Publications by authors named "Maria Del Carmen Ramirez Tortosa"

Article Synopsis
  • - Methotrexate (MTX) is commonly used to treat moderate-to-severe psoriasis but can cause toxicity in some patients, leading to treatment suspension.
  • - A study involving 101 patients identified specific genetic variations (SNPs) linked to an increased risk of developing adverse effects from MTX, including the rs2238476-AG and rs376154-GT genotypes.
  • - The findings suggest these SNPs could serve as biomarkers to predict MTX toxicity in psoriasis patients, allowing for better management of treatment plans.
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Article Synopsis
  • Biological therapies for psoriasis are effective, but many patients experience reduced effectiveness, leading to treatment switches; this study examines how genetic variations may affect drug survival for anti-TNF and ustekinumab (UTK) therapies in patients.
  • The study analyzed 379 treatment lines involving 206 patients, genotyping 29 SNPs to assess which genetic factors influence the effectiveness of these treatments using statistical methods.
  • Results indicate specific SNPs are linked to better drug survival rates for both anti-TNF and UTK, suggesting that understanding these genetic markers could aid personalized treatment approaches and improve healthcare outcomes, although more research is needed to validate these findings.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels. In addition to environmental risk factors, genetic predisposition increases the risk; this includes alterations in the vitamin D receptor gene (). These alterations play a key role in modifying vitamin D uptake, being able to modify its function and increasing susceptibility to cardiovascular disorders.

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Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent neoplasm and one of the main causes of death in women. The pharmacological treatment of BC consists of hormonal therapy, chemotherapeutic agents and targeted therapy. The response to BC therapy is highly variable in clinical practice.

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Vitamin D has been associated with risk, development, and progression of cancer. However, the genes involved in its metabolism are highly polymorphic, compromising its activity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between the gene polymorphisms involved in the metabolic pathway of vitamin D and survival in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

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Article Synopsis
  • * Current therapies include anti-TNF and interleukin inhibitors, which can be effective but not always result in optimal long-term responses, and might cause varied toxicity in patients.
  • * Genetic factors, including specific polymorphisms in several genes, may influence how patients respond to these treatments, suggesting that understanding a patient's genetic makeup could lead to more personalized and effective treatment options in the future.
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Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of unknown etiology which causes progressive deterioration of the joints, leading to severe pain and functional disability. Vitamin D and its receptor (VDR) play a significant part in the onset of autoimmune diseases such as RA. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between gene polymorphisms and risk of developing RA.

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Both pre- and early postnatal supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (AA) and folate have been related to neural development, but their long-term effects on later neural function remain unclear. We evaluated the long-term effects of maternal prenatal supplementation with fish-oil (FO), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), placebo or FO + 5-MTHF, as well as the role of fatty acid desaturase () gene cluster polymorphisms, on their offspring's processing speed at later school age. This study was conducted in NUHEAL children at 7.

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Abatacept (ABA) is used as a first-line treatment in patients diagnosed with moderate and severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The interindividual response to ABA therapy is very variable in these patients. The objective of our study was therefore to investigate the role of polymorphisms of the , and genes, as well as that of clinical factors of the disease, in the response to ABA in patients with RA.

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This study investigates the effect of lifelong intake of different fat sources rich in monounsaturated (virgin olive oil), n6 polyunsaturated (sunflower oil) or n3 polyunsaturated (fish oil) fatty acids in the aged liver. Male Wistar rats fed lifelong on diets differing in the fat source were killed at 6 and at 24 months of age. Liver histopathology, mitochondrial ultrastructure, biogenesis, oxidative stress, mitochondrial electron transport chain, relative telomere length and gene expression profiles were studied.

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This study investigated the effects of two different strawberry cultivars, Adria and Sveva, against doxorubicin (DOX)-induced toxicity in rats. A controlled dietary intervention was conducted over 16 weeks with four groups: (i) normal diet; (ii) normal diet + DOX injection; (iii) Adria supplementation + DOX injection; and (iv) Sveva supplementation + DOX injection. Sveva presented higher total antioxidant capacity value and phenol and and vitamin C levels than Adria, which in turn presented higher anthocyanin contents.

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Background: Periodontitis, the most prevalent chronic inflammatory disease, has been related to cardiovascular diseases. Autophagy provides a mechanism for the turnover of cellular organelles and proteins through a lysosome-dependent degradation pathway. The aim of this research was to study the role of autophagy in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with periodontitis and gingival fibroblasts treated with a lipopolysaccharide of Porphyromonas gingivalis.

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Oxidative stress is one of the factors that could explain the pathophysiological mechanism of inflammatory conditions that occur in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and periodontitis. Such inflammatory response is often evoked by specific bacteria, as the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Porphyromonas gingivalis is a key factor in this process. The aim of this research was to study the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from periodontitis patients and to evaluate the influence of LPS on fibroblasts to better understand the pathophysiology of periodontitis and its relationship with CVD.

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The aim of the present study was to assess the plasma fatty acid composition of the total plasma lipids and lipid fractions in obese prepubertal children with and without metabolic syndrome (MS). Thirty-four obese prepubertal children were recruited: 17 who met MS criteria and 17 who did not; and twenty prepubertal children of normal weight. MS characteristics, insulin resistance (by homeostasis model assessment [HOMA-IR]), and plasma adiponectin (by radioimmunoassay) were recorded.

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Background: Altered intakes of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids were suggested to modulate allergic disease, but intervention trials yielded inconclusive results. Because allergies are primed in early infancy and in utero, the fetus might be more accessible to nutritional intervention strategies.

Objective: We sought to investigate how supplementation of pregnant women with a fish oil (FO) preparation modulates allergy-related immune parameters in mothers and offspring.

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