High-Density Transcriptional Initiation Signals Underline Genomic Islands in Bacteria

Genomic islands (GIs), frequently associated with the pathogenicity of bacteria and having a substantial influence on bacterial evolution, are groups of “alien” elements which probably undergo special temporal–spatial regulation in the host genome. Are there particular hallmark transcriptional signals for these “exotic” regions? We here explore the potential transcriptional signals that underline the GIs beyond the conventional views on basic sequence composition, such as codon usage and GC property bias. It showed that there is a significant enrichment of the transcription start positions (TSPs) in the GI regions compared to the whole genome of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli. There was up to a four-fold increase for the 70% GIs, implying high-density TSPs profile can potentially differentiate the GI regions. Based on this feature, we developed a new sliding window method GIST, Genomic-island Identification by Signals of Transcription, to identify these regions. Subsequently, we compared the known GI-associated features of the GIs detected by GIST and by the existing method Islandviewer to those of the whole genome. Our method demonstrates high sensitivity in detecting GIs harboring genes with biased GI-like function, preferred subcellular localization, skewed GC property, shorter gene length and biased “non-optimal” codon usage. The special transcriptional signals discovered here may contribute to the coordinate expression regulation of foreign genes. Finally, by using GIST, we detected many interesting GIs in the 2011 German E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain TY-2482, including the microcin H47 system and gene cluster ycgXEFZ-ymgABC that activates the production of biofilm matrix. The aforesaid findings highlight the power of GIST to predict GIs with distinct intrinsic features to the genome. The heterogeneity of cumulative TSPs profiles may not only be a better identity for “alien” regions, but also provide hints to the special evolutionary course and transcriptional regulation of GI regions

Uso de imanes en el tratamiento de queloides auriculares

Introducción y Objetivos: La incidencia de queloides auriculares es cada vez mayor. Su alta frecuencia de recidiva es de gran interés, por ello su extirpación quirúrgica se asocia a otras terapias como radioterapia, corticoides, crioterapia, láser, presoterapia, etc. La presoterapia resulta un método efectivo, sencillo y accesible. Material y Método: Realizamos un estudio prospectivo, experimental, sobre 11 casos de queloides auriculares tratados con resección quirúrgica seguida de presoterapia usando imanes, tomando en cuenta la presión y fuerza magnética ejercida. Llevamos a cabo seguimiento de los casos entre 4 y 6 meses. Empleamos las pruebas de Mann-Whitney y Coeficiente Lineal de Pearson. Determinamos la tasa de recurrencia y realizamos un analisis de regresión para el estudio de la escala de Valor Análoga del Dolor (EVA). Resultados: La tasa libre de recurrencia fue del 90.91%. No hubo ningún tipo de complicación. En cuanto a la EVA, observamos una ascendente tolerancia a la terapia con imanes auriculares a través del tiempo. Conclusiones: El protocolo de uso de imanes que presentamos es un excelente tratamiento coadyuvante. El magnetismo parece cumplir un papel fundamental en la remodelación y organización de las fibras de colágeno de las cicatrices postoperatorias, añadiendo una efectividad mayor a la presoterapia

Restricted Water Intake and Hydration with Fructose-Containing Beverages during Infancy Predispose to Aggravate an Acute Renal Ischemic Insult in Adolescent Rats

We aimed to investigate the effects of chronic fluid restriction and hydration with a sweetened beverage (SB) in rats from weaning until adolescence, in a posterior acute kidney injury (AKI) event induced by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). We followed 5 groups of weaning rats: control group (C); two groups with 22 h/day fluid restriction, a group hydrated for two hours with water (-W) and a group hydrated with SB; one group receiving SB ad libitum all day (+SB); and one group in which water consumption was increased using a gel diet. The rats that reached adolescence were submitted to I/R. Fluid restriction and/or SB hydration induced mild renal alterations that were significantly accentuated in the -SB group and resulted in worse outcomes after I/R-induced AKI that resulted in a catastrophic fall in creatinine clearance and diffuse acute tubular necrosis. In summary, low tap water intakes, as well as SB intake in infancy, prompt kidney worse outcomes in a later event of AKI during adolescence and both insults magnify kidney damage. Studies on hydration habits in children are recommended to disclose the potentially harmful effects that those behavioral patterns might carry to future renal health

Probiotic supplements prevented oxonic acid-induced hyperuricemia and renal damage.

Hyperuricemia is highly prevalent and especially common in subjects with metabolic, cardiovascular and renal diseases. In chronic kidney disease, hyperuricemia is extremely common, and uric acid (UA) excretion relies on gut uricolysis by gut microbiota. Current therapy for lowering serum UA includes drugs that may produce undesired secondary effects. Therefore, this pilot study was designed to evaluate the potential of two probiotic supplements to reduce systemic uric acid concentrations. Secondary objectives were to assess whether the hypouricemic effect related to a therapeutic benefit on the hyperuricemia-induced renal damage and hypertension. Analysis of fecal microbiota was also performed. Groups of 6 rats each were followed for 5 weeks and allocated in the following treatment groups: C = Control; HU-ND = Oxonic acid-induced hyperuricemia (HU) +regular diet; HU-P = HU+placebo; HU-F1 = HU+ probiotics formula 1 and HU-F2 = HU+ probiotics formula 2. We confirmed that oxonic acid-induced hyperuricemia produced hypertension and renal functional and structural changes, along with modest changes in the overall composition of fecal microbiota. Both probiotic-containing diets prevented HU, elevated UA urinary excretion and intrarenal UA accumulation induced by oxonic acid. The hypouricemic effect conferred by probiotic supplementation also prevented the renal changes and hypertension caused by hyperuricemia. However, probiotic treatment did not restore the fecal microbiota. In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time the ability of probiotics containing uricolytic bacteria to lower serum uric acid in hyperuricemic animals with beneficial consequences on blood pressure and renal disease. As probiotics supplements are innocuous for human health, we recommend clinical studies to test if probiotic supplements could benefit hyperuricemic individuals