Quinoxaline derivatives as potential antitrypanosomal and antileishmanial agents.

Continuous efforts have been made to discover new drugs for the treatment of Chagas' disease, human African trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis. We have previously reported the synthesis and antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal (Y strain) properties of 2,3-disubstituted quinoxalines. Considering their promising antiparasitic potential, the present study was conducted to expand our search and take advantage of high-throughput assays to investigate the effects of quinoxaline derivatives against Leishmania donovani, Trypanosoma brucei, and Trypanosoma cruzi (Tulahuen strain).

Influence of changes in the Spanish labor market during the economic crisis (2007-2011) on perceived health.

Purpose: We analyze the influence of the dramatic changes in the Spanish labor market during the crisis on the perceived health of the Spanish population.

Methods: We use the longitudinal Living Conditions Survey database and multilevel longitudinal logistic models between 2007 and 2011, before and during the economic crisis in one of the European countries most affected by its consequences.

Results: Unemployment (OR 1.

The impact of the economic crisis on unmet dental care needs in Spain.

Objectives: To analyse the impact that the economic crisis and the evolution of socioeconomic inequality before (2007) and during (2011) the current crisis have had on unmet dental care needs in Spain.

Methods: The Living Conditions Surveys from the years 2007 and 2011 were used, including 44 138 adults aged under 65 years. A descriptive and stratified analysis was carried out along with the calculation of the concentration index and a multivariate logistic regression jointly and separately by gender.

Cost-utility analysis of a medication review with follow-up service for older adults with polypharmacy in community pharmacies in Spain: the conSIGUE program.

Background: The concept of pharmaceutical care is operationalized through pharmaceutical professional services, which are patient-oriented to optimize their pharmacotherapy and to improve clinical outcomes.

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of a medication review with follow-up (MRF) service for older adults with polypharmacy in Spanish community pharmacies against the alternative of having their medication dispensed normally.

Methods: The study was designed as a cluster randomized controlled trial, and was carried out over a time horizon of 6 months.

Cost effectiveness of using moxibustion to correct non-vertex presentation.

Aims: To analyse the cost effectiveness of using the moxibustion technique to correct non-vertex presentation and to reduce the number of caesarean sections performed at term.

Method: A deterministic model of decision analysis has been developed to analyse the cost of treatment in which heat is applied by moxibustion (the combustion of Artemisia vulgaris) at acupuncture point BL67 for pregnant women with non-vertex fetal position at 33-35 weeks' gestation. This approach was compared with conventional treatment recommendations based on the knee-chest posture technique.

Automated high-content assay for compounds selectively toxic to Trypanosoma cruzi in a myoblastic cell line.

Background: Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, represents a very important public health problem in Latin America where it is endemic. Although mostly asymptomatic at its initial stage, after the disease becomes chronic, about a third of the infected patients progress to a potentially fatal outcome due to severe damage of heart and gut tissues. There is an urgent need for new drugs against Chagas disease since there are only two drugs available, benznidazole and nifurtimox, and both show toxic side effects and variable efficacy against the chronic stage of the disease.

Identification and characterization of hundreds of potent and selective inhibitors of Trypanosoma brucei growth from a kinase-targeted library screening campaign.

In the interest of identification of new kinase-targeting chemotypes for target and pathway analysis and drug discovery in Trypanosomal brucei, a high-throughput screen of 42,444 focused inhibitors from the GlaxoSmithKline screening collection was performed against parasite cell cultures and counter-screened against human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells. In this way, we have identified 797 sub-micromolar inhibitors of T. brucei growth that are at least 100-fold selective over HepG2 cells.

Cost-utility analysis of a pharmacotherapy follow-up for elderly nursing home residents in Spain.

Objectives: To compare the cost-effectiveness of a pharmacotherapy follow-up for elderly nursing home (NH) residents with that of usual care.

Design: Prospective observational study with a concurrent control group conducted over 12 months.

Setting: Fifteen NHs in Andalusia assigned to control (n = 6) or intervention (n = 9).

Seed shape in model legumes: approximation by a cardioid reveals differences in ethylene insensitive mutants of Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula.

Seed shape in the model legumes Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula is described. Based in previous work with Arabidopsis, the outline of the longitudinal sections of seeds is compared with a cardioid curve. L.

[The sustainability of the Spanish National Health System].

The Spanish National Health System (SNHS) has sustainability problems resulting from weaknesses in institutional design and governance compounded by the economic crisis it faces. The global economic crisis has had a particularly virulent impact in Spain, characterized by high levels of unemployment and public and private debt. Fiscal adjustment policies implemented may significantly compromise the SNHS.

Factors associated with improvement in disability-adjusted life years in patients with HIV/AIDS.

Background: The epidemic of HIV/AIDS and treatments that have emerged to alleviate, have brought about a shift in the burden of disease from death to quality of life/disability. The aim was to determine which factors are associated with improvements in the level of health of male and female patients with HIV/AIDS in Andalusia, in terms of disability-adjusted life years.

Methods: Descriptive study based on a sample group of 8800 people on the Andalusian AIDS register between 1983 and 2004.

Identification and activity of a series of azole-based compounds with lactate dehydrogenase-directed anti-malarial activity.

Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria, relies extensively on glycolysis coupled with homolactic fermentation during its blood-borne stages for energy production. Selective inhibitors of the parasite lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), central to NAD(+) regeneration, therefore potentially provide a route to new antimalarial drugs directed against a novel molecular target. A series of heterocyclic, azole-based compounds are described that preferentially inhibit P.

Hormonal and embryonic regulation of chemokine receptors CXCR1, CXCR4, CCR5 and CCR2B in the human endometrium and the human blastocyst.

Chemokines are implicated in the implantation process. The aim of this study was to investigate mRNA expression and protein levels of chemokine receptors CXCR1, CXCR4, CCR5 and CCR2B in human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle, during HRT and in the human blastocyst. The regulation of chemokine receptors in the endometrial epithelium was also studied using an in-vitro model for the apposition phase of human implantation.

Stereologic estimation of the number of neuroendocrine cells in normal human prostate detected by immunohistochemistry.

Neuroendocrine cells may play a role in both normal and pathologic conditions of the human prostate. It may be interesting to investigate 1) whether there are significant amounts of neuroendocrine cells in human adult normal prostate, and 2) whether the distribution of these cells shows regional differences. This study estimates both absolute and relative amounts of neuroendocrine cells immunostained for two neuronal markers (chromogranin A and protein gene product 9.