Association of the MYH9 gene polymorphisms with chronic renal disease secondary to hypertensive nephrosclerosis, in a Caucasian population

Background: Hypertensive nephrosclerosis (HN) is a chronic kidney disease (CKD) associated to essential hypertension, but their causal relationship is controversial. New evidence suggests that MYH9 gene alterations are associated with HN in African Americans. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of this gene in Spanish Caucasians. Methods: We compare high-risk MYH9 variants of patients with HN recruited according to standard clinical criteria (CKD stages 3-5), with essential hypertensives without renal disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) > 60 ml/min/1,73m2 and albuminuria < 300 mg/g creatinine), and also CKD patients with HN and progressive impairment of renal function with those who were stable. Diabetics were excluded. Results: A blood sample was obtained for genetic study of 238 patients with HN-CKD and 233 hypertensive controls. The rs3752462-T and rs4821480-T (risk alleles for CKD) were more frequent in the CKD group, but without significant difference. We found no differences for these SPNs with blood pressure, creatinine, albuminuria or renal disease progression. Conclusions: The effect of two common MYH9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SPNs) on the development of CKD secondary to HN in our Spanish Caucasian population is low or zero; in any case less than that found in other, mainly African Americans.Funding: This work was supported by grant Red de Investigación Renal-REDINREN from the Instituto Carlos III, and with funds from the Fundación Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo (Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo Kidney Foundation) in the Molecular Genetics Grou

Functional polymorphisms in the CYP3A4, CYP3A5, and CYP21A2 genes in the risk for hypertension in pregnancy

An intronic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the CYP3A5 gene (CYP3A5*3; SNP rs776746) affects RNA splicing and enzymatic activity. The CYP3A5*3 frequency increased with distance from the equator and natural selection has been proposed to explain the worldwide distribution of this allele. CYP3A activity has been related with the risk for hypertension in pregnancy, a major cause of morbidity and mortality among women, and CYP3A5*3 could reduce the risk for this disease in populations from regions with high sodium and water availability. The CYP3A5 genotype was related with blood pressure in the general population, but the effect on the risk for hypertension in pregnancy has not been evaluated. We compared the allele and genotype frequencies of three functional SNPs in the CYP3A5 (rs776746), CYP3A4 (rs2740574), and CYP21A2 (rs6471) genes between pregnant women who developed hypertension (n=250) or who remained normotensive (control group, n=250). In addition, we sequenced the full CYP3A5 coding sequence in 40 women from the two groups to determine whether some gene variants could explain the risk for hypertensive pregnancies in our population. Allele and genotype frequencies did not differ between hypertensive and normotensive women for the three CYP variants. We did not find CYP3A5 nucleotide changes that could explain a higher risk for hypertension in pregnancy. Our data suggests that the variation in CYP3A5, CYP3A4, and CYP21A2 did not contribute to the risk for hypertension in pregnancy in our populationThe author´s work is supported by a grant from the Spanish Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias/Fondos FEDER European Union (ETS PI08/90008)

De la impotencia al poder-no. Tópicos de la resistencia en la cultura iberoamericana

La pujante presencia de Iberoamérica en el ámbito geopolítico, así como en la literatura y las artes a nivel global, es indiscutible en nuestros días. A partir de ello, cobra vigencia analizar ciertos tópicos culturales de la demarcación. El marco teórico posestructuralista añade grandes posibilidades reflexivas al escrutinio investigativo. Gilles Deleuze y Félix Guattari, junto con Giorgio Agamben son los principales pensadores que introducen los ejes paradigmáticos de los estudios aquí reunidos, los cuales son producto de la colaboración internacional entre académicos de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México y la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Medellín, Colombia, a través de la Red de investigación “Crítica a las manifestaciones del poder: violencia y resistencia”.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Méxic