Molecular Signatures of Major Depression

This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust (WT090532/Z/09/Z, WT083573/Z/07/Z, WT089269/Z/09/Z). All authors are part of the China, Oxford and VCU Experimental Research on Genetic Epidemiology (CONVERGE) consortium and gratefully acknowledge the support of all partners in hospitals across China. W.K. is funded by the Wellcome Trust (WT097307). N.C. is supported by the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Graduate Academy. Research was in part funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London.Adversity, particularly in early life, can cause illness. Clues to the responsible mechanisms may lie with the discovery of molecular signatures of stress, some of which include alterations to an individual's somatic genome. Here, using genome sequences from 11,670 women, we observed a highly significant association between a stress-related disease, major depression, and the amount of mtDNA (p = 9.00 x 10(-42), odds ratio 1.33 [95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29-1.37]) and telomere length (p = 2.84 x 10(-14), odds ratio 0.85 [95% CI = 0.81-0.89]). While both telomere length and mtDNA amount were associated with adverse life events, conditional regression analyses showed the molecular changes were contingent on the depressed state. We tested this hypothesis with experiments in mice, demonstrating that stress causes both molecular changes, which are partly reversible and can be elicited by the administration of corticosterone. Together, these results demonstrate that changes in the amount of mtDNA and telomere length are consequences of stress and entering a depressed state. These findings identify increased amounts of mtDNA as a molecular marker of MD and have important implications for understanding how stress causes the disease.Wellcome Trust WT090532/Z/09/Z WT083573/Z/07/Z WT089269/Z/09/Z WT097307Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Graduate AcademyNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College Londo

Schizophrenia risk conferred by rare protein-truncating variants is conserved across diverse human populations

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic mental illness and among the most debilitating conditions encountered in medical practice. A recent landmark SCZ study of the protein-coding regions of the genome identified a causal role for ten genes and a concentration of rare variant signals in evolutionarily constrained genes1. This recent study—and most other large-scale human genetics studies—was mainly composed of individuals of European (EUR) ancestry, and the generalizability of the findings in non-EUR populations remains unclear. To address this gap, we designed a custom sequencing panel of 161 genes selected based on the current knowledge of SCZ genetics and sequenced a new cohort of 11,580 SCZ cases and 10,555 controls of diverse ancestries. Replicating earlier work, we found that cases carried a significantly higher burden of rare protein-truncating variants (PTVs) among evolutionarily constrained genes (odds ratio = 1.48; P = 5.4 × 10−6). In meta-analyses with existing datasets totaling up to 35,828 cases and 107,877 controls, this excess burden was largely consistent across five ancestral populations. Two genes (SRRM2 and AKAP11) were newly implicated as SCZ risk genes, and one gene (PCLO) was identified as shared by individuals with SCZ and those with autism. Overall, our results lend robust support to the rare allelic spectrum of the genetic architecture of SCZ being conserved across diverse human populations.United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH109536 R01MH118278 R01MH124839 U01MH109536UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) Medical Research Council UK (MRC)Janette Mary O'Neil Research FellowshipNational Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of AustraliaInstituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish GovernmentEuropean Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund A Way to Make Europe/Investing in Your FutureInstituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish GovernmentEuropean Regional Development Fund Funds from the European Commission, A Way of Making EuropeCentro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Salud Mental, Madrid Regional GovernmentFundacion Familia Alonso MR/L010305/1 MR/P005748/1Fundacion Alicia Koplowitz 1R01MH124851European Regional Development Fund Funds from the European Commission R01MH100125 1I01CX000995Ministry of Health, Italy P50MH066392Takeda Pharmaceutical Company LtdHoffmann-La RocheHoffmann-La RocheUnited States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA 1037196 1176716United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 513861Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank PI18/00238 PI18/00467 B2017/BMD-3740 AGES-CM-2 115916 777394Neuroscience Research Australia PI18/00213 CPII21/00008 MS16/00153 PI19/024 R01MH085542 R01MH093725 P50MH080405 R01MH097276 RO1MH-075916 P50M096891 P50MH084053S1 R37MH057881 AG02219 AG05138 MH06692 R01MH110921 R01MH109677 R01MH109897 U01MH103392 U01MH116442 ZIC MH002903 HHSN271201300031C R01AG067025 R01AG065582 R01AG050986 R01MH125246 R01MH10605

Suicide risk prevention in children: an intervention proposal.

