Frequency of abnormal correlation between leptin and the body mass index during first and second generation antipsychotic drug treatment.

Background: Leptin dysregulation has been implicated in the body weight gain and metabolic dysfunction observed with the second generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAD) olanzapine and clozapine.

Methods: This study quantified the frequency of subjects with abnormal correlation between leptin and the body mass index controlling for gender (defined as being out of the upper or lower 95% confidence interval in the regression line when combining each group with the drug-free subjects) after prolonged treatment with olanzapine (n=126), clozapine (n=62), first generation antiypsychotics (n=91), other SGAD (n=22), other psychotropic drugs (n=65) and drug-free subjects (n=229).

Results: None of the analysis was significant (p>0.

FTIR spectroelectrochemical characterization of the Ni-Fe-Se hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough.

For the first time a complete characterization by infrared spectroscopy of a Ni-Fe-Se hydrogenase in its different redox states is reported. The Ni-Fe-Se hydrogenase was isolated from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Two different electron paramagnetic resonance silent and air-stable redox states that are not in equilibrium were detected.

Five-gene model to predict survival in mantle-cell lymphoma using frozen or formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.

Purpose: Despite the common underlying translocation t(11;14) involving cyclin D1 that is present in nearly all cases of mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL), the clinical course of the disease is highly variable. The aim of the present study was to develop a quantitative gene expression-based model to predict survival in newly diagnosed patients with MCL that involves a minimum number of genes and is applicable to fresh-frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor samples.

Patients And Methods: The expression of 33 genes with potential prognostic and pathogenetic impact in MCL was analyzed using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCR) in a low-density array format in frozen tumor samples from 73 patients with MCL.

Effect of prenatal protein malnutrition on long-term potentiation and BDNF protein expression in the rat entorhinal cortex after neocortical and hippocampal tetanization.

Reduction of the protein content from 25 to 8% casein in the diet of pregnant rats results in impaired neocortical long-term potentiation (LTP) of the offspring together with lower visuospatial memory performance. The present study was aimed to investigate whether this type of maternal malnutrition could result in modification of plastic capabilities of the entorhinal cortex (EC) in the adult progeny. Unlike normal eutrophic controls, 55-60-day-old prenatally malnourished rats were unable to develop LTP in the medial EC to tetanizing stimulation delivered to either the ipsilateral occipital cortex or the CA1 hippocampal region.

Echinococcus granulosus: induction of T-independent antibody response against protoscolex glycoconjugates in early experimental infection.

In this work CD4-knockout mice were used as a model to analyse the role of CD4+ T cells in the antibody response against Echinococcus granulosus immunization or experimental infection. Results obtained with mice immunized with protoscolex antigens indicated that these contain T-independent antigens. After infection, CD4-knockout mice and C57Bl/6 mice showed similar titres of specific antibodies indicating that T-independent antibody production was quantitatively important in early infection.

Reproductive health and healthcare among sex workers in Escuintla, Guatemala.

This study examines understandings of sexual and reproductive health and healthcare, and perceptions of health services among women who regularly or occasionally sell or transact sex in Escuintla, Guatemala. Using an approach informed by grounded theory, 35 individual interviews were analysed. Results suggest that sex workers face multiple forms of vulnerability due to their level of education, economic situation and unequal gender relations.

Preferential use of an anode as an electron acceptor by an acidophilic bacterium in the presence of oxygen.

Several anaerobic metal-reducing bacteria have been shown to be able to donate electrons directly to an electrode. This property is of great interest for microbial fuel cell development. To date, microbial fuel cell design requires avoiding O(2) diffusion from the cathodic compartment to the sensitive anodic compartment.

Evaluation of Toluidine Blue O staining for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jiroveci in expectorated sputum sample and bronchoalveolar lavage from HIV-infected patients in a tertiary care referral center in Ethiopia.

Background: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is becoming increasingly recognized in sub-Saharan Africa. The currently recommended diagnostic methods using induced sputum (IS) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) are neither technically feasible nor affordable for a wider clinical use in developing countries. Therefore, there is a need for a simple and affordable diagnostic test.

