Evolución clínica en animales infectados con Scrapie atípico

En 1732, en el continente europeo, se describe por primera vez una enfermedad que presentan de forma natural los pequeños rumiantes (especie ovina y caprina), caracterizada por la manifestación de una serie de signos clínicos propios de una degeneración a nivel de sistema nervioso central. En la mayor parte de los casos se podía observar un temblor intenso, chasquido de labios, alteraciones en la marcha, convulsiones y un prurito incontrolable que hacía a los animales frotarse de manera compulsiva contra árboles o rocas y esto derivaba en una caída de lana.Así nacería el Scrapie clásico ovino, tembladera o prurigo lumbar, convirtiéndose en la primera encefalopatía espongiforme transmisible (EET) descrita hasta entonces, la cual pasaría a formar parte de un conjunto de enfermedades neurodegenerativas progresivas y letales, causadas por unos agentes proteicos que, más tarde, serían conocidos como priones (Prusiner, 1982). En 1998, en Noruega, mediante programas de vigilancia activa en ovejas muertas sin aparente enfermedad, se llega al diagnóstico de una variante del Scrapie, la Nor98, hasta ese momento desconocida, cuyas características clínicas, inmunoquímicas, patológicas y estructurales diferían de la enfermedad clásica. Es entonces cuando se hace una diferenciación entre dos cepas, Scrapie clásico y Scrapie atípico (Benestad et al., 2003).Los animales afectados con Scrapie atípico presentan fundamentalmente ataxia y, en ocasiones, pérdida de condición corporal, pero es común que, a lo largo de la enfermedad, haya animales que no expresen sintomatología clínica evidente y mueran de forma repentina.Una de las características más importantes de esta cepa atípica es que estaría asociada a animales genotípicamente resistentes al Scrapie clásico y que, en la mayoría de los casos, se sospecha de una aparición repentina en alguna oveja sana del rebaño, ya que no hay datos concluyentes que indiquen cuál es la vía de transmisión de esta enfermedad.A lo largo de este trabajo se profundizará en el estudio de la cepa Nor98, mediante una recopilación bibliográfica y un estudio ante mortem y post mortem en ovejas inoculadas con la cepa de Scrapie atípico, llevado a cabo por el Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes de la Universidad de Zaragoza, que muestre la etiología, inmunidad, patogenia, cuadro clínico, diagnóstico y plan preventivo conocido hasta ahora y aporte un poco más de claridad a la hora de diferenciar el conocido Scrapie clásico del Scrapie atípico. <br /

Impact of preharvest and postharvest treatment combinations on increase of stilbene content in grape

Aims : Stilbene-enriched grape is an interesting new food product with numerous health-promoting properties, mainly due to its high added-value compound content, notably resveratrol. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different elicitors, alone or in combination with ultraviolet C light (UVC) postharvest treatment, on stilbene concentration in grapes. Methods and results : Three preharvest treatments were tested, namely benzothiadiazole, (BTH), methyl jasmonate (MEJA) and chitosan (CHIT). After harvesting, these treatments were combined with UVC postharvest treatment. The stilbene extraction method was validated method. Moreover, and grape quality was evaluated. Of the preharvest treatments, only BTH significantly increased trans-resveratrol concentration in grape, but this appears to be linked to a ripening delay. When pre- and postharvest treatments were combined, only the MEJA-UVC combination was successful in reducing by three days the day of maximum induction of stilbenes (trans resveratrol and piceatannol). Conclusion: The MEJA-UVC combination reached similar grape trans-resveratrol contents than UVC alone, but additionally the time to reach maximum trans-resveratrol after the UVC treatment was reduced by three days and therefore grape quality was preserved. Significance and impact of the study: The achieved results provide a potential treatment combination that allows functional grapes to be obtained in a shorter period than with UVC light alone, making it more applicable

Didáctica e inclusión a través de las TIC. Validación CUPEDATIC / Didáctica e inclusão através das TIC. Validação CUPEDÁTICA

Una educación inclusiva es posible hoy día en nuestras aulas, aunque seguimos necesitando del compromiso de todos ante la atención a la diversidad. Porque los discentes necesitan de una mejora en la calidad de la educación y una igualdad de oportunidades. La integración de personas con necesidades educativas especiales a través de las TIC hará que nuestros niños crezcan y se desarrollen personal, y profesionalmente. Sin que ningún alumno pueda quedar fuera del sistema educativo; al ser discriminado por tener alguna necesidad educativa o dificultad de aprendizaje.Por ello, debemos empezar a considerar la diversidad no como un problema sino como un valor, que despierta la curiosidad y la imaginación. Dirigido a que todos los alumnos se entiendan e interactúen respetando las diferencias que entre ellos pueda existir

Popularización del concepto "violencia vicaria". Estudio de la docuserie Rocío, contar la verdad para seguir viva a través de la prensa española digital

