Nivel de proteína C reactiva en pacientes con obesidad mórbida antes y después de cirugía bariátrica

ResumenAntecedentesLa obesidad humana se asocia a un estado proinflamatorio reflejado en elevación de marcadores como la proteína C reactiva (PCR).ObjetivosEstablecer los valores de PCR basales y a 6 meses de la cirugía bariátrica, así como los cambios en peso, índice de masa corporal (IMC), leucocitos y glucemia.Materiales y métodosSe realizó un estudio observacional, analítico, retrospectivo, longitudinal y abierto. Se midieron los valores de PCR sérica y su relación con el peso, IMC, leucocitos y glucemia de manera basal y 6 meses posteriores a cirugía bariátrica en 36 adultos con obesidad mórbida.ResultadosLa media ± desviación estándar de la PCR pre y posoperatorio (mg/l) fue 1.15±0.86 y 0.34±0.28, respectivamente, con p<0.0001; peso (kg) 112.10±22.91 y 84.82±17.11, p=0,0443; IMC (kg/m2) 42.48±5.97 y 32.2±4.79, p=0.0988; glucosa (mg/dl) 100.58±17.82 y 87.11±8.49, p<0.0001, y leucocitos (× 103/mm3) 8.62±1.69 y 6.99±1.56, p=0.3192.La PCR basal solo correlacionó con el peso e IMC (p=0.047 y p=0.027, respectivamente) y no hubo correlación entre la PCR posoperatoria y ninguno de los parámetros evaluados.ConclusionesLa PCR tiene una relación lineal significativa en el preoperatorio con el peso y el IMC. Los pacientes sometidos a cirugía bariátrica presentaron disminución significativa en la PCR, el peso y la glucemia en ayuno a los 6 meses posterior a la cirugía.AbstractBackgroundHuman obesity is associated with a proinflammatory state and an elevated level of mediators, such as C-reactive protein (CRP).ObjectivesTo establish CRP levels as baseline preoperative values and then at 6 months after bariatric surgery, as well as to determine the changes in weight, body mass index (BMI), leukocytes, and glycemia.Materials and methodsAn observational, analytical, retrospective, longitudinal, and open study was conducted. Serum CRP values were measured in 36 adults presenting with morbid obesity, and their baseline relation to weight, BMI, leukocytes, and glycemia was determined; the relation to the same parameters was established again, 6 months after bariatric surgery.ResultsThe mean and standard deviation of preoperative and postoperative CRP (mg/L) was 1.15±0.86 and 0.34±0.28, respectively with p<0.0001; weight (kg) 112.10±22.91 and 84.82±17.11, p=0.0443; BMI (kg/m2) 42.48±5.97 and 32.2±4.79, p=0.0988; glucose (mg/dL) 100.58±17.82 and 87.11±8.49, p<0.0001, and leukocytes (× 103/mm3) 8.62±1.69 and 6.99±1.56, p=0.3192.Baseline CRP only correlated with weight and BMI (p=0.047 and p=0.027 respectively) and there was no correlation between postoperative CRP and the evaluated parameters.ConclusionsPreoperative CRP had a significant lineal relation to weight and body mass index. Patients who underwent bariatric surgery had a significant decrease in CRP, weight, and fasting glucose at 6 months after surgery

Bioactive protein and peptide release from a mucoadhesive electrospun membrane

Protein-based biologics constitute a rapidly expanding category of therapeutic agents with high target specificity. Their clinical use has dramatically increased in recent years, but administration is largely via injection. Drug delivery across the oral mucosa is a promising alternative to injections, in order to avoid the gastrointestinal tract and first-pass metabolism. Current drug delivery formulations include liquid sprays, mucoadhesive tablets and films, which lack dose control in the presence of salivary flow. To address this, electrospun membranes that adhere tightly to the oral mucosa and release drugs locally have been developed. Here, we investigated the suitability of these mucoadhesive membranes for peptide or protein release. Bradykinin (0.1%) or insulin (1, 3, and 5%) were incorporated by electrospinning from ethanol/water mixtures. Immersion of membranes in buffer resulted in the rapid release of bradykinin, with a maximal release of 70 ± 12% reached after 1 h. In contrast, insulin was liberated more slowly, with 88 ± 11, 69.0 ± 5.4, and 63.9 ± 9.0% cumulative release of the total encapsulated dose after 8 h for membranes containing 1, 3, and 5% w/w insulin, respectively. Membrane–eluted bradykinin retained pharmacological activity by inducing rapid intracellular calcium release upon binding to its cell surface receptor on oral fibroblasts, when examined by flow cytometry. To quantify further, time-lapse confocal microscopy revealed that membrane–eluted bradykinin caused a 1.58 ± 0.16 fold-change in intracellular calcium fluorescence after 10 s compared to bradykinin solution (2.13 ± 0.21), relative to placebo. In conclusion, these data show that electrospun membranes may be highly effective vehicles for site-specific administration of biotherapeutic proteins or peptides directly to the oral mucosa for either local or systemic drug delivery applications

