High incidence of autoantibodies in Fabry disease patients

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked disorder of glycosphingolipid catabolism that results from a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme α-galactosidase A. This defect leads to the accumulation of its substrates, mainly globotriaosylceramide, in lysosomes of cells of different tissues. Different studies have shown the involvement of immunopathologies in different sphingolipidoses. The coexistence of FD and immune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and IgA nephropathy, has been described in the literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of a group of autoantibodies in a series of Argentine FD patients. Autoantibodies against extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs), double-stranded DNA, anticardiolipin and phosphatidylserine were assayed by ELISA. Lupus anticoagulants were also tested. Fifty-seven per cent of the samples showed reactivity with at least one autoantigen. Such reactivities were more frequent among males than among females. Antiphospholipid autoantibodies were detected in 45% of our patients. The high rate of thrombosis associated with FD could be related, at least in part, to the presence of antiphospholipid autoantibodies in Fabry patients. We found the presence of ENAs, which are a characteristic finding of rheumatological diseases, previous a frequent misdiagnosis of FD, in around 39% of the cases. The detection of a high level of autoantibodies must be correlated clinically to determine the existence of an underlying autoimmune disease. With the recent development of therapy, the life expectancy in FD will increase and autoimmune diseases might play an important role in the morbidity of FD.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasLaboratorio de Investigaciones del Sistema Inmun

Incorporation of dual-stimuli responsive microgels in nanofibrous membranes for cancer treatment by magnetic hyperthermia

Funding Information: This work is funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Program and National Funds through FCT?Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project POCI?01-0145-FEDER-007688 (Reference UID/CTM/50025) and PTDC/CTMCTM/30623/2017 (DREaMM).The delivery of multiple anti-cancer agents holds great promise for better treatments. The present work focuses on developing multifunctional materials for simultaneous and local combi-natory treatment: Chemotherapy and hyperthermia. We first produced hybrid microgels (MG), synthesized by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization, consisting of Poly (N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm), chitosan (40 wt.%), and iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) (5 wt.%) as the inorganic compo-nent. PNIPAAm MGs with a hydrodynamic diameter of about 1 µm (in their swollen state) were successfully synthesized. With the incorporation of chitosan and NPs in PNIPAAm MG, a decrease in MG diameter and swelling capacity was observed, without affecting their thermosensitivity. We then sought to produce biocompatible and mechanically robust membranes containing these dual-responsive MG. To achieve this, MG were incorporated in poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) fibers through colloidal electrospinning. The presence of NPs in MG decreases the membrane swelling ratio from 10 to values between 6 and 7, and increases the material stiffness, raising its Young modulus from 20 to 35 MPa. Furthermore, magnetic hyperthermia assay shows that PVP-MG-NP composites perform better than any other formulation, with a temperature variation of about 1◦C. The present work demonstrates the potential of using multifunctional colloidal membranes for magnetic hyperthermia and may in the future be used as an alternative treatment for cancer.publishersversionpublishe

High incidence of autoantibodies in Fabry disease patients

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked disorder of glycosphingolipid catabolism that results from a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme α-galactosidase A. This defect leads to the accumulation of its substrates, mainly globotriaosylceramide, in lysosomes of cells of different tissues. Different studies have shown the involvement of immunopathologies in different sphingolipidoses. The coexistence of FD and immune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and IgA nephropathy, has been described in the literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of a group of autoantibodies in a series of Argentine FD patients. Autoantibodies against extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs), double-stranded DNA, anticardiolipin and phosphatidylserine were assayed by ELISA. Lupus anticoagulants were also tested. Fifty-seven per cent of the samples showed reactivity with at least one autoantigen. Such reactivities were more frequent among males than among females. Antiphospholipid autoantibodies were detected in 45% of our patients. The high rate of thrombosis associated with FD could be related, at least in part, to the presence of antiphospholipid autoantibodies in Fabry patients. We found the presence of ENAs, which are a characteristic finding of rheumatological diseases, previous a frequent misdiagnosis of FD, in around 39% of the cases. The detection of a high level of autoantibodies must be correlated clinically to determine the existence of an underlying autoimmune disease. With the recent development of therapy, the life expectancy in FD will increase and autoimmune diseases might play an important role in the morbidity of FD.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasLaboratorio de Investigaciones del Sistema Inmun

