Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Characterization of Pers., a Native Plant of the Central Chilean Coast.

Few sclerophyllous plants from the central coast of Chile have been systematically studied. This work describes the phytochemical composition and antimicrobial properties of Pers. (sin.

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): From Abnormal Behavior to Impairment in Synaptic Plasticity.

Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with high incidence in children and adolescents characterized by motor hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revealed that neuroanatomical abnormalities such as the volume reduction in the neocortex and hippocampus are shared by several neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. Furthermore, the abnormal development and postnatal pruning of dendritic spines of neocortical neurons in schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability are well documented.

Anti-Inflammatory Chilean Endemic Plants.

Medicinal plants have been used since prehistoric times and continue to treat several diseases as a fundamental part of the healing process. Inflammation is a condition characterized by redness, pain, and swelling. This process is a hard response by living tissue to any injury.

Purification and membrane interactions of human KCNQ1 potassium ion channel.

KCNQ1 (Kv7.1 or KvLQT1) is a voltage-gated potassium ion channel that is involved in the ventricular repolarization following an action potential in the heart. It forms a complex with KCNE1 in the heart and is the pore forming subunit of slow delayed rectifier potassium current (I).

Synthesis and characterization of a silver nanoparticle-containing polymer composite with antimicrobial abilities for application in prosthetic and orthotic devices.

Background: The presence of skin problems in patients using external lower limb prosthesis is recurrent. This has generated the need to develop interfaces for prosthesis with the ability to control microbial growth. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been implemented in the development of biomaterials because of their high antimicrobial activity.

Comparative left ventricular mechanical deformation in acute apical variant stress cardiomyopathy and acute anterior myocardial infarction utilizing 2-dimensional longitudinal strain imaging.

Aims: Despite three decades of study, it is still challenging to discriminate acute apical variant stress cardiomyopathy (AVSCM) from acute left anterior descending-myocardial infarction (LAD-MI) at the time of presentation. A biomarker or practical imaging modality that can differentiate these two entities is highly desirable. Our objective was to characterize left ventricular (LV) mechanical deformation using 2-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic strain imaging in an attempt to discriminate AVSCM from LAD-MI at presentation.

[Reversed halo sign as an unusual manifestation of cryptogenic organized pneumonia. Report of one case].

We report a 64 years old female admitted with fever, cough, dyspnea and lung opacities in the chest X ray. A chest tomography scan (CTS) showed multiple-bilateral ring-shaped opacities and the reversed halo sign (RHS). The patient did not improve with antimicrobial therapy (AT).

Survey on hypoglycemia among insulin-treated patients with diabetes: The Colombian International Operations Hypoglycemia Assessment Tool population.

Introduction: The non-interventional International Operations Hypoglycemia Assessment Tool (IO-HAT) study assessed the incidence of hypoglycemia in patients with insulin-treated diabetes across nine countries, including a cohort of patients in Colombia.

Materials And Methods: Hypoglycemia incidence among patients with insulin-treated diabetes was assessed across 26 sites in Colombia. Hypoglycaemic events (any, nocturnal or severe) were reported in self-assessment questionnaires (SAQ) and patient diaries based on capillary blood glucose measurement or symptoms.

Synchronous Ovarian and Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasms in the Absence of Pseudomyxoma Peritonei.

Background: Synchronous ovarian/appendiceal mucinous neoplasms sometimes occur in the absence of clinical pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), which raises a question about whether the 2 tumors could be independent.

Methods: We identified 11 cases of synchronous ovarian/appendiceal mucinous neoplasms without PMP and subclassified them into groups 1 and 2 based on the presence or absence of microscopic peritoneal/ovarian surface mucin deposits. A 7-marker panel (CK7, CK20, CDX2, PAX8, MUC1, MUC2, and MUC5AC) immunohistochemistry was performed on both tumors.

Mitoxantrone-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Acute Myeloid Leukemia-A Velocity Vector Imaging Analysis.

Background: The purpose of this investigation was to: (1) determine incidence and predictors of mitoxantrone-induced early cardiotoxicity and (2) study left ventricular mechanics before and after receiving mitoxantrone.

Method And Results: We retrospectively analyzed 80 subjects diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who underwent chemotherapy with bolus high-dose mitoxantrone. Echocardiographic measurements were taken at baseline and at a median interval of 55 days after receiving mitoxantrone.

Body mass index predicts major bleeding risks in patients on warfarin.

Despite the lack of an optimum dosing strategy in obese patients, warfarin remains the most commonly used anticoagulant. Body mass index (BMI) >30 has been linked to increased time to obtain a therapeutic international normalized ratio on initiation of warfarin as well as higher maintenance dose. Despite higher dosage requirements, few studies have examined the relationship between warfarin and bleeding events in obese individuals.

