Metales y genes relacionados con el estrés oxidativo, factores metabólicos y variables relacionadas con la fragilidad ósea: un enfoque epidemiológico integrador

Tesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública y Microbiología. Fecha de Lectura: 10-01-202

Gene-environment interaction analysis of redox-related metals and genetic variants with plasma metabolic patterns in a general population from Spain: The Hortega Study

Background: Limited studies have evaluated the joint influence of redox-related metals and genetic variation on metabolic pathways. We analyzed the association of 11 metals with metabolic patterns, and the interacting role of candidate genetic variants, in 1145 participants from the Hortega Study, a population-based sample from Spain. Methods: Urine antimony (Sb), arsenic, barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo) and vanadium (V), and plasma copper (Cu), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) were measured by ICP-MS and AAS, respectively. We summarized 54 plasma metabolites, measured with targeted NMR, by estimating metabolic principal components (mPC). Redox-related SNPs (N = 291) were measured by oligo-ligation assay. Results: In our study, the association with metabolic principal component (mPC) 1 (reflecting non-essential and essential amino acids, including branched chain, and bacterial co-metabolism versus fatty acids and VLDL subclasses) was positive for Se and Zn, but inverse for Cu, arsenobetaine-corrected arsenic (As) and Sb. The association with mPC2 (reflecting essential amino acids, including aromatic, and bacterial co-metabolism) was inverse for Se, Zn and Cd. The association with mPC3 (reflecting LDL subclasses) was positive for Cu, Se and Zn, but inverse for Co. The association for mPC4 (reflecting HDL subclasses) was positive for Sb, but inverse for plasma Zn. These associations were mainly driven by Cu and Sb for mPC1; Se, Zn and Cd for mPC2; Co, Se and Zn for mPC3; and Zn for mPC4. The most SNP-metal interacting genes were NOX1, GSR, GCLC, AGT and REN. Co and Zn showed the highest number of interactions with genetic variants associated to enriched endocrine, cardiovascular and neurological pathways. Conclusions: Exposures to Co, Cu, Se, Zn, As, Cd and Sb were associated with several metabolic patterns involved in chronic disease. Carriers of redox-related variants may have differential susceptibility to metabolic alterations associated to excessive exposure to metals.This work was supported by the Strategic Action for Research in Health sciences [CP12/03080, PI15/00071, PI10/0082, PI13/01848, PI14/00874, PI16/01402, PI21/00506 and PI11/00726], CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN) (CIBER-02-08-2009, CB06/03 and CB12/03/30,016), the State Agency for Research (PID2019-108973RB- C21 and C22), the Valencia Government (GRUPOS 03/101; PROM- ETEO/2009/029 and ACOMP/2013/039, IDIFEDER/ 2021/072 and GRISOLIAP/2021/119), the Castilla-Leon Government (GRS/279/A/08) and European Network of Excellence Ingenious Hypercare (EPSS- 037093) from the European Commission. The Strategic Action for Research in Health sciences, CIBERDEM and CIBEROBN are initiatives from Carlos III Health Institute Madrid and cofunded with European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER). The State Agency for Research and Carlos III Health Institute belong to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. ADR received the support of a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434) (fellowship code “LCF/BQ/DR19/11740016”). MGP received the support of a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434, fellowship code LCFLCF/BQ/DI18/11660001). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript

DIE HAUTTEMPERATUR WEIST BEI MORALISCHEN DILEMMATA AUF EMPATHIE HIN: EINE EXPERIMENTELLE STUDIE MIT INFRAROT -THERMOGRAPHIE