El 21 de marzo de 2021 se emite en Telecinco la docuserie Rocío, contar la verdad para seguir viva. En la docuserie, Rocío Carrasco relata los supuestos malos tratos sufridos por parte de su exmarido Antonio David Flores. Muchos de estos supuestos episodios de violencia, tanto física como psicológica, se habrían ejercido por medio de los hijos del matrimonio. A través de once capítulos y dos entrevistas, Rocío Carrasco explicaba su experiencia junto al que fuera su marido durante tres años y tras la ruptura. El último programa cerraba con un 27’3% de cuota de pantalla, es decir, más de 2.279.000 de espectadores. Según se recogió en “La ventana” de la Cadena SER el 03 de junio de 2021, el documental supuso “un antes y un después en televisión y no solo por sus extraordinarias cifras de espectadores sino por la problemática que ha abordado durante sus doce capítulos”

An amino acid substitution found in animals with low susceptibility to prion diseases confers a protective dominant-negative effect in prion-infected transgenic mice

While prion diseases have been described in numerous species, some, including those of the Canidae family, appear to show resistance or reduced susceptibility. A better understanding of the factors underlying prion susceptibility is crucial for the development of effective treatment and control measures. We recently demonstrated resistance to prion infection in mice overexpressing a mutated prion protein (PrP) carrying a specific amino acid substitution characteristic of canids. Here, we show that coexpression of this mutated PrP and wild-type mouse PrP in transgenic mice inoculated with different mouse-adapted prion strains (22 L, ME7, RML, and 301C) significantly increases survival times (by 45 to 113%). These data indicate that this amino acid substitution confers a dominant-negative effect on PrP, attenuating the conversion of PrPC to PrPSc and delaying disease onset without altering the neuropathological properties of the prion strains. Taken together, these findings have important implications for the development of new treatment approaches for prion diseases based on dominant-negative proteins

Spanish Multicenter Study of the Epidemiology and Mechanisms of Amoxicillin-Clavulanate Resistance in Escherichia coli

We conducted a prospective multicenter study in Spain to characterize the mechanisms of resistance to amoxicillin-clavu-lanate (AMC) in Escherichia coli. Up to 44 AMC-resistant E. coli isolates (MIC>32/16 g/ml) were collected at each of theseven participant hospitals. Resistance mechanisms were characterized by PCR and sequencing. Molecular epidemiology was studied by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and by multilocus sequence typing. Overall AMC resistance was 9.3%. The resistance mechanisms detected in the 257 AMC-resistant isolates were OXA-1 production (26.1%), hyperpro-duction of penicillinase (22.6%), production of plasmidic AmpC (19.5%), hyperproduction of chromosomic AmpC(18.3%), and production of inhibitor-resistant TEM (IRT) (17.5%). The IRTs identified were TEM-40 (33.3%), TEM-30(28.9%), TEM-33 (11.1%), TEM-32 (4.4%), TEM-34 (4.4%), TEM-35 (2.2%), TEM-54 (2.2%), TEM-76 (2.2%), TEM-79(2.2%), and the new TEM-185 (8.8%). By PFGE, a high degree of genetic diversity was observed although two well-defined clusters were detected in the OXA-1-producing isolates: the C1 cluster consisting of 19 phylogroup A/sequence type 88[ST88] isolates and the C2 cluster consisting of 19 phylogroup B2/ST131 isolates (16 of them producing CTX-M-15). Each of the clusters was detected in six different hospitals. In total, 21.8% of the isolates were serotype O25b/phylogroup B2 (O25b/B2). AMC resistance in E. coli is widespread in Spain at the hospital and community levels. A high prevalence of OXA-1 was found. Although resistant isolates were genetically diverse, clonality was linked to OXA-1-producing isolates of the STs 88 and 131. Dissemination of IRTs was frequent, and the epidemic O25b/B2/ST131 clone carried many different mechanisms of AMC resistance

Pregnancy Outcomes and SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Spanish Obstetric Emergency Group Study

Pregnant women who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 are at an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. With this study, we aimed to better understand the relationship between maternal infection and perinatal outcomes, especially preterm births, and the underlying medical and interventionist factors. This was a prospective observational study carried out in 78 centers (Spanish Obstetric Emergency Group) with a cohort of 1347 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive pregnant women registered consecutively between 26 February and 5 November 2020, and a concurrent sample of PCR-negative mothers. The patients' information was collected from their medical records, and the association of SARS-CoV-2 and perinatal outcomes was evaluated by univariable and multivariate analyses. The data from 1347 SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnancies were compared with those from 1607 SARS-CoV-2-negative pregnancies. Differences were observed between both groups in premature rupture of membranes (15.5% vs. 11.1%, p < 0.001); venous thrombotic events (1.5% vs. 0.2%, p < 0.001); and severe pre-eclampsia incidence (40.6 vs. 15.6%, p = 0.001), which could have been overestimated in the infected cohort due to the shared analytical signs between this hypertensive disorder and COVID-19. In addition, more preterm deliveries were observed in infected patients (11.1% vs. 5.8%, p < 0.001) mainly due to an increase in iatrogenic preterm births. The prematurity in SARS-CoV-2-affected pregnancies results from a predisposition to end the pregnancy because of maternal disease (pneumonia and pre-eclampsia, with or without COVID-19 symptoms)

