Aeromonas IN CHILDREN LESS THAN 5 YEAR-OLD WITH ACUTE DIARRHEA

OBJETIVO: Determinar la importancia de Aeromonas como agente diarreogénico en niños meno- res de 5 años, así como comparar su frecuencia con la de otros enteropatógenos. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Entre 1998 y 1999, se tomó 285 muestras de heces de niños con diarrea aguda, en 5 Centros Hospitalarios, las que fueron enviadas al Instituto de Medicina Tropical Daniel A. Carrión en el medio de transporte Cary Blair, para su procesamiento e identificación de Aeromonas por el método Aerokey II. RESULTADOS: Aeromonas fue la bacteria más aislada entre los enteropatógenos, sobre todo en niños menores de 2 años y en verano, y la Aeromonas caviae fue la especie más frecuente. Aeromonas fue aislada en la mayoría de los casos del agar TCBS, por lo que empleamos discos de O/129 para diferenciarla de Vibrio cholerae. Todas las Aeromonas fueron sensibles in vitro a furazolidona y neomicina. CONCLUSIONES: Aeromonas fue el prin- cipal agente etiológico de la diarrea aguda acuosa, en niños menores de 5 años.OBJECTIVE: To determine Aeromonas importance as diarrhea agent in children less than 5 year- old and compare its frequency with other enteropathogens. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 1998 and 1999 285 fecal samples were taken from children with acute diarrhea in 5 hospitals, which were then sent to Daniel A. Carrión Institute of Tropical Medicine in Cary Blairs transportation medium for processing by Aerokey II method. RESULTS: Aeromonas was the most frequent bacteria isolated among enteropathogens, mainly in children less than 2-year old and in summer, and Aeromonas caviae was the most frequent species. Aeromonas was mainly isolated in agar TCBS, employing O/129 disks to differentiate it from Vibrio cholerae. All Aeromonas were sensitive in vitro to furazolidone and neomycin. CONCLUSIONS: Aeromonas was the main etiological agent of aquous acute diarrhea in children less than 5 year-old

Geographical location and habitat predict variation in prokaryotic community composition of Suberites diversicolor

Purpose: Marine lakes are unique habitats that house diverse assemblages of benthic and planktonic organisms including endemic species. In this study, we aimed to assess to what extent geographical location (Berau versus Papua) and the degree of marine lake connectivity (relatively open versus closed) to the surrounding marine environment structures the prokaryotic community composition of the sponge species Suberites diversicolor. Methods: Sponge specimens were sampled in five marine lakes in Borneo and Papua and one open sea habitat in Taiwan. Result: Prokaryotic communities of S. diversicolor were dominated by members assigned to the Proteobacteria (particularly Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) and Cyanobacteria, which together made up from 78 to 87% of sequences in all samples. The dominant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in most samples, OTUs 1 and 3, were both assigned to the alphaproteobacterial order Rhodospirillales with OTU-1 dominant in the marine lakes of Berau and Papua and OTU-3 in Taiwan. OTU-3 was also largely absent from Papuan samples but present in all Berau samples. Compositionally, S. diversicolor samples clustered according to geographical location with the main axis of variation separating marine lake samples collected in Berau from those collected in Papua and the second axis of variation separating open sea samples collected in Taiwan from all marine lake samples. In addition, our results suggest that the degree of lake connectivity to the open sea also influences prokaryotic composition. Conclusion: Although previous studies have shown that sponge-associated microbial communities tend to be stable across different geographical and environmental gradients, in the present study, both geography and local environmental conditions were significant predictors of variation in prokaryotic community composition of S. diversicolor.publishe

Relationship of TRIM5 and TRIM22 polymorphisms with liver disease and HCV clearance after antiviral therapy in HIV/HCV coinfected patients

