[Oxidative stress, lung function and exposure to air pollutants in Mexican schoolchildren with and without asthma].

Objective.: To assess the association between the air pollutants exposure on markers of oxidative stress and lung function in schoolchildren with and without asthma from Salamanca and Leon Guanajuato, Mexico.

Materials And Methods: We realized determinations of oxidative stress biomarkers and lung function tests in 314 schoolchildren.

Expression of NK cells activation receptors after occupational exposure to toxics: a preliminary study.

The expression of NK cells activation receptors was assessed by comparative study of two groups of women workers at a chemical reagents factory, located in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Twenty of them were exposed to environmental toxics identified and quantified by gas chromatography, and 20 women unexposed to toxic substances. The expression of the surface markers CD56+ and CD3+, and of the activation receptors and co-receptors on NK cells was quantified by flow cytometry.

Comparative study of the antimutagenic properties of vitamins C and E against mutation induced by norfloxacin.

Background: Norfloxacin like other fluoroquinolones, is known to mbe mutagenic for Salmonella typhimurium TA102 strain. This mutagenic effect is due to free oxygen radicals (ROS), because it is inhibited by antioxidants such as beta-carotene and naturally occurring antioxidants of Roheo discolor and other plants. The aim of this work was to evaluate combination therapy with norfloxacin and vitamins C and E, to reduce the possible genotoxic risk associated with fluoroquinolones.

A new test of disk-diffusion to help in staphylococci identification.

A modified carbohydrate fermentation test (MCFT) of disk-diffusion assay was performed using a peptone-free agar medium, in order to improve the identification of clinical staphylococci species. Results were compared with the standard method of carbohydrate fermentation in tubes (SCFT) containing methyl red broth. MCFT was able to identify correctly 12 different species of staphylococci from the ATCC collection and 646 clinical isolates.