Factors associated with recurrence and survival in liver transplant patients with HCC--a single center retrospective study.

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary tumor of the liver and is diagnosed in more than a half million people worldwide each year. This study aims to assess factors associated with the recurrence and survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation in a cohort of patients from Medellín, Colombia.

Material And Methods: This was a descriptive retrospective study of a consecutive series of liver transplant patients from the Pablo Tobon Uribe Hospital of Medellín from January 2004 to May 2013.

Frequencies of Blood Group Systems MNS, Diego, and Duffy and Clinical Phases of Carrion's Disease in Amazonas, Peru.

Carrion's disease (CD), is a human bartonellosis, that is, endemic in the Andes of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Bartonella bacilliformis, a native hemotrophic bacteria, is the causative agent of CD, and the interaction with the host could have produced changes in the gene frequencies of erythrocyte antigens. The goal here is to investigate the relationship between allele frequencies of blood group systems MNS, Diego, and Duffy and the clinical phases of CD, within a genetic context.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: preliminary attempt at palliation with use of subselective alcohol ablation.

We report a case of severe apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in order to discuss the nature of this unusual condition and the possibility of using selective alcohol ablation to effectively treat symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that presents with apical aneurysm. A 73-year-old woman with severe, progressive dyspnea and intermittent chest pain was found to have localized left ventricular apical dyskinesia distal to an obstructive mid-distal muscular ring. The ring caused total systolic obliteration of the apical left ventricular cavity.

Quantification of ER/PR expression in ovarian low-grade serous carcinoma.

Objective: Case reports suggest that hormonal therapy may be a useful treatment option for low-grade serous carcinomas (LGSC) but the clinical value remains uncertain. We hypothesized that LGSCs show a constitutive high hormone receptor expression and that type diagnosis may be sufficient to initiate hormonal therapy.

Methods: We assessed ER and PR expression on 27 LGSC, 69 high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSC), 36 serous borderline tumors (SBOT), and five normal fallopian tubes using three different platforms/antibodies on tissue microarrays.

Lipopolysaccharide inhibits the channel activity of the P2X7 receptor.

The purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) plays an important role during the immune response, participating in several events such as cytokine release, apoptosis, and necrosis. The bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is one of the strongest stimuli of the immune response, and it has been shown that P2X7R activation can modulate LPS-induced responses. Moreover, a C-terminal binding site for LPS has been proposed.

Somatotroph pituitary adenoma with acromegaly and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: SSTR5 polymorphism and PKD1 mutation.

A 39-year-old woman with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) presented with acromegaly and a pituitary macroadenoma. There was a family history of this renal disorder. She had undergone surgery for pituitary adenoma 6 years prior.

Oxidative damage in lymphocytes of copper smelter workers correlated to higher levels of excreted arsenic.

Arsenic has been associated with multiple harmful effects at the cellular level. Indirectly these defects could be related to impairment of the integrity of the immune system, in particular in lymphoid population. To characterize the effect of Arsenic on redox status on this population, copper smelter workers and arsenic unexposed donors were recruited for this study.

Oxidative stress is closely related to clinical severity of pre-eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy in which enzymatic antioxidant defenses fail and tissues are injured. This prospective case-control study evaluated whether pre-eclamptic women and their newborns show higher degrees of oxidative stress than normal pregnancies and sought to determine if this stress is related to clinical severity. Forty-four pre-eclamptic and thirty healthy pregnant women attending two hospitals in Valparaíso, Chile, were studied.

Synthesis, characterisation and cytotoxicity of chloro derivatives of prenylnaphthohydroquinone.

From the Diels-Alder adduct between alpha-myrcene and 2-chloro-1,4-benzoquinone, a family of chloro derivatives of prenylnaphthohydroquinone have been synthesised and evaluated for their cytotoxicity against 14 neoplastic cell lines.

Induced and photoinduced DNA damage by quinolones: ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and nalidixic acid determined by comet assay.

Quinolones are degraded by light with loss of their antimicrobial activity, generating active species or radicals. Evidence exists that some fluoroquinolones (lomefloxacin, fleroxacin and enoxacin) induce damage to the cellular membrane and DNA cleavage by photosensitization. In this study, the genotoxic potential of the quinolones ofloxacin, nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin (three antimicrobials frequently used in therapy) was evaluated upon irradiation with UV light by using the comet assay on cells of the Jurkat line.

[Contemporary practice of the coronary angioplasty in Chile. Final report of the Chilean National Coronary Angioplasty Registry (RENAC) 2001-2002].

Background: Coronary angioplasty was introduced in Chile in 1982, but only after the introduction of stents it became commonplace. However the results of this procedure at the national level remain largely unknown.

Aim: To assess the results and characteristics of coronary angioplasty and develop a national registry in Chile (RENAC).