Effectiveness and Safety of a Single-Dose Ivermectin Treatment for Uncomplicated Strongyloidiasis in Immunosuppressed Patients (ImmunoStrong Study): The Study Protocol.

Strongyloidiasis affects an estimated 600 million people worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Single-dose ivermectin treatment has shown to be effective among immunocompetent patients with uncomplicated strongyloidiasis. Here, we present the protocol of the ImmunoStrong study, a prospective observational study aiming to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a single-dose ivermectin for treatment of uncomplicated strongyloidiasis in immunosuppressed patients.

The temporal mutational and immune tumour microenvironment remodelling of HER2-negative primary breast cancers.

The biology of breast cancer response to neoadjuvant therapy is underrepresented in the literature and provides a window-of-opportunity to explore the genomic and microenvironment modulation of tumours exposed to therapy. Here, we characterised the mutational, gene expression, pathway enrichment and tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) dynamics across different timepoints of 35 HER2-negative primary breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant eribulin therapy (SOLTI-1007 NEOERIBULIN-NCT01669252). Whole-exome data (N = 88 samples) generated mutational profiles and candidate neoantigens and were analysed along with RNA-Nanostring 545-gene expression (N = 96 samples) and stromal TILs (N = 105 samples).

Enterovirus-A71 Rhombencephalitis Outbreak in Catalonia: Characteristics, Management and Outcome.

Background: Between April and June 2016, an outbreak of rhombencephalitis (RE) caused by enterovirus (EV) A71 was detected in Catalonia, Spain-the first documented in Western Europe. The clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with this condition differed from those reported in outbreaks occurring in Southeast Asia.

Methods: Observational, multicenter study analyzing characteristics, treatment and outcome of patients with EV-A71 rhombencephalitis diagnosed in 6 publicly funded hospitals within the Catalonian Health Institute.

Relationship between Retinal Microvasculature, Cardiovascular Risk and Silent Brain Infarction in Hypertensive Patients.

Objective: The aims of this study are to analyze the role of artery-vein ratio AVR assessment using VesselMap 2 software (Imedos Systems) and cardiovascular risk evaluation by means of REGICOR in the prediction of silent brain infarction (SBI) in middle-age hypertensive patients from the ISSYS study.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional study with 695 patients with hypertension aged 50 to 70 years who participated in the project (ISSYS), was conducted in two Primary Care Centres of Barcelona. Participants agreed to a retinography and an MRI to detect silent brain infarction (SBI).

Urinary extracellular vesicles: A position paper by the Urine Task Force of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles.

Urine is commonly used for clinical diagnosis and biomedical research. The discovery of extracellular vesicles (EV) in urine opened a new fast-growing scientific field. In the last decade urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) were shown to mirror molecular processes as well as physiological and pathological conditions in kidney, urothelial and prostate tissue.

Differential Behavior of 25(OH)D and f25(OH)D3 in Patients with Morbid Obesity After Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Total 25-OH-vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are decreased in patients with obesity, but few data exist regarding free-vitamin D3 (f25(OH)D3) concentrations. We aimed to evaluate the effect of bariatric surgery on 25(OH)D and f25(OH)D3 in a cohort of patients with morbid obesity.

Methods: Twenty-four patients submitted to sleeve gastrectomy (SG) (mean age 48 years, body mass index (BMI) 48.

CNVfilteR: an R/Bioconductor package to identify false positives produced by germline NGS CNV detection tools.

Summary: Germline copy-number variants (CNVs) are relevant mutations for multiple genetics fields, such as the study of hereditary diseases. However, available benchmarks show that all next-generation sequencing (NGS) CNV calling tools produce false positives. We developed CNVfilteR, an R package that uses the single-nucleotide variant calls usually obtained in germline NGS pipelines to identify those false positives.

Paving the way towards an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis: advances in cell therapy.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a leading cause of chronic neurological disability in young to middle-aged adults, affecting ~2.5 million people worldwide. Currently, most therapeutics for MS are systemic immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs, but these drugs are unable to halt or reverse the disease and have the potential to cause serious adverse events.

Critical considerations for the development of potency tests for therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stromal cell-derived small extracellular vesicles.

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) have been widely tested against many diseases, with more than 1000 registered clinical trials worldwide. Despite many setbacks, MSCs have been approved for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease and Crohn disease. However, it is increasingly clear that MSCs exert their therapeutic functions in a paracrine manner through the secretion of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) of 50-200 nm in diameter.

Prospective pilot study to explore the melatonin level in brain tumor patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Purpose: Our aim was to assess if the radiotherapy dose decreased the melatonin levels as well as the quality of life and sleep in brain tumor patients.

