Terapia de Comportamiento y Dieta Mediterránea en el Tratamiento de la Obesidad. El Método Garaulet.

La terapia conductual (TC) se basa en los principios clásicos de “condicionamiento”, que indican que el consumo se asocia frecuentemente con sucesos externos que están estrechamente vinculados a la ingestión. El uso de técnicas de comportamiento es la intención de ayudar al paciente a identificar las señales que desencadenan un comportamiento inapropiado, tanto en relación con la alimentación y ejercicio físico. Diferentes dietas de estilo mediterráneo, se ha demostrado como una estrategia segura para el tratamiento de la obesidad, el síndrome metabólico, y para ayudar a reducir el riesgo cardiovascular asociada. De hecho, una mayor adherencia a la dieta mediterránea se ha asociado con un menor prevalencia de obesidad abdominal, y recientemente se ha propuesto que la dieta mediterránea es particularmente eficaz para el control glucémico. La aplicación de “dieta mediterránea” las recomendaciones, un método de terapia del comportamiento y la educación nutricional (llamado el “Método Garaulet”) fue desarrollado en 1994, su eficacia se evaluó en primer lugar en 1999 en una muestra de 100 individuos, y de nuevo en 2009 en una proporción mucho mayor muestra de 1.400 sujetos. Los resultados muy similares de estos dos estudios, realizados con una diferencia de diez años, demuestran que la terapia de comportamiento asociados con una educación nutricional, la reducción de la ingesta calórica y una distribución equilibrada de nutrientes sobre la base de la “dieta mediterránea” es útil para la reducción de peso y de la mejora de una serie de alteraciones asociadas a la obesidad. Sin embargo, se necesitan más investigaciones para corroborar estas afirmaciones. En este sentido, durante los últimos dos años hemos iniciado un nuevo proyecto de investigación con el fin de aumentar la eficacia del tratamiento y en marcha y decidir si la incorporación de nuevos nutrigenética y / o herramientas de cronobiología puede ser útil para el cuidado de la salud y la nutrición personalizada basado en una combinación de genotipos y la caracterización psicológica-conductual. En un futuro próximo, nuestro principal objetivo es aplicar todo este nuevo conocimiento obtenido de la investigación en la práctica clínica. Sin embargo, debemos tener precaución al introducir todas estas herramientas de diagnóstico para no distorsionar el concepto del Método Garaulet. En este sentido, primero debemos diseñar un protocolo completo y útil capaz de ser aplicable en los centros de nutrición. Para ello, y antes de introducir todas estas ideas, necesitamos a) continuar en el estudio de factores nutrigenéticos para poder seleccionar de un gran rango de polimorfismos estudiados aquellos que pudieran ser útiles para predecir el éxito del tratamiento; b) diseñar nuevas herramientas en la caracterización psico-conductual de los pacientes; c) seleccionar las mejores herramientas para la caracterización cronobiológica de los sujetos en la práctica clínica. Todo ello con un propósito final de conseguir un tratamiento personalizado basado en la combinación del genotipo, cronotipo y la caracterización psico-conductual sin olvidar los principios de la Dieta Mediterránea. Una vez diseñado un protocolo final nuestra intención es expandir este programa actualizado a otras regiones de España y si es posible a otros países europeos

The molecular, functional and phylogenetic characterization of PGE2 receptors reveals their different roles in the immune response of the teleost fish gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.)

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays an important role in immune activities in teleost fish, including seabream. However, receptors involved in PGE2 signaling, as well as the pathways activated downstream, are largely unknown. In this study, one ortholog of mammalian PTGER1, PTGER3 and PTGER4, and two of PTGER2 (Ptger2a and Ptger2b) were identified and characterized in gilthead seabream. In silico analysis showed that all these receptors possessed the organization domain of G protein-coupled receptors, with the exception of Ptger2b. The corresponding in vivo studies revealed that they were expressed in all the tissues examined, the highest mRNA levels of ptger1 and ptger3 being observed in the spleen and of ptger2a and ptger4 in the blood. Bacterial infection induced higher mRNA levels of ptger2a, ptger3 and ptger4 in peritoneal exudate (the site of bacterial injection). In addition, head kidney acidophilic granulocytes and macrophages displayed different ptger1, ptger2a, ptger3 and ptger4 expression profiles. Furthermore, in macrophages the expression of the receptors was weakly affected by stimulation with bacterial DNA or with PGE2, while in acidophilic granulocytes stimulation resulted in the upregulation of ptger2a and ptger4. Taken together, these results suggest different roles for seabream PGE2 receptors in the regulation of the immune responses.Versión del editor3,26