Las conductas suicidas en la infancia ha sido insuficientemente estudiadas y requieren atención para su prevención. Objetivo: diseñar y evaluar un programa de intervención basado en terapias contextuales para disminuir los indicadores de riesgo suicida en población infantil. Método: estudio de dos casos de menores mexicanos de 9 años con ideación suicida, depresión, ansiedad e impulsividad. La intervención constó de pretest, 8 sesiones para los infantes, 4 para sus padres o tutores y postest. Resultados: se encontraron cambios clínicos significativos en ambos casos, en ideación suicida, riesgo suicida y depresión. Conclusiones: los resultados son alentadores respecto al tratamiento de las conductas suicidas en la infancia, indicando la pertinencia de esta intervención basada en las terapias contextuales

Interaction Effect between Physical Activity and the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism on Depression in Women from the PISMA-ep Study

This study was partially funded by the Consejeria de Salud, Junta de Andalucia (PI3222009), Consejeria de Innovacion, Proyecto de Excelencia (CTS-2010-6682), the Institute of Health Carlos III (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund "A way to make Europe"/"Investing in your future") (projects PI18/00238 and PI18/00467), the Marie Curie Research Grants Scheme (FP7 626235), and by a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (22514). Juan Antonio Zarza-Rebollo was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BES-2017-082698). Elena Lopez-Isac received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion Program (grant code IJC2019-040080-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). AnaMPerez-Gutierrez was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Institute of Health Carlos III (FI19/00228), and Margarita Rivera was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Ramon y Cajal Program (RYC-2014-15774).The relationship between depression and the Val66Met polymorphism at the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF), has been largely studied. It has also been related to physical activity, although the results remain inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between this polymorphism, depression and physical activity in a thoroughly characterised sample of community-based individuals from the PISMA-ep study. A total of 3123 participants from the PISMAep study were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, of which 209 had depression. Our results are in line with previous studies reporting a protective effect of physical activity on depression, specifically in light intensity. Interestingly, we report a gene-environment interaction effect in which Met allele carriers of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism who reported more hours of physical activity showed a decreased prevalence of depression. This effect was observed in the total sample (OR = 0.95, 95%CI = 0.90–0.99, p = 0.027) and was strengthened in women (OR = 0.93, 95%CI = 0.87–0.98, p = 0.019). These results highlight the potential role of physical activity as a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing and adjuvant treatment of depression and suggest molecular and genetic particularities of depression between sexes.Junta de Andalucia PI3222009Consejeria de Innovacion, Proyecto de Excelencia CTS-2010-6682Institute of Health Carlos III (European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund "A way to make Europe"/"Investing in your future") PI18/00238 PI18/00467Marie Curie Research Grants Scheme FP7 626235NARSAD 22514Spanish Government BES-2017-082698Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion Program IJC2019-040080-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessInstituto de Salud Carlos III FI19/00228Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Ramon y Cajal Program RYC-2014-1577

Epidemiological support for genetic variability at hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and serotonergic system as risk factors for major depression