[EN]The main objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between skin temperature changes, empathy and moral behaviour through the application of thermography. We recorded the skin temperature changes that occur during the presentation of one personal and one impersonal moral dilemma to high and low-empathy participants. The time needed to make this moral judgement was used as an indicator of the cognitive style of the participant: intuitive thinking (emotional) or deliberate thinking (utilitarian or logical). The main results were as follows: Large temperature changes oc- curred in high-empathy participants (overall in the personal dilemma) that could be understood as a skin representation of emotional judgements. These participants also tended to make non-utilitarian judgements. On the other hand, the low-empathy participants tended to make utilitarian judgements, and this study found that their change in skin tempera- ture was almost always non-significant. The findings are discussed on an emotion-based description of moral dilemmas. [DE]Hauptziel dieser Forschung ist es, den Zusammenhang zwischen den Temperaturschwankungen der Haut, Empathie und moralisches Verhalten mittels Thermografie zu untersuchen. Es wurden die Veränderungen der Hauttemperatur aufgezeichnet, die bei der Präsentation eines persönlichen und eines unpersönlichen moralischen Dilemmas bei Teilnehmern mit hohen und niedrigen Einfühlungsvermögen auftreten. Die Zeit, die für dieses moralische Urteil benötigt wurde, wurde als Indikator für den kognitiven Stil des Teilnehmers verstanden: Intuitives (emotionales) oder bewusstes Denken (utilitaristisch oder logisch). Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse waren: Große Temperatur- Veränderungen wurden bei hochempathischen Teilnehmern beobachtet, besonders im persönlichen Dilemma). Das könnte als die Repräsentation emotionaler Urteile an der Haut verstanden werden. Diese Teilnehmer neigten auch dazu, nicht utilitaristische Urteile zu fällen. Auf der anderen Seite tendierten die gering-empathischen Teilnehmer dazu, utilitaristische Urteile zu fällen, und die Studie ergab, dass ihre Hauttemperaturveränderung fast immer unbedeutend war. Die Ergebnisse werden auf einer emotionsbasierten Beschreibung moralischer Dilemmata diskutiert

Effects of climate change on Platanus flowering in Western Mediterranean cities: current trends and future projections

Ornamental trees can reduce some of the negative impacts of urbanization on citizens but some species, such as Platanus spp., produce pollen with high allergenic potential. This can exacerbate the symptomatology in allergic patients, being a public health problem. Therefore, it would be relevant to determine the environmental conditions regulating the flowering onset of the Platanus species. The aims of this study were to use aerobiological records for modelling the thermal requirements of Platanus flowering and to make future projections based on the effects that climate change could have on it under several possible future scenarios. This study was conducted in Badajoz and Malaga, two Western Mediterranean cities with different climate conditions. In the first step, several main pollen season definitions were applied to the aerobiological data and their onset dates were compared with in situ phenological observations. The main pollen season definition that best fitted the Platanus flowering onset was based on the 4th derivative of a logistic function. This definition was used as a proxy to model the thermal requirements of the Platanus flowering onset by applying the PhenoFlex statistical framework. The errors obtained by this model during the external validation were 3.2 days on average, so it was fed with future temperature estimations to determine possible future trends. According to the different models, the flowering onset of Platanus in Badajoz will show heterogeneous responses in the short and medium term due to different balances in the chilling-forcing compensation, while it will clearly delay in Malaga due to a significant delay in the chilling requirement fulfilment. This may increase the chances of cross-reactivity episodes with other pollen types in the future, increasing its impact on public health.Funding for open Access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA. This work was partially financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and FEDER funding inside the Operational Plurirregional Program of Spain 2014-2020 and the Operational Program of Smart Growing (Project Environmental and Biodiversity Climate Change Lab, EnBiC2-Lab), by the Regional Government of Extremadura (IB20081 and GR21027), and by the University of Málaga under its program for projects led by young researchers (I Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia; B1-2021_24). A. Picornell was supported by a postdoctoral grant financed by the Ministry of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities of the Junta de Andalucía (POSTDOC_21_00056). We acknowledge the E-OBS dataset from the EU-FP6 project UERRA (http://www.uerra.eu) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the data providers in the ECA&D project (https://www.ecad.eu)

Telomere attrition in heart failure : a flow-FISH longitudinal analysis of circulating monocytes

