Publications by authors named "Alejandra Ramirez Venegas"

Background: COPD due to biomass exposure (COPD-B) is highly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, and there are no clinical trials designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments currently recommended for patients with COPD due to cigarette smoking (COPD-C). The purpose of the study was to compare the efficacy of fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (FF/V) 100/25 μg and umeclidinium/vilanterol (UMEC/VI) 62.5/25 μg on the rate of exacerbations, the time to first exacerbation, on dyspnoea, health-related quality of life (HRQL), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV) and inspiratory capacity (IC) during a period of 6 months in patients with COPD-B and COPD-C, at a third level referral centre in Mexico City.

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Unlabelled: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a disease characterized by local and systemic inflammation independently of the risk factor; during the exacerbations, such inflammation is accentuated and amplified. A practical inflammatory marker and one with an applicable predictive value in the follow-up has been sought. FeNO has shown an excellent performance in that respect within the context of asthma and has also been studied in tobacco-smoke COPD (COPD-TS).

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Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with tobacco smoking and biomass-burning smoke exposure. Toll-like receptor 4 () single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may contribute to its pathogenesis. The study aimed to assess the association of rs4986790 and rs4986791 in the gene in a Mexican mestizo population with COPD secondary to tobacco smoking (COPD-TS) and biomass-burning smoke (COPD-BBS) and to evaluate whether the genotypes of risk affect cytokine serum levels.

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Objectives: Influenza-like illness (ILI) caused by respiratory viruses results in various respiratory clinical manifestations. The ILI002 prospective observational cohort study aimed to describe viral agents, seasonality, and outcomes of patients with ILI during four seasons in the influenza H1N1-pandemic and post-pandemic years (2010-2014).

Methods: Patients from six Mexican hospitals were enrolled from April 2010 to March 2014.

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Introduction: The cerbations of hronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) and their utcome (EXACOS) International Study aimed to quantify the rate of severe exacerbations and examine healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) and clinical outcomes in patients with COPD from low-income and middle-income countries.

Methods: EXACOS International was an observational, cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection from medical records for a period of up to 5 years. Data were collected from 12 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Mexico, Panama, Russia and Taiwan.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the relationship between certain genetic variants (rs2071288, rs3134940, rs184003, and rs2070600) and soluble-RAGE levels in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) related to biomass-burning smoke (BBS) and tobacco smoking.
  • Researchers analyzed 2189 subjects divided into four groups to determine if these variants and RAGE levels were linked to COPD, but found no strong associations, except a marginal one for rs3134940 with COPD-BBS.
  • The findings revealed that sRAGE plasma and sputum levels were lower in COPD patients compared to non-COPD individuals, with rs3134940 influencing these levels, but the genetic variants themselves did
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Introduction: Despite the proven benefits of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing triple therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), clinicians limit patient exposure to ICS due to the risk of pneumonia. However, there are multiple factors associated with the risk of pneumonia in patients with COPD. This post hoc analysis of IMPACT trial data aims to set the risks associated with ICS into a context of specific patient-related factors that contribute to the risk of pneumonia.

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Background: Human Bocaviruses (HBoV) can cause acute respiratory tract infections. High coinfection rates cloud its pathogenicity. This study sought to describe the clinical features of HBoV1 disease in children and adults with Influenza-like illness (ILI), exploring associations between viral load, clinical features, and seasonality.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lung microbiome dysbiosis can lead to immune system imbalances and lung inflammation, prompting a study comparing the lung bacteriome and cytokine profiles of women with normal lung function exposed to either tobacco smoke or biomass-burning smoke.
  • The research involved analyzing induced sputum from two groups: women exposed to biomass-burning smoke and current smokers, focusing on the composition of bacteria and measurement of cytokine levels.
  • Results indicated that current smokers had a higher concentration of IL-1β and a different bacteriome composition but did not show statistically significant differences in specific bacteria after adjustments, highlighting potential negative effects of smoking on lung health compared to biomass exposure.
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Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with severe influenza-like illness (ILI) in Mexican adults that could be useful to clinicians when assessing patients with ILI.

Methods: Data from adult patients enrolled from 2010 through 2014 in ILI002 - a prospective hospital-based observational cohort study - were analyzed. Etiology and clinical characteristics were compared between cases of severe ILI (defined as hospitalization and/or death) and cases of non-severe ILI.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide; the main risk factors associated with the suffering are tobacco smoking (TS) and chronic exposure to biomass-burning smoke (BBS). Different biological pathways have been associated with COPD, especially xenobiotic or drug metabolism enzymes. This research aims to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) profiles associated with COPD from two expositional sources: tobacco smoking and BBS.

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Several factors are associated with the severity of the respiratory disease caused by the influenza virus. Although viral factors are one of the most studied, in recent years the role of the microbiota and co-infections in severe and fatal outcomes has been recognized. However, most of the work has focused on the microbiota of the upper respiratory tract (URT), hindering potential insights from the lower respiratory tract (LRT) that may help to understand the role of the microbiota in Influenza disease.