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious, and common psychiatric disorder worldwide. By the year 2020, MDD will be the second cause of disability in the world. The Granad∑p study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, epidemiological study of mental disorders carried out in Andalusia (South Spain), being one of its main objectives to identify genetic and environmental risk factors for MDD and other major psychiatric disorders. In this study, we focused on the possible association of 91 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with MDD.Methods: A total of 711 community-based individuals participated in the Granad∑p study. All individuals were extensively assessed for clinical, psychological, sociodemographic, life style, and other environmental variables. A biological sample was also collected for subsequent genetic analyses in 91 candidate SNPs for MDD. DSM-IV diagnosis of MDD was used as the outcome variable. Logistic regression analysis assuming an additive genetic model was performed to test the association between MDD and the genetic data. The experiment-wide significance threshold adjusted with the SNP spectral decomposition method provided a maximum P-value (8×10-3) required to identify an association. Haplotype analyses were also performed.Results: One SNP (rs623580) located in the tryptophan hydroxylase 1 gene (TPH1; chromosome 11), one intergenic variant (rs9526236) upstream of the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A gene (HTR2A; chromosome 13), and five polymorphisms (rs17689966, rs173365, rs7209436, rs110402, and rs242924) located in the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 gene (CRHR1; chromosome 17), all showed suggestive trends for association with MDD (P<0.05). Within CRHR1 gene, the TATGA haplotype combination was found to increase significantly the risk for MDD with an odds ratio =1.68 (95% CI: 1.16–2.42, P=0.006).Conclusion: Although limited, perhaps due to insufficient sample size power, our results seem to support the notion that the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and serotonergic systems are likely to be involved in the genetic susceptibility for MDD. Future studies, including larger samples, should be addressed for further validation and replication of the present findings.This work was mostly funded by an Andalusian Health System Health Council grant (PI0322/2009) and partially by Astra-Zeneca in agreement with CIBERSAM. It was also supported by a PhD grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (AP2010-3563), and by the Andalusian Council of Innovation (CTS-6682)

Resultados de retención de carbono en parcelas permanentes en Sierra del Infierno, Parque Nacional Viñales

The present study was developed with the objective of evaluating carbon retention in permanent sampling plots in the Sierra del Infierno work area, as well as the causes of degradation of semi-deciduous forest on limestone, allowing the establishment of management plans to increase CO2 capture levels, in an extension of 500 ha in the intervention site. Ten permanent sampling plots with a dimension of 20x25 m (500 m2) duly georeferenced were established, evaluating the number of trees, species, height, diameter at breast height and thickness of the bark, registering the causes of degradation from which the corresponding handling was projected. The total volumes of wood were calculated as the basis for calculating carbon retention with the SUMFOR v-4.01 system, showing that the soil with 55.51% and biomass with 40.63% retain the highest amount. Finally, the data was evaluated with the EX-ACT v-8.6.3 system, with three possible alternatives for the increase in mitigation formed by the combination of three implementation periods (5, 4 and 3 years) and a reduction level of the existing degradation to none, demonstrating that if the management is carried out as planned, reducing the implementation period to three years, the achievable mitigation would be 47,924 tCO2, 0.8% higher than the value foreseen by the methodology established for the ECOVALOR project.El presente estudio se desarrolló con el objetivo de evaluar las retenciones de carbono en parcelas de muestreo permanentes en el área de trabajo de Sierra del Infierno, así como las causas de la degradación del bosque semicaducifolio sobre calizas permitiendo el establecimiento de planes de manejo para incrementar los niveles de captura de CO2, en una extensión de 500 ha en el sitio de intervención. Se establecieron diez parcelas de muestreo permanentes con dimensión de 20x25 m (500 m2) debidamente georreferenciadas, evaluando la cantidad de árboles, especies, altura, diámetro a altura del pecho y grosor de la corteza, registrándose las causas de degradación a partir de las que se proyectó el manejo correspondiente. Se calcularon los volúmenes totales de madera como base para el cálculo de las retenciones de carbono con el sistema SUMFOR v-4.01, arrojando que el suelo con el 55.51% y la biomasa con el 40.63% retienen la mayor cantidad. Finalmente los datos se evaluaron con el sistema EX-ACT v-8.6.3, con tres posibles alternativas para el incremento de la mitigación formadas por la combinación de tres periodos de implementación (5, 4 y 3 años) y un nivel de reducción de la degradación existente a ninguna, demostrando que si se realiza el manejo según lo previsto reduciendo a tres años el período de implementación la mitigación alcanzable sería de 47 924 tCO2, 0,8 % superior al valor previsto por la metodología establecida para el proyecto ECOVALOR

