COVID-19 y salud reproductiva

El comportamiento de las enfermedades microbianas, ya sea por virus, bacterias o protozoos, y su respuesta inflamatoria son diferentes entre hombres y mujeres. Esta diferencia se hace notoria en la pandemia derivada por la enfermedad por coronavirus (COVID-19). Desde el reporte del primer caso de neumonía en diciembre de 2019, en Wuhan, China, la COVID-19 se ha diseminado a 212 países y territorios y, a la fecha, se ha confirmado más de 3,5 millones de casos, con una mortalidad mundial del 7%, lo que la convierte en una emergencia sanitaria internacional (1). Hasta ahora, en Colombia, hay más de 7000 casos confirmados, con más de 300 defunciones, de los cuales, más del 60% pertenecen al sexo masculino. Hasta el momento, la literatura científica disponible relacionada con la COVID-19 solo abarca ciertos aspectos de la salud reproductiva, tanto femenina como masculina, mientras se continúa recopilando más información que nos permita conocer y realizar un análisis más detallado de su impacto real en humanos durante el proceso infeccioso y las secuelas derivadas de este. Está confirmado que las condiciones médicas relacionadas con el síndrome metabólico y los estados de insulinorresistencia en hombres y mujeres agravan la presentación clínica y el pronóstico (2). La presente revisión pretende ilustrar los mecanismos relacionados con la respuesta inmunitaria diversa frente a las infecciones virales según el sexo del individuo, su compromiso gonadal y los efectos relacionados con la salud reproductiva masculina y femenina, que incluye la maternofetal y la posible transmisión vertical

Evolution of the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Spain between March and November 2020: SEMI-COVID national registry

Objectives: Since the results of the RECOVERY trial, WHO recommendations about the use of corticosteroids (CTs) in COVID-19 have changed. The aim of the study is to analyse the evolutive use of CTs in Spain during the pandemic to assess the potential influence of new recommendations. Material and methods: A retrospective, descriptive, and observational study was conducted on adults hospitalised due to COVID-19 in Spain who were included in the SEMI-COVID- 19 Registry from March to November 2020. Results: CTs were used in 6053 (36.21%) of the included patients. The patients were older (mean (SD)) (69.6 (14.6) vs. 66.0 (16.8) years; p < 0.001), with hypertension (57.0% vs. 47.7%; p < 0.001), obesity (26.4% vs. 19.3%; p < 0.0001), and multimorbidity prevalence (20.6% vs. 16.1%; p < 0.001). These patients had higher values (mean (95% CI)) of C-reactive protein (CRP) (86 (32.7-160) vs. 49.3 (16-109) mg/dL; p < 0.001), ferritin (791 (393-1534) vs. 470 (236- 996) µg/dL; p < 0.001), D dimer (750 (430-1400) vs. 617 (345-1180) µg/dL; p < 0.001), and lower Sp02/Fi02 (266 (91.1) vs. 301 (101); p < 0.001). Since June 2020, there was an increment in the use of CTs (March vs. September; p < 0.001). Overall, 20% did not receive steroids, and 40% received less than 200 mg accumulated prednisone equivalent dose (APED). Severe patients are treated with higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%. Conclusions: Patients with greater comorbidity, severity, and inflammatory markers were those treated with CTs. In severe patients, there is a trend towards the use of higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%

Antioxidant defenses and trace metal bioaccumulation capacity of Cymbula nigra (Gasteropoda: Patellidae)

The present study deals with the effect of trace metals on the endangered limpet Cymbula nigra. The Bay of Algeciras (Strait of Gibraltar) was used as the study site. Important industrial activity takes place in the area, including frequent oil spills. However, it is home to important populations of C. nigra. The objective of this work was to determine if these animals were being affected at a subcellular level by the pollutants present in their environment and to analyze the trace metal concentrations in the animal’s soft tissues. To determine the effects of water quality on the antioxidant activity and concentrations through field experimentation, a total of six sites were selected in Algeciras Bay, three located in the inner areas (environmentally degraded sites with higher levels of pollutants) and three in the outermost areas of the Bay. Stress associated to reactive oxygen species formation was assessed on digestive glands and gills as the enzymatic antioxidant activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) and as the concentrations of lipid-soluble (α-tocopherol and β-carotene) and the water-soluble antioxidants (reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG)). Gills and digestive glands of those animals located in the inner areas of Algeciras Bay showed higher CAT activity values than those located in the outer areas. As a general pattern, we observed higher antioxidant activities and concentrations in digestive glands that in gills, suggesting the possibility that pollutants are mainly being incorporated by limpets through the food. As a general rule, larger animals showed greater concentrations of these compounds. Iron, zinc, and manganese, in this order, were present in the tissues at the highest concentrations. Chromium and manganese were found in significantly higher concentrations in those animals collected from the inner areas of the Bay. Through the present study, we provide the first data regarding the antioxidant defense levels and metal accumulation capacity of this species, and we reinforce the idea that this endangered species may be, in fact, relatively tolerant to degraded environments.Fil: Rivera Ingraham, G. A.. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: Malanga, Gabriela Fabiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Puntarulo, Susana Ángela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Pérez, A. F.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Ruiz Tabares, A.. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: Maestre, M.. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: González Aranda, R.. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: Espinosa, F.. Universidad de Sevilla; EspañaFil: García Gómez, J. C.. Universidad de Sevilla; Españ

