Oral probiotics supplementation can stimulate the immune system in a stress process

In a bifactorial stress mouse model we studied the effect of probiotic supplementation on biochemical parameter in serum, the intestinal impairment of the villi induced by stress, the systemic immune response and the susceptibility to intestinal infections. Probiotic effect was also evaluated on cells from the innate immunity. Mice were subjected to a stress protocol based on food deprivation and movement restrictions for 11 days. We analyzed the probiotic supplementation effect, as probiotic bacteria suspension or as a fermented milk, on the changes induced by stress: biochemical parameters as glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol in serum, body weight and in the gut we determined the number of goblet cells, the length of the microvilli and bacterial translocation from the intestinal microbiota into deep tissues. Peritoneal and spleen macrophages activity, the immune response to ovalbumin immunization, the protection against Salmonella infection during the stress process in mice receiving probiotic, were also determined. We found that probiotic supplementation in the chronic stress model, improves the gut histological structure, increases phagocytic activity of peritoneal and spleen macrophages, enhance the humoral response to the OVA antigen and protect against Salmonella infection. Conclusion: Probiotic supplementation was able to act on the gut and systemic immunity by improvement of the length and cellularity of the villi, increasing the systemic immune response and protecting against Salmonella infection. The effectiveness on the immune system exerted by probiotic consumption suggests the use of these bacteria as an alternative to minimize the damage induced during stress situation.Fil: Palomar, Martín Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Bru Chauve, Elena Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Maldonado Galdeano, María Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Perdigon, Gabriela del Valle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia; Argentin

La utilización de herramientas TIC para la reserva y seguimiento de tutorías como soporte al aprendizaje activo en el EEES

El Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) centra la metodología de aprendizaje en el propio alumno, quien con la ayuda del profesor debe pasar a ser agente activo, protagonizando su propio aprendizaje. La acción tutorial desempeña un papel fundamental para catalizar esta ayuda facilitando una comunicación fluida entre ambos. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar la influencia que la utilización de herramientas TIC para la reserva y seguimiento de tutorías puede ejercer en el proceso de aprendizaje activo de los alumnos. A tal fin se ha llevado a cabo un estudio empírico de carácter descriptivo-exploratorio centrado en la utilización de una herramienta TIC concreta en asignaturas de Grado de la E.U. de Informática de la UPM. Los instrumentos utilizados en la investigación han incluido dos cuestionarios orientados a conocer la opinión de los alumnos y profesores participantes, junto con los datos de asistencia a tutorías registrados por la herramienta TIC. Los resultados obtenidos reflejan, en opinión de los alumnos y profesores encuestados, una influencia positiva de la utilización de este tipo de herramientas en el proceso de aprendizaje activo de los estudiantes, en línea con el EEES

Frequency and Characteristics of familial melanoma in Spain: the FAM-GEM-1 Study.

Familial history of melanoma is a well-known risk factor for the disease, and 7% melanoma patients were reported to have a family history of melanoma. Data relating to the frequency and clinical and pathological characteristics of both familial and non-familial melanoma in Spain have been published, but these only include patients from specific areas of Spain and do not represent the data for the whole of Spain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An observational study conducted by the Spanish Group of Melanoma (GEM) analyzed the family history of patients diagnosed with melanoma between 2011 and 2013 in the dermatology and oncology departments. RESULTS: In all, 1047 patients were analyzed, and 69 (6.6%) fulfilled criteria for classical familial melanoma (two or more first-degree relatives diagnosed with melanoma). Taking into account other risk factors for familial melanoma, such as multiple melanoma, pancreatic cancer in the family or second-degree relatives with melanoma, the number of patients fulfilling the criteria increased to 165 (15.8%). Using a univariate analysis, we determined that a Breslow index of less than 1 mm, negative mitosis, multiple melanoma, and a history of sunburns in childhood were more frequent in familial melanoma patients, but a multivariate analysis revealed no differences in any pathological or clinical factor between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to that observed in other countries, familial melanoma accounts for 6.6% of melanoma diagnoses in Spain. Although no differences in the multivariate analysis were found, some better prognosis factors, such as Breslow index, seem more frequent in familial melanoma, which reflect a better early detection marker and/or a different biological behavior

