In Silico Prediction of Hub Genes Involved in Diabetic Kidney and COVID-19 Related Disease by Differential Gene Expression and Interactome Analysis.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a frequently chronic kidney pathology derived from diabetes comorbidity. This condition has irreversible damage and its risk factor increases with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The prognostic outcome for diabetic patients with COVID-19 is dismal, even with intensive medical treatment.

Analysis of Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 in Northwest Mexico and the Relationship Between the Influenza Vaccine and the Survival of Infected Patients.

The first cases of unexplained pneumonia were reported in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019. Later, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the causal agent of pneumonia. This virus has since spread to more than 180 countries and has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

Cigarette Smoke Enhances the Expression of Profibrotic Molecules in Alveolar Epithelial Cells.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and lethal disease of unknown etiology. A growing body of evidence indicates that it may result from an aberrant activation of alveolar epithelium, which induces the expansion of the fibroblast population, their differentiation to myofibroblasts and the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix. The mechanisms that activate the alveolar epithelium are unknown, but several studies indicate that smoking is the main environmental risk factor for the development of IPF.

Analysis of heat shock protein 70 gene polymorphisms Mexican patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal lung disease of unknown etiology. Genetic variation within different major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loci contributes to the susceptibility to IPF. The effect of 70 kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70) gene polymorphisms in the susceptibility to IPF is unknown.

Obesity and pro-inflammatory mediators are associated with acute kidney injury in patients with A/H1N1 influenza and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: The obesity has been shown to increase the severity of A/H1N1 infection and the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and organ involvement.

Methods: Circulating levels of C-peptide, insulin, glucagon, leptin, acute phase reactants (procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, tissue plasminogen activator, and serum amyloids A and P), were measured in samples from 32 critically ill patients with A/H1N1 virus infection, 17 of whom had ARDS complicated by acute kidney injury (AKI) and 15 of whom had ARDS but did not develop AKI.

Results: Patients with ARDS and AKI (ARDS/AKI) had higher BMI and higher levels of C-peptide, insulin, leptin, procalcitonin and serum amyloid A compared to those ARDS patient who did not develop AKI.

Angiogenic and inflammatory markers in acute respiratory distress syndrome and renal injury associated to A/H1N1 virus infection.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is often associated to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to influenza A/H1N1 virus infection. The profile of angiogenic and inflammatory factors in ARDS patients may be relevant for AKI. We analyzed the serum levels of several angiogenic factors, cytokines, and chemokines in 32 patients with A/H1N1 virus infection (17 with ARDS/AKI and 15 ARDS patients who did not developed AKI) and in 18 healthy controls.

[MicroRNAs in diagnosis and prognosis in lung cancer].

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level by blocking translation or inducing degradation of messenger RNA targets. It has been shown that miRNAs participate in a wide spectrum of essential biologic processes including cell cycle, differentiation, development, apoptosis and hematopoiesis, revealing one of the major regulators of human gene expression. Recent studies have shown evidences of abnormal expression of miRNAs in solid and hematological tumors, as well as the association of altered miRNAs with oncogenic or tumor suppressor functions, suggesting a key role of miRNAs in carcinogenesis.

The effect of CTLA-4Ig, a CD28/B7 antagonist, on the lung inflammation and T cell subset profile during murine hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is an inflammatory lung disease characterized by an influx of activated T cells to the lung, in which the CD28/B7 costimulatory signals are essential for the T cell activation and the outcome of the inflammatory response. In this study, we investigated the effect of the CD28/B7 antagonist, CTLA-4Ig, on the lung inflammation and the T cell subset profile in experimental Saccharopolyspora recivirgula (SR)-induced HP. C57BL/6 mice were treated with SR or saline during two and three weeks and in addition of CTLA-4Ig was administrated after either the second or third week and mice were sacrificed seven days later.

Amaranthus leucocarpus lectin (ALL) enhances anti-CD3-dependent activation of murine T cells and promotes cell survival.

The Galβ1,3GalNAc-specific lectin from Amaranthus leucocarpus (ALL) shows a differential binding pattern on murine thymocytes, peripheral and activated CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Although ALL detects activation-related changes in T cell surface carbohydrate moieties, no study has been performed to examine the effect of ALL on T cell activation. In this study, we analyzed the anti-CD3-dependent activation of murine T cells in the presence of ALL by measuring proliferation, surface activation marker expression, and IL-2 secretion using total cells from the lymph node.

Isolation of the receptor for the Amaranthus leucocarpus lectin from human T lymphocytes.

Amaranthus leucocarpus lectin (ALL) is specific for GalNAc, and recognizes human T cells. The receptor for ALL was purified from T cells using biotin-labeled lectin and avidin-agarose as affinity matrix. It is a 70-kDa glycoprotein, constituted mainly by serine, glycine, and glutamic acid; its glycosidic portion contains mainly GalNAc; galactose, sialic acid, mannose, and GlcNAc were identified at a lower proportion.