Coagulation and inflammation markers during atypical or typical antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia patients and drug-free first-degree relatives.

Background: Clinical studies suggest that the second generation antipsychotics (APs) clozapine and olanzapine and to a lesser extent the typical antipsychotics may be associated with a procoagulant and proinflammatory state that promotes venous thromboembolism. We evaluated here several blood factors associated with coagulation and inflammation in AP-treated schizophrenia patients and their first-degree relatives.

Methods: Procoagulant factors (fibrinogen and plasminogen activator inhibitor [PAI-1]), the anticoagulant factor antithrombin III [AT-III], and inflammation-related factors (C-reactive protein [CRP] and leptin) were assessed in patients chronically treated with clozapine (n=29), olanzapine (n=29), typical APs (n=30) and first degree relatives of clozapine (n=23) and olanzapine subjects (n=11).

Synthesis of cobalt ferrite core/metallic shell nanoparticles for the development of a specific PNA/DNA biosensor.

Controlled synthesis of cobalt ferrite superparamagnetic nanoparticles covered with a gold shell has been achieved by an affinity and trap strategy. Magnetic nanoparticles are functionalized with a mixture of amino and thiol groups that facilitate the electrostatic attraction and further chemisorption of gold nanoparticles, respectively. Using these nanoparticles as seeds, a complete coating shell is achieved by gold salt-iterative reduction leading to monodisperse water-soluble gold-covered magnetic nanoparticles, with an average diameter ranging from 21 to 29 nm.

Multiple sclerosis in Gypsies from southern Spain: prevalence, mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and HLA class II association.

Occasional reports have mentioned the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) among Gypsies, and no studies have examined to date the prevalence of MS or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genetics associations in the Spanish Gypsy population. We decided to study the prevalence, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups and HLA class II distribution among gypsies with MS in southern Spain. We searched for Gypsy MS patients and studied HLA class II alleles by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific oligonucleotide (PCR/SSO) probe hybridization or sequence-specific primers amplification.

Analysis of FANCB and FANCN/PALB2 fanconi anemia genes in BRCA1/2-negative Spanish breast cancer families.

Recent reports have shown that mutations in the FANCJ/BRIP1 and FANCN/PALB2 Fanconi Anemia (FA) genes confer a moderate breast cancer risk. Discussion has been raised on the phenotypic characteristics of the PALB2-associated families and tumors. The role of FANCB in breast cancer susceptibility has not been tested to date.

Causal role of oxidative stress in liver preconditioning by thyroid hormone in rats.

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, a major clinical drawback during surgery, is abolished by L-3,3',5-triiodothyronine (T(3)) administration. Considering that the triggering mechanisms are unknown, the aim of this study is to assess the role of oxidative stress in T(3) preconditioning using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) before T(3) administration. Male Sprague-Dawley rats given a single dose of 0.

[Analysis of lung cancer cases diagnosed in an internal medicine department: from January 2001 to September 2006].

Background: Lung cancer is one of the main health problems in the developed world. Our aims were to determine the symptomatic time prior to a specific diagnosis, the clinical and histological characteristics of the cases of lung cancer diagnosed in a department of internal medicine, and to analyze the survival factors.

Material And Methods: We studied retrospectively all patients diagnosed with lung cancer in the internal medicine department in the period between January 2001 and September 2006 reviewing clinical records.

Gene expression profile and genomic changes in disease progression of early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The biologic mechanisms involved in the clinical progression from early stages of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are not well known. We investigated sequential samples from 16 untreated CLL patients obtained at diagnosis in early stage and after progression before treatment. One patient had a p16 (INK4a) homozygous deletion at diagnosis and progression, and 3 patients acquired a p53 mutation, gains of 5q21-q23 and 11pter-p14, and a gain of chromosome 12 respectively, during the progression of the disease.

Performance of commercial latex agglutination tests for the differentiation of Candida dubliniensis and Candida albicans in routine diagnostics.

