Coenzyme Q10 therapy before cardiac surgery improves mitochondrial function and in vitro contractility of myocardial tissue

AbstractObjectivesPrevious clinical trials suggest that coenzyme Q10 might afford myocardial protection during cardiac surgery. We sought to measure the effect of coenzyme Q10 therapy on coenzyme Q10 levels in serum, atrial trabeculae, and mitochondria; to assess the effect of coenzyme Q10 on mitochondrial function; to test the effect of coenzyme Q10 in protecting cardiac myocardium against a standard hypoxia-reoxygentation stress in vitro; and to determine whether coenzyme Q10 therapy improves recovery of the heart after cardiac surgery.MethodsPatients undergoing elective cardiac surgery were randomized to receive oral coenzyme Q10 (300 mg/d) or placebo for 2 weeks preoperatively. Pectinate trabeculae from right atrial appendages were excised, and mitochondria were isolated and studied. Trabeculae were subjected to 30 minutes of hypoxia, and contractile recovery was measured. Postoperative cardiac function and troponin I release were assessed.ResultsPatients receiving coenzyme Q10 (n = 62) had increased coenzyme Q10 levels in serum (P = .001), atrial trabeculae (P = .0001), and isolated mitochondria (P = .0002) compared with levels seen in patients receiving placebo (n = 59). Mitochondrial respiration (adenosine diphosphate/oxygen ratio) was more efficient (P = .012), and mitochondrial malondialdehyde content was lower (P = .002) with coenzyme Q10 than with placebo. After 30 minutes of hypoxia in vitro, pectinate trabeculae isolated from patients receiving coenzyme Q10 exhibited a greater recovery of developed force compared with those in patients receiving placebo (46.3% ± 4.3% vs 64.0% ± 2.9%, P = .001). There was no between-treatment difference in preoperative or postoperative hemodynamics or in release of troponin I.ConclusionsPreoperative oral coenzyme Q10 therapy in patients undergoing cardiac surgery increases myocardial and cardiac mitochondrial coenzyme Q10 levels, improves mitochondrial efficiency, and increases myocardial tolerance to in vitro hypoxia-reoxygenation stress

PID 10050 Capacidades socioambientales para el crecimiento y desarrollo de niños con bajo peso al nacer bpn-pretérmino

La comprensión de factores determinantes de crecimiento y desarrollo durante los primeros años de vida, continúa siendo un motivo de investigaciones. Los entornos de cuidados socioambientales, desde una perspectiva ecológica, pueden constituirse en factores, que sumados a los biológicos, afecten el crecimiento en los primeros años de  la vida. El objetivo buscado fue  determinar la influencia de las capacidades socioambientales en el crecimiento y desarrollo de una población de niños con bajo peso  pretérmino hasta los 2 años de vida. La población analizada estuvo compuesta por una cohorte de 39 niños pretérminos (BPN) de un total de 58 vivos, egresados de internación media (15 días) durante  2009 796 nacimientos, 89 BPN 11,2 %, residentes en la ciudad  1918,71 gr  ± 382,5 y 34,07 ± 1,57 semanas de gestación de los cuales el 43,5 % presentaron el peso menor al percentilo (PEG): 1752,05 ± 422,22, 34,4± 1,62 EG y 56,5 % adecuados para la edad gestacional (AEG) (2047,52 ± 298,61, 33,7 ± 1,5).

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Effect of sourdough at different concentrations on quality and shelf life of bread

The objective of this work was to study the effect of sourdough obtained with selected exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains on the quality of bread and its shelf life. Two sourdough concentrations were used in order to ascertain the best bread composition. Fresh bread quality was studied by means of microbiological, physical, chemical and mechanical analysis, whereas physical, thermal and mechanical properties were investigated to study the product shelf life. The results showed that dough prepared with 30g/100g of sourdough had a negative impact on bread quality properties in the absence of EPS-producing LAB strains, whereas the opposite was observed in the presence of EPS-producing strains: bread samples at 30g/100g of sourdough showed higher volume, higher moisture content and better mechanical properties during storage than samples at 20g/100g of sourdough. Moreover, 30g/100g of sourdough showed a protective effect on bread staling, thus confirming the effect of sourdough concentration and the positive role of EPS on functional propertie

Effect of Sourdough with Exopolysaccharide (EPS)-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) on Sensory Quality of Bread during Shelf Life

The effect of sourdough obtained with selected exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the sensory quality of bread during shelf life was investigated. Moreover, the relationship between sensory and instrumental data was studied. Results showed that sourdough containing EPS had a positive effect on sensory perception of bread samples. EPS+ samples showed a lighter brown crust and lighter crumb color and a more open crumb structure than EPS- samples. Only for EPS+ sample, the springiness intensity of the bread did not vary at all during the 21 days, and the hardness and chewiness of bread during storage were well preserved. In addition, EPS+ samples showed a higher acidity than EPS- samples, but no difference was perceived in terms of flavor attributes between samples. A good correlation was found between sensory and instrumental variables, and principal component analysis (PCA) was an effective instrument to classify bread samples on the base of quality changes

Atopy Patch Test and doubtful reactions: interpretation according to morphological features revealed with reflectance confocal microscopy

[No abstract available

Atopy Patch Test and doubtful reactions: interpretation according to morphological features revealed with reflectance confocal microscopy

[No abstract available

Molecular Docking of Lac_CB10: Highlighting the Great Potential for Bioremediation of Recalcitrant Chemical Compounds by One Predicted Bacteroidetes CopA-Laccase

Laccases are multicopper oxidases (MCOs) with a broad application spectrum, particularly in second-generation ethanol biotechnology and the bioremediation of xenobiotics and other highly recalcitrant compounds. Synthetic pesticides are xenobiotics with long environmental persistence, and the search for their effective bioremediation has mobilized the scientific community. Antibiotics, in turn, can pose severe risks for the emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms, as their frequent use for medical and veterinary purposes can generate constant selective pressure on the microbiota of urban and agricultural effluents. In the search for more efficient industrial processes, some bacterial laccases stand out for their tolerance to extreme physicochemical conditions and their fast generation cycles. Accordingly, to expand the range of effective approaches for the bioremediation of environmentally important compounds, the prospection of bacterial laccases was carried out from a custom genomic database. The best hit found in the genome of Chitinophaga sp. CB10, a Bacteroidetes isolate obtained from a biomass-degrading bacterial consortium, was subjected to in silico prediction, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation analyses. The putative laccase CB10_180.4889 (Lac_CB10), composed of 728 amino acids, with theoretical molecular mass values of approximately 84 kDa and a pI of 6.51, was predicted to be a new CopA with three cupredoxin domains and four conserved motifs linking MCOs to copper sites that assist in catalytic reactions. Molecular docking studies revealed that Lac_CB10 had a high affinity for the molecules evaluated, and the affinity profiles with multiple catalytic pockets predicted the following order of decreasing thermodynamically favorable values: tetracycline (−8 kcal/mol) > ABTS (−6.9 kcal/mol) > sulfisoxazole (−6.7 kcal/mol) > benzidine (−6.4 kcal/mol) > trimethoprim (−6.1 kcal/mol) > 2,4-dichlorophenol (−5.9 kcal/mol) mol. Finally, the molecular dynamics analysis suggests that Lac_CB10 is more likely to be effective against sulfisoxazole-like compounds, as the sulfisoxazole-Lac_CB10 complex exhibited RMSD values lower than 0.2 nm, and sulfisoxazole remained bound to the binding site for the entire 100 ns evaluation period. These findings corroborate that LacCB10 has a high potential for the bioremediation of this molecule