Eritropoyetina humana recombinante ior®EPOCIM en el tratamiento de la anemia en pacientes de Pediatría tratados en el Servicio de Onco-Hematología

Recombinant human erythropoietin is widely used in the treatment of anemia due to cancer. A retrospective, longitudinal and descriptive study was conducted at the Jose Luis Miranda Provincial Pediatric University Hospital in Santa Clara, Villa Clara, to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the use of the Cuban product iorEPOCIM® in patients who suffer from anemia due to chemotherapy and / or radiotherapyin in the Hematology-Oncology service. An unintentional probabilistic sample was taken by criteria of 38 hospitalized patients who suffered from anemia, in the period from January 2005 to July 2006. The following variables were taken into account: age, sex, race, nutritional status, hemoglobin, transfusions before and after treatment and dose of erythropoietin. It was found that the drug significantly increased hemoglobin levels after four (55.3%, p=0.001) and eight (81.5%, p=0.035) weeks of treatment, with a significant decrease of transfusion requirements (p=0.027 and p=0.032) for both evaluations. The expected impact was not achieved but there was a therapeutic success, which helped to reduce the number of transfusions in patients. Therefore, the use of the medication for the treatment of anemia in these patients is a valuable alternative to improve their quality of life in general and reduces their risk of getting other conditions.La eritropoyetina humana recombinante tiene amplio uso en el tratamiento de la anemia por cáncer. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo longitudinal retrospectivo en el Hospital Pediátrico Provincial Universitario “José Luis Miranda” de Santa Clara, Villa Clara, para evaluar el impacto, así como la efectividad, del uso del producto cubano ior®EPOCIM en pacientes con anemia por quimio y radioterapia (o ambas) tratados en el Servicio de Onco-Hematología. Se tomó una muestra probabilística no intencional por criterios de 38 enfermos hospitalizados que padecen anemia -en el período comprendido de enero de 2005 a julio de 2006-; se tuvieron en cuenta las siguientes variables: la edad, el sexo, la raza, el estado nutricional, las cifras de hemoglobina, las transfusiones antes y después del tratamiento y la dosis de eritropoyetina. Se comprobó que el medicamento incrementó de manera significativa los valores de hemoglobina después de cuatro (55,3%, p=0,001) y ocho (81,5%, p=0,035) semanas de tratamiento, con disminución significativa de los requerimientos transfusionales para ambas evaluaciones (p=0,027 y p=0,032). No se obtuvo el impacto esperado pero se constató éxito terapéutico, que permitió disminuir el número de transfusiones en los pacientes; por tanto, el uso de este medicamento en el tratamiento de la anemia en este tipo de enfermos constituye una alternativa valiosa para mejorar su calidad de vida en general y disminuye los riesgos de adquirir otras afecciones

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Gallus domesticus in Havana, Cuba

El estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar la seroprevalencia de T. gondii en Gallus domesticus en La Habana, Cuba. Se colectaron 300 muestras de sueros de pollitas White Leghorn L33 en fase de desarrollo en 2015, distribuidas a razón de 100 aves por cada lote incorporado a la unidad avícola desde procedencias diferentes. Las muestras fueron analizadas mediante un ELISA de inhibición y se utilizaron las pruebas Chi-cuadrado y Dócima de Duncan para comparar las proporciones de aves positivas entre los lotes estudiados. Se encontró una relativa baja seroprevalencia de T. gondii (9.6%), similar a otros hallazgos reportados a nivel internacional. Se evidenciaron diferencias significativas (p=0.0001) en la prevalencia de T. gondii entre los tres lotes de aves. Se concluye que la seroprevalencia de T. gondii en Gallus domesticus en La Habana es baja, aunque esta constituye un riesgo de infección para las poblaciones humanas y animales susceptibles.The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in Gallus domesticus in Havana, Cuba. Three hundred serum samples were collected from White Leghorn pullets L33 in growing stage in 2015. Samples represented 100 birds per batch incorporated into the poultry unit from different origins. Samples were evaluated by an ELISA inhibition test and data was analyzed by the Chi-square and Duncan tests to compare proportions of positive birds among batches. A relatively low seroprevalence of T. gondii was found (9.6%), similar to other findings reported internationally. Significant differences (p=0.0001) in the prevalence of T. gondii among the three bird batches were found. It is concluded that the seroprevalence of T. gondii in Gallus domesticus in Havana is low, though this constitutes a risk of infection for susceptible human and animal populations

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation of embryogenesis cell suspensions of banana cultivar Grande naine (AAA)

The black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet) has become in the last years, the most destructive disease that affects the production of banana and plantains world-wide. The present work was made with the objective to obtain transgenic plants of banana cultivar Grand naine (AAA) resistant to this disease with the use of genetic transformation. Embryogenenic cell suspensions obtained from somatic embryos formed from immature male flowers, were used for the transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The bacterial strain EHA-105 was used with the binary plasmids pHCA-58, pHCG-59 and pHGA-91, which contain different combinations of genes that encode for the antifungal chitinase, glucanase enzymes and the AP-24 osmotin. The commercial herbicide BASTA® was used as selective agent. One hundred ten putative transformed lines of the three constructions were obtained, after three selection months in the culture medium. The transgenic events were verified by means of Polymerase Chain Reaction analysis. Key words: AP-24, chitinase, glucanase, Musa, Mycosphaerella fijiensi

Plantain (<em>Musa</em> spp. cv. ‘Navolean’ AAB) transgenic plants from A<em>grobacterium tumefaciens-mediated</em> transformation of embryogenic cell suspensions

The present work was carried out with the objective to obtain plantain transgenic plants of ‘Navolean’ (Musa AAB) cultivar and to evaluate them, under field conditions during the first crop cycle, for Black Sigatoka disease. Embryogenic cell suspensions obtained from scalp were used for the transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The bacterial strain EHA-105 was used with the binary plasmid pHGA-91, which contained a combination of genes that encode for the antifungal glucanase enzyme and the AP24 osmotin. Twenty putative transformed lines of the construct were obtained after two months of selection in the culture medium. The transgenic events were verified by means of PCR and Southern hybridisation. These confirmed the stable integration and expression of the transgenes in transgenic plants that were selected in field showing differences with non-transgenic plants used as control. Key words: genetic transformation, AP24, glucanase, Musa, Mycosphaerella fijiensi