Toxoplasma gondii Seropositivity Interacts with Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val105/158Met Variation Increasing the Risk of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous and severe psychotic disorder. Epidemiological findings have suggested that the exposure to infectious agents such as Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia. On the other hand, there is evidence involving the catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val105/158Met polymorphism in the aetiology of schizophrenia since it alters the dopamine metabolism. A case–control study of 141 patients and 142 controls was conducted to analyse the polymorphism, the prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG, and their interaction on the risk for schizophrenia. IgG were detected by ELISA, and genotyping was performed with TaqMan Real- Time PCR. Although no association was found between any COMT genotype and schizophrenia, we found a significant association between T. gondii seropositivity and the disorder ( 2 = 11.71; p-value < 0.001). Furthermore, the risk for schizophrenia conferred by T. gondii was modified by the COMT genotype, with those who had been exposed to the infection showing a different risk compared to that of nonexposed ones depending on the COMT genotype ( 2 for the interaction = 7.28, p-value = 0.007). This study provides evidence that the COMT genotype modifies the risk for schizophrenia conferred by T. gondii infection, with it being higher in those individuals with the Met/Met phenotype, intermediate in heterozygous, and lower in those with the Val/Val phenotype.Junta de Andalucia P06-CTS-01686Spanish Ministry of Health via the Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PS09/01671 PI13/01967 PI18/00467Programa Operativo FEDER B-CTS-361-UGR1

Training in values through traditional games using research as a pedagogical strategy

El juego es de vital importancia en la construcción de saberes y el desenvolvimiento que el niño adquiere para enfrentar las diferentes situaciones de la vida, mediante los juegos, los niños consiguen entrar en contacto con el mundo y tener una serie de experiencias de forma placentera y agradable. El estudio tuvo como objetivo fomentar la formación en valores mediante juegos tradicionales usando la investigación como estrategia pedagógica. Este estuvo guiado bajo los lineamientos metodológicos de la IEP con un diseño basado en las trayectorias de indagación. Se utilizó como técnicas de recolección de datos la observación participante y el diario de campo. La población estuvo conformada por cuarenta (40) estudiantes de la IED Tercera Mixta, Sede Las Palmas del municipio de Fundación magdalena. Se evidencio que los niños entendían y aceptaban las reglas de los juegos, tomando conciencia de sus propias limitaciones favorecían el desarrollo de las habilidades sociales durante la interacción con sus compañeros de las actividades empleando diversas formas de comunicación, un trato hacia los demás basado en el respeto y la dignidad como pilares básicos de los derechos humanos.The game is of vital importance in the construction of knowledge and the development that the child acquires to face the different situations of life, through games, children get to get in touch with the world and have a series of experiences in a pleasant way and nice. The objective of the study was to promote the formation of values through traditional games using research as a pedagogical strategy. This was guided under the methodological guidelines of the IEP with a design based on the trajectories of inquiry. The participant observation and the field diary were used as data collection techniques. The population was conformed by forty (40) students of the Third Mixed IED, Sede Las Palmas of the municipality of Magdalena Foundation. It was evidenced that children understood and accepted the rules of the games, becoming aware of their own limitations favored the development of social skills during the interaction with their peers of the activities using different forms of communication, a treatment towards others based on the respect and dignity as basic pillars of human rights

Body mass index interacts with a genetic-risk score for depression increasing the risk of the disease in high-susceptibility individuals

