The consumption of two new probiotic strains, Lactobacillus gasseri CECT 5714 and Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711, boosts the immune system of healthy humans

Orally ingested probiotic bacteria are able to modulate the immune system. However, differences exist in the immunomodulatory effects of different probiotic strains. Moreover, different regulatory effects, which depend on the health status of the consumer, have been identified. This work describes a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial to investigate the immune effects on healthy people of a fermented product containing two new probiotic strains, Lactobacillus gasseri CECT 5714 and Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711, which was compared with another fermented product, a standard yogurt. Consumption of either the new product or yogurt increased the proportion of phagocytic cells, including monocytes and neutrophils, as well as their phagocytic activity. However, combination of the product containing the strains L. gasseri CECT 5714 and L. coryniformis CECT 5711 also induced an increase in the proportion of natural killer (NK) cells and in IgA concentrations. The effects were higher after two weeks of treatment than after 4 weeks, which suggests regulation of the immune system. In addition, the new product enhanced immunity in the participants to a greater extent than did the control standard yogurt. [Int Microbiol 2006; 9(1):47-52

Comparison of Methods for Analyzing Radiological Response of Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastasis After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapeutic Treatment

Background: We analyzed different methods used to assess the radiological responses of patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and metastasectomy treatment for liver metastases associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) by comparing the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) 1.1, the modified RECIST, and the criteria of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) methods and the histological response obtained after metastasectomy. Objectives: We aimed to determine the optimal radiological method to assess the response of colorectal liver metastases to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of CRC patients treated for liver metastases who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy in our hospital between January 2000 and December 2017. We analyzed the agreement between the methods for analyzing the radiological response using the quadratic weighted kappa coefficient ( ). We studied the overall survival and analyzed factors related to survival using the Kaplan-Meier method.We performed multivariate analysis to study the prognostic factors of survival.We analyzed the relationship between the radiological and histological responses usingGoodmanand Kruskal?sgamma ( ). Results: A significant agreement was observed between the modified RECIST and EASL methods ( = 0.841, P< 0.001). Cox regression multivariate analysis indicated the RECIST 1.1 criteria as an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.03). The value showed a significant relationship between the three radiological response methods and histological response. Conclusion: In our study, we showed that using RECIST 1.1 criteria is the ideal radiological analysis method for studying CRC liver metastases treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy when compared to other methods that are based on functional imaging markers

Procaine Inhibits Osteo/Odontogenesis through Wnt/β-Catenin Inactivation

Introduction Periodontitis is a complex pathology characterized by the loss of alveolar bone. The causes and the mechanisms that promote this bone resorption still remain unknown. The knowledge of the critical regulators involved in the alteration of alveolar bone homeostasis is of great importance for developing molecular therapies. Procaine is an anesthetic drug with demethylant properties, mainly used by dentists in oral surgeries. The inhibitor role of Wnt signaling of procaine was described in vitro in colon cancer cells. Methods In this work we evaluated the role of procaine (1 uM) in osteo/odontogenesis of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Similarly, the mechanisms whereby procaine achieves these effects were also studied. Results Procaine administration led to a drastic decrease of calcium content, alkaline phosphatase activity, alizarin red staining and an increase in the expression of Matrix Gla Protein. With respect to osteo/odontogenic markers, procaine decreased early and mature osteo/odontogenic markers. In parallel, procaine inhibited canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway, observing a loss of nuclear β-catenin, a decrease in Lrp5 and Frizzled 3, a significant increase of sclerostin and Gsk3β and an increase of phosphorylated β-catenin. The combination of osteo/ odontogenic stimuli and Lithium Chloride decreased mRNA expression of Gsk3β, recovered by Procaine. Furthermore it was proved that Procaine alone dose dependently increases the expression of Gsk3β and β-catenin phosphorylation. These effects of procaine were also observed on mature osteoblast. Interestingly, at this concentration of procaine no demethylant effects were observed. PLO

The consumption of two new probiotic strains, Lactobacillus gasseri CECT 5714 and Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711, boosts the immune system of healthy humans

