Introduction
Tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment is associated with dyslipidaemia, including a rise in triglycerides through a mechanism poorly understood. Three molecules play key roles in the regulation of ...triglyceride metabolism: apolipoprotein C‐III (ApoC‐III), angiopoietin‐like protein 4(ANGPLT4) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL). The aim of this work was to analyse whether the changes in triglycerides shown by TCZ‐treated RA patients could stem from the dysregulation that can occur in these regulatory molecules.
Methods
Twenty‐seven RA patients included in the TOCRIVAR study who received TCZ (8 mg/kg IV/q4w) were evaluated at baseline and at Weeks 12, 24 and 52 of treatment. ANGPTL4, ApoC‐III and LPL, a complete lipid profile and RA disease activity, were analysed at baseline and at each visit. Multivariable linear mixed models were performed to study changes over time in lipids and regulatory molecules.
Results
After 24 weeks of TCZ treatment, HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1 and triglycerides increased, whereas lipoprotein (a) decreased significantly from baseline values. However, 1 year after TCZ, no significant differences in lipid pattern were observed with respect to baseline. Serum ANGPTL4 and Apo‐CIII levels decreased gradually over time, both being significantly lower than baseline values at Week 52. LPL concentration did not change significantly during TCZ treatment. Remarkably, the elevation of triglycerides at Week 24 maintained its statistical significance after adjusting for the changes in ApoC‐III, ANGPTL4 and LPL.
Conclusion
In TCZ‐treated RA patients basal serum levels of ANGPLT4 and ApoC‐III, but not LPL, decreased significantly. However, the elevation of triglycerides after TCZ was not related to changes in these regulatory molecules.
The indiscriminate use of plastic in food packaging contributes significantly to environmental pollution, promoting the search for more eco-friendly alternatives for the food industry. This work ...studied five formulations (T1-T5) of biodegradable cassava starch/gelatin films. The results showed the presence of the starch/gelatin functional groups by FT-IR spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed a thermal reinforcement after increasing the amount of gelatin in the formulations, which increased the crystallization temperature (Tc) from 190 °C for the starch-only film (T1) to 206 °C for the film with 50/50 starch/gelatin (T3). It also exhibited a homogeneous surface morphology, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). However, an excess of gelatin showed low compatibility with starch in the 25/75 starch/gelatin film (T4), evidenced by the low Tc definition and very rough and fractured surface morphology. Increasing gelatin ratio also significantly increased the strain (from 2.9 ± 0.5% for T1 to 285.1 ± 10.0% for T5) while decreasing the tensile strength (from 14.6 ± 0.5 MPa for T1 to 1.5 ± 0.3 MPa for T5). Water vapor permeability (
) increased, and water solubility (
) also decreased with gelatin mass rising in the composites. On the other hand, opacity did not vary significantly due to the films' cassava starch and gelatin ratio. Finally, optimizing the mechanical and water barrier properties resulted in a mass ratio of 53/47 cassava starch/gelatin as the most appropriate for their application in food packaging, indicating their usefulness in the food-packaging industry.
To analyse the characteristics and predictors of death in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Spain.
A retrospective observational study was performed of the first ...consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 confirmed by real-time PCR assay in 127 Spanish centres until 17 March 2020. The follow-up censoring date was 17 April 2020. We collected demographic, clinical, laboratory, treatment and complications data. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with death.
Of the 4035 patients, male subjects accounted for 2433 (61.0%) of 3987, the median age was 70 years and 2539 (73.8%) of 3439 had one or more comorbidity. The most common symptoms were a history of fever, cough, malaise and dyspnoea. During hospitalization, 1255 (31.5%) of 3979 patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, 736 (18.5%) of 3988 were admitted to intensive care units and 619 (15.5%) of 3992 underwent mechanical ventilation. Virus- or host-targeted medications included lopinavir/ritonavir (2820/4005, 70.4%), hydroxychloroquine (2618/3995, 65.5%), interferon beta (1153/3950, 29.2%), corticosteroids (1109/3965, 28.0%) and tocilizumab (373/3951, 9.4%). Overall, 1131 (28%) of 4035 patients died. Mortality increased with age (85.6% occurring in older than 65 years). Seventeen factors were independently associated with an increased hazard of death, the strongest among them including advanced age, liver cirrhosis, low age-adjusted oxygen saturation, higher concentrations of C-reactive protein and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate.
Our findings provide comprehensive information about characteristics and complications of severe COVID-19, and may help clinicians identify patients at a higher risk of death.
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Introducción: En México ha aumentado la proporción de personas que realizan ejercicio y de quienes consumen suplementos nutricionales (SN), lo cual podría implicar mayor riesgo de consecuencias no ...deseables para la salud, debido a que su uso no está regulado. Estudios previos han reportado la relación del uso de SN con características sociodemográficas y la experiencia u objetivos de entrenamiento de asistentes a gimnasios, pero no con indicadores de la autopercepción de la imagen corporal.
Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio transversal con una muestra de 1.135 de adultos mexicanos de 18 a 40 años. Se indagó sobre hábitos de entrenamiento, de alimentación y de suplementación. Mediante modelos de regresión de Poisson se analizó la relación de características sociodemográficas, de entrenamiento y autopercepción de la imagen corporal con el uso de SN.
Resultados: 58,0% de los participantes fueron hombres y 42,0% fueron mujeres, 46,2% habían consumido algún SN y 35,4% lo consumía durante el estudio. Los SN más consumidos fueron bebidas deportivas (28,7%) y proteína (23,6%). El consumo de SN fue mayor en hombres, participantes de mayor edad, con más tiempo entrenando y con deterioro funcional por dismorfia muscular. Los nutricionistas fueron la tercera fuente que recomendó SN, después de entrenadores y amigos.
Conclusiones: Casi la mitad de los asistentes a gimnasios han consumido algún SN. Existen grupos que tienen mayor probabilidad de consumir SN, lo que puede requerir mayor indagación respecto a las razones que explican esto.
Background. Dietary exposure to mercury in women of childbearing age could result in neurological effects on the fetus. A health risk assessment of total mercury by fishery products intake has not ...been conducted in this population group in Bogota, Colombia. On the other hand, it has been suggested that selenium content on fishery products may have a protective effect against mercury toxicity. Nevertheless, selenium content on fish species marketed in Bogotá has not been determined. Objective. Exposure risk to total mercury and selenium content on fishery products consumed by women of childbearing age from Bogota, Colombia, were assessed. Methods. Total mercury and selenium concentrations for products available at fish