Calidad microbiológica de las hortalizas y factores asociados a la contaminación en áreas de cultivo en La Habana

Introducción: en los últimos años se han incrementado las enfermedades transmitidas por frutas y hortalizas, por lo que es importante evaluar los factores que afectan la inocuidad de estos productos. Objetivo: determinar la calidad microbiológica de hortalizas y los factores asociados a la contaminación en áreas de cultivo en La Habana. Materiales y métodos: se estudiaron 100 muestras de vegetales de 26 áreas y el agua de regadío de cada plantación, en el período de enero del 2009 a diciembre del 2011, en el Instituto de Nutrición e Higiene de los Alimentos. La determinación de parásitos se realizó según procedimiento descrito en el Manual de Análisis Bacteriológico FDA / CFSAN 2001, para el estudio bacteriológico de las hortalizas y el agua se emplearon las normas vigentes en el país. Resultados: se determinó la presencia de parásitos en 6% de los vegetales y Escherichia coli en 18,0%, con mayor frecuencia en lechuga, berro y espinaca. Se aislaron bacterias patógenas, Salmonella Weltevreden en cebollino y potencialmente patógena Listeria spp. en acelga. El 53,8% de las muestras de agua no tuvo una calidad microbiológica aceptable. El no cercado de las áreas de cultivo, la presencia de animales en el campo y el uso de agua contaminada, fueron los factores que más se observaron, encontrándose asociación estadística entre estos y la contaminación las hortalizas. Conclusiones: se detectó la presencia de parásitos, bacterias patógenas y potencialmente patógenas en las hortalizas estudiadas, lo que estuvo asociado principalmente al uso de agua de regadío no tratada, la presencia de animales en el campo y el no cercado de las áreas de cultivo. Palabras clave: vegetales, parásitos, bacterias, agua. </p

Evolution of the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Spain between March and November 2020: SEMI-COVID national registry

Objectives: Since the results of the RECOVERY trial, WHO recommendations about the use of corticosteroids (CTs) in COVID-19 have changed. The aim of the study is to analyse the evolutive use of CTs in Spain during the pandemic to assess the potential influence of new recommendations. Material and methods: A retrospective, descriptive, and observational study was conducted on adults hospitalised due to COVID-19 in Spain who were included in the SEMI-COVID- 19 Registry from March to November 2020. Results: CTs were used in 6053 (36.21%) of the included patients. The patients were older (mean (SD)) (69.6 (14.6) vs. 66.0 (16.8) years; p < 0.001), with hypertension (57.0% vs. 47.7%; p < 0.001), obesity (26.4% vs. 19.3%; p < 0.0001), and multimorbidity prevalence (20.6% vs. 16.1%; p < 0.001). These patients had higher values (mean (95% CI)) of C-reactive protein (CRP) (86 (32.7-160) vs. 49.3 (16-109) mg/dL; p < 0.001), ferritin (791 (393-1534) vs. 470 (236- 996) µg/dL; p < 0.001), D dimer (750 (430-1400) vs. 617 (345-1180) µg/dL; p < 0.001), and lower Sp02/Fi02 (266 (91.1) vs. 301 (101); p < 0.001). Since June 2020, there was an increment in the use of CTs (March vs. September; p < 0.001). Overall, 20% did not receive steroids, and 40% received less than 200 mg accumulated prednisone equivalent dose (APED). Severe patients are treated with higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%. Conclusions: Patients with greater comorbidity, severity, and inflammatory markers were those treated with CTs. In severe patients, there is a trend towards the use of higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%

Generation of monoclonal antibodies against 17α-hydroxyprogesterone for newborn screening of congenital adrenal hyperplasia

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by the deficiency of one of the five enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of corticosteroids. The most common form of the disease is the lack of 21-hydroxylase which provokes an accumulation of high levels of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP), the main biochemical marker for illness detection. Given the significance of neonatal diagnosis for ensuring a timely treatment to patients suffering from CAH, newborn screening is worldwide performed for the determination of 17-OHP from dried blood spots on filter paper. The non-specificity of antisera employed in immunoassays and the cross-reaction with fetal adrenal hormones produce an overestimation in the 17-OHP quantification. Immunization of mice with 17-OHP-3-(O-carboxymethyl) oxime-bovine serum albumin led to the generation of 15 anti-17-OHP IgG1-and-IgG2b-secreting hybridomas. The 6E2G9 monoclonal antibody presents cross-reactivity value