Chemobrain: Revisión de estudios que evalúan el deterioro cognitivo de supervivientes de cáncer tratados con quimioterapia

Planteamiento del problema: Algunos pacientes oncológicos han expresado problemas de atención, concentración y memoria durante y después de los tratamientos con quimioterapia, a los que se ha llamado chemobrain. Como consecuencia de estas manifestaciones, en las últimas décadas los estudios dedicados a indagar este posible efecto adverso se han incrementado. Desarrollo del tema: Este trabajo pretende revisar y analizar los estudios científicos más recientes que investigan la naturaleza y alcance del daño cognitivo asociado a los tratamientos quimioterapéuticos. Los artículos analizados se han extraído de diferentes fuentes bibliográficas, principalmente de la base de datos PubMed. Como resultado de la búsqueda se aprecia que, en los últimos años, se han incremento los estudios de diseño longitudinal; este posible efecto adverso se sigue estudiando sobre todo en muestras de mujeres con cáncer de mama, las investigaciones en otros tipos de cánceres son insuficientes; así mismo, destaca la inclusión de nuevas herramientas de evaluación, como la resonancia magnética y el electroencefalograma, junto con nuevos experimentos realizados con animales, in vivo e in vitro, finalmente se constata la inclusión de algunos estudios sobre fármacos y estrategias eficaces para su afrontamiento. La elaboración de guías para el estudio sistemático y las recomendaciones para su abordaje aún quedan pendientes. Conclusiones: no existen datos concluyentes sobre el chemobrain, los estudios longitudinales deberán incentivarse, así como la valoración del impacto cognitivo de determinados esquemas quimioterapéuticos en diferentes cánceres. Los trabajos sobre el afrontamiento, psicológico y/o farmacoThe problem: Some cancer patients have expressed attention, concentration and memory problems, during and after their treatment with chemotherapy, also called chemobrain. Following these complains, in recent decades, studies about this adverse effect had increased. Development of the topic: this work aims to review and analyze the latest scientific studies investigating the nature and severity of cognitive impairment associated with chemotherapy treatments. Works discussed are drowned from different bibliographical sources, mainly from the PubMed database. Results show that, in recent years, longitudinal studies have increased, chemobrain is being studied above all in samples from women with breast cancer, research in other types of cancer is insufficient. Also, the works include new assessment tools, such as MRI and EEG. Advances are done with animal experiments, in vivo and in vitro. Finally, we found studies on drugs and effective strategies for coping of cognitive impairment. The development of guidelines for its systematic study and recommendations for its approach are still pending. Conclusion: There is not conclusive data on the chemobrain, longitudinal studies should be encouraged, as well as assessing the cognitive impact of certain chemotherapeutic agents in different cancers. The works on cognitive impairment´s coping, psychological and drug, should continue