Unravelling the widening of the earliest Andean northern orogen: Maastrichtian to early Eocene intra-basinal deformation in the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

The onset of deformation in the northern Andes is overprinted by subsequent stages of basin deformation, complicating the examination of competing models illustrating potential location of earliest synorogenic basins and uplifts. To establish the width of the earliest northern Andean orogen, we carried out field mapping, palynological dating, sedimentary, stratigraphic and provenance analyses in Campanian to lower Eocene units exposed in the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (Cocuy region) and compare the results with coeval succession in adjacent basins. The onset of deformation is recorded in earliest Maastrichtian time, as terrigenous detritus arrived into the basin marking the end of chemical precipitation and the onset of clastic deposition produced by the uplift of a western source area dominated by shaly Cretaceous rocks. Disconformable contacts within the upper Maastrichtian to middle Palaeocene succession document increasing supply of quartzose sandy detritus from Cretaceous quartzose rocks exposed in eastern source areas. The continued unroofing of both source areas produced a rapid shift in depositional environments from shallow marine in Maastrichtian to fluvial-lacustrine systems during the Palaeocene-early Eocene. Supply of immature Jurassic sandstones from nearby western uplifts, together with localized plutonic and volcanic Cretaceous rocks, caused a shift in Palaeocene sandstones composition from quartzarenites to litharenites. Supply of detrital sandy fragments, unstable heavy minerals and Cretaceous to Ordovician detrital zircons, were derived from nearby uplifted blocks and from SW fluvial systems within the synorogenic basin, instead of distal basement rocks. The presence of volcanic rock fragments and 51–59 Ma volcanic zircons constrain magmatism within the basin. The Maastrichtian–Palaeocene sequence studied here documents crustal deformation that correlates with coeval deformation farther south in Ecuador and Peru. Slab flattening of the subducting Caribbean plate produced a wider orogen (>400 km) with a continental magmatic arc and intra-basinal deformation and magmatism. © 2020 International Association of Sedimentologists and European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers and John Wiley - Sons Lt

Mujeres y Emancipación de la América Latina y el Caribe en los siglos XIX y XX

La determinación adoptada por los gobiernos de la región para conmemorar el inicio de los movimientos y guerras que condujeron a la mayor parte de los países que hoy llamamos Latinoamérica a alcanzar la independencia del yugo colonial, fue un acuerdo basado más en la coincidencia o cercanía de algunas fechas que en una simultaneidad estrictamente cronológica. Este volumen da cuenta de las anticipaciones, retrasos y continuidades de un proceso emancipatorio aún por completar; de la participación que en él tuvieron y tienen las mujeres, de sus liderazgos, vivencias, estrategias y perspectivas; así como de su representación por la literatura y el arte, y de su apreciación por la historiografía de más variada naturaleza o por quienes descubren las entretelas y la manipulación de estas efemérides. Los textos aquí reunidos se dividen en dos secciones: la primera agrupa a los que se relacionan con distintos momentos del proceso de emancipación latinoamericana y de sus mujeres; la segunda, sobre distintas escritoras italianas contemporáneas, está dedicada a Alba de Céspedes, autora de origen cubano que vivió entre Roma y París, y cuyo abuelo iniciara las guerras de independencia de la Isla en 1868. La valiosa concurrencia de firmas internacionales en esta miscelánea se debe al auspicio del Programa de Estudios de la Mujer de la prestigiosa institución cultural Casa de las Américas de Cuba, destinado a dar visibilidad a la trayectoria histórica y, a las manifestaciones culturales de las mujeres latinoamericanas y caribeñas, a promover el trabajo de sus artistas y escritoras contemporáneas, así como a discutir los temas teóricos correspondientes, y sus contextos de producción y recepción