Depresión y riesgo de suicidio: posibles indicadores bioquímicos en pacientes psiquiátricos con intento de suicidio en el sureste de México

The diagnosis of suicidal trends in patients with depression has been a challenge for mental health specialists, thus it is desirable to define biochemical markers to identify those patients prone to commit suicide. In the present work eight biochemical variables in psychiatric patients with and without attempt of suicide, as well as in a group of control normal volunteers were analyzed. The biochemical determinations in the blood were: triacylglycerols, cholesterol, cholesterol associated to HD lipoproteins (HDL-cholesterol), total proteins, leukocytes, erythrocytes, platelets and platelet serotonin receptors. With exception of proteins and triacylglycerols, all the variables showed significant differences between the groups (ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis; p<0.05). The depressed patients, with and without attempt of suicide, showed lower values (DMS or Mann Whitney U tests; p<0.05) of cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and erythrocytes, as well as higher values of platelets (p<0.01), than the normal control group. In contrast, the patients with attempt of suicide showed higher values (p<0.001) of leukocytes but lower (p<0.001) levels of platelet serotonin receptors than the observed ones in patients depressed without attempt of suicide or in the normal volunteers. The analysis of relative risk, compared with the normal volunteers, showed that five variables were associated with the suicidal increase of risk and two variables with its diminution. However, when refining the contrast with the depressed patients without attempt of suicide, only the low value of platelet serotonin receptors increased the risk of suicide (odds ratio 13.39; p<0.001), whereas lower values of leukocytes decreased the risk of suicide (0.0; p<0.001). The analysis of leukocytes and platelet serotonin receptors allows the possibility to use them as potential indicators of suicidal risk in depressed patients.El diagnóstico de las tendencias suicidas en pacientes con depresión ha sido un problema para los especialistas en la salud mental, por lo cual es deseable definir marcadores bioquímicos para identificar a los pacientes con tendencias suicidas. En el presente trabajo se analizaron ocho variables bioquímicas en pacientes psiquiátricos con y sin intento de suicidio, así como en un grupo control de voluntarios normales. Las determinaciones bioquímicas en la sangre fueron: triacilgliceroles, colesterol, colesterol asociado a las lipoproteínas de alta densidad (HDL-colesterol), proteínas totales, leucocitos, eritrocitos, plaquetas y receptores plaquetarios a serotonina. Con excepción de las proteínas y los triacilgliceroles, todas las variables mostraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos (ANDEVA o Kruskal-Wallis; p<0.05). Los pacientes deprimidos, con y sin intento de suicidio, mostraron valores (pruebas DMS o U de Mann Whitney; p<0.05) menores de colesterol, HDL-colesterol y de eritrocitos, así como superiores de plaquetas (p<0.01), que el grupo control normal. En contraste, los pacientes con intento de suicidio mostraron valores mayores (p<0.001) de leucocitos pero menores (p<0.001) niveles de receptores plaquetarios a serotonina que los observados en pacientes deprimidos sin intento de suicidio o en los voluntarios normales. El análisis de riesgo relativo, comparado con los voluntarios normales, mostró que cinco variables fueron asociadas con el incremento de riesgo suicida y dos variables con su disminución. No obstante, al refinar el contraste con los pacientes deprimidos sin intento de suicidio, solamente el valor bajo de receptores plaquetarios a serotonina aumentó el riesgo de suicidio (razón entre grupos 13.39; p<0.001), mientras que valores menores de leucocitos disminuyeron el riesgo de suicidio (0.0; p<0.001). El análisis de leucocitos y de receptores plaquetarios a serotonina abre la posibilidad de que sean utilizados como indicadores potenciales del riesgo suicida en pacientes deprimidos

Arthrospira maxima prevents the acute fatty liver induced by the administration of simvastatin, ethanol and a hypercholesterolemic diet to mice

Abstract An evident fatty liver, corroborated morphologically and chemically, was produced in CD-1 mice after five daily doses of simvastatin 75 mg/Kg body weight, a hypercholesterolemic diet and 20 percent ethanol in the drinking water. After treating the animals, they presented serum triacylglycerols levels five times higher than the control mice, total lipids, cholesterol and triacylglycerols in the liver were 2, 2 and 1.5 times higher, respectively, than in control animals. When Arthrospira maxima was given with diet two weeks prior the onset of fatty liver induction, there was a decrement of liver total lipids (40%), liver triacylglycerols (50%) and serum triacylglycerols (50%) compared to the animals with the same treatment but without Arthrospira maxima. In addition to the mentioned protective effect, the administration of this algae, produced a significant increase (45%) in serum high density lipoproteins

Architecture and evolution of a minute plant genome

It has been argued that the evolution of plant genome size is principally unidirectional and increasing owing to the varied action of whole-genome duplications (WGDs) and mobile element proliferation1. However, extreme genome size reductions have been reported in the angiosperm family tree. Here we report the sequence of the 82-megabase genome of the carnivorous bladderwort plant Utricularia gibba. Despite its tiny size, the U. gibba genome accommodates a typical number of genes for a plant, with the main difference from other plant genomes arising from a drastic reduction in non-genic DNA. Unexpectedly, we identified at least three rounds of WGD in U. gibba since common ancestry with tomato (Solanum) and grape (Vitis). The compressed architecture of the U. gibba genome indicates that a small fraction of intergenic DNA, with few or no active retrotransposons, is sufficient to regulate and integrate all the processes required for the development and reproduction of a complex organism