Crossflow microfiltration of fungal fermentation broths to obtain natural extracts

Motivation: One of the main milestones after developing a laboratory scale product is to transform the acquired knowledge into an economic production structure. The production of natural extracts in BioflowSur is carried out by using a fermentation process; then, natural extracts are separated from the fungus by vacuum filtration. However, this type of filtration is not feasible with large volumes so that the use of tangential microfiltration with membrane technology was studied.Methods: The fungal fermentation broth was filtrated using a bench-scale crossflow filtration unit (Prozesstechnik GmbH) equipped with a ceramic membrane either of 0,2 μm pore diameter (with active layer) or 5-8 μm pore diameter (without active layer). Two modes of operation were used: concentration and diafiltration. In the first mode the product concentrates in small volumes and in the second mode water is added to facilitate the filtration [1].Results: The diafiltration was discarded as mode of operation after the first test due to the generation of large volumes that complicate the subsequent extraction of the active principle. In addition, results reveal that the optimal temperature is 30ºC because higher temperatures facilitate the passage of residues to the permeate.The concentration tests performed with the membrane of 0.2 μm showed that there was active principle in the concentrate and in the permeate, while the membrane of 5-8 μm allowed fungus to pass to the permeate after several rounds of filtration. In addition, the high pressures generated due to the fouling drastically reduced the flow and, hence, increased the time of the process [2]

