianos

Development of a genetic tool for functional screening of anti-malarial bioactive extracts in metagenomic libraries

BACKGROUND: The chemical treatment of Plasmodium falciparum for human infections is losing efficacy each year due to the rise of resistance. One possible strategy to find novel anti-malarial drugs is to access the largest reservoir of genomic biodiversity source on earth present in metagenomes of environmental microbial communities. METHODS: A bioluminescent P. falciparum parasite was used to quickly detect shifts in viability of microcultures grown in 96-well plates. A synthetic gene encoding the Dermaseptin 4 peptide was designed and cloned under tight transcriptional control in a large metagenomic insert context (30 kb) to serve as proof-of-principle for the screening platform. RESULTS: Decrease in parasite viability consistently correlated with bioluminescence emitted from parasite microcultures, after their exposure to bacterial extracts containing a plasmid or fosmid engineered to encode the Dermaseptin 4 anti-malarial peptide. CONCLUSIONS: Here, a new technical platform to access the anti-malarial potential in microbial environmental metagenomes has been developed

Development of a genetic tool for functional screening of anti-malarial bioactive extracts in metagenomic libraries

Ajuts: Departamento Administrativo de Ciencias, Tecnología e Innovación (Colciencias), República de Colombia; Convocatoria 489 - 2009, Código 657048925406, Contrato de financiación RC. 427 - 2009 Colciencias - CorpoGen; Programa de Asistencias Graduadas de Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; i Programa Jóvenes Investigadores de ColcienciasBACKGROUND: The chemical treatment of Plasmodium falciparum for human infections is losing efficacy each year due to the rise of resistance. One possible strategy to find novel anti-malarial drugs is to access the largest reservoir of genomic biodiversity source on earth present in metagenomes of environmental microbial communities. METHODS: A bioluminescent P. falciparum parasite was used to quickly detect shifts in viability of microcultures grown in 96-well plates. A synthetic gene encoding the Dermaseptin 4 peptide was designed and cloned under tight transcriptional control in a large metagenomic insert context (30 kb) to serve as proof-of-principle for the screening platform. RESULTS: Decrease in parasite viability consistently correlated with bioluminescence emitted from parasite microcultures, after their exposure to bacterial extracts containing a plasmid or fosmid engineered to encode the Dermaseptin 4 anti-malarial peptide. Here, a new technical platform to access the anti-malarial potential in microbial environmental metagenomes has been develope

Prevalence and risk factors associated to tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections in HIV-positive patients in Bogotá

Introduction. Tuberculosis is one of the most widely distributed infectious diseases worldwide. It is the most common cause of mortality among AIDS patients. In Colombia, 12,918 tuberculosis cases were notified, and 926 deaths were reported in 2015. Objective. To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated to mycobacterial infections in HIVpositive patients in two public hospitals from Bogotá. Materials and methods. A prospective and descriptive study was carried out by an active search for tuberculosis cases and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections in HIV-positive patients. We considered demographic, social, clinical, and personal habits as variables. Statistical analyses were done using Stata 13™ software. Results. Three hundred and fifty six patients were included, 81.2% were men and 18.8% were women; the mean age was 36.5 years. Tuberculosis infection had a frequency of 19.9% (95% CI: 15.9-24.5%) and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection had a 3.9% frequency (95% CI: 2.16-6.5%). Bivariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between tuberculosis infection and CD4+ T cell counts (p=0.003), viral load (p=0.008), antiretroviral therapy (p=0.014), and body mass index (BMI) <18 kg/m2 (p=0.000). In non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections there was a statistically significant association with BMI (p=0.027) and CD4+ T cell counts (p=0.045). Conclusion. Factors associated with an impaired immune system caused by HIV infection are an important risk factor for developing tuberculosis. The lack of antiretroviral therapy and the BMI were also important risk factors for tuberculosis

Development of a novel mid throughput platform for the search of compounds against P. falciparum parasite in metagenomes

ilustracionesMagíster en Ciencias BiológicasMaestrí

Identificación de sujetos a riesgo de deficiencia de hierromediante el Indicé Receptor Soluble de Transferrina-Log Ferritina sérica en hombres afrodescendientes residentes en San Basilio de Palenque y Cartagena de Indias, DTyC., Bolívar, Colombia.