Cardiac Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Enriched with Polyethylene Glycol Presents Improved Gelation Time and Increased On-Target Site Retention of Extracellular Vesicles

Stem-cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have demonstrated multiple beneficial effects in preclinical models of cardiac diseases. However, poor retention at the target site may limit their therapeutic efficacy. Cardiac extracellular matrix hydrogels (cECMH) seem promising as drug-delivery materials and could improve the retention of EVs, but may be limited by their long gelation time and soft mechanical properties. Our objective was to develop and characterize an optimized product combining cECMH, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and EVs (EVs–PEG–cECMH) in an attempt to overcome their individual limitations: long gelation time of the cECMH and poor retention of the EVs. The new combined product presented improved physicochemical properties (60% reduction in half gelation time, p < 0.001, and threefold increase in storage modulus, p < 0.01, vs. cECMH alone), while preserving injectability and biodegradability. It also maintained in vitro bioactivity of its individual components (55% reduction in cellular senescence vs. serum-free medium, p < 0.001, similar to EVs and cECMH alone) and increased on-site retention in vivo (fourfold increase vs. EVs alone, p < 0.05). In conclusion, the combination of EVs–PEG–cECMH is a potential multipronged product with improved gelation time and mechanical properties, increased on-site retention, and maintained bioactivity that, all together, may translate into boosted therapeutic efficacy

Composición fenólica de vinagres obtenidos por certificación con cultivo superficial en barricas de diferentes maderas

y singulares. El presente estudio tiene por objeto evaluar la influencia de diversas maderas de las barricas en la composición fenólica de vinagres. Se han empleado barricas de cerezo, roble, castaño y acacia de 60 L de capacidad, fabricadas ex profeso con idéntico tratamiento; en ellas se llevó a cabo la acetificación con cultivo superficial. Se han empleado dos tipos de sustrato (vinos tintos variedad Garnacha procedentes del Priorat y de Banyuls (Francia)). Los compuestos fenólicos se determinaron por CLAE-DAD evaluándose los cambios en la concentración de ácidos hidroxibenzoicos, cinámicos, flavan-3-ol, y estilbenos. El análisis discriminante permitió clasificar los vinagres obtenidos en barricas de diferente maderas con un 97% de aciertos en la clasificación de muestras de vinagres de Banyuls y un 100% de aciertos en el caso de los vinagres del Priorat. Los ácidos gálico, protocatéquico, vainíllico, siríngico, tirosol (+)-catequina son las variables incluidas en las funciones de clasificación. Los cambios en la composición fenólica más relevantes a lo largo de la acetificación son la disminución del glucósido de resveratrol y de la (+)-catequina.Proyecto WINEGAR Cooperative Research under the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Community (2002-2006

Standardized incidence ratios and risk factors for cancer in patients with systemic sclerosis: Data from the Spanish Scleroderma Registry (RESCLE)

Aim: Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are at increased risk of cancer, a growing cause of non-SSc-related death among these patients. We analyzed the increased cancer risk among Spanish patients with SSc using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and identified independent cancer risk factors in this population. Material and methods: Spanish Scleroderma Registry data were analyzed to determine the demographic characteristics of patients with SSc, and logistic regression was used to identify cancer risk factors. SIRs with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) relative to the general Spanish population were calculated. Results: Of 1930 patients with SSc, 206 had cancer, most commonly breast, lung, hematological, and colorectal cancers. Patients with SSc had increased risks of overall cancer (SIR 1.48, 95% CI 1.36-1.60; P < 0.001), and of lung (SIR 2.22, 95% CI 1.77-2.73; P < 0.001), breast (SIR 1.31, 95% CI 1.10-1.54; P = 0.003), and hematological (SIR 2.03, 95% CI 1.52-2.62; P < 0.001) cancers. Cancer was associated with older age at SSc onset (odds ratio [OR] 1.22, 95% CI 1.01-1.03; P < 0.001), the presence of primary biliary cholangitis (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.18-4.68; P = 0.015) and forced vital capacity <70% (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.24-2.70; P = 0.002). The presence of anticentromere antibodies lowered the risk of cancer (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45-0.97; P = 0.036). Conclusions: Spanish patients with SSc had an increased cancer risk compared with the general population. Some characteristics, including specific autoantibodies, may be related to this increased risk