Enzymatic Metabolic Switches of Astrocyte Response to Lipotoxicity as Potential Therapeutic Targets for Nervous System Diseases.

Astrocytes play a pivotal role in maintaining brain homeostasis. Recent research has highlighted the significance of palmitic acid (PA) in triggering pro-inflammatory pathways contributing to neurotoxicity. Furthermore, Genomic-scale metabolic models and control theory have revealed that metabolic switches (MSs) are metabolic pathway regulators by potentially exacerbating neurotoxicity, thereby offering promising therapeutic targets.

SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis in saliva samples: Usefulness and limitations.

Saliva samples are important for diagnosis, because they are noninvasive and easy to acquire. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the value saliva samples have in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to nasal swabs and a new system named CovidCheck. A standard methodology identified the virus in 185 nasopharyngeal swabs and saliva samples revealing a sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of 82,100,100 and 94.

Control Theory and Systems Biology: Potential Applications in Neurodegeneration and Search for Therapeutic Targets.

Control theory, a well-established discipline in engineering and mathematics, has found novel applications in systems biology. This interdisciplinary approach leverages the principles of feedback control and regulation to gain insights into the complex dynamics of cellular and molecular networks underlying chronic diseases, including neurodegeneration. By modeling and analyzing these intricate systems, control theory provides a framework to understand the pathophysiology and identify potential therapeutic targets.

Dynamics and local ordering of pentachloronitrobenzene: a molecular-dynamics investigation.

Plastic phases are constituted by molecules whose centers of mass form a long range ordered crystalline lattice, but rotate in a more or less constrained way. Pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) is a quasi-planar hexa-substituted benzene formed by a benzene ring decorated with a -NO group and five chlorine atoms that displays below the melting point a layered structure of rhombohedral (3̄) planes in which the molecules can rotate around a six-fold-like axis. Dielectric spectroscopy [Romanini , , 2016, , 10614] of this highly anisotropic phase revealed a complex relaxation dynamics with two coupled primary processes, initially ascribed to the in-plane and out-of-plane components of the molecular dipole.

The Gut Microbiome of an Indigenous Agropastoralist Population in a Remote Area of Colombia with High Rates of Gastrointestinal Infections and Dysbiosis.

An Indigenous agropastoralist population called the Wiwa from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in North-East Colombia, shows high rates of gastrointestinal infections. Chronic gut inflammatory processes and dysbiosis could be a reason, suggesting an influence or predisposing potential of the gut microbiome composition. The latter was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon next generation sequencing from stool samples.

Diagnosis and Prevalence of Chagas Disease in an Indigenous Population of Colombia.

Chagas disease (CD) is one of the leading neglected tropical diseases. In the Americas, CD is endemic in about 21 countries, but only less than 1% of the patients have access to medical treatment. Indigenous populations are particularly affected because they live in socio-economic and climate conditions that favor CD infections.

Metabolomic Analysis of Human Astrocytes in Lipotoxic Condition: Potential Biomarker Identification by Machine Learning Modeling.

The association between neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) and obesity has been well studied in recent years. Obesity is a syndrome of multifactorial etiology characterized by an excessive accumulation and release of fatty acids (FA) in adipose and non-adipose tissue. An excess of FA generates a metabolic condition known as lipotoxicity, which triggers pathological cellular and molecular responses, causing dysregulation of homeostasis and a decrease in cell viability.

Comparison of the Serion IgM ELISA and Microscopic Agglutination Test for diagnosis of Leptospira spp. infections in sera from different geographical origins and estimation of Leptospira seroprevalence in the Wiwa indigenous population from Colombia.

Leptospirosis is among the most important zoonotic diseases in (sub-)tropical countries. The research objective was to evaluate the accuracy of the Serion IgM ELISA EST125M against the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT = imperfect reference test); to assess its ability to diagnose acute leptospirosis infections and to detect previous exposure to leptospires in an endemic setting. In addition, to estimate the overall Leptospira spp.

Seasonal Patterns of Enteric Pathogens in Colombian Indigenous People-A More Pronounced Effect on Bacteria Than on Parasites.

Enteric pathogens, which are frequently food- and waterborne transmitted, are highly abundant in Indigenous people living in remote rural areas of Colombia. As the frequency of gastroenteritis in the tropics shows seasonal differences, we analyzed variations of pathogen patterns in the stool samples of a Colombian Indigenous tribe called Wiwa during the dry ( = 105) and the rainy ( = 227) season, applying real-time PCR from stool samples and statistical analysis based on a multi-variable model. Focusing on bacterial pathogens, increased detection rates could be confirmed for enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic and enteroaggregative with a tendency for an increase in detections during the rainy season, while there was no seasonal effect on the carriage of .

Seroprevalence and Risk Factor Analysis in Four Communities of the Wiwa, an Indigenous Tribe in Colombia.

The life of the indigenous Wiwa tribe in northeast Colombia is characterized by lacking access to clean drinking water and sanitary installations. Furthermore, free-roaming domestic animals and use of yucca and/or manioc as a primary food source favor the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths, e.g.

Seasonal Differences in Prevalence in Colombian Indigenous People.

Fecal-orally transmitted cyclosporiasis is frequent in remote resource-limited settings in Central and South America with poor hygiene conditions. In this study, we aimed at assessing seasonal effects on the epidemiology of colonization or infection with in Colombian indigenous people living under very restricted conditions. In the rainy season between July and November and in the dry season between January and April, stool samples from indigenous people with and without gastrointestinal symptoms were collected and screened for applying in-house real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

[Complication related factors in patients undergoing open simple prostatectomy due to Benign Prostate Hyperplasia in a Colombian hospital.].

Introduction: Open prostatectomy is an efficacious treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), but its complication rates and risk factors for these might vary due to the characteristics of populations and health systems. OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of complications and the risk factors for these, in the first three months after open prostatectomy in a hospital in Medellín (Colombia). METHODS: This is a cohort study in which patients undergoing retropubic open prostatectomy were taken.

Advances in Astrocyte Computational Models: From Metabolic Reconstructions to Multi-omic Approaches.

The growing importance of astrocytes in the field of neuroscience has led to a greater number of computational models devoted to the study of astrocytic functions and their metabolic interactions with neurons. The modeling of these interactions demands a combined understanding of brain physiology and the development of computational frameworks based on genomic-scale reconstructions, system biology, and dynamic models. These computational approaches have helped to highlight the neuroprotective mechanisms triggered by astrocytes and other glial cells, both under normal conditions and during neurodegenerative processes.

Tibolone Ameliorates the Lipotoxic Effect of Palmitic Acid in Normal Human Astrocytes.

Lipotoxicity is a pathological condition resulting from the excessive accumulation of fatty acids, like palmitic acid (PA), within the cell. This pathological phenomenon induces deleterious metabolic changes in cells and is associated with neurodegenerative diseases, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Recent evidence has demonstrated that tibolone, a synthetic steroid, protects cellular damage through various mechanisms; but its underlying actions upon lipotoxic damage are unknown.