Variables asociadas al deterioro cognitivo en pacientes de cáncer de colon

Objetivo: Identificar las variables predictoras de menor rendimiento cognitivo en pacientes de cáncer de colon tratados con cirugía que esperan recibir quimioterapia. Método: En una muestra de 89 pacientes de cáncer de colon se valoró la relación entre su rendimiento en tres dominios cognitivos (función ejecutiva, memoria verbal y habilidad psicomotora) y las siguientes variables: edad, sexo, años de escolaridad, estadio, pronóstico médico, comorbilidad, hemoglobina, ansiedad, depresión, astenia, calidad de vida, problemas físicos y psicosociales. Resultados: En la muestra predominan los varones (61,8%), mayores de 65 años (media 66,9), sin antecedentes neuropsicológicos (89,9%). Los datos correlacionales ponen de manifiesto relaciones selectivas entre alguna prueba de rendimiento cognitivo y ciertas variables evaluadas. Se destaca la existencia de correlaciones negativas de la edad, los problemas respiratorios y la percepción social de la calidad de vida con el rendimiento cognitivo en pruebas de memoria verbal, función ejecutiva y habilidad psicomotora (p < 0,05). Así mismo, los pacientes en estadio III del cáncer de colon rinden peor que aquellos con la enfermedad en estadio II y quienes tienen menos de cinco años de estudios difieren de los de más estudios en los tres dominios cognitivos (p < 0,05) Conclusiones: el perfil detectado de los enfermos de cáncer de colon de alto riesgo de déficit cognitivo es: paciente mayor, con enfermedad en estadio III, de escasa formación escolar, que tiene problemas respiratorios y una buena percepción de su calidad de vida social.Objective: Identify predictors of lower cognitive performance in colon cancer patients treated with surgery before undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: In a sample of 89 colon cancer patients, we evaluated the relation between their cognitive performance in three cognitive domains (executive function, verbal memory and psychomotor skill) and the following variables: Age, sex, years of study, stage, medical prognosis, comorbidity, haemoglobin, anxiety, depression, fatigue, quality of life, physical and psychosocial problems. Results: They are a predominantly male sample (61.8%), over 65 years (mean 66.9) without neuropsychological illness history (89.9%). But, data show correlational relationships between some cognitive performance test and certain variables assessed. There are remarkable negative correlations with age, respiratory problems and social perception of the quality of life, with lower cognitive performance on tests of verbal memory, executive function and psychomotor ability (p <0.05). Also, patients with stage III colon cancer performed worse than those with stage II disease and those with less than five years of study differ from most studies in the three cognitive domains (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The profile of patients with colon cancer at high risk of cognitive deficit is: Old age, with stage III disease, little formal education, breathing problems and a good perception of their quality of social lif

A Critical Review of the Application of Electrochemical Techniques for Studying Corrosion of Mg and Mg Alloys: Opportunities and Challenges

In order to elucidate the corrosion mechanism of Magnesium (Mg), assess its corrosion rate and evaluate the viability of effective corrosion protection methods, a number of different and complementary techniques are required. Aqueous corrosion is, in nature, an electrochemical process and as such electrochemical methods represent a powerful tool for the study of Mg corrosion. In this chapter the main electrochemical techniques used to study the corrosion of Mg are reviewed along with other simple non-electrochemical methods such as weight loss and hydrogen evolution measurements. The electrochemical techniques covered in this review include conventional DC and AC electrochemical techniques and the latest advances in local electrochemical methods for the evaluation and characterization of Mg corrosion. Each technique presented will be discussed, and its major advantages and drawbacks for the study of Mg corrosion will be commented. Applications range from studies of influence of the impurities in catalytic activity of high purity Mg towards hydrogen evolution, the determination of corrosion rate for Mg and Mg alloys by electrochemical methods and electrochemical study of sol-gel films as pre-treatment for Mg alloys

Detection of viable Helicobacter pylori inside free-living amoebae in wastewater and drinking water samples from Eastern Spain

[EN] Helicobacter pylori is one of the most concerning emerging waterborne pathogens. It has been suggested that it could survive in water inside free-living amoebae (FLA), but nobody has studied this relationship in the environment yet. Thus, we aimed to detect viable H. pylori cells from inside FLA in water samples. Sixty-nine wastewater and 31 drinking water samples were collected. FLA were purified and identified by PCR and sequencing. For exclusively detecting H. pylori inside FLA, samples were exposed to sodium hypochlorite and assayed by specific PMA-qPCR, DVC-FISH and culture. FLA were detected in 38.7% of drinking water and 79.7% of wastewater samples, even after disinfection. In wastewater, Acanthamoeba spp. and members of the family Vahlkampfiidae were identified. In drinking water, Acanthamoeba spp. and Echinamoeba and/or Vermamoeba were present. In 39 (58.2%) FLA-positive samples, H. pylori was detected by PMA-qPCR. After DVC-FISH, 21 (31.3%) samples harboured viable H. pylori internalized cells. H. pylori was cultured from 10 wastewater samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates that H. pylori can survive inside FLA in drinking water and wastewater, strongly supporting the hypothesis that FLA could play an important role in the transmission of H. pylori to humans.This study has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness AGL2014/53875-R grant and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Program International Joint Programming Actions (JPIW2013-095-C03-02).Moreno-Mesonero, L.; Moreno Trigos, MY.; Alonso Molina, JL.; Ferrús Pérez, MA. (2017). Detection of viable Helicobacter pylori inside free-living amoebae in wastewater and drinking water samples from Eastern Spain. Environmental Microbiology. 19(10):4103-4112. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13856S41034112191

