Un bien escaso e imprescindible para la vida : el desafío de su preservación

Fil: Reyes Toso, Carlos F. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaEl ser humano posee aproximadamente entre un 75% y un 45% de agua corporal total en su ciclo vital, en un equilibrio dinámico en el que los egresos son compensados con los ingresos. La realización de las diferentes funciones orgánicas lleva a la pérdida diaria de una importante cantidad de agua, cerca de dos litros. Este valor puede ampliarse considerablemente en condiciones climáticas adversas o al practicar actividades laborales o deportivas extenuantes. El organismo sólo es capaz de producir por óxido-reducción una pequeña cantidad de agua diariamente. Por esta razón, la única forma de cubrir este déficit es con el ingreso de agua, ya sea en forma líquida o formando parte de los alimentos

Pslam 139 (Part II): Poetic analysis and exegesis

El presente artículo, apoyado en los frutos del estudio textual y retórico del Salmo 139 (138), se propone un detallado examen de los paralelismos e imágenes que utiliza el hagiógrafo para expresar su experiencia de Dios. Recorriendo segmento tras segmento se destacan los elementos de particular relieve teológico y antropológico que con especial belleza el salmista propone para la meditación y alabanza de Dios.This article, supported by the fruits of the textual and rhetorical study of Psalm 139 (138), proposes a detailed examination of the parallels and images that the hagiographer uses to express his experience of God. The elements of particular theological and anthropological importance that the psalmist proposes with special beauty for meditation and praise of God are highlighted segment after segment.Cátedra Libre de Pensamiento Cristiano (UNLP)Seminario Mayor San José (La Plata

Pslam 139 (Part I). Textual study and rhetorical analysis

El presente artículo ofrece una traducción del Salmo 139 (138) a partir del texto masorético y en base al aparato crítico, lexicográfico y gramatical de mayor reconocimiento científico y académico. El uso del método retórico bíblico, resultará en una nueva comprensión de la estructura del salmo con un doble foco en los vv. 6-7 y 16-17. A partir de ellos como centros estructurantes, descubrimos que el salmista alaba la Providencia divina expresada en su omnisciencia y omnipresencia.This article offers a translation of Psalm 139 (138) from the Masoretic text and based on the critical, lexicographical and grammatical apparatus of greater scientific and academic recognition. The use of the biblical rhetorical method will result in a new understanding of the structure of the psalm with a double focus on vv. 6-7 and 16-17. Reading the Psalm through them, as structuring centers, we discover that the psalmist praises divine Providence expressed in its omniscience and omnipresence.Cátedra Libre de Pensamiento Cristiano (UNLP)Seminario Mayor San José (La Plata

24-hour changes in circulating prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and testosterone in male rats subjected to social isolation

BACKGROUND: This work analyzes the effect of social isolation (a mild stressor) on the 24-h variation of pituitary-testicular function in young Wistar rats, assessed by measuring circulating levels of prolactin, FSH, LH and testosterone. METHODS: Animals were either individually caged or kept in groups (4–5 animals per cage) under a 12:12 h light-dark cycle (lights on at 0800 h) for 30 days starting on day 35 of life. Rats were killed at 4-h intervals during a 24-h cycle, beginning at 0900 h. RESULTS: Isolation brought about a decrease in prolactin, LH and testosterone secretion and an increase of FSH secretion. In isolated rats the 24-h secretory pattern of prolactin and testosterone became modified, i.e., the maximum in prolactin seen in control animals at the beginning of the activity span was no longer detected, whereas the maximum in circulating testosterone taking place at 1700 h in controls was phase-delayed to 2100 h in isolated rats. CONCLUSION: Social isolation affects the 24-h variation of pituitary-testicular function in young rats. Secretion of prolactin, LH and testosterone decreases, and secretion of FSH increases, in isolated rats. The maximum in prolactin seen in group-caged rats at the beginning of the activity span is not observed in isolated rats. The maximum in circulating testosterone taking place at the second part of the rest span in controls is phase-delayed to the light-dark transition in isolated rats

Influence of Normo- and Hypogonadal Condition, Hyperuricemia, and High-Fructose Diet on Renal Changes in Male Rats

Background. There is a gender disparity in the incidence, prevalence, and progression of renal disease. The object of this paper is to evaluate the presence and type of renal lesion in normogonadic and hypogonadic male rats in a mild hyperuricemia induced condition and exposed to a high-fructose diet. Methods. 56 adult male Wistar rats were used. Animals were divided into two groups, one normogonadic (NGN) and one hypogonadic (HGN), and each group was divided into four subgroups in accordance with the treatment: control with only water (C), fructose (F), oxonic acid (OA), and fructose + oxonic acid (FOA). Renal changes were evaluated by measuring glomerulosclerosis, fibrosis, and arteriolar media/lumen (M/L) ratio. Results. The OA and FOA groups presented significantly hypertension (p<0.001). The OA group significantly increased (p<0.05) the percentage of glomerulosclerosis as well as the FOA group (p<0.001). When comparing NGN versus HGN, we observed a trend to a lower glomerulosclerosis in the latter. A higher arteriolar M/L ratio was observed in the OA (p<0.05) and FOA (p<0.001). Conclusion. Hyperuricemia conditions and a high-fructose diet favor blood pressure increase together with changes in the arteriolar media/lumen ratio and renal glomerular damage. These changes were more apparent in normogonadic animals

Common variants in Alzheimer’s disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores

Funder: Funder: Fundación bancaria ‘La Caixa’ Number: LCF/PR/PR16/51110003 Funder: Grifols SA Number: LCF/PR/PR16/51110003 Funder: European Union/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Number: 115975 Funder: JPco-fuND FP-829-029 Number: 733051061Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer's disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer's disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene). Assessment of the polygenic risk score and stratifying by APOE reveal a 4 to 5.5 years difference in median age at onset of Alzheimer's disease patients in APOE ɛ4 carriers. Because of this study, the underlying mechanisms of APP can be studied to refine the amyloid cascade and the polygenic risk score provides a tool to select individuals at high risk of Alzheimer's disease

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Melatonin may curtail the metabolic syndrome: studies on initial and fully established fructose-induced metabolic syndrome in rats

Abstract: To examine the effect of melatonin given to rats simultaneously with fructose on initial and fully developed metabolic syndrome, male Wistar rats had free access to chow and 5% or 10% fructose drinking solution for 8 weeks. As compared to controls, systolic blood pressure augmented significantly under both treatments whereas excessive body weight was seen in rats receiving the 10% fructose only. Rats drinking 5% fructose showed a greater tolerance to a glucose load while rats having access to a 10% fructose drinking solution exhibited the expected impaired glucose tolerance found in the metabolic syndrome. Circulating triglyceride and low density lipoproteins-cholesterol (LDL-c) concentration augmented significantly in rats showing a fully developed metabolic syndrome only, while high blood cholesterol levels were found at both stages examined. Melatonin (25 μg/mL drinking solution) counteracted the changes in body weight and systolic blood pressure found in rats administered with fructose. Melatonin decreased the abnormal hyperglycemia seen after a glucose load in 10% fructose-treated rats but it did not modify the greater tolerance to glucose observed in animals drinking 5% fructose. Melatonin also counteracted the changes in plasma LDL-c, triglyceride and cholesterol levels and decreased plasma uric acid levels. The results underline a possible therapeutical role of melatonin in the metabolic syndrome, both at initial and established phase