When metabolic comorbidities and risk of malnutrition coexist: The new era of inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and risk of malnutrition can coexist in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We performed a malnutrition risk assessment as part of the standard follow-up of IBD patients and studied the potential risk factors for being at risk of malnutrition based on the presence or absence of MASLD.

Methods: The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) was used to screen malnutrition risk (MUST ≥1) and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP ≥248 dB/min) to assess MASLD.

HIV infection is associated with a less aggressive phenotype of inflammatory bowel disease. A multicenter study of the ENEIDA registry.

Background: The coexistence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is uncommon. Data on the impact of HIV on IBD course and its management is scarce.

Aim: To describe the IBD phenotype, therapeutic requirements and prevalence of opportunistic infections (OI) in IBD patients with a coexistent HIV infection.

Healthy Lifestyle Is a Protective Factor from Moderate and Severe Relapses and Steroid Use in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: A healthy lifestyle, including good adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) and regular physical exercise, may be an important factor during the course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our aim is to determine whether adherence to MD, physical activity, and the combination of both can impact on IBD course.

Methods: This prospective cohort study includes 693 IBD outpatients who were in remission with a median follow-up time of 27 months (interquartile range 22-29 months).

Cardiovascular risk assessment in inflammatory bowel disease with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Background And Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been reported to increase the risk of early atherosclerosis even in young patients. Moreover, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), which has been linked to IBD, is a well-recognized but underdiagnosis entity related to cardiovascular risk. We analyze the impact of MASLD in IBD patients' cardiovascular risk through both advanced lipoprotein profile sorted by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT).

Lifestyle Can Exert a Significant Impact on the Development of Metabolic Complications and Quality Life in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are associated with an increased risk of metabolic comorbidities. There is a lack of data regarding the relationship between lifestyle and metabolic diseases in IBD patients. A cross-sectional study on consecutive IBD outpatients was conducted.

Argentatin Content in Guayule Leaves ( A. Gray).

Approximately one-third of the waste biomass from the cultivation of guayule ( A. Gray) for natural rubber production is leaf tissue; however, whether it can be valorized is not known. Guayulins and argentatins are potential high-value products that can be recovered from guayule resin during rubber/latex processing.

New strategies to analyze argentatins A and B in guayule (Parthenium argentatum, A. Gray).

There is considerable interest in the exploitation of compounds belonging to the triterpenoid family from guayule (Parthenium argentatum, A. Gray), as they offer several beneficial effects to human health. The most abundant triterpenoids in guayule resin are the argentatins, which are currently analyzed by labor-intensive and time-consuming techniques.

BRAF Inhibition Induces Cytoprotective Autophagy through AMPK in Thyroid Cancer Cells.

The dysregulation of autophagy is important in the development of many cancers, including thyroid cancer, where BRAF is a main oncogene. Here, we analyse the effect of BRAF inhibition on autophagy, the mechanisms involved in this regulation and the role of autophagy in cell survival of thyroid cancer cells. We reveal that the inhibition of BRAF activity with its specific inhibitor PLX4720 or the depletion of its expression by siRNA induces autophagy in thyroid tumour cells.

Resveratrol promotes apoptosis through the induction of dual specificity phosphatase 1 and sensitizes prostate cancer cells to cisplatin.

Resveratrol is a polyphenol with chemopreventive properties against prostate cancer; however, the mechanisms underlying its actions are not completely understood. Previously, we demonstrated that DUSP1 induces apoptosis in prostate cancer cells; therefore in the present study we investigated the role of this phosphatase on resveratrol effects. Moreover, we analysed the efficiency of combined treatment of resveratrol and the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin on cellular viability and apoptosis and its relation with DUSP1 in prostate cancer cells.

Automatic counting of microglial cell activation and its applications.

Glaucoma is a multifactorial optic neuropathy characterized by the damage and death of the retinal ganglion cells. This disease results in vision loss and blindness. Any vision loss resulting from the disease cannot be restored and nowadays there is no available cure for glaucoma; however an early detection and treatment, could offer neuronal protection and avoid later serious damages to the visual function.

Retinal Macroglial Responses in Health and Disease.