Methods: We performed a follow-up study on melatonin levels in saliva and its urinary metabolite sulfatoxi-melatonine (STM) samples in patients with brain tumors treated with radiotherapy close to the pineal gland's area. We analyzed the cortisol, cortisone, and excrection of STM normalized by urinary creatinine.

Adherence to a Supplemented Mediterranean Diet Drives Changes in the Gut Microbiota of HIV-1-Infected Individuals.

Objective: The health effects of a supplemented Mediterranean diet (SMD) with extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) and nuts are well documented in non-HIV-infected individuals. We hypothesised that the benefits of an SMD could be mediated by changes in the gut microbiota, even in those with an altered intestinal microbiota such as people living with HIV.

Design: Individuals living with HIV ( = 102) were randomised to receive an SMD with 50 g/day of EVOO and 30 g/day of walnuts (SMD group) or continue with their regular diet (control group) for 12 weeks.

The association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm delivery: a prospective study with a multivariable analysis.

Background: To determine whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 disease) exposure in pregnancy, compared to non-exposure, is associated with infection-related obstetric morbidity.

Methods: We conducted a multicentre prospective study in pregnancy based on a universal antenatal screening program for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Throughout Spain 45 hospitals tested all women at admission on delivery ward using polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) for COVID-19 since late March 2020.

Women's role in neurosurgical research: is the gender gap improving?

Objective: The percentage of women publishing high-impact neurosurgical research might be perceived as a representation of our specialty and may influence the perpetuation of the existing gender gap. This study investigated whether the trend in women taking lead roles in neurosurgical research has mirrored the increase in female neurosurgeons during the past decade and whether our most prestigious publications portray enough female role models to stimulate gender diversity among the new generation of neurosurgeons.

Methods: Two of the most prominent neurosurgical journals-Journal of Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery-were selected for this study, and every original article that was published in 2009 and 2019 in each of those journals was investigated according to the gender of the first and senior authors, their academic titles, their affiliations, and their institutions' region.

Local administration of porcine immunomodulatory, chemotactic and angiogenic extracellular vesicles using engineered cardiac scaffolds for myocardial infarction.

The administration of extracellular vesicles (EV) from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is a promising cell-free nanotherapy for tissue repair after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the optimal EV delivery strategy remains undetermined. Here, we designed a novel MSC-EV delivery, using 3D scaffolds engineered from decellularised cardiac tissue as a cell-free product for cardiac repair.

Multiparameter Flow Cytometry Analysis of the Human Spleen Applied to Studies of Plasma-Derived EVs From Patients.

The spleen is a secondary lymphoid organ with multiple functions including the removal of senescent red blood cells and the coordination of immune responses against blood-borne pathogens, such as malaria parasites. Despite the major role of the spleen, the study of its function in humans is limited by ethical implications to access human tissues. Here, we employed multiparameter flow cytometry combined with cell purification techniques to determine human spleen cell populations from transplantation donors.

Heparin versus aspirin thromboprophylaxis adds independent value to IMPEDE-VTE score for venous thrombosis prediction in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is associated to an increased incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE). IMPEDE-VTE score constitutes a valuable risk assessment tool for VTE prediction in first-line MM patients. Nevertheless, refinement of the primary thromboprophylaxis category of this score (which pools aspirin and heparin) seems desirable.

How to use liquid biopsies to treat patients with cancer.

Precision medicine is now pivotal to design patients' specific treatment strategies with the aim of prolonging progression and overall survival. In this regard, invasive tumor tissue testing has so far been the golden standard for making cancer diagnosis, but has limitations. Cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA), a form of liquid biopsy, is a noninvasive biomarker that can be isolated from patients' blood and other biofluids.

Meteorin-like/Meteorin-β protects heart against cardiac dysfunction.

Meteorin-like/Meteorin-β (Metrnl/Metrnβ) is a secreted protein produced by skeletal muscle and adipose tissue that exerts metabolic actions that improve glucose metabolism. The role of Metrnβ in cardiac disease is completely unknown. Here, we show that Metrnβ-null mice exhibit asymmetrical cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and enhanced signs of cardiac dysfunction in response to isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy and aging.

Effect of combined acetylsalicylic acid and statins treatment on intracranial aneurysm rupture.

Background: Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and statins have been identified as potentially reducing the risk of intracranial aneurysms (IA) rupture. We aim to determine the effect of this drugs on the risk of rupture of IA.

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study from a prospective database of patients with IA treated in our institution between January 2013 and December 2018.