Candida dubliniensis is phenotypically similar to Candida albicans and may therefore be underdiagnosed in the clinical microbiology laboratory. The performance of Bichro-Dubli latex agglutination test for rapid species identification of C. dubliniensis was prospectively evaluated on 111 vaginal and 118 respiratory isolates.

[Urinary infection by E. coli complicated with multiple abscesses].

Vertebral osteomyelitis and septic arthritis are pathologies that principally affect people over fifty years old, but their incidence seems to be growing due to the increase of nosocomial bacteraemia associated with intravascular devices and the aging of hospitalised people. The majority of cases are produced by Staphylococcus aureus. We present the case and diagnostic process of a patient with vertebral osteomyelitis caused by another organism, Escherichia coli, with fatal evolution despite adequate treatment.

How many populations set foot through the Patagonian door? Genetic composition of the current population of Bahía Blanca (Argentina) based on data from 19 Alu polymorphisms.

The city of Bahía Blanca occupies a strategic place in Argentina south of the Pampean region in the north-east corner of the Patagonia. Since 1828, this city has been the historical and political border between Amerindian lands in the south, and the lands of European colonists. Nowadays, Bahía Blanca is an urban population mainly composed by descendents of immigrants from Spain and other European countries with apparently low admixture with Amerindians.

Variant proteins of the Plasmodium falciparum RIFIN family show distinct subcellular localization and developmental expression patterns.

In order to avoid immune recognition in favor of a chronic infection, the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has developed means to express clonally variant antigens at the surface of the infected erythrocyte (IE). Proteins of the var and rif multicopy gene families, encoding PfEMP1 and RIFINs, respectively, have been implicated in these processes. Here, we studied members of the latter family and present data revealing different subcellular localization patterns for RIFIN variants belonging to two distinct subgroups, which have been designated A- and B-type RIFINs.

[Obesity, body morphology, and blood pressure in urban and rural population groups of Yucatan].

Objective: To characterize body morphology and blood pressure of adults of the Mexican state of Yucatan.

Material And Methods: Rural-urban differences in weight, height, waist, and hip circumferences, and blood pressure were analyzed in 313 urban and 271 rural subjects.

Results: No rural-urban differences in prevalence of obesity and overweight were found.

Rapid identification of pathogenic yeast isolates by real-time PCR and two-dimensional melting-point analysis.

There is a need in the clinical microbiological laboratory for rapid and reliable methods for the universal identification of fungal pathogens. Two different regions of the rDNA gene complex, the highly polymorphic ITS1 and ITS2, were amplified using primers targeting conserved regions of the 18S, 5.8S and 28S genes.

The role of thyroid hormone calorigenesis in the redox regulation of gene expression.

Thyroid hormone (TH; 3,3',5-triiodothyronine, T3) is required for the normal function of most tissues, with major effects on O(2) consumption and metabolic rate. These are due to transcriptional activation of respiratory genes through the interaction of T3-liganded TH receptors with TH response elements or the activation of intermediate factors, with the consequent higher production of reactive O(2) species (ROS) and antioxidant depletion. T3-induced oxidative stress in the liver triggers the redox upregulation of the expression of cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha], interleukin-10), enzymes (inducible nitric oxide synthase, manganese superoxide dismutase), and anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2), via a cascade initiated by TNF-alpha produced by Kupffer cells, involving inhibitor of kappaB phosphorylation and nuclear factor-kappaB activation.

Involvement of Kupffer cell-dependent signaling in T3-induced hepatocyte proliferation in vivo.

Thyroid hormone-induced calorigenesis triggers liver oxidative stress with concomitant TNF-alpha production by Kupffer cells and up-regulation of gene expression. Considering that cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (CDK-2) performs essential functions for cellular proliferation, our aim was to test the hypothesis that l-3,3',5-triiodothyronine (T(3)) stimulates liver cell proliferation by upstream mechanisms involving CDK-2 expression dependent on Kupffer cell signaling. T(3) administration induced a calorigenic response at 60-70 h after treatment, with increased TNF-alpha generation and hepatic oxidative stress status, as shown by enhanced protein carbonyls and decreased glutathione content compared to controls.