Characterization of Respiratory Viruses in Patients with Acute Respiratory Infection in the City of Barranquilla during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Pandemic.

Severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) is mainly caused by viral pathogens, with a high prevalence in high-risk populations such as infants and older adults. Coinfections by different viruses are frequent and, in some cases, associated with severe disease outcomes. The main purpose of this study was to identify respiratory viruses circulating in Barranquilla during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic and estimate the prevalence of viral coinfections in samples from individuals with different degrees of respiratory infection.

Car T Cells in Solid Tumors: Overcoming Obstacles.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T cell) therapy has emerged as a prominent adoptive cell therapy and a therapeutic approach of great interest in the fight against cancer. This approach has shown notorious efficacy in refractory hematological neoplasm, which has bolstered its exploration in the field of solid cancers. However, successfully managing solid tumors presents considerable intrinsic challenges, which include the necessity of guiding the modified cells toward the tumoral region, assuring their penetration and survival in adverse microenvironments, and addressing the complexity of identifying the specific antigens for each type of cancer.

Urinary metabolomic profiling of a cohort of Colombian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune and multisystem disease with a high public health impact. Lupus nephritis (LN), commonly known as renal involvement in SLE, is associated with a poorer prognosis and increased rates of morbidity and mortality in patients with SLE. Identifying new urinary biomarkers that can be used for LN prognosis or diagnosis is essential and is part of current active research.

Exploring the Intricacies of Neurogenic Niches: Unraveling the Anatomy and Neural Microenvironments.

Neurogenesis is the process of forming new neurons from neural stem cells (NSCs). In adults, this process takes place in specific areas of the brain, known as neurogenic niches. These regions have unique anatomical features that have been studied in animal models and in the human brain; however, there are differences between these models that need to be addressed.

Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in urinalysis of hypertension patients with kidney disease.

Arterial hypertension (AH) is a multifactorial and asymptomatic disease that affects vital organs such as the kidneys and heart. Considering its prevalence and the associated severe health repercussions, hypertension has become a disease of great relevance for public health across the globe. Conventionally, the classification of an individual as hypertensive or non-hypertensive is conducted through ambulatory blood pressure monitoring over a 24-h period.

Historical evolution of cancer genomics research in Latin America: a comprehensive visual and bibliometric analysis until 2023.

Cancer genomics, as an interdisciplinary research area within the Global Cancer Research agenda, genomics and precision medicine, its important in research and clinical practice in Latin America. To date, there has been no study investigating evolution of this area in this region. The aim of this study was to evaluate for first time, the historical evolution of cancer genomics research in Latin America.

Photodynamic Antimicrobial Activity of a Novel 5,10,15,20-Tetrakis (4-Ethylphenyl) Porphyrin against Clinically Important Bacteria.

The growing emergence of microbes resistant to commercially available antibiotic therapies poses a threat to healthcare systems worldwide. Multiple factors have been associated with the increasing incidence of hospital-acquired infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens, including the indiscriminate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, the massive application of antibiotics in hospitals as a prophylactic measure, self-medication, and nonadherence to pharmacological therapies by patients. In this study, we developed a novel treatment to mitigate the impact of microbial resistance.

From Cell to Symptoms: The Role of SARS-CoV-2 Cytopathic Effects in the Pathogenesis of COVID-19 and Long COVID.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection triggers various events from molecular to tissue level, which in turn is given by the intrinsic characteristics of each patient. Given the molecular diversity characteristic of each cellular phenotype, the possible cytopathic, tissue and clinical effects are difficult to predict, which determines the heterogeneity of COVID-19 symptoms. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the cytopathic effects of SARS-CoV-2 on various cell types, focusing on the development of COVID-19, which in turn may lead, in some patients, to a persistence of symptoms after recovery from the disease, a condition known as long COVID.

Comparative Analysis of RT-qPCR Detection of SARS-CoV-2 for Resource-Constrained Settings.

We developed and standardized an efficient and cost-effective in-house RT-PCR method to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated sensitivity, specificity, and other statistical parameters by different RT-qPCR methods including triplex, duplex, and simplex assays adapted from the initial World Health Organization- (WHO) recommended protocol. This protocol included the identification of the E envelope gene (E gene; specific to the Sarvecovirus genus), RdRp gene of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (specific for SARS-CoV-2), and RNase P gene as endogenous control.

Glomerular Diseases in the Colombian Caribbean: Data from the Colombian Nephropathy Registry (NEFRORED®).

Our study aimed to describe the glomerular diseases, both primary glomerular disease (PGD) and secondary glomerular disease (SGD) in the Colombian Caribbean based on the first regional Colombian Nephropathy Registry (NEFRORED®). A descriptive and retrospective study of adult patients with glomerular diseases from the Colombian Caribbean region was made. All diagnoses by renal biopsy with light microscopy and immunofluorescence obtained between January 2008 and June 2018 were recorded.

The Role of Glycosyltransferases in Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main causes of cancer death in the world. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) have been extensively studied in malignancies due to its relevance in tumor pathogenesis and therapy. This review is focused on the dysregulation of glycosyltransferase expression in CRC and its impact in cell function and in several biological pathways associated with CRC pathogenesis, prognosis and therapeutic approaches.

MicroRNAs overexpressed in Crohn's disease and their interactions with mechanisms of epigenetic regulation explain novel aspects of Crohn's disease pathogenesis.