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of asthma exacerbations

Asthma exacerbations; Single-nucleotide polymorphismExacerbaciones del asma; Polimorfismo de un solo nucleótidoExacerbacions de l'asma; Polimorfisme d'un sol nucleòtidBackground Asthma exacerbations are a serious public health concern due to high healthcare resource utilization, work/school productivity loss, impact on quality of life, and risk of mortality. The genetic basis of asthma exacerbations has been studied in several populations, but no prior study has performed a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (meta-GWAS) for this trait. We aimed to identify common genetic loci associated with asthma exacerbations across diverse populations and to assess their functional role in regulating DNA methylation and gene expression. Methods A meta-GWAS of asthma exacerbations in 4989 Europeans, 2181 Hispanics/Latinos, 1250 Singaporean Chinese, and 972 African Americans analyzed 9.6 million genetic variants. Suggestively associated variants (p ≤ 5 × 10−5) were assessed for replication in 36,477 European and 1078 non-European asthma patients. Functional effects on DNA methylation were assessed in 595 Hispanic/Latino and African American asthma patients and in publicly available databases. The effect on gene expression was evaluated in silico. Results One hundred and twenty-six independent variants were suggestively associated with asthma exacerbations in the discovery phase. Two variants independently replicated: rs12091010 located at vascular cell adhesion molecule-1/exostosin like glycosyltransferase-2 (VCAM1/EXTL2) (discovery: odds ratio (ORT allele) = 0.82, p = 9.05 × 10−6 and replication: ORT allele = 0.89, p = 5.35 × 10−3) and rs943126 from pantothenate kinase 1 (PANK1) (discovery: ORC allele = 0.85, p = 3.10 × 10−5 and replication: ORC allele = 0.89, p = 1.30 × 10−2). Both variants regulate gene expression of genes where they locate and DNA methylation levels of nearby genes in whole blood. Conclusions This multi-ancestry study revealed novel suggestive regulatory loci for asthma exacerbations located in genomic regions participating in inflammation and host defense.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and the European Regional Development Fund “ERDF A way of making Europe” by the European Union (SAF2017-83417R), by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (PID2020-116274RB-I00) and by the Allergopharma-EAACI award 2021. This study was also supported by the SysPharmPedia grant from the ERACoSysMed 1st Joint Transnational Call from the European Union under the Horizon 2020. GALA II and SAGE studies were supported by the Sandler Family Foundation, the American Asthma Foundation, the RWJF Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, Harry Wm. and Diana V. Hind Distinguished Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences II, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (R01HL117004, R01HL128439, R01HL135156, X01HL134589, R01HL141992, and R01HL141845), National Institute of Health and Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES015794 and R21ES24844); the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) (P60MD006902, R01MD010443, and R56MD013312); the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) (RL5GM118984); the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (24RT-0025 and 27IR-0030); and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) (U01HG009080) to EGB. The PACMAN study was funded by a strategic alliance between GlaxoSmithKline and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences. The Slovenia study was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding No. P3-0067) and from SysPharmPediA grant, co-financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport Slovenia (MIZS) (contract number C3330-16-500106). The SHARE Bioresource (GoSHARE) and SHARE have ongoing funding from NHS Research Scotland and were established by funding from The Wellcome Trust Biomedical Resource [Grant No. 099177/Z/12/Z]. Genotyping of samples from BREATHE, PAGES, and GoSHARE was funded by AC15/00015 and conducted at the Genotyping National Centre (CeGEN) CeGen-PRB3-ISCIII; supported by ISCIII and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (PT17/0019). ALSPAC was supported by the UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol. The Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and Region Stockholm (ALF project and database maintenance) funded the BAMSE study. The PASS study was funded by the NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics via the UK Department of Health. U-BIOPRED was funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking, under grant agreement no. 115010, resources for which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and kind contributions from companies in the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Genotyping of samples from GEMAS and MEGA studies was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SAF2017-87417R) at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, in the Human Genotyping lab, a member of CeGen, PRB3, and was supported by grant PT17/0019, of the PE I+D+i 2013-2016, funded by ISCIII and ERDF. The genotyping of GEMAS was also partially funded by Fundación Canaria Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Canarias (PIFIISC19/17). The Rotterdam Study was funded by Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University Rotterdam; Netherlands Organization for the Health Research and Development (ZonMw); the Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly (RIDE); the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports, the European Commission (DG XII), and the Municipality of Rotterdam. ALLIANCE Cohort was funded by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) as part of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL) funding. The Hartford-Puerto Rico study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (grant HL07966 to JCC). MP-Y was funded by the Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC-2015-17205) by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Social Fund “ESF Investing in your future”. MP-Y and JV were supported by CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (CB/06/06/1088). EH-L was supported by a fellowship awarded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future” (PRE2018-083837). JP-G was supported by a fellowship awarded by Spanish Ministry of Universities (FPU19/02175). AE-O reports funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (MICIU) and Universidad de La Laguna (ULL). NH-P was supported by a Medium-Term Research Fellowship by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and a Long-Term Research Fellowship by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) (LTRF202101-00861). UP and MG were supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia, grant PERMEABLE (contract number C3330-19-252012). SCSGES results were contributed by authors FTC and YYS. FTC has received research support from the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund, Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), National Medical Research Council (NMRC) (Singapore), Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) (Singapore), and the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) (Singapore); Grant Numbers: N-154-000-038-001, R-154-000-191-112, R-154-000-404-112, R-154-000-553-112, R-154-000-565-112, R-154-000-630-112, R-154-000-A08-592, R-154-000-A27-597, R-154-000-A91-592, R-154-000-A95-592, R-154-000-B99-114, BMRC/01/1/21/18/077, BMRC/04/1/21/19/315, SIgN-06-006, SIgN-08-020, NMRC/1150/2008, and H17/01/a0/008. F.T.C. has received consulting fees from Sime Darby Technology Centre; First Resources Ltd; Genting Plantation, and Olam International, outside the submitted work. YYS has received research support from the NUS Resilience & Growth Postdoctoral Fellowships with grant number: R-141-000-036-281. QY conducted the analysis from Hartford-Puerto Rico and United Kingdom Biobank studies. QY was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (HL138098)