TEXT-MESS: Minería de textos inteligente, Interactiva y multilingüe basada en Tecnologia del Lenguaje Humano

The goal of this project is to analyze, experiment, and develop intelligent, interactive and multilingual Text Mining technologies, as a key element of the next generation of search engines, systems with the capacity to find "the need behind the query". These technologies will provide specialized services and interfaces according to the search domain and type of information needed. Moreover, it will integrate searchs on document collections (websites), multimedia (images, audio, video), semi-structured texts and restricted domains

Influence of a probiotic lactobacillus strain on the intestinal ecosystem in a stress model mouse

Daily exposure to stressful situations affects the health of humans and animals. It has been shown that psychological stress affects the immune system and can exacerbate diseases. Probiotics can act as biological immunomodulators in healthy people, increasing both intestinal and systemic immune responses. The use of probiotics in stress situations may aid in reinforcing the immune system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a probiotic bacterium on the gut immune system of mice that were exposed to an experimental model of stress induced by food and mobility restriction. The current study focused on immune cells associated with the lamina propria of the intestine, including CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, CD11b+ macrophages, CD11c+ dendritic cells, and IgA+ B lymphocytes, as well as the concentrations of secretory IgA (S-IgA) and cytokine interferon gamma (INF-c in intestinal fluid. We also evaluated the probiotic?s influence on the gut microbiota. Probiotic administration increased IgA producing cells, CD4+ cells in the lamina propria of the small intestine, and S-IgA in the lumen; it also reduced the levels of IFN-c that had increased during stress and improved the intestinal microbiota as measured by an increase in the lactobacilli population. The results obtained from administration of the probiotic to stressed mice suggest that the use of food containing these microorganisms may work as a palliative to reinforce the immune system.Fil: Palomar, Martín Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (i); ArgentinaFil: Maldonado Galdeano, María Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Bioquimica, Quimica y Farmacia. Instituto de Microbiologia; ArgentinaFil: Perdigón, Gabriela del Valle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Bioquimica, Quimica y Farmacia. Instituto de Microbiologia; Argentin

Informe del Comité Cientifico de la Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AESAN) sobre proteínas lácteas, alergias y sus métodos de análisis