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: TRIM5 and TRIM22 are restriction factors involved in innate immune response and exhibit anti-viral activity. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at TRIM5 and TRIM22 genes have shown to influence several viral infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, as well as measles and rubella vaccination. The aim of this study is to analyze whether TRIM5 and TRIM22 polymorphisms are associated with liver fibrosis inflammation-related biomarkers and response to pegylated-interferon-alpha plus ribavirin (pegIFNα/RBV) therapy in HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in 319 patients who started pegIFNα/RBV therapy. Liver fibrosis stage was characterized in 288 patients. TRIM5 rs3824949 and TRIM22 polymorphisms (rs1063303, rs7935564, and rs7113258) were genotyped using the GoldenGate assay. The primary outcomes were: a) significant liver fibrosis (≥F2) evaluated by liver biopsy or transient elastography (liver stiffness values ≥7.1 Kpa); b) sustained virological response (SVR) defined as no detectable HCV viral load (<10 IU/mL) at week 24 after the end of the treatment. The secondary outcome variable was plasma chemokine levels. RESULTS: Patients with TRIM5 rs3824949 GG genotype had higher SVR rate than patients with TRIM5 rs3824949 CC/CG genotypes (p = 0.013), and they had increased odds of achieving SVR (adjusted odds ratio (aOR = 2.58; p = 0.012). Patients with TRIM22 rs1063303 GG genotype had higher proportion of significant liver fibrosis than patients with rs1063303 CC/CG genotypes (p = 0.021), and they had increased odds of having significant hepatic fibrosis (aOR = 2.19; p = 0.034). Patients with TRIM22 rs7113258 AT/AA genotype had higher SVR rate than patients with rs7113258 TT genotypes (p = 0.013), and they had increased odds of achieving SVR (aOR = 1.88; p = 0.041). The TRIM22 haplotype conformed by rs1063303_C and rs7113258_A was more frequent in patients with SVR (p = 0.018) and was significantly associated with achieving SVR (aOR = 2.80; p = 0.013). The TRIM5 rs3824949 GG genotype was significantly associated with higher levels of GRO-α (adjusted arithmetic mean ratio ((aAMR) = 1.40; p = 0.011) and MCP-1 (aAMR = 1.61; p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: TRIM5 and TRIM22 SNPs are associated to increased odds of significant liver fibrosis and SVR after pegIFNα/RBV therapy in HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Besides, TRIM5 SNP was associated to higher baseline levels of circulating biomarkers GRO and MCP-1.The authors wish to thank the Spanish National Genotyping Center (CeGen) for providing the genotyping services (http://www.cegen.org). We also acknowledge the patients in this study for their participation.S

CD32 Expression is not Associated to HIV-DNA content in CD4 cell subsets of individuals with Different Levels of HIV Control

A recent study has pointed out to CD32a as a potential biomarker of HIV-persistent CD4 cells. We have characterized the level and phenotype of CD32+ cells contained in different subsets of CD4 T-cells and its potential correlation with level of total HIV-DNA in thirty HIV patients (10 typical progressors naive for cART, 10 cART-suppressed patients, and 10 elite controllers). Total HIV-DNA was quantified in different subsets of CD4 T-cells: Trm and pTfh cells. Level and immunephenotype of CD32+ cells were analyzed in these same subsets by flow cytometry. CD32 expression in Trm and pTfh subsets was similar in the different groups, and there was no significant correlation between the level of total HIV-DNA and the level of CD32 expression in these subsets. However, total HIV-DNA level was correlated with expression of CD127 (rho = -0.46, p = 0.043) and of CCR6 (rho = -0.418, p = 0.027) on CD32+ cells. Our results do not support CD32 as a biomarker of total HIV-DNA content. However, analyzing the expression of certain markers by CD32+ cells could improve the utility of this marker in the clinical setting, prompting the necessity of further studies to both validate our results and to explore the potential utility of certain markers expressed by CD32+ cells.We would like to thank all patients and healthy donors who participated in the study. This study has been funded by projects CP14/00198, PI16/01769, and RD16/0025/0013 integrated in the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation and co-funded by ISCIII-Sub-Directorate General for Research Assessment and Promotion and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). N Rallon is a Miguel Servet investigator from the Spanish Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII), grant CP14/00198, Madrid, Spain. Maria Angeles Navarrete-Munoz was funded by RD16/0025/0013 and the Intramural Research Scholarship from IIS-FJD. Clara Restrepo was funded by project RD16/0025/0013. M Garcia is a predoctoral student co-funded by CP14/00198 project and the Intramural Research Scholarship from IIS-FJD.S

Lower expression of plasma-derived exosome miR-21 levels in HIV-1 elite controllers with decreasing CD4 T cell count

Exosome-derived miR-21 was independently associated with CD4 T cell decline in HIV-1-infected elite controllers (OR 0.369, 95% CI 0.137-0.994, p = 0.049). Also, a negative correlation between miR-21 expression and MCP-1 level was found (r = −0.649, p = 0.020), while no correlation between soluble biomarkers or cellular immune activation was found

Mapas de actividades comunitarias y activos para la salud: ¿Cómo trabajar con ellos?

