Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress in Acute and Chronic Diseases.

Molecular biomarkers consent to apply individual decisions in the complex management of both acute or chronic diseases, and their identification constitutes a fundamental phase for achieving the important object to develop personalized therapies [...

SARS CoV2 infection _The longevity study perspectives.

Like other infectious diseases, COVID-19 shows a clinical outcome enormously variable, ranging from asymptomatic to lethal. In Italy, like in other countries, old male individuals, with one or more comorbidity, are the most susceptible group, and show, consequently, the highest mortality, and morbidity, including lethal respiratory distress syndrome, as the most common complication. In addition, another extraordinary peculiarity, that is a surprising resistance to COVID-19, characterizes some Italian nonagenarians/centenarians.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Assays for Testicular Tumors: Closing the Gap between Clinical and Laboratory Practice.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines recommend the measurement of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and/or hCGβ in serum for management of testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs). These guidelines, however, disregard relevant biochemical information on hCG variants to be detected for oncological application. We set out to provide a critical review of the clinical evidence together with a characterization of the selectivity of currently marketed hCG immunoassays, identifying assays suitable for management of GCTs.

Histological characterization of umbilical cord in alpaca (Vicugna pacos).

The histomorphometric features of umbilical cord constituents in seven foetuses of alpaca (Vicugna pacos) from Cerro de Pasco, Department, Peru, were determined. Sections of 2-5 cm of umbilical cord were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin and processed for light microscopy. Standard histological slides stained with haematoxylin and eosin, Masson's trichrome and Van Gieson's trichrome were obtained.

MtDNA mutagenesis impairs elimination of mitochondria during erythroid maturation leading to enhanced erythrocyte destruction.

Haematopoietic progenitor cells show special sensitivity to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutagenesis, which suggests that increased mtDNA mutagenesis could underlie anemias. Here we show that elevated mtDNA mutagenesis in mice with a proof-reading deficient mtDNA polymerase (PolG) leads to incomplete mitochondrial clearance, with asynchronized iron loading in erythroid precursors, and increased total and free cellular iron content. The resulting Fenton chemistry leads to oxidative damage and premature destruction of erythrocytes by splenic macrophages.

Social and clinical predictors of drug-resistant tuberculosis in a public hospital, Monterrey, Mexico.

Purpose: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB) is steadily increasing in Mexico, but little is known of patient risk factors in the Mexico-United States border region. This preliminary case-control study included 95 patients with active pulmonary TB with drug susceptibility results attending the José E. González University Hospital in the urban hub of Nuevo León-the Monterrey Metropolitan Area.

New application of intelligent agents in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identifies unexpected specific genetic background.

Background: Few genetic factors predisposing to the sporadic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been identified, but the pathology itself seems to be a true multifactorial disease in which complex interactions between environmental and genetic susceptibility factors take place. The purpose of this study was to approach genetic data with an innovative statistical method such as artificial neural networks to identify a possible genetic background predisposing to the disease. A DNA multiarray panel was applied to genotype more than 60 polymorphisms within 35 genes selected from pathways of lipid and homocysteine metabolism, regulation of blood pressure, coagulation, inflammation, cellular adhesion and matrix integrity, in 54 sporadic ALS patients and 208 controls.

Assessment of the role of genetic polymorphism in venous thrombosis through artificial neural networks.

Purpose: To assess the role of genetic polymorphisms in venous thrombosis events (VTE) using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), a model for solving non-linear problems frequently associated with complex biological systems, due to interactions between biological, genetic and environmental factors.

Methods: A database was generated from a case-control study of venous thrombosis, using 238 patients and 211 controls. The database of 64 variables included age, gender and a panel of 62 genetic variants.

Genotypic analysis of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Monterrey, Mexico.

Thirty-seven multidrug-resistant and 13 pan-susceptible isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were analysed for the diversity of genotypes associated with known drug-resistance mechanisms. The isolates were obtained from patients attending a university tuberculosis clinic in Monterrey, Mexico. A total of 25 IS6110-RFLP patterns were obtained from the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates.

Transfusion medicine and surgery.

Mortality after surgery in patients with severe and progressive anemia is an entity': risks related to blood loss and insufficient oxygen delivery to tissues are still a major concern in surgery. Risks of blood transfusion parallel those of blood loss: blood-borne infectious diseases and immunological side effects' may frustrate therapeutic efforts of surgery. Thus, blood transfusion in surgery must be kept to a level in which both risks are reduced to a minimum (or theoretically even absent).