This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), and the European Regional Development Fund (grants PS09/02272, PS09/02147, PS09/01095, PS09/00849, PS09/00461, and PI12-02755); the Andalusian Council of Health (grant PI-0569-2010); the Spanish Network of Primary Care Research, redIAPP (grant RD06/ 0018); the Aragon group (grant RD06/0018/0020); the Bizkaya group (grant RD06/0018/0018); the Castilla-Leon group (grant RD06/0018/0027); the Mental Health Barcelona Group (grant RD06/0018/0017); the Mental Health, Services and Primary Care Malaga group (grant RD06/0018/0039); and the projects "PI18/00238" and "PI18/00467" funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund "A way tomake Europe"/"Investing in your future"). This study was performed as part of a PhD thesis conducted within the Official Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine of the University of Granada, Spain. Augusto Anguita-Ruiz was supported by a Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Institute of Health Carlos III fellowship (IFI17/00048). Juan Antonio Zarza-Rebollo received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BES-2017-082698). Ana M. Perez-Gutierrez was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Institute of Health Carlos III (FI19/00228). Elena Lopez-Isac received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion Program (IJC2019040080-I), and Margarita Rivera was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Ramon y Cajal Program (RYC-2014-15774). The authors thank the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the Andalusian Council of Health and Andalusian Health Service (SAS), the Primary Care Prevention and Health Promotion Research Network (redIAPP), the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), and the Biomedical Research Centre (CIBM) from the University of Granada for their economic and logistic support. The authors thank all the patients and General Practitioners who participated in the trial.Depression is strongly associated with obesity among other chronic physical diseases. The latest mega- and meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies have identified multiple risk loci robustly associated with depression. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether a genetic-risk score (GRS) combining multiple depression risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) might have utility in the prediction of this disorder in individuals with obesity. A total of 30 depression-associated SNPs were included in a GRS to predict the risk of depression in a large case-control sample from the Spanish PredictD-CCRT study, a national multicentre, randomized controlled trial, which included 104 cases of depression and 1546 controls. An unweighted GRS was calculated as a summation of the number of risk alleles for depression and incorporated into several logistic regression models with depression status as the main outcome. Constructed models were trained and evaluated in the whole recruited sample. Non-genetic-risk factors were combined with the GRS in several ways across the five predictive models in order to improve predictive ability. An enrichment functional analysis was finally conducted with the aim of providing a general understanding of the biological pathways mapped by analyzed SNPs. We found that an unweighted GRS based on 30 risk loci was significantly associated with a higher risk of depression. Although the GRS itself explained a small amount of variance of depression, we found a significant improvement in the prediction of depression after including some non-genetic-risk factors into the models. The highest predictive ability for depression was achieved when the model included an interaction term between the GRS and the body mass index (BMI), apart from the inclusion of classical demographic information as marginal terms (AUC = 0.71, 95% CI = [0.65, 0.76]). Functional analyses on the 30 SNPs composing the GRS revealed an over-representation of the mapped genes in signaling pathways involved in processes such as extracellular remodeling, proinflammatory regulatory mechanisms, and circadian rhythm alterations. Although the GRS on its own explained a small amount of variance of depression, a significant novel feature of this study is that including non-genetic-risk factors such as BMI together with a GRS came close to the conventional threshold for clinical utility used in ROC analysis and improves the prediction of depression. In this study, the highest predictive ability was achieved by the model combining the GRS and the BMI under an interaction term. Particularly, BMI was identified as a trigger-like risk factor for depression acting in a concerted way with the GRS component. This is an interesting finding since it suggests the existence of a risk overlap between both diseases, and the need for individual depression genetics-risk evaluation in subjects with obesity. This research has therefore potential clinical implications and set the basis for future research directions in exploring the link between depression and obesityassociated disorders. While it is likely that future genome-wide studies with large samples will detect novel genetic variants associated with depression, it seems clear that a combination of genetics and non-genetic information (such is the case of obesity status and other depression comorbidities) will still be needed for the optimization prediction of depression in high-susceptibility individuals.Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish Government Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) European Commission PS09/02272 PS09/02147 PS09/01095 PS09/00849 PS09/00461 PI12-02755Andalusian Council of Health PI-0569-2010Spanish Network of Primary Care Research, redIAPP RD06/ 0018Gobierno de Aragon RD06/0018/0020Bizkaya group RD06/0018/0018Castilla-Leon group RD06/0018/0027Mental Health Barcelona Group RD06/0018/0017Mental Health, Services and Primary Care Malaga group RD06/0018/0039Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI18/00238 PI18/00467 FI19/00228European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund "A way tomake Europe"/"Investing in your future"Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessInstitute of Health Carlos III fellowship IFI17/00048Spanish Government BES-2017-082698Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion Program IJC2019040080-IMinistry of Economy and Competitiveness Ramon y Cajal Program RYC-2014-15774Andalusian Council of HealthAndalusian Health Service (SAS)Primary Care Prevention and Health Promotion Research Network (redIAPP)Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA)Biomedical Research Centre (CIBM) from the University of GranadaEuropean Commissio