Pre-clinical evaluation of novel mucoadhesive bilayer patches for local delivery of clobetasol-17-propionate to the oral mucosa

Oral lichen planus (OLP) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) are chronic inflammatory conditions often characterised by erosive and/or painful oral lesions that have a considerable impact on quality of life. Current treatment often necessitates the use of steroids in the form of mouthwashes, creams or ointments, but these are often ineffective due to inadequate drug contact times with the lesion. Here we evaluate the performance of novel mucoadhesive patches for targeted drug delivery. Electrospun polymeric mucoadhesive patches were produced and characterised for their physical properties and cytotoxicity before evaluation of residence time and acceptability in a human feasibility study. Clobetasol-17-propionate incorporated into the patches was released in a sustained manner in both tissue-engineered oral mucosa and ex vivo porcine mucosa. Clobetasol-17 propionate-loaded patches were further evaluated for residence time and drug release in an in vivo animal model and demonstrated prolonged adhesion and drug release at therapeutic-relevant doses and time points. These data show that electrospun patches are adherent to mucosal tissue without causing tissue damage, and can be successfully loaded with and release clinically active drugs. These patches hold great promise for the treatment of oral conditions such as OLP and RAS, and potentially many other oral lesions

Cryptanalysis of an image encryption scheme based on the Hill cipher

This paper studies the security of an image encryption scheme based on the Hill cipher and reports its following problems: 1) there is a simple necessary and sufficient condition that makes a number of secret keys invalid; 2) it is insensitive to the change of the secret key; 3) it is insensitive to the change of the plain-image; 4) it can be broken with only one known/chosen-plaintext; 5) it has some other minor defects.Comment: 10 pages, three figure

Thermal correction to the Casimir force, radiative heat transfer, and an experiment

The low-temperature asymptotic expressions for the Casimir interaction between two real metals described by Leontovich surface impedance are obtained in the framework of thermal quantum field theory. It is shown that the Casimir entropy computed using the impedance of infrared optics vanishes in the limit of zero temperature. By contrast, the Casimir entropy computed using the impedance of the Drude model attains at zero temperature a positive value which depends on the parameters of a system, i.e., the Nernst heat theorem is violated. Thus, the impedance of infrared optics withstands the thermodynamic test, whereas the impedance of the Drude model does not. We also perform a phenomenological analysis of the thermal Casimir force and of the radiative heat transfer through a vacuum gap between real metal plates. The characterization of a metal by means of the Leontovich impedance of the Drude model is shown to be inconsistent with experiment at separations of a few hundred nanometers. A modification of the impedance of infrared optics is suggested taking into account relaxation processes. The power of radiative heat transfer predicted from this impedance is several times less than previous predictions due to different contributions from the transverse electric evanescent waves. The physical meaning of low frequencies in the Lifshitz formula is discussed. It is concluded that new measurements of radiative heat transfer are required to find out the adequate description of a metal in the theory of electromagnetic fluctuations.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. svjour.cls is used, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Neutron cross-sections for advanced nuclear systems : The n-TOF project at CERN

© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedThe study of neutron-induced reactions is of high relevance in a wide variety of fields, ranging from stellar nucleosynthesis and fundamental nuclear physics to applications of nuclear technology. In nuclear energy, high accuracy neutron data are needed for the development of Generation IV fast reactors and accelerator driven systems, these last aimed specifically at nuclear waste incineration, as well as for research on innovative fuel cycles. In this context, a high luminosity Neutron Time Of Flight facility, n-TOF, is operating at CERN since more than a decade, with the aim of providing new, high accuracy and high resolution neutron cross-sections. Thanks to the features of the neutron beam, a rich experimental program relevant to nuclear technology has been carried out so far. The program will be further expanded in the near future, thanks in particular to a new high-flux experimental area, now under construction.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

238U(n, γ) reaction cross section measurement with C 6D6 detectors at the n-TOF CERN facility

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedThe radiative capture cross section of 238U is very important for the developing of new reactor technologies and the safety of existing ones. Here the preliminary results of the 238U(n,γ) cross section measurement performed at n-TOF with C6D6 scintillation detectors are presented, paying particular attention to data reduction and background subtraction.Peer reviewe

High accuracy 234U(n,f) cross section in the resonance energy region

New results are presented of the 234U neutron-induced fission cross section, obtained with high accuracy in the resonance region by means of two methods using the 235U(n,f) as reference. The recent evaluation of the 235U(n,f) obtained with SAMMY by L. C. Leal et al. (these Proceedings), based on previous n-TOF data [1], has been used to calculate the 234U(n,f) cross section through the 234U/235U ratio, being here compared with the results obtained by using the n-TOF neutron flux