[EN]: Milk is a complex food with a 3.3% of proteins in its composition. Milk proteins are classified as caseins and whey proteins. Milk technological treatments usually have a small effect on the antigenic/ allergenic potential of milk proteins. Milk is the first food known antigen that contacts people. Milk contains several proteins that can potentially be involved in allergic sensitization but only a few of them are recognized as being major allergenic, specially ß-lactoglobulin, caseins and a-lactalbumin. This issue implicates that milk consumption generates food allergies. This allergic reaction is characterized by a rapid onset of the symptoms and is mediated by allergen-specific immunoglobulin E. The symptoms can be moderated and limited to the contact site or general and life-threatening. In Spain the prevalence is lower than 2% and disappears in the 80% of the sensitized kids before five years old. Currently, the only effective treatment for milk allergy is avoidance of allergen-containing food. However total avoidance is sometimes difficult for the allergic individuals since processed food products contain a large variety of ingredients. In this sense national and European legislation elaborated some directives intended to ensure that all consumers are informed of the complete contents of foods and enable them to identify any allergenic ingredient that may be present. Nevertheless, sometimes food products can be contaminated with trace amounts of milk proteins due to fraud or cross-contaminations. Nowadays, there are several technical possibilities for the detection of milk allergen proteins. The methods employed are either targeting the protein itself or DNA fragments. The first ones are based on immunology techniques (radioallergosorbent test, ELISA, immunoblotting, rocket immunoelectrophoresis, lateral flow test strips, microarrays and biosensors) or not immunological techniques (mass espectrometry and liquid cromatography-electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry). Presently, ELISA technique is the most commonly method used in laboratories of the food industry. The reasons are its high precision (0.2-1 ppm), simple handling and speed, low cost, good potential for standardization and high specificity.[ES]: La leche es un alimento complejo con un 3,3% de proteínas en su composición. Estas proteínas están distribuidas en diferentes fracciones, especialmente las caseínas y las seroproteínas. Sus proteínas son, en general, resistentes a los tratamientos tecnológicos a los que se somete la leche. La leche es el primer antígeno alimentario conocido con el que las personas entran en contacto. En su composición proteica existen varias proteínas con potencial alergénico. Entre ellas destacan la ß-lactoglobulina, las caseínas y la a-lactalbúmina. Esta situación hace que su consumo pueda desencadenar reacciones alérgicas, que en la mayoría de las ocasiones están mediadas por inmunoglobulina E (IgE). Esta alergia es de tipo inmediato y sus síntomas pueden ser leves y limitarse al sitio de contacto o de carácter general e intensidad variable, llegando incluso a producir reacciones anafilácticas graves. Su prevalencia en España no es superior al 2% y en el 80% de los casos desaparece al alcanzar los 4-5 años. El mejor tratamiento en la actualidad es la eliminación de cualquier alimento que contenga leche en su composición. La dieta de eliminación es muy difícil de conseguir en la vida real y para poder seguirla es necesario conocer los ingredientes de los alimentos de elaboración industrial. En este sentido, la legislación nacional y europea obliga a reflejar en el etiquetado de un alimento cualquier componente que pueda ser considerado como alergeno. No obstante, en ocasiones el problema se mantiene porque pueden encontrarse en los alimentos trazas de proteínas lácteas debido a contaminaciones accidentales o adulteraciones. Actualmente, los métodos para la detección de las proteínas alergénicas de la leche se pueden clasificar en dos grandes grupos: i) métodos basados en la detección directa de las proteínas lácteas mediante técnicas inmunológicas (test radioalergoabsorbente, ELISA, inmunoelectroforesis, ensayo cohete de inmunoelectroforesis, tiras de flujo lateral, microarrays y biosensores) o no inmunológicas (espectrometría de masas y cromatografía líquida-espectrometría de masas en tandem) y ii) métodos Miembros del Comité Científico Andreu Palou Oliver, Juan José Badiola Díez, Arturo Anadón Navarro, Albert Bosch Navarro, Juan Francisco Cacho Palomar, Ana María Cameán Fernández, Alberto Cepeda Sáez, Lucas Domínguez Rodríguez, Rosaura Farré Rovira, Manuela Juárez Iglesias, Francisco Martín Bermudo, Manuel Martín Esteban, Albert Más Barón, Teresa Ortega Hernández-Agero, Andrés Otero Carballeira, Perfecto Paseiro Losada, Daniel Ramón Vidal, Elías Rodríguez Ferri, Mª Carmen Vidal Carou, Gonzalo Zurera Cosano Secretario Jesús Campos Amado Número de referencia: AESAN-2010-009 Documento aprobado por el Comité Científico en su sesión plenaria de 28 de septiembre de 2010 Grupo de Trabajo Francisco Martín Bermudo (Coordinador) Juan Francisco Cacho Palomar Alberto Cepeda Sáez Manuela Juárez Iglesias Manuel Martín Esteban Elena Molina Hernández (C. Externa) Isabel Prieto Santos (CNA-AESAN) Informe del Comité Científico de la Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AESAN) sobre proteínas lácteas, alergias y sus métodos de análisis revista del comité científico nº 13 38 indirectos basados en el reconocimiento especifico de fragmentos de ADN que codifican una determinada proteína. De todos los métodos disponibles son básicamente los métodos inmunológicos concretamente, los enzimoinmunoensayo tipo ELISA los más recomendables para ser usados por la industria alimentaria. Las razones son que es una técnica: i) rápida; ii) de bajo coste; iii) no requiere personal altamente cualificado; iv) su sensibilidad es muy alta (0,2-1 ppm) y v) su especificidad es elevada.Peer reviewe