Altres ajuts: AB-G was supported by Grants from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (SAF2014-59892), Fundació La MARATÓ de TV3 (201502, 201516), CIBER Cardiovascular (CB16/11/00403), and AdvanceCat with the support of ACCIÓ [Catalonia Trade & Investment; Generalitat de Catalunya] under the Catalonian ERDF [European Regional Development Fund] operational program, 2014-2020.Cross-sectional investigations report shorter telomeres in patients with heart failure (HF); however, no studies describe telomere length (TL) trajectory and its relationship with HF progression. Here we aimed to investigate telomere shortening over time and its relationship to outcomes. Our study cohort included 101 ambulatory patients with HF. Blood samples were collected at baseline (n = 101) and at the 1-year follow-up (n = 54). Using flow-FISH analysis of circulating monocytes, we simultaneously measured three monocyte subsets-classical (CD14 ++ CD16 −), intermediate (CD14 ++ CD16 +), and nonclassical (CD14 + CD16 ++)-and their respective TLs based on FITC-labeled PNA probe hybridization. The primary endpoints were all-cause death and the composite of all-cause death or HF-related hospitalization, assessed at 2.3 ± 0.6 years. All statistical analyses were executed by using the SPSS 15.0 software, and included Student's t test and ANOVA with post hoc Scheffe analysis, Pearson or Spearman rho correlation and univariate Cox regression when applicable. We found high correlations between TL values of different monocyte subsets: CD14 ++ CD16 + vs. CD14 ++ CD16 −, R = 0.95, p 0.1). Cox regression analyses did not indicate that TL or ΔTL was associated with all-cause death or the composite endpoint. Overall, this longitudinal study demonstrated a ~ 22% reduction of TL in monocytes from ambulatory patients with HF within 1 year. TL and ΔTL were not related to outcomes over long-term follow-up. The online version of this article (10.1186/s12967-018-1412-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Formación en seguridad del paciente para el personal administrativo de una Mutua Colaboradora con la Seguridad Social, impacto inmediato y a los seis meses

Introducción: El personal administrativo es un colectivo esencial. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el impacto formativo de un curso online básico sobre seguridad del paciente para administrativos.  Método: Estudio cuasi experimental antes/después en una población de 170 administrativos/as que prestaban sus servicios en los centros de la Mutua Colaboradora con la Seguridad Social MC Mutual y que realizaron un curso de seguridad del paciente. Se evaluaron los conocimientos adquiridos mediante una prueba al inicio (P1) y al final del curso (P2). Además, se eligió una muestra de conveniencia de 42 administrativos/as para evaluar sus conocimientos mediante entrevista, previos (E1) y posteriores (E2) al curso, y a los 6 meses (E3). Resultados: De los 170 administrativos/as participantes en el curso, 167 (98,2%) completaron la prueba al inicio y final, con puntuaciones medias que incrementaron de 5,7 (P1) a 7,3 (P2) (p<0,05). Aceptaron participar en las entrevistas 22 administrativos/as de una muestra de 42 (52,4%), y se consiguieron las tres entrevistas de 21 (E1), 22 (E2) y 19 (E3) administrativos/as, cuyas puntuaciones medias incrementaron desde 5,9 (E1) a 7,2 (E2) y 7,5 (E3) (p<0,05).  Conclusiones: Los resultados sugieren que el curso de formación fue efectivo. La evaluación mediante la entrevista a los seis meses del curso indica un probable efecto a medio-largo plazo. La implicación de los/as profesionales administrativos/as en la atención a los usuarios de la Mutua es clave. La evaluación del impacto de una intervención es esencial para informar sobre su efectividad y orientar su planificación

Avaluació d’intervencions psicològiques en l’àmbit de la violència sexual i física en la infància i l’adolescència

Intervencions psicològiques; Violència; Infants; AdolescentsIntervenciones psicológicas; Violencia; Infantes; AdolescentesPsychological interventions; Violence; Children; TeenagersEn aquest article es presenten avaluacions d'intervencions psicològiques per atendre els infants i adolescents víctimes de violències sexuals i físiques