Due to their permanent and close proximity to neurons, glial cells perform essential tasks for the normal physiology of the retina. Astrocytes and Müller cells (retinal macroglia) provide physical support to neurons and supplement them with several metabolites and growth factors. Macroglia are involved in maintaining the homeostasis of extracellular ions and neurotransmitters, are essential for information processing in neural circuits, participate in retinal glucose metabolism and in removing metabolic waste products, regulate local blood flow, induce the blood-retinal barrier (BRB), play fundamental roles in local immune response, and protect neurons from oxidative damage.

Neuroprotective Effects of Low-Dose Statins in the Retinal Ultrastructure of Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits.

To evaluate the pleiotropic effects to statins, we analyze the qualitative and quantitative retinal changes in hypercholesterolemic rabbits after a low-dosage statin treatment. For this purpose, New Zealand rabbits were split into three groups: control (G0; n = 10), fed a standard diet; hypercholesterolemic (G1; n = 8), fed a 0.5% cholesterol-enriched diet for 8 months; and statins (G2; n = 8), fed a 0.

Automatic Counting of Microglial Cells in Healthy and Glaucomatous Mouse Retinas.

Proliferation of microglial cells has been considered a sign of glial activation and a hallmark of ongoing neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia activation is analyzed in animal models of different eye diseases. Numerous retinal samples are required for each of these studies to obtain relevant data of statistical significance.

Macro- and microglial responses in the fellow eyes contralateral to glaucomatous eyes.

Most studies employing experimental models of unilateral glaucoma have used the normotensive contralateral eye as the normal control. However, some studies have recently reported the activation of the retinal macroglia and microglia in the uninjured eye, suggesting that the eye contralateral to experimental glaucoma should not be used as a control. This review analyzes the studies describing the contralateral findings and discusses some of the routes through which the signals can reach the contralateral eye to initiate the glial reactivation.

Somatostatin activates Ras and ERK1/2 via a G protein βγ-subunit-initiated pathway in thyroid cells.

Somatostatin (SST) is one of the main regulators of thyroid function. It acts by binding to its receptors, which lead to the dissociation of G proteins into Gαi and Gβγ subunits. However, much less is known about the function of Gβγ in thyroid cells.

Novel biodegradable polyesteramide microspheres for controlled drug delivery in Ophthalmology.

Most of the posterior segment diseases are chronic and multifactorial and require long-term intraocular medication. Conventional treatments of these pathologies consist of successive intraocular injections, which are associated with adverse effects. Successful therapy requires the development of new drug delivery systems able to release the active substance for a long term with a single administration.

Microglia in mouse retina contralateral to experimental glaucoma exhibit multiple signs of activation in all retinal layers.

Background: Glaucomatous optic neuropathy, a leading cause of blindness, can progress despite control of intraocular pressure - currently the main risk factor and target for treatment. Glaucoma progression shares mechanisms with neurodegenerative disease, including microglia activation. In the present model of ocular hypertension (OHT), we have recently described morphological signs of retinal microglia activation and MHC-II upregulation in both the untreated contralateral eyes and OHT eyes.

Rod-like microglia are restricted to eyes with laser-induced ocular hypertension but absent from the microglial changes in the contralateral untreated eye.

In the mouse model of unilateral laser-induced ocular hypertension (OHT) the microglia in both the treated and the normotensive untreated contralateral eye have morphological signs of activation and up-regulation of MHC-II expression in comparison with naïve. In the brain, rod-like microglia align to less-injured neurons in an effort to limit damage. We investigate whether: i) microglial activation is secondary to laser injury or to a higher IOP and; ii) the presence of rod-like microglia is related to OHT.

IOP induces upregulation of GFAP and MHC-II and microglia reactivity in mice retina contralateral to experimental glaucoma.

Background: Ocular hypertension is a major risk factor for glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease characterized by an irreversible decrease in ganglion cells and their axons. Macroglial and microglial cells appear to play an important role in the pathogenic mechanisms of the disease. Here, we study the effects of laser-induced ocular hypertension (OHT) in the macroglia, microglia and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of eyes with OHT (OHT-eyes) and contralateral eyes two weeks after lasering.

Quantification of the effect of different levels of IOP in the astroglia of the rat retina ipsilateral and contralateral to experimental glaucoma.

Purpose: To analyze the effects of different levels of intraocular pressure (IOP) in the macroglia in ocular hypertension (OHT) and contralateral eyes at 3 weeks after laser photocoagulation and compare these with effects in age-matched control rats.