Worldwide, iron deficiency anemia is the most prevalence anemia, regardless of race, age, gender or geographical origin; alike there is insufficient the data and reports on the prevalence of subclinical iron states especially in the African descendant community national and internationally. The research aimed to characterize a healthy male population of African descendent aged between 16 and 30 years through the index (sTfR-Log FS) in 73 African descent men living in San Basilio de Palenque and Cartagena de Indias DT y C. Erythroid index were determined: hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (HCT), peripheral blood smear evaluation, the soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), serum ferritin (SF) and soluble transferrin receptor index - Logarithm of serum ferritin (sTfR-Log FS). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 17.0.Using the sTfR-Log FS, at San Basilio de Palenque, the hematologic finding by algorithm is most often associated with chronic disease along with iron deficiency (41.6%), followed by subclinical iron deficiency stage II (33.3%). In Cartagena, chronic iron deficiency (49%) was the most frequent found it, followed by subclinical iron deficiency stage II (20.41%). The two populations showed similar behavior in different hematologic variables, these results becoming pioneers for future research of the subclinical stages preceding iron deficiency in Colombia’s Afro-descendants.En el ámbito mundial, sin distingo de raza, edad, género ni procedencia geográfica, la anemia de mayor prevalencia es la anemia ferropénica. De la misma forma, son insuficientes los reportes nacionales e internacionales sobre la prevalencia de los estados subclínicos de hierro, especialmente en comunidad afrodescendiente. El objetivo de la investigación fue caracterizar una población masculina afrodescendiente de 73 hombres sanos con edades comprendidas entre los 16 y 30 años mediante el comportamiento del índice (sTfR- Log F.S.), residentes en San Basilio de Palenque y en Cartagena de Indias DTyC. Se determinaron los índices primarios eritroides: hemoglobina (Hb), hematocrito (Hto), estudio de sangre periférica (E.S.P.); el receptor soluble de transferrina (sTfR), la ferritina sérica (F.S.) y el índice receptor soluble de transferrina – Logaritmo de la ferritina sérica (sTfR-Log F.S.) El análisis estadístico se realizó mediante el software de SPSS versión 17,0.En la población de San Basilio de Palenque el hallazgo hematológico por el algoritmo de mayor frecuencia se asoció a la enfermedad crónica acompañada de deficiencia de hierro en el 41.6%, seguido de deficiencia subclínica de hierro estadio II con un 33.3%. En Cartagena el hallazgo de mayor frecuencia fue la enfermedad crónica con deficiencia de hierro en 49%, seguido de deficiencia subclínica de hierro estadio II 20.41%. Las dos poblaciones evidenciaron un comportamiento hematológico similar en las diferentes variables, constituyéndose estos resultados en pioneros para futuras investigaciones de los estadios subclínicos que anteceden la deficiencia de hierro en afrodescendientes colombianos

Development of a genetic tool for functional screening of anti-malarial bioactive extracts in metagenomic libraries

BACKGROUND: The chemical treatment of Plasmodium falciparum for human infections is losing efficacy each year due to the rise of resistance. One possible strategy to find novel anti-malarial drugs is to access the largest reservoir of genomic biodiversity source on earth present in metagenomes of environmental microbial communities. METHODS: A bioluminescent P. falciparum parasite was used to quickly detect shifts in viability of microcultures grown in 96-well plates. A synthetic gene encoding the Dermaseptin 4 peptide was designed and cloned under tight transcriptional control in a large metagenomic insert context (30 kb) to serve as proof-of-principle for the screening platform. RESULTS: Decrease in parasite viability consistently correlated with bioluminescence emitted from parasite microcultures, after their exposure to bacterial extracts containing a plasmid or fosmid engineered to encode the Dermaseptin 4 anti-malarial peptide. CONCLUSIONS: Here, a new technical platform to access the anti-malarial potential in microbial environmental metagenomes has been developed