Physicochemical and nutritional characterization of brebas for fresh consumption from nine fig varieties (Ficus carica L.) grown in Extremadura (Spain)

Se determinaron las características de calidad de brevas para consumo en fresco de nueve variedades de higos en diferentes etapas de maduración comercial. Los parámetros fisicoquímicos y nutricionales se analizaron para la piel y la carne, y los hallazgos se compararon entre las variedades y las etapas de maduración. Los resultados revelaron que los componentes principales de nutrientes en brebas son los azúcares, como la glucosa y la fructosa, y los elementos minerales, incluidos K, Ca, P y Mg. La mayoría de los nutrientes evaluados son elementos importantes que contribuyen a la calidad comercial de brebas. Las variedades “Pavo marrón” y “Banane” mostraron el mayor peso y ancho. Las concentraciones de azúcares monoméricos estudiados fueron más altas en carne que en piel, y las variedades "Cuello Dama Blanco" y "Colar Elche" mostraron el mayor contenido de estos azúcares. La etapa de maduración temprana, coincidiendo con un rápido aumento en el tamaño de la fruta, también se asoció con un mayor contenido de fibra y proteína, TA y firmeza para las variedades "Banane", "Brown Turkey" y "Blanca Bétera". Por el contrario, la etapa de maduración posterior se relacionó con un aumento significativo de TSS, MI y intensidad de color. Finalmente, no se observaron cambios claros en las concentraciones de ácidos orgánicos entre las diferentes variedades y las etapas de maduración comercial.The quality characteristics of brebas for fresh consumption from nine fig varieties at different commercial ripening stages were determined. Physicochemical and nutritional parameters were analyzed for both skin and flesh, and the findings were compared among varieties and ripening stages. The results revealed that the major nutrient components in brebas are sugars, such as glucose and fructose, and mineral elements, including K, Ca, P, and Mg. Most nutrients evaluated are important elements that contribute to the commercial quality of brebas. “Brown Turkey” and “Banane” varieties showed the highest weight and width. The concentrations of the monomer sugars studied were higher in flesh than skin, and the “Cuello Dama Blanco” and “Colar Elche” varieties showed the highest content of these sugars. The early ripening stage, coinciding with a fast increase in fruit size, was also associated with a higher fiber and protein contents, TA, and firmness for “Banane,” “Brown Turkey,” and “Blanca Bétera” varieties. Conversely, the later ripening stage was related to a significant increase of TSS, MI, and color intensity. Finally, no clear changes in the concentrations of organic acids were observed between different varieties and commercial ripening stages.• Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Proyecto RTA 2010-00123 • Junta de Extremadura. Proyecto GR15112 • Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA). Beca para Cristina Pereira JiménezpeerReviewe