Orally ingested probiotic bacteria are able to modulate the immune system. However, differences exist in the immunomodulatory effects of different probiotic strains. Moreover, different regulatory effects, which depend on the health status of the consumer, have been identified. This work describes a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial to investigate the immune effects on healthy people of a fermented product containing two new probiotic strains, Lactobacillus gasseri CECT 5714 and Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711, which was compared with another fermented product, a standard yogurt. Consumption of either the new product or yogurt increased the proportion of phagocytic cells, including monocytes and neutrophils, as well as their phagocytic activity. However, combination of the product containing the strains L. gasseri CECT 5714 and L. coryniformis CECT 5711 also induced an increase in the proportion of natural killer (NK) cells and in IgA concentrations. The effects were higher after two weeks of treatment than after 4 weeks, which suggests regulation of the immune system. In addition, the new product enhanced immunity in the participants to a greater extent than did the control standard yogurt.This work was supported by Puleva Biotech SA. Federico Lara-Villoslada and Saleta Sierra are recipients of a fellowship from the Fundación Universidad-Empresa, Universidad de Granada, Spain. Rocío Martín is recipient of a grant from the Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Infant gut microbiota modulation by human milk disaccharides in humanized microbiome mice

Human milk glycans present a unique diversity of structures that suggest different mechanisms by which they may affect the infant microbiome development. A humanized mouse model generated by infant fecal transplantation was utilized here to evaluate the impact of fucosyl-α1,3-GlcNAc (3FN), fucosyl-α1,6-GlcNAc, lacto-N-biose (LNB) and galacto-N-biose on the fecal microbiota and host-microbiota interactions. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing showed that certain bacterial genera significantly increased (Ruminococcus and Oscillospira) or decreased (Eubacterium and Clostridium) in all disaccharide-supplemented groups. Interestingly, cluster analysis differentiates the consumption of fucosyl-oligosaccharides from galactosyl-oligosaccharides, highlighting the disappearance of Akkermansia genus in both fucosyl-oligosaccharides. An increment of the relative abundance of Coprococcus genus was only observed with 3FN. As well, LNB significantly increased the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium, whereas the absolute levels of this genus, as measured by quantitative real-time PCR, did not significantly increase. OTUs corresponding to the species Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Ruminococcus gnavus were not present in the control after the 3-week intervention, but were shared among the donor and specific disaccharide groups, indicating that their survival is dependent on disaccharide supplementation. The 3FN-feeding group showed increased levels of butyrate and acetate in the colon, and decreased levels of serum HDL-cholesterol. 3FN also down-regulated the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α and up-regulated the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-13, and the Toll-like receptor 2 in the large intestine tissue. The present study revealed that the four disaccharides show efficacy in producing beneficial compositional shifts of the gut microbiota and in addition, the 3FN demonstrated physiological and immunomodulatory roles

Estudio morfológico de semillas de silene (caryophyllaceae) del Suroeste de España

Se estudia al microscopio óptico y electrónico de barrido las semillas de 39 especies de Silene L. presentes en el suroeste de España con el fin de comprobar la utilidad de sus caracteres morfológicos desde el punto de vista sistemático. Los caracteres que han resultado de mayor utilidad han sido el contorno de las semillas, la morfología de las caras laterales y su ornamentación, permitiendo establecer cuatro tipos morfológicos, en los que a su vez se han separado algunos subtipos. Las secciones Silene, Nicaeenses, Dipterosperma y Eudianthe han sido las más homogéneas, ya que cada una está incluida en un único tipo o subtipo. Por el contrario, las especies pertenecientes a las secciones Scorpioideae, Erectorefractae, Behenantha y Atocion quedan repartidas entre los tipos establecidos, debido a que las semillas de estas secciones son más heterogéneas. Se proporciona una clave para diferenciar los taxones o grupos de taxones.Morphological studies of seeds Silene (Caryophyllaceae) from southwest Spain. Seeds of 39 species of Silene L. from southwest of Spain were examined with scanning electron microscope and light microscope in order to evaluate the usefulness of morphological characters from the systematic point of view. The characters that have proved most useful were the outline of seeds, the morphology of the lateral faces and ornamentation, allowing to establish four morphological types in which in turn have separated some subtypes. The sections Silene, Nicaeenses, Dipterosperma and Eudianthe have been the most homogeneous, since each one is included in a type or subtype. On the contrary, the species belonging to the sections Scorpioideae, Erectorefractae, Atocion and Behenantha are distributed among the established types, because the seeds of these sections are more heterogeneous. A key to distinguish the different taxa or groups of taxa is provided

Transcriptomic profile induced in bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells after interaction with multiple myeloma cells: implications in myeloma progression and myeloma bone disease