Impact of an Evidence-Based Prioritization System and Electronic Consultation in Early Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer

(1) Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common causes of cancer. Timely diagnosis is critical, with even minor delays impacting prognosis. Primary care providers face obstacles in accessing specialist care. This study investigates the impact of implementing an electronic consultation (eConsult) system combined with a specific prioritization system on CRC diagnosis delay and tumor staging. (2) Methods: The study analyzes 245 CRC patients from November 2019 to February 2022, comparing those referred before and after the eConsult system’s implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on referral reasons, pathways, diagnosis delays, and staging were collected. Multivariate analysis aimed to identify independent risk factors for advanced staging at diagnosis. (3) Results: The eConsult system significantly reduced CRC diagnosis delay from 68 to 26 days. The majority of patients referred via eConsult presented with symptoms. Despite expedited diagnoses, no discernible difference in CRC staging emerged between eConsult and traditional referrals. Notably, patients from screening programs or with a positive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) experienced earlier-stage diagnoses. A positive FIT without symptoms and being a neversmoker emerged as protective factors against advanced-stage CRC. (4) Conclusions: This study highlights eConsult’s role in reducing CRC diagnosis delay, improving diagnostic efficiency and prioritizing urgent cases, emphasizing FIT effectiveness

Pollen recognition through an open-source web-based system: automated particle counting for aerobiological analysis

Airborne pollen is produced by plants for their sexual reproduction and can have negative impacts on public health. The current monitoring systems are based on manual sampling processes which are tedious and time-consuming. Due to that, pollen concentrations are often reported with a delay of up to one week. In this study, we present an open-source user-friendly web application powered by deep learning for automatic pollen count and classification. The application aims to simplify the process for non-IT users to count and classify different types of pollen, reducing the effort required compared to manual methods. To overcome the challenges of acquiring large labelled datasets, we propose a semi-automatic labelling approach, which combines human expertise and machine learning techniques. The results demonstrate that our approach significantly reduces the effort required for users to count and classify pollen taxa accurately. The model achieved high precision and recall rates (> 96% [email protected]), enabling reliable pollen identification and prediction.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBUA. This work was financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and FEDER funding inside the Operational Plurir- regional Program of Spain 2014–2020 and the Operational Program of Smart Growing (Environmental and Biodiversity Climate Change Lab, EnBiC2-Lab; LIFEWATCH-2019-11-UMA-01-BD) and by the Span- ish project TED2021-130167B-C33 (‘GEDIER: Application of Digital Twins to more sustainable irrigated farms’). A. Picornell was supported by a postdoctoral grant financed by the Ministry of Economic Transfor- mation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities of the Junta de Andalucía (POSTDOC_21_00056)

Anticontractile Effect of Perivascular Adipose Tissue and Leptin are Reduced in Hypertension

Leptin causes vasodilatation both by endothelium-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Leptin is synthesized by perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT). The hypothesis of this study is that a decrease of leptin production in PVAT of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) might contribute to a diminished paracrine anticontractile effect of the hormone. We have determined in aorta from Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and SHR (i) leptin mRNA and protein levels in PVAT, (ii) the effect of leptin and PVAT on contractile responses, and (iii) leptin-induced relaxation and nitric oxide (NO) production. Leptin mRNA and protein expression were significantly lower in PVAT from SHR. Concentration-response curves to angiotensin II were significantly blunted in presence of PVAT as well as by exogenous leptin (10−9 M) only in WKY. This anticontractile effect was endothelium-dependent. Vasodilatation induced by leptin was smaller in SHR than in WKY, and was also endothelium-dependent. Moreover, release of endothelial NO in response to acute leptin was higher in WKY compared to SHR, but completely abolished in the absence of endothelium. In conclusion, the reduced anticontractile effect of PVAT in SHR might be attributed to a reduced PVAT-derived leptin and to an abrogated effect of leptin on endothelial NO release probably due to an impaired activation of endothelial NO synthase