El modelo de activos para la salud tiene relaciones íntimas con el paradigma de la Promoción de la Salud, de modelos de Desarrollo Comunitario o de la Teoría Salutogénica de Antonovsky, siendo su punto de partida la Salud Positiva de una comunidad y de las personas que la integran

Toward integrated analysis of human impacts on forest biodiversity: lessons from Latin America.

Although sustainable forest management (SFM) has been widely adopted as a policy and management goal, high rates of forest loss and degradation are still occurring in many areas. Human activities such as logging, livestock husbandry, crop cultivation, infrastructural development, and use of fire are causing widespread loss of biodiversity, restricting progress toward SFM. In such situations, there is an urgent need for tools that can provide an integrated assessment of human impacts on forest biodiversity and that can support decision making related to forest use. This paper summarizes the experience gained by an international collaborative research effort spanning more than a decade, focusing on the tropical montane forests of Mexico and the temperate rain forests of southern South America, both of which are global conservation priorities. The lessons learned from this research are identified, specifically in relation to developing an integrated modeling framework for achieving SFM. Experience has highlighted a number of challenges that need to be overcome in such areas, including the lack of information regarding ecological processes and species characteristics and a lack of forest inventory data, which hinders model parameterization. Quantitative models are poorly developed for some ecological phenomena, such as edge effects and genetic diversity, limiting model integration. Establishment of participatory approaches to forest management is difficult, as a supportive institutional and policy environment is often lacking. However, experience to date suggests that the modeling toolkit approach suggested by Sturvetant et al. (2008) could be of value in such areas. Suggestions are made regarding desirable elements of such a toolkit to support participatory-research approaches in domains characterized by high uncertainty, including Bayesian Belief Networks, spatial multi-criteria analysis, and scenario planning.Most of the research described here was undertaken in three projects supported by the European Commission (INCO programme), namely SUCRE (ERBIC18CT970146), BIOCORES (ICA4- CT-2001-10095), and ReForLan (INCO-DEV-3 N° 032132), and three Darwin Initiative (DEFRA, UK Government) grants to the senior author. Additional funding was provided by a variety of sources within the partner countries. All sources of financial support are gratefully acknowledged

Class-modeling analysis reveals T-cell homeostasis disturbances involved in loss of immune control in elite controllers

Despite long-lasting HIV replication control, a significant proportion of elite controller (EC) patients may experience CD4 T-cell loss. Discovering perturbations in immunological parameters could help our understanding of the mechanisms that may be operating in those patients experiencing loss of immunological control. Methods A case–control study was performed to evaluate if alterations in different T-cell homeostatic parameters can predict CD4 T-cell loss in ECs by comparing data from EC patients showing significant CD4 decline (cases) and EC patients showing stable CD4 counts (controls). The partial least-squares–class modeling (PLS-CM) statistical methodology was employed to discriminate between the two groups of patients, and as a predictive model. Results Herein, we show that among T-cell homeostatic alterations, lower levels of naïve and recent thymic emigrant subsets of CD8 cells and higher levels of effector and senescent subsets of CD8 cells as well as higher levels of exhaustion of CD4 cells, measured prior to CD4 T-cell loss, predict the loss of immunological control. Conclusions These data indicate that the parameters of T-cell homeostasis may identify those EC patients with a higher proclivity to CD4 T-cell loss. Our results may open new avenues for understanding the mechanisms underlying immunological progression despite HIV replication control, and eventually, for finding a functional cure through immune-based clinical trials.projects RD12/0017/0031, RD16/0025/ 0013, and SAF2015-66193-R as part of the Health Research and Development Strategy, State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation (2008– 2011 and 2013–2016) and cofinanced by the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Sub-Directorate General for Research Assessment and Promotion and European Regional Development Fund. NR is a Miguel Servet investigator from the ISCIII (CP14/00198), Madrid, Spain. C Restrepo was funded by project RD12/0017/ 0031 and is currently funded by project RD16/0025/0013. M García is a predoctoral student co-funded by grant CP14/00198 and an Intramural Research Scholarship from Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria-Fundación Jiménez Díaz (IIS-FJD)