Publications by authors named "Maria Gomez-Ruiz"

Article Synopsis
  • * A study at Hospital Universitari i Politécnic in Valencia, Spain, from 2010 to 2020 analyzed 3713 cases, revealing an 11.7% prevalence, primarily among women of childbearing age, with many patients undiagnosed and untreated.
  • * Treatment with the drug benznidazole led to adverse reactions in 107 out of 204 patients, highlighting the challenges CD poses for healthcare systems and the importance of raising awareness about the disease.
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FGFR3-TACC3 fusion-positive IDH-wild-type (IDH-WT) glioblastoma (GB) is a rare GB subtype occurring in approximately 3% of cases. It is clinical behavior and molecular profile is different from those of fusion-negative IDH-WT GBs. Evidence on the role of FGFR inhibitors in FGFR-altered gliomas is limited.

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Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease, is now considered a worldwide health concern as a result of migratory movements from Central and South America to other regions that were considered free of the disease, and where the epidemiological risk is limited to transplacental transmission or blood or organ donations from infected persons. Parasite detection in chronically ill patients is restricted to serological tests that only determine infection by previous infection and not the presence of the parasite, especially in patients undergoing treatment evaluation or in newborns. We have evaluated the use of nucleic acids from both circulating exovesicles and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from 50 samples twice randomly selected from a total of 448 serum samples from immunologically diagnosed patients in whom the presence of the parasite was confirmed by nested PCR on amplicons resulting from amplification with kinetoplastid DNA-specific primers 121F-122R.

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Germline replication-repair deficient (gRRD) gliomas are exceptional events, and only a few of them have been treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Contrary to sporadic gliomas, where ICIs have failed to show any objective benefit, the very few patients with gRRD gliomas treated with ICIs to date seem to benefit from programmed-death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors, such as nivolumab or pembrolizumab, either in terms of durable responses or in terms of survival. T-cell immunohistochemistry (IHC) and T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire using high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) with the Oncomine TCR-Beta-SR assay (Thermo Fisher Scientific) were analyzed in pre- and post-nivolumab tumor biopsies obtained from a patient with a Lynch syndrome-associated glioma due to a germline pathogenic mutation.

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COVID-19 vaccination has proven to be effective at preventing symptomatic disease but there are scarce data to fully understand whether vaccinated individuals can still behave as SARS-CoV-2 transmission vectors. Based on viral genome sequencing and detailed epidemiological interviews, we report a nosocomial transmission event involving two vaccinated health care-workers (HCWs) and four patients, one of them with fatal outcome. Strict transmission control measures, as during the prevaccination period, must be kept between HCWs and HCWs-patients in nosocomial settings.

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SARS-CoV-2 nosocomial outbreaks in the first COVID-19 wave were likely associated with a shortage of personal protective equipment and scarce indications on control measures. Having covered these limitations, updates on current SARS-CoV-2 nosocomial outbreaks are required. We carried out an in-depth analysis of a 27-day nosocomial outbreak in a gastroenterology ward in our hospital, potentially involving 15 patients and 3 health care workers.

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Orbital infarction syndrome (OIS) encompasses the ischaemic infarction of all intraorbital and intraocular structures (optic nerve, extraocular muscles and orbital fat) which leads to a painful loss of visual acuity, ophthalmoparesis, chemosis, proptosis and ptosis. The rich anastomotic orbital vascularisation from internal carotid artery (ICA) and external carotid artery makes this disorder a rare cause of visual loss in stroke patients. We describe a case of a woman who suffered an acute occlusion of her right ICA and developed an OIS after mechanical thrombectomy.

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Background: Leishmaniasis, considered by the World Health Organization as one of the most important tropical diseases, is endemic in the Mediterranean Basin. The aim of this study was to evaluate epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cutaneous (CL) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) in La Fe University Hospital, Valencia, Spain. The particular focus was on diagnosis techniques and clinical differences according to the immunological status of the patients.

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Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a group of hereditary and progressive neurological disorders characterized by a loss of balance and motor coordination typically associated with cerebellar atrophy. The most prevalent SCA types are all polyQ disorders like Huntington's disease, sharing the most relevant events in pathogenesis with this basal ganglia disorder, but with most of the damage concentrated in cerebellar neurons, and in their afferent and efferent connections (e.g.

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The increase in lifespan during the last 50 years, mainly in developed countries, has originated a progressive elevation in the incidence of chronic neurodegenerative disorders, for which aging is the key risk factor. This fact will definitively become the major biomedical challenge during the present century, in part because the expectation of a persisting elevation in the population older than 65 years over the whole population and, on the other hand, because the current lack of efficacious therapies to control these disorders despite years of intense research. This chapter will address this question and will stress the urgency of developing better neuroprotective and neurorepair strategies that may delay/arrest the progression of these disorders, reviewing the major needs to solve the causes proposed for the permanent failures experienced in recent years, e.

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Spinocerebellar ataxia type-3 (SCA-3) is the most prevalent autosomal dominant inherited ataxia. We recently found that the endocannabinoid system is altered in the post-mortem cerebellum of SCA-3 patients, and similar results were also found in the cerebellar and brainstem nuclei of a SCA-3 transgenic mouse model. Given that the neuropathology of SCA-3 is not restricted to these two brain regions but rather, it is also evident in other structures (e.