Prevalence of acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in Colombian soldiers wounded in combat

El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la prevalencia de la reacción a estrés agudo y del trastorno por estrés postraumático en los soldados heridos en combate que ingresan al Hospital Militar. Para ello se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal en el que se aplicó el Clinical Administered Postraumática Stress Disorder Scale (CAPS) a una muestra de pacientes hospitalizados por heridas en combate en el Hospital Militar Central de Bogotá. Se midió la prevalencia y la frecuencia, haciendo un análisis bivariado de los datos obtenidos. Se obtuvo una prevalencia del 16,66% para trastorno por estrés postraumático y ningún caso de trastorno por estrés agudo, lo que proporciona una clara evidencia de que las lesiones provocadas durante un combate percibido como traumático, son un factor de riesgo mayor para el desarrollo de trastorno por estrés postraumático.14-19SoldadosThe objective of this work was to determine the prevalence of acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers wounded in combat admitted to the Military Hospital. For this purpose we proceeded to realize a cross cut, descriptive study in which we applied the CAPS (clinical administered post traumatic stress disorder scale), to a sample of patients admitted due to combat wounds to the Hospital Militar Central de Bogota. We measured prevalence and frequency and did a bivariate analysis of the collected data. We obtained a prevalence of 16,66 % for posttraumatic stress disorder and there were no cases of acute stress disorder, providing clear evidence that the injuries provoked during combat perceived as traumatic, are a factor of significant risk for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder

p53 Function Re-Establishment and Apoptosis Induction in Cervical Cancer Cells

Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through funds from the State Budget, and by the European Regional Development Fund through the “Pro-grama Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020)—Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Científica e Tecnológica—Programas Integrados de IC&DT” (Project Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000019—C4—Centro de Competências em Cloud Computing) and the project ref: UIDB/00709/2020. This work was also supported by national funds from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences—UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy—i4HB. D. Gomes also acknowledges the doctoral fellowship from FCT (ref: 2020.06792.BD). This work was also supported by the Ramalingaswami Fellowship (BT/RLF/Re-entry/64/2017), Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India (V.K.). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in women worldwide, with 99% of cases associated with a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Given that HPV prophylactic vaccines do not exert a therapeutic effect in individuals previously infected, have low coverage of all HPV types, and have poor accessibility in developing countries, it is unlikely that HPV-associated cancers will be eradicated in the coming years. Therefore, there is an emerging need for the development of anti-HPV drugs. Considering HPV E6’s oncogenic role, this protein has been proposed as a relevant target for cancer treatment. In the present work, we employed in silico tools to discover potential E6 inhibitors, as well as biochemical and cellular assays to understand the action of selected compounds in HPV-positive cells (Caski and HeLa) vs. HPV-negative (C33A) and non-carcinogenic (NHEK) cell lines. In fact, by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, we found three phenolic compounds able to dock in the E6AP binding pocket of the E6 protein. In particular, lucidin and taxifolin were able to inhibit E6-mediated p53 degradation, selectively reduce the viability, and induce apoptosis in HPV-positive cells. Altogether, our data can be relevant for discovering promising leads for the development of specific anti-HPV drugs.publishersversionpublishe

LA FLOR ANDINA DE RÍO NEGRO

Embothrium coccineum es el nombre científico del notro, ciruelillo o fosforito, nombre compuesto por el género (Embothrium) y la especie (coccineum). El notro es una especie endémica de Argentina y Chile. Presenta un extenso rango de distribución y habita diversidad de ambientes. Su flor es representativa de Río Negro

Interfaces neuronales y sistemas máquina-cerebro: fundamentos y aplicaciones. Revisión