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Background: Patients with biomass exposure-related COPD (BE-COPD) is a prevalent disease in developing countries and requires a detailed study of its clinical and inflammatory characteristics, specifying interventions that may differ from tobacco exposure-related COPD (TE-COPD). The objective was to describe clinical characteristics, biomarkers of inflammation, T-helper cells, and microbiological agents during a COPD exacerbation in BE-COPD in comparison with TE-COPD.

Methods: A prospective observational study in patients with moderate or severe exacerbation was recruited either in the emergency room or the COPD clinic.

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Background: Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are a common cause of influenza-like illness, with the ability to infect the upper and lower respiratory tracts. In this study we aim to describe the clinical and molecular features of HRV infection in Mexican children and adults.

Methods: We performed a hospital-based, 4-year multicenter prospective observational cohort study of patients with influenza-like illness.

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Article Synopsis
  • Health care workers face a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, prompting a study on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a preventive treatment against COVID-19.
  • This double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involved 127 health workers, with results showing that 1.6% on HCQ and 9.2% on placebo developed COVID-19, although the difference was not statistically significant.
  • The study was ultimately paused due to participant dropouts and previous findings questioning HCQ's effectiveness in treating COVID-19, leaving the trial underpowered for conclusive results.
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Article Synopsis
  • BE-COPD patients, exposed to biomass, may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 than TE-COPD patients, who are affected by tobacco smoke.
  • The study found an 11% prevalence of COVID-19 in both groups, with no significant differences in infection rates or risk factors like housing or knowledge about COVID-19.
  • Poor socioeconomic status was noted in the BE-COPD group, and around 40% of patients had inadequate risk perception and adherence to health guidelines during the pandemic.
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Anxiety and depression are common entities in patients diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of affective comorbidity (depression and anxiety) associated with lung function, functional capacity, dyspnea, and quality of life; as well as the differences between groups of patients diagnosed with COPD associated with biomass (COPD-BE) and patients with COPD secondary to tobacco (COPD-TS). Comparative cross-sectional observational study.

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Genetic association studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with lasting lung diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), as well as the simultaneous presentation, known as Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema (CPFE) Syndrome. It is unknown if these diseases share genetic variants previously described in an independent way. This study aims to identify common or differential variants between COPD, IPF, and CPFE.

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Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an 805 amino acid protein encoded by the ACE2 gene expressed in various human cells, especially in those located in the epithelia. The primary function of ACE2 is to produce angiotensin (1-7) from angiotensin II (Ang II). The current research has described the importance of ACE2 and Ang (1-7) in alternative routes of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that promote the downregulation of fibrosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress processes in a great variety of diseases, such as hypertension, acute lung injury, liver cirrhosis, and kidney abnormalities.

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Article Synopsis
  • COPD is an inflammatory disease mainly affecting smokers and those exposed to biomass-burning smoke (BBS), with certain gene variants linked to its risk.
  • Researchers studied 1549 participants to identify associations between two specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the heat shock protein (HSP) genes and COPD.
  • Findings showed that certain SNPs were linked to a decreased risk of COPD in individuals exposed to BBS and those with severe forms of the disease among smokers.
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Tobacco smoking results in a multifactorial disease involving environmental and genetic factors; epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) show changes in DNA methylation levels due to cigarette consumption, partially reversible upon tobacco smoking cessation. Therefore, methylation levels could predict smoking status. This study aimed to evaluate the DNA methylation level of cg05575921 () and cg23771366 () and their correlation with lung function variables, cigarette consumption, and nicotine addiction in the Mexican smoking population.

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Although different trajectories in lung function decline have been identified in patients with COPD associated to tobacco exposure (TE-COPD), genetic, environmental, and infectious factors affecting lung function throughout life have not been fully elucidated in patients with COPD associated to biomass (BE-COPD). In this review, we present current epidemiological findings and notable advances in the natural history of lung decline in BE-COPD, as well as conditions modeling the FEV trajectory, such as health insults, during the first years of childhood. Evidence shows that women exposed to biomass smoke reach adult life with a lower FEV than expected.

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Reduced physical activity (PA) is an independent risk factor for lung function decline, hospitalization and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and affects a large proportion of patients from Europe and the United States. However, little is known of the level of PA of COPD patients in Latin America. The aim of this study was to provide information of the level of PA and its determinants in COPD patients in Latin America.

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The tobacco industry promotes electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heated tobacco products (HTP) as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes with misleading marketing sustained by studies with conflict of interest. As a result, these devices sell without regulations and warnings about their adverse effects on health, with a growing user base targeting young people. This systematic review aimed to describe the adverse effects on the respiratory system in consumers of these devices.

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