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.Despite evidence about the implication of the bone marrow (BM) stromal microenvironment in multiple myeloma (MM) cell growth and survival, little is known about the effects of myelomatous cells on BM stromal cells. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from healthy donors (dMSCs) or myeloma patients (pMSCs) were co-cultured with the myeloma cell line MM.1S, and the transcriptomic profile of MSCs induced by this interaction was analyzed. Deregulated genes after co-culture common to both d/pMSCs revealed functional involvement in tumor microenvironment cross-talk, myeloma growth induction and drug resistance, angiogenesis and signals for osteoclast activation and osteoblast inhibition. Additional genes induced by co-culture were exclusively deregulated in pMSCs and predominantly associated to RNA processing, the ubiquitine-proteasome pathway, cell cycle regulation, cellular stress and non-canonical Wnt signaling. The upregulated expression of five genes after co-culture (CXCL1, CXCL5 and CXCL6 in d/pMSCs, and Neuregulin 3 and Norrie disease protein exclusively in pMSCs) was confirmed, and functional in vitro assays revealed putative roles in MM pathophysiology. The transcriptomic profile of pMSCs co-cultured with myeloma cells may better reflect that of MSCs in the BM of myeloma patients, and provides new molecular insights to the contribution of these cells to MM pathophysiology and to myeloma bone disease.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish MINECO-ISCIII (PI12/02591, PI12/00624) and FEDER (European Funds for Regional Development); the Centro en Red for Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy from Castilla y León; the Spanish Health Thematic Network of Cooperative Research in Cancer (RTICC RD12/0056/0058 and RD12/0036/0003), and Spanish FIS (PS09/01897 and PS09/00843). AG-G received support from the Centro en Red for Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy from Castilla y León and from the Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and EDR from the Spanish Association for Cancer Research (AECC).Peer Reviewe

Parasitación Pulmonar por Pseudallescheria Boydii

Se comunica tres casos de parasitación pulmonar por Pseudallescheria boyii en su fase anamorfa (Sc. apiospermum) en pacientes con daño estructural previo, dos de ellos por tuberculosis.En dos pacientes se aisló el hongo en expectoración; el suero de uno de ellos presentó varias bandas de precipitación en la DDA, CIE e IEF con el antígeno metabólico preparado con su propia cepa. Los sueros de los otros pacientes no reaccionaron.En el tercer paciente se observó el hongo al examen directo del trozo de pulmón obtenido en la lobectomía.Los tres pacientes presentaron hemoptisis a repetición, la que provocó la muerte en el primer caso y lobectomía de urgencia en el tercero.Se destaca el hecho que son los primeros casos de micosis pulmonar por Ps. boydii comunicados en nuestro país

Single-Molecule Conductance of 1,4-Azaborine Derivatives as Models of BN-doped PAHs

The single–molecule conductance of a series of BN-acene-like derivatives has been measured by using scanning tunneling break-junction techniques. A strategic design of the target molecules has allowed us to include azaborine units in positions that unambiguously ensure electron transport through both heteroatoms, which is relevant for the development of customized BN-doped nanographenes. We show that the conductance of the anthracene azaborine derivative is comparable to that of the pristine all-carbon anthracene compound. Notably, this heteroatom substitution has also allowed us to perform similar measurements on the corresponding pentacene-like compound, which is found to have a similar conductance, thus evidencing that B–N doping could also be used to stabilize and characterize larger acenes for molecular electronics applications. Our conclusions are supported by state-of-the-art transport calculations.This work has been supported by the MICINN projects PID2019-105458RB-I00, PID2019-106732GB-I00, PGC2018-101873-A-I00, CTQ2017-85454-C2-1-P, FIS2016-77889-R and MAT2017-88693-R, the European Research Council (ERC) (677023), the FEDER/Junta de Andalucía project A-FQM-221-UGR18 and the Comunidad de Madrid project NanoMagCOST (CM S2018/NMT-4321). We also thank Severo Ochoa Programme for Center of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2016-0686) and María de Maeztu Programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (CEX2018-000805-M). We acknowledge the allocation of computer time by the Red Española de Supercomputación and the Centro de Computación Científica at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCC-UAM). J.G.F. thanks the PFI program of the MICINN co-financed by the European Social Fund. I.R.M. thanks MICINN for a Personal Técnico de Apoyo contract (PTA2017-13681-I). E.L. thanks the Comunidad de Madrid grant Atracción de Talento 2019-T1/IND-16384