Comparison of Argentinean microbiota with other geographical populations reveals different taxonomic and functional signatures associated with obesity.

Accumulating evidence suggests that various genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of obesity. Among the latter, the gut microbiota has emerged as a critical player in the regulation of human metabolism and health and the development of non-communicable chronic diseases. Considering that no information on this matter is available in Argentina, our aim was to identify the microorganisms associated with obesity as well as their potential functionality.

Distribution of polymorphisms in cytochrome P450 2B6, histocompatibility complex P5, chemokine coreceptor 5, and interleukin 28B genes in inhabitants from the central area of Argentina.

Aims: The selection of the most appropriate treatment for several diseases relies on a number of factors such as environment, age, gender, and nutrition. Additionally, the contribution of different genetic polymorphisms to treatment efficacy has been largely recognized. The lack of information on the pharmacogenetic profile of our population prompted us to analyze the frequency of polymorphisms known to be relevant to achieve treatment efficacy with different therapeutic agents in viral infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis C and AIDS.

Genetic profiling of GSTP1, DPYD, FCGR2A, FCGR3A and CCND1 genes in an Argentinian population.

Objectives: To determine the frequencies of relevant allelic variants in oncology for the GSTP1, DPYD, FCGR2A, FCGR3A and CCND1 genes in a population from Central Argentina. To compare the allelic distribution found with the frequencies reported for other ethnic groups.

Design And Methods: Genotyping was carried out in a total of 102 unrelated Argentinian subjects.

Development of a method to control the RNA extraction and reverse transcription steps for the detection of dengue virus present in human blood samples.

Aims: Molecular biology techniques based on the detection of genomic sequences by reverse transcription combined with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have enabled the detection of different RNA viruses in serum or plasma samples. Since the dengue epidemic outbreak declared in Argentina in 2009, numerous patients' samples were analyzed for the acute phase of infection. One of the main methodological drawbacks is the lack of internal control to measure the effectiveness of the viral extraction and reverse transcription process.

Phylodynamics of hepatitis C virus subtype 2c in the province of Córdoba, Argentina.

The Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 2 subtype 2c (HCV-2c) is detected as a low prevalence subtype in many countries, except in Southern Europe and Western Africa. The current epidemiology of HCV in Argentina, a low-prevalence country, shows the expected low prevalence for this subtype. However, this subtype is the most prevalent in the central province of Córdoba.

Rapid HCP5 single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping: a simple allele-specific PCR method for prediction of hypersensitivity reaction to Abacavir.

Background: The most important factor limiting the success of an antiretroviral therapy is toxicity. The HLA-B*5701 allele is predictive of hypersensitivity reaction to Abacavir, and this gene is in a perfect linkage disequilibrium with the rs2395029 SNP present in the HCP5 gene.

Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from blood obtained from 201 unrelated healthy Argentinean volunteers.

Detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in body fluids from HCV monoinfected and HCV/HIV coinfected patients.

Background/aims: The possibility of the non-parenteral Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) transmission is supported by the demonstration that the actual virus is present in several body fluids. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the detection of HCV RNA in body fluids (saliva, cervical smears, seminal fluid and peripheral blood mononuclear cells) from chronically HCV-infected patients and several viral and host factors.

Methodology: This study comprised 16 HIV/ HCV coinfected and 21 HCV monoinfected patients with a median age of 38 and 45 years, respectively.

Evaluation of five screening tests licensed in Argentina for detection of hepatitis C virus antibodies.

This study was conducted to compare among the most recent generation of five screening tests licensed in Argentina, in order to evaluate which of the tests has the best sensitivity for detection of antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV). The tests analyzed were: Detect-HCV (3.0) Biochem ImmunoSystems, Canada; Hepatitis C EIA Wiener Lab.

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in Córdoba, Argentina. Unexpected high prevalence of genotype 2.

To determine hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes circulating in the central region of Argentina, 96 consecutive anti-HCV positive subjects were studied. The presence of HCV RNA was detected in 60 samples by RT-nested PCR of the 5' noncoding region (5' NCR). Genotyping was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of 5' NCR region combined with PCR using type-specific primers of the core region.