Respuesta inmune desregulada en pacientes obesos como agravante por COVID-19

La obesidad, enfermedad caracterizada por acumulación excesiva de tejido adiposo, es el factor asociado al mayor índice de severidad en la infección por SARS-CoV-2. Durante la pandemia, tanto investigaciones independientes como del Ministerio de Salud (MINSA-Perú) mostraron correlación entre obesidad y COVID-19. La investigación tiene como objetivo analizar de qué manera la respuesta inmune desregulada en pacientes obesos actúa como agravante de COVID-19. Para ello, se revisó evidencia científica disponible en diferentes bases de datos, tras lo cual se encontró que la respuesta inmune desregulada causada por la obesidad se amplifica al asociarse con COVID-19, ya que potencia la creación de un microambiente inflamatorio local de bajo grado inducido por secreciones de adipocitos disfuncionales. Asimismo, los pacientes obesos presentan mayor susceptibilidad a la infección por SARS-CoV-2 debido a la pérdida gradual de ASC funcionales que perjudica la ciliogénesis, reduciendo así su eliminación; además, el tejido adiposo alterado propicia la sobreexpresión de receptores de proteasas que facilitarán su entrada. El agravamiento del cuadro clínico de COVID-19 se desencadenará en consecuencia de los procesos de disfunción endotelial y disminución de la angiogénesis puesto que, en conjunto, producirán hipoxia, fibrosis e insuficiencia funcional pulmonar. Se concluye que la respuesta inmune desregulada en pacientes obesos está estrechamente relacionada con la morbimortalidad a nivel cardio-metabólico, que conlleva al cuadro clínico severo y en algunos casos, al deceso del paciente infectado. Palabras clave: Obesidad (DeCS), COVID-19 (DeCS), respuesta inmune (DeCS).   DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17268/rmt.2021.v16i03.1

Quantifying sources of variability in infancy research using the infant-directed-speech preference

Psychological scientists have become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability, and infancy researchers in particular face specific challenges related to replicability: For example, high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations. Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multisite study aimed at (a) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically important phenomenon and (b) examining methodological, cultural, and developmental moderators. We focus on infants’ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult in North American English were created using seminaturalistic laboratory-based audio recordings. Infants’ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia using the three common methods for measuring infants’ discrimination (head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.35, 95% confidence interval = [0.29, 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than the meta-analytic mean computed from previous literature (0.67). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together, these findings replicate the IDS preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native-language experience, and testing procedure. (This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 798658.

Short-Term Adverse Effects of the Fourth Dose of Vaccination against COVID-19 in Adults over 40 Years of Age

Booster vaccines are a strategy to mitigate the conditions in the health, social, and economic fields that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought. A series of adverse effects have been observed since the first vaccination. The present investigation aims to describe the short-term adverse effects of the fourth dose against COVID-19 in adults older than 40 from a region of Peru. The study population was over 40 years of age at the COVID-19 vaccination center in Trujillo, Peru. A 21-day follow-up was conducted from vaccination with the fourth dose, considering sex, age, body mass index, comorbidities, history of COVID-19 infection, vaccination schedule, and simultaneous vaccination against influenza as variables of interest. Multinomial logistic regression with robust variance was used to estimate the risk ratio (RR). In total, 411 people were recruited, and it was found that 86.9% of the participants presented adverse effects after injection with the fourth dose of the vaccine against COVID-19. Pain at the injection site was the most reported symptom after 3 days. Assessment of adverse effects after 3 days found that age ≥ 60 years was associated with a lower likelihood of adverse effects compared to those younger than 60 years (RRc: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.0.18–0.59), males compared to females were associated with a lower likelihood of adverse effects (RRc: 0.54; 95% CI 0.30–0.98), being overweight (RRc: 2.34; 95% CI: 1.12–4.89), and last vaccine with Pfizer-BioN-Tech (RRc: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.18–0.96). Associated adverse effects are mild to moderate. Injection site pain and general malaise are the most frequent adverse effects

Quantifying Sources of Variability in Infancy Research Using the Infant-Directed-Speech Preference

Psychological scientists have become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability, and infancy researchers in particular face specific challenges related to replicability: For example, high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations. Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multisite study aimed at (a) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically important phenomenon and (b) examining methodological, cultural, and developmental moderators. We focus on infants’ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult in North American English were created using seminaturalistic laboratory-based audio recordings. Infants’ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia using the three common methods for measuring infants’ discrimination (head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.35, 95% confidence interval = [0.29, 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than the meta-analytic mean computed from previous literature (0.67). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together, these findings replicate the IDS preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native-language experience, and testing procedure

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field