Probiotics and functional foods in immunosupressed host

The intestine is colonized by several bacterial species comprising the normal microbiota.It is known that exist an active dialogue between the commensal microorganisms and the intestinal epithelial and immune cells. This crosstalk can produce different responses of the gut immune system in order to maintain the homeostasis. Daily food intake harbors many microorganisms that can influence positively or negatively this balance. Among the beneficial microorganisms we can mention probiotics, many of which are contained in fermented products. One of the main properties attributed to probiotics is the improvement of the host immune states. It was demonstrated that probiotic fermented milk administration activated mainly the innate immune response, and promoted immunity at sites outside the gut such as bronchus and mammary glands. Experimental animal models are useful to understand the mechanisms implicated in the probiotic interaction with intestinal epithelial and immune cells. This chapter deals with the stimulation of the intestinal and systemic immune responses affected by malnutrition or stress using animal models. Probiotic bacteria or a probiotic fermented milk successfully restored the compromised immune system.Fil: Novotny Núñez, Ivanna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Palomar, Martín Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: de Moreno, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Maldonado Galdeano, María Carolina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Perdigon, Gabriela del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentin

Conservación de fondos en la Biblioteca Tomás Navarro Tomás, aplicación de la tecnología de sensores ambientales

Sección: Noticias. Noticias internasEl Grupo de Investigación de Arqueometría de Vidrios y Materiales Cerámicos (CERVITRUM) del Instituto de Historia del Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales del CSIC, está realizando en las instalaciones de la Biblioteca Tomás Navarro Tomás (BTNT) un estudio de campo sobre las condiciones de conservación de los fondos documentales, aplicando una tecnología de sensores ambientales desarrollada por ellos mismos.N

Cell proliferation and survival mechanisms underlying the abnormal persistence of follicular cysts in bovines with cystic ovarian disease induced by ACTH

Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an important cause of infertility that affects cattle. Alterations in the ovarian micro-environment of females with follicular cysts could alter the normal processes of proliferation and programmed cell death in ovarian cells. Thus, the objective in the present study was to evaluate apoptosis and proliferation in induced ovarian cystic follicles in cows to investigate the follicular persistence. Stage of estrous cycle was synchronized in 10 heifers and 5 were then subjected to the induction of COD by administration of ACTH. After the ovariectomy number of in situ apoptotic cells by TUNEL assay, active caspase-3, FAS/FASLG and members of the BCL2 family were compared by immunohistochemistry and multiplex PCR and cell proliferation by evaluation of Ki-67 protein and cyclin D1 and E mRNA. Significantly (p<0.05) lesser proliferative and apoptotic rates were found in cystic follicles from cows with COD compared with those with regular cycles. The relatively minimal proliferation found by immunohistochemistry with Ki-67 marker were confirmed by the gene expression of cyclin D1 and E. Lesser apoptotic rates were associated with decreased amounts of apoptotic-related proteins BAX, FASLG and caspase-3 as well as the in situ apoptosis detected by TUNEL assay, and increased amounts of the anti-apoptotic survival factor cellular BCL2 in the cystic follicles of the COD group. The BAX/BCL2 gene expression profile confirmed the immunohistochemical findings. Results from the present study indicate that cellular proliferation and apoptosis are altered in cystic follicles of cattle. The present study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the aberrant persistence of follicular cysts and related diseases.Fil: Salvetti, Natalia Raquel. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Stangaferro, Matías. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Palomar, Martín Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Alfaro, Natalia Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Rey, Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Gimeno, Eduardo Juan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Ortega, Hugo Hector. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentin

TEXT-MESS: intelligent, interactive and multilingual text mining based on human language technologies

El objeto de este proyecto es analizar, experimentar y desarrollar tecnologías inteligentes, interactivas y multilingües de minería de textos, como pieza clave de la próxima generación de motores de búsqueda y análisis textual, sistemas capaces de encontrar “la necesidad que subyace a la consulta”. Estas tecnología ofrecerán servicios e interfaces especializadas según el dominio y el tipo de necesidad de información. Además, integrarán búsqueda documental (páginas web), multimedia (imágenes, audio, video), en información semiestructurada y en dominios específicos.The goal of this project is to analyze, experiment, and develop intelligent, interactive and multilingual Text Mining technologies, as a key element of the next generation of search engines, systems with the capacity to find “the need behind the query”. These technologies will provide specialized services and interfaces according to the search domain and type of information needed. Moreover, it will integrate searchs on document collections (websites), multimedia (images, audio, video), semi-structured texts and restricted domains.TIN2006-15265-C06