Debido a la alta incidencia de personas en situación de discapacidad motora y sensorial, la investigación en el desarrollo de interfaces neuronales y sistemas de comunicación máquina-cerebro ha tenido gran auge a través de los últimos diez años. La construcción de estas interfaces requiere un trabajo coordinado de disciplinas como: fisiología, ciencia de los materiales, instrumentación y procesamiento de señales, inteligencia computacional, mecánica, electrónica, robótica e informática, entre otras. Todas ellas para lograr una correcta interconexión entre el funcionamiento del sistema nervioso, la construcción de electrodos biocompatibles, la obtención de señales aptas para el procesamiento, la clasificación e identificación de patrones codificados y el diseño de los elementos efectores que den sentido a la interfaz. En esta revisión se hace un recorrido por las tres etapas fundamentales de las interfaces neuronales: la detección de las señales, el procesamiento de estas y la amplia gama de posibilidades para los mecanismos efectores.Abstract—During the past ten years the Neural Interfaces and brain-computer communication systems area has become an important field for research, in part due to the increasing statistics of motor and sensorial disabilities. The development of these systems and interfaces requires the coordinated work of different areas such as physiology, materials science, instrumentation and signal processing, computational intelligence, mechanics, electronics, robotics, and informatics, among others. They allowed the right integration between the nervous system physiology, the construction of biocompatible electrodes, the acquiring of proper signals for processing, the classification and identification of coded patterns and the design of the actuators elements to finally achieve the goal of the interface. In this review the three basic stages of neural interfaces are shown. This includes: signal acquiring, signal processing and the wide variety of applications with the effectors systems

In-Situ Anaerobic Heating of Human Bones Probed by Neutron Diffraction

The first neutron diffraction study of in-situ anaerobic burning of human bones is reported, aiming at an interpretation of heat-induced changes in bone, which were previously detected by vibrational spectroscopy, including inelastic neutron scattering techniques. Structural and crystallinity variations were monitored in samples of the human femur and tibia, as well as a reference hydroxyapatite, upon heating under anaerobic conditions. Information on the structural reorganization of the bone matrix as a function of temperature, from room temperature to 1000 °C, was achieved. Noticeable crystallographic and domain size variations, together with O–H bond lengths and background variations, were detected. Above 700 °C, the inorganic bone matrix became highly symmetric, devoid of carbonates and organic constituents, while for the lower temperature range (<700 °C), a considerably lower crystallinity was observed. The present pilot study is expected to contribute to a better understanding of the heat-prompted changes in bone, which can be taken as biomarkers of the burning temperature. This information is paramount for bone analysis in forensic science as well as in archeology and may also have useful applications in other biomaterial studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Economic impact of treatment for surgical site infections in cases of total knee arthroplasty in a tertiary public hospital in Brazil

The aim of this study was to estimate the additional cost of treatment of a group of nosocomial infections in a tertiary public hospital. A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted by means of analyzing the medical records of 34 patients with infection after total knee arthroplasty, diagnosed in 2006 and 2007, who met the criteria for nosocomial infection according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To estimate the direct costs of treatment for these patients, the following data were gathered: length of hospital stay, laboratory tests, imaging examinations, and surgical procedures performed. Their costs were estimated from the minimum values according to the Brazilian Medical Association. The estimated cost of the antibiotics used was also obtained. The total length of stay in the ward was 976 days, at a cost of US$18,994.63, and, in the intensive care unit, it was 34 days at a cost of US$ 5,031.37. Forty-two debridement procedures were performed, at a cost of US$5,798.06, and 1965 tests (laboratory and imaging) were also performed, at a cost of US$ 15,359.25. US$20,845.01 was spent on antibiotics and US$ 1,735.16 on vacuum assisted closure therapy, microsurgical flaps, implant removal, spacer use, and surgical revision. The total additional cost of these cases of hospital infection in 2006 and 2007 was of US$ 91,843.75. Based on that, we demonstrate that the high cost of treatment for hospital infections emphasizes the importance of taking measures to prevent and control hospital infection