Escuela y comunidad: Una experiencia de desarrollo comunitario

Nuestra comunicación presenta la experiencia que se está desarrollando en dos barrios periféricos con la participación de cuatro centros educativos: dos de educación Infantil y Primaria (CEIP) y dos Institutos de Educación Secundaria (IES). Partiendo de la cultura como manifestación social, reflexionamos sobre la cultura escolar y su relación con el fracaso escolar, y analizamos las posibilidades del desarrollo comunitario como vía para afrontarlo. En esta experiencia, el proceso de desarrollo comunitario está en su fase inicial y se ha consolidado la coordinación de los diferentes servicios y recursos públicos y privados que inciden en la zona. El trabajo de prevención y promoción que se está realizando en las calles gracias al proceso “El Patio”, se complementa con la participación de los centros educativos, además del uso comunitario de sus instalaciones. Actualmente estamos realizando un diagnóstico comunitario en el que hemos finalizado la recopilación de datos objetivos y estadísticos así como el proceso de audición para la parte subjetiva. Con la síntesis de estos datos se iniciará un proceso de discusión con toda la población para la búsqueda comunitaria de alternativas

Los antidepresivos en la neurología: una visión más allá de la depresión

The antidepressants are a group of drugs commonly used in the area of Neurology, the main problem is that their use is in many ocassions limited  by the physicians to the specific treatment of depression. With the analisis of the state of the art, we intend to value the use of antidepressants beyond the daily clinic, giving an holistic view to other pathologies. In order to do that, some of the more prevalent diseases in Neurology are going to be analised, such us, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s,Multiple Sclerosis, post-stroke, tension headache or migraine. The interesting thing about our contribution is to make visible that neurological problems can be treated and improve their course, evolution and prognosis with antidepressant treatment; and that this extends beyond what would be a “simple treatment of depression per se”. In this sense, the quality of life of patients, their self-determination and social participation are significantly improved when adjusting the interactions of the latest generation drugs.Los antidepresivos son fármacos muy comunmente utilizados en el área de la Neurología, el problema es que su uso se ve limitado en muchas ocasiones por los profesionales al tratamiento específico de la depresión. Con este análisis del estado de la cuestión, se pretende valorar el uso de los antidepresivos más allá de lo común, y proveer de una visión más holística con respecto a su uso en otras patologías. Para ello se va a analizar algunas de las enfermedades más prevalentes en la neurología como son el deterioro cognitivo, la enfermedad de Parkinson, el Alzheimer, la Esclerosis Múltiple, el Post-Ictus, la Cefalea Tensional o la Migraña. Lo interesante de nuestra aportación es visibilizar que los problemas neurológicos pueden ser tratados y mejorar su curso, evolución y pronóstico con el tratamiento antidepresivo; y que éste se extiende más allá de lo que sería un “simple tratamiento de la depresión per se”. En ese sentido la calidad de vida de los pacientes, su autodeterminación y participación social se ven sensiblemente mejoradas al ajustar las interacciones de los fármacos de última generación

Estrategia de aprendizaje interactivo para la mejora de la aplicación de la competencia matemática en el entorno de la Farmacia Galénica: Impacto de las primeras acciones de mejora sobre el rendimiento de los alumnos

Projecte: 2015PID-UB/039Se presentan los avances del Grupo de Innovación Docente de Tecnología Farmacéutica (GIDTF) en su línea de actuación relativa a la implementación de una estrategia de aprendizaje interactivo en los seminarios de problemas de Farmacia Galénica para el desarrollo de la competencia matemática en este ámbito por los estudiantes del grado de Farmacia. Las acciones realizadas incluyen actividades individuales de autoevaluación para detectar el nivel de capacidad resolutiva a modo de diagnóstico y otras grupales para fomentar un aprendizaje entre iguales. Se confirma que las acciones de mejora en la estrategia de enseñanza-aprendizaje implantada en curso 2015-16, respecto al desarrollo de la competencia matemática en Farmacia Galénica, han dado los resultados benéficos esperados.Universidad de Barcelon