Methods: Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into an age-matched control (naive) group and an OHT group. Retinas were processed as whole mounts and immunostained with GFAP for analysis of the retinal macroglia.

Cytotoxicity, apoptosis and study of the DNA-binding properties of bi- and tetranuclear gallium(III) complexes with heterocyclic thiolato ligands.

The reaction of the heterocyclic thiol derivatives, 2-mercapto-1-methylimidazole (SH-imi), 5-mercapto-1-methyltetrazole (SH-tet), 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (SH-ben) and 5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiol (SH-oxa), with trimethylgallium (1:1) afforded the dimeric or tetrameric complexes [Me(2)Ga(S-imi)](2) (1), [Me(2)Ga(S-tet)](2) (2), [Me(2)Ga(S-ben)](2) (3) and [Me(2)Ga(S-oxa)](4) (4), respectively. Molecular structures of 2 and 4 were determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The cytotoxicity of the gallium(III) complexes 1-4 was tested against human cell lines 8505C anaplastic thyroid cancer, A253 head and neck tumor, A549 lung carcinoma, A2780 ovarian cancer, DLD-1 colon carcinoma and compared with those of cisplatin and Ga(NO(3))(3).

Anticancer activity of dinuclear gallium(III) carboxylate complexes.

The reaction of 3-methoxyphenylacetic acid, 4-methoxyphenylacetic acid, mesitylthioacetic acid, 2,5-dimethyl-3-furoic acid and 1,4-benzodioxane-6-carboxylic acid with trimethylgallium (1:1) yielded the dimeric complexes [Me(2)Ga(micro-O(2)CCH(2)C(6)H(4)-3-OMe)](2) (1), [Me(2)Ga(micro-O(2)CCH(2)C(6)H(4)-4-OMe)](2) (2), [Me(2)Ga(micro-O(2)CCH(2)SMes)](2) (3) (Mes=2,4,6-Me(3)C(6)H(2)), [Me(2)Ga{micro-O(2)C(Fur)}](2) (4) (Fur=2,5-dimethylfuran) and [Me(2)Ga{micro-O(2)C(Bdo)}](2) (5) (Bdo=1,4-benzodioxane) respectively. The molecular structure of 5 was determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The cytotoxic activity of the gallium(III) complexes (1-5) was tested against human tumor cell lines 8505C anaplastic thyroid cancer, A253 head and neck tumor, A549 lung carcinoma, A2780 ovarian cancer, DLD-1 colon carcinoma and compared with that of cisplatin.

Platinum(II) tetramesityltetraphosphane-1,4-diides.

[Na(2)(thf)(4)(P(4)Mes(4))] () (Mes = 2,4,6-Me(3)C(6)H(2)) reacts with one equivalent of [PtCl(2)(cod)] (cod = 1,5-cycloctadiene) or [PtCl(2)(dppe)] (dppe = bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) to give the corresponding platinum(II) tetramesityltetraphosphane-1,4-diide complexes [Pt(P(4)Mes(4))(cod)] () and [Pt(P(4)Mes(4))(dppe)] (). The Pt-P bonds of these complexes proved to be extraordinarily stable and did not react with insertion reagents such as tert-butyl isocyanide or cyclohexyl isocyanide. Instead, ligand transfer occurred to give [Pt(P(4)Mes(4))(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]NBu(t))(2)] () and [Pt(P(4)Mes(4))(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]NCy)(2)] ().

Fluorimetric determination of histamine in wine and cider by using an anion-exchange column-FIA system and factorial design study.

A study has been performed of the conditions for the reaction of histamine with o-phthaldehyde in a flow injection analysis system employing three channels, using an anion-exchange column to eliminate sample matrix interferences. Factorial design was used to determine which operational parameters should be included in the optimization and their optimal values were found. The method developed shows good selectivity for histamine determination in alcoholic beverages.

Synthesis and characterization of complexes containing Ti-O-Si moieties. Catalytic activity in olefin epoxidation.

Reaction of [Cp*TiMe3] with O(SiPh2OH)2 yields the titanium siloxide derivative [Cp*TiMe{(OSiPh2)2O}]. Complex reacts with H2O to yield the corresponding oxo-titanium derivative [(Cp*Ti{(OSiPh2)2O})2(micro-O)]. The molecular structure of complex has been established by X-ray diffraction.