A photoresponsive graphene oxide-C60 conjugate

[EN] An all-carbon donor–acceptor hybrid combining graphene oxide (GO) and C60 has been prepared. Laser flash photolysis measurements revealed the occurrence of photoinduced electron transfer from the GO electron donor to the C60 electron acceptor in the conjugate.This research was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (CTQ2010-17498, MAT2010-20843-C02-01 and PLE-2009-0038) and a Severo Ochoa operating grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. We also acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Comunidad de Madrid (CAM 09-S2009_MAT-1467), Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO program), and VLC/Campus Microcluster "Nanomateriales Funcionales y Nanodispositivos".Barrejón, M.; Vizuete, M.; Gómez Escalonilla, M.; Fierro, J.; Berlanga, I.; Zamora, F.; Abellán, G.... (2014). A photoresponsive graphene oxide-C60 conjugate. Chemical Communications. 50(65):9053-9055. doi:10.1039/C3CC49589BS90539055506

Thermal niche evolution and geographical range expansion in a species complex of western Mediterranean diving beetles

[Background] Species thermal requirements are one of the principal determinants of their ecology and biogeography, although our understanding of the interplay between these factors is limited by the paucity of integrative empirical studies. Here we use empirically collected thermal tolerance data in combination with molecular phylogenetics/phylogeography and ecological niche modelling to study the evolution of a clade of three western Mediterranean diving beetles, the Agabus brunneus complex.[Results] The preferred mitochondrial DNA topology recovered A. ramblae (North Africa, east Iberia and Balearic islands) as paraphyletic, with A. brunneus (widespread in the southwestern Mediterranean) and A. rufulus (Corsica and Sardinia) nested within it, with an estimated origin between 0.60-0.25 Ma. All three species were, however, recovered as monophyletic using nuclear DNA markers. A Bayesian skyline plot suggested demographic expansion in the clade at the onset of the last glacial cycle. The species thermal tolerances differ significantly, with A. brunneus able to tolerate lower temperatures than the other taxa. The climatic niche of the three species also differs, with A. ramblae occupying more arid and seasonal areas, with a higher minimum temperature in the coldest month. The estimated potential distribution for both A. brunneus and A. ramblae was most restricted in the last interglacial, becoming increasingly wider through the last glacial and the Holocene.[Conclusions] The A. brunneus complex diversified in the late Pleistocene, most likely in south Iberia after colonization from Morocco. Insular forms did not differentiate substantially in morphology or ecology, but A. brunneus evolved a wider tolerance to cold, which appeared to have facilitated its geographic expansion. Both A. brunneus and A. ramblae expanded their ranges during the last glacial, although they have not occupied areas beyond their LGM potential distribution except for isolated populations of A. brunneus in France and England. On the islands and possibly Tunisia secondary contact between A. brunneus and A. ramblae or A. rufulus has resulted in introgression. Our work highlights the complex dynamics of speciation and range expansions within southern areas during the last glacial cycle, and points to the often neglected role of North Africa as a source of European biodiversity.This work was supported by an FPI grant to AH-G and projects CGL2007-61665 and CGL2010-15755 from the Spanish government to IR. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

Segregation of Regulatory Polymorphisms with Effects on the Gluteus Medius Transcriptome in a Purebred Pig Population

Background: The main goal of the present study was to analyse the genetic architecture of mRNA expression in muscle, a tissue with an outmost economic importance for pig breeders. Previous studies have used F2 crosses to detect porcine expression QTL (eQTL), so they contributed with data that mostly represents the between-breed component of eQTL variation. Herewith, we have analysed eQTL segregation in an outbred Duroc population using two groups of animals with divergent fatness profiles. This approach is particularly suitable to analyse the within-breed component of eQTL variation, with a special emphasis on loci involved in lipid metabolism. Methodology/Principal Findings: GeneChip Porcine Genome arrays (Affymetrix) were used to determine the mRNA expression levels of gluteus medius samples from 105 Duroc barrows. A whole-genome eQTL scan was carried out with a panel of 116 microsatellites. Results allowed us to detect 613 genome-wide significant eQTL unevenly distributed across the pig genome. A clear predominance of trans- over cis-eQTL, was observed. Moreover, 11 trans-regulatory hotspots affecting the expression levels of four to 16 genes were identified. A Gene Ontology study showed that regulatory polymorphisms affected the expression of muscle development and lipid metabolism genes. A number of positional concordances between eQTL and lipid trait QTL were also found, whereas limited evidence of a linear relationship between muscle fat deposition and mRNA levels of eQTL regulated genes was obtained. Conclusions/Significance: Our data provide substantial evidence that there is a remarkable amount of within-breed genetic variation affecting muscle mRNA expression. Most of this variation acts in trans and influences biological processes related with muscle development, lipid deposition and energy balance. The identification of the underlying causal mutations and the ascertainment of their effects on phenotypes would allow gaining a fundamental perspective about how complex traits are built at the molecular level