Background: In this review, we were interested to identify the wide universe of enzymes associated with epigenetic modifications, whose gene expression is regulated by miRNAs with a high relative abundance in Crohn's disease (CD) affected tissues, with the aim to determine their impact in the pathogenesis and evolution of the disease.

Methods: We used HMDD and Bibliometrix R-package in order to identify the miRNAs overexpressed in CD. The identified enzymes associated with epigenetic mechanisms and post-translational modifications, regulated by miRNAs upregulated in CD, were analyzed using String v11 database.

The Role of Microglia in Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GB), the most aggressive malignant glioma, is made up of a large percentage of glioma-associated microglia/macrophages (GAM), suggesting that immune cells play an important role in the pathophysiology of GB. Under physiological conditions, microglia, the phagocytes of the central nervous system (CNS), are involved in various processes such as neurogenesis or axonal growth, and the progression of different conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Through immunohistochemical studies, markers that enhance GB invasiveness have been shown to be expressed in the peritumoral area of ​​the brain, such as Transforming Growth Factor α (TGF-α), Stromal Sell-Derived Factor 1 (SDF1/CXCL12), Sphingosine-1-Phosphate (S1P) and Neurotrophic Factor Derived from the Glial cell line (GDNF), contributing to the increase in tumor mass.

Moral structuring of children during the process of obtaining informed consent in clinical and research settings.

Background: Informed consent is an important factor in a child's moral structure from which different types of doctor-patient relationships arise. Children's autonomy is currently under discussion in terms of their decent treatment, beyond what doctors and researchers perceive. To describe the influential practices that exist among clinicians and researchers toward children with chronic diseases during the process of obtaining informed consent.

Epidemiology and Toxicology of Ciguatera Poisoning in the Colombian Caribbean.

Ciguatera is a food intoxication caused by the consumption of primarily coral fish; these species exist in large numbers in the seas that surround the Colombian territory. The underreported diagnosis of this clinical entity has been widely highlighted due to multiple factors, such as, among others, ignorance by the primary care practitioner consulted for this condition as well as clinical similarity to secondary gastroenteric symptoms and common food poisonings of bacterial, parasitic or viral etiology. Eventually, it was found that people affected by ciguatoxins had trips to coastal areas hours before the onset of symptoms.

Epigenetic Mechanisms and Posttranslational Modifications in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

The complex physiology of eukaryotic cells is regulated through numerous mechanisms, including epigenetic changes and posttranslational modifications. The wide-ranging diversity of these mechanisms constitutes a way of dynamic regulation of the functionality of proteins, their activity, and their subcellular localization as well as modulation of the differential expression of genes in response to external and internal stimuli that allow an organism to respond or adapt to accordingly. However, alterations in these mechanisms have been evidenced in several autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Integrated analysis of microRNA regulation and its interaction with mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in the etiology of systemic lupus erythematosus.

The aim of this study was to identity in silico the relationships among microRNAs (miRNAs) and genes encoding transcription factors, ubiquitylation, DNA methylation, and histone modifications in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To identify miRNA dysregulation in SLE, we used miR2Disease and PhenomiR for information about miRNAs exhibiting differential regulation in disease and other biological processes, and HMDD for information about experimentally supported human miRNA-disease association data from genetics, epigenetics, circulating miRNAs, and miRNA-target interactions. This information was incorporated into the miRNA analysis.

Cell Signaling in Neuronal Stem Cells.

The defining characteristic of neural stem cells (NSCs) is their ability to multiply through symmetric divisions and proliferation, and differentiation by asymmetric divisions, thus giving rise to different types of cells of the central nervous system (CNS). A strict temporal space control of the NSC differentiation is necessary, because its alterations are associated with neurological dysfunctions and, in some cases, death. This work reviews the current state of the molecular mechanisms that regulate the transcription in NSCs, organized according to whether the origin of the stimulus that triggers the molecular cascade in the CNS is internal (intrinsic factors) or whether it is the result of the microenvironment that surrounds the CNS (extrinsic factors).

Profiling analysis of circulating microRNA in peripheral blood of patients with class IV lupus nephritis.

Renal involvement in Systemic Lupus Erythematous (SLE) patients is one of the leading causes of morbidity and a significant contributor to mortality. It's estimated that nearly 50% of SLE individuals develop kidney disease in the first year of the diagnosis. Class IV lupus nephritis (LN-IV) is the class of lupus nephritis most common in Colombian patients with SLE.

ELAC (3,12-di-O-acetyl-8-O-tigloilingol), a plant-derived lathyrane diterpene, induces subventricular zone neural progenitor cell proliferation through PKCβ activation.

Background And Purpose: Pharmacological strategies aimed to facilitate neuronal renewal in the adult brain, by promoting endogenous neurogenesis, constitute promising therapeutic options for pathological or traumatic brain lesions. We have previously shown that non-tumour-promoting PKC-activating compounds (12-deoxyphorbols) promote adult neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation in vitro and in vivo, enhancing the endogenous neurogenic response of the brain to a traumatic injury. Here, we show for the first time that a diterpene with a lathyrane skeleton can also activate PKC and promote NPC proliferation.

High-Throughput Sequencing Reveals Circulating miRNAs as Potential Biomarkers of Kidney Damage in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Renal involvement is one of the most severe manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Renal biopsy is the gold standard when it comes to knowing whether a patient has lupus nephritis, and the degree of renal disease present. However, the biopsy has various complications, bleeding being the most common.