Subescala OCS-CBCL de Nelson para la evaluación del trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo infanto-juvenil: Análisis de validez en una muestra española

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the obsessive-compulsive scale based upon the Child Behavior Checklist, OCS-CBCL (Nelson et al., 2001). We determined internal consistency, sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive value to identify obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in three samples of children and adolescents (N = 26) matched for age and gender: (1) patients with OCD, (2) psychiatric patients without OCD and (3) general population. The ANOVA revealed significant differences between groups (p &lt; 0,001) and post hoc Scheffé analysis showed significant differences between the OCD group and the other two. The sensitivity was 73.1% to 76.9%, specificity 78.8% to 86.5%, PPV78.4% to 84.4% and NPV was 76.3% to 77,3%. The results suggest the usefulness of the OCS-CBCL for the detection of child and adolescent OCD.El objetivo del estudio es investigar la utilidad de la escala obsesivo-compulsiva basada en el Child Behavior Checklist, OCS-CBCL (Nelson et al., 2001).  Se determina la consistencia interna, la sensibilidad, la especificidad y el valor predictivo positivo y negativo para identificar el trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo (TOC) en tres muestras de niños y adolescentes (N = 26) apareadas por edad y género: (1) pacientes con TOC, (2) pacientes psiquiátricos sin TOC, y (3) población general. El ANOVA muestra diferencias significativas entre grupos (p &lt; 0,001) y el análisis post-hoc de Scheffé diferencias significativas del grupo TOC con los otros dos grupos. La sensibilidad es del 73,1% al 76,9%, la especificidad del 78,8% al 86,5%, el VPP del 78,4% al 84,4% y el VPN del 76,3% al 77,3%. Los resultados sugieren la utilidad de la OCS-CBCL para la detección del TOC infanto-juvenil.

Mechanisms of CPT1C-Dependent AMPAR Trafficking Enhancement

In neurons, AMPA receptor (AMPAR) function depends essentially on their constituent components:the ion channel forming subunits and ion channel associated proteins. On the other hand, AMPAR trafficking is tightly regulated by a vast number of intracellular neuronal proteins that bind to AMPAR subunits. It has been recently shown that the interaction between the GluA1 subunit of AMPARs and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1C (CPT1C), a novel protein partner of AMPARs, is important in modulating surface expression of these ionotropic glutamate receptors. Indeed, synaptic transmission in CPT1C knockout (KO) mice is diminished supporting a positive trafficking role for that protein. However, the molecular mechanisms of such modulation remain unknown although a putative role of CPT1C in depalmitoylating GluA1 has been hypothesized. Here, we explore that possibility and show that CPT1C effect on AMPARs is likely due to changes in the palmitoylation state of GluA1. Based on in silico analysis, Ser 252, His 470 and Asp 474 are predicted to be the catalytic triad responsible for CPT1C palmitoyl thioesterase (PTE) activity. When these residues are mutated or when PTE activity is inhibited, the CPT1C effect on AMPAR trafficking is abolished, validating the CPT1C catalytic triad as being responsible for PTE activity on AMPAR. Moreover, the histidine residue (His 470) of CPT1C is crucial for the increase in GluA1 surface expression in neurons and the H470A mutation impairs the depalmitoylating catalytic activity of CPT1C. Finally, we show that CPT1C effect seems to be specific for this CPT1 isoform and it takes place solely at endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This work adds another facet to the impressive degree of molecular mechanisms regulating AMPAR physiology