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Background: Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast that can cause invasive infections and is associated with high mortality. It is typically resistant to fluconazole and voriconazole and, some cases, also to echinocandins and amphotericin B. This species, phylogenetically related to Candida haemulonii, is frequently misidentified by commercial identification techniques in clinical laboratories; therefore, the real prevalence of C.

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Spinocerebellar ataxia type-3 (SCA-3) is a rare disease but it is the most frequent type within the autosomal dominant inherited ataxias. The disease lacks an effective treatment to alleviate major symptoms and to modify disease progression. Our recent findings that endocannabinoid receptors and enzymes are significantly altered in the post-mortem cerebellum of patients affected by autosomal-dominant hereditary ataxias suggest that targeting the endocannabinoid signaling system may be a promising therapeutic option.

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Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are usually well-to-moderately differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) that most often metastasize to the liver and lymph nodes with other locations being uncommon. We present a case of intradural pNET metastasis and conduct a review of the literature. Forty-five cases, including the case presently reported, of spinal cord compression due to well-differentiated NETs were found: carcinoid (80%), pNET (13.

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Objectives: Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are characterized by a loss of balance and motor coordination due to degeneration of the cerebellum and its afferent and efferent connections. We recently found important changes in cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors in the post-mortem cerebellum of patients affected by different SCAs.

Methods: We wanted to further explore this issue by analysing the two major endocannabinoid-hydrolysing enzymes, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacyl glycerol lipase (MAGL), in the post-mortem cerebellum of SCA patients and control subjects.

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Background And Purpose: Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a family of chronic progressive neurodegenerative diseases, clinically and genetically heterogeneous, characterized by loss of balance and motor coordination due to degeneration of the cerebellum and its afferent and efferent connections. Unlike other motor disorders, the possible role of changes in the endocannabinoid system in the pathogenesis of SCAs has not been investigated.

Experimental Approach: The status of cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1 ) and cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2 ) receptors in the post-mortem cerebellum of SCA patients and controls was investigated using immunohistochemical procedures.

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Searching for novel antiobesity agents, a series of cannabinoid LH21 and of Rimonabant-fatty acid amide analogues have been prepared. Synthesis of pyrazoles 2a-2c was achieved by a two steps simple methodology via α,β-unsaturated ketones. Carboxamides 8a-8h were obtained in good yields from esters 7a-7c by a one-pot procedure which takes place under mild conditions.

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A series of bivalent cannabinoid ligands is proposed. The synthesis of double amides based on the rimonabant structure separated by an alkyl chain and the evaluation of their affinities for cannabinoid receptors are reported. The data of 4d confirmed that a bivalent structure is a suitable scaffold for CB1 cannabinoid receptor binding.

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The unwanted psychoactive effects of cannabinoid receptor agonists have limited their development as medicines. These CB₁-mediated side effects are due to the fact that CB₁ receptors are largely expressed in the central nervous system (CNS). As it is known that CB₁ receptors are also located peripherally, there is growing interest in targeting cannabinoid receptors located outside the brain.

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Importance Of The Field: Cannabinoids have been proposed as clinically promising neuroprotective molecules, based on their capability to normalize glutamate homeostasis, reducing excitotoxicity, to inhibit calcium influx, lowering intracellular levels and the subsequent activation of calcium-dependent destructive pathways, and to reduce the generation of reactive oxygen intermediates or to limit their toxicity, decreasing oxidative injury. Cannabinoids are also able to decrease local inflammatory events by acting on glial processes that regulate neuronal survival, and to restore blood supply by reducing vasocontriction produced by several endothelium-derived factors.

Areas Covered In This Review: Current literature supporting these neuroprotective effects, particularly evidence generated during the last ten years, concentrating on targets within the cannabinoid signaling system that facilitate these effects.

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The cannabinoid signaling system participates in the control of cell homeostasis in the CNS, which explains why, in different neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), alterations in this system have been found to serve both as a pathogenic factor (malfunctioning of this system has been found at early phases of these diseases) and as a therapeutic target (the management of this system has beneficial effects). MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the CNS and it is characterized by inflammation, demyelination, remyelination, gliosis and axonal damage. Although it has been considered mainly as an inflammatory disorder, recent studies have recognized the importance of axonal loss both in the progression of the disorder and in the appearance of neurological disability, even in early stages of the disease.

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About 40 years ago, cannabinoids were considered as the substances responsible for the psychoactive properties of marijuana and other derivatives of Cannabis sativa, whereas their medicinal use remained unexplored. However, with the discovery of the endocannabinoid system 20 years later, the compounds able to modify this system are being reconsidered for their therapeutic potential. Thus, the term "cannabinoid" includes now much more compounds than those present in C.

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Cannabinoids have been predominantly considered as the substances responsible of the psychoactive properties of marijuana and other derivatives of Cannabis sativa. However, these compounds are now being also considered for their therapeutic potential, since the term "cannabinoid" includes much more compounds than those present in Cannabis sativa derivatives. Among them, there are numerous synthetic cannabinoids obtained by modifications from plant-derived cannabinoids, but also from the compounds that behave as endogenous ligands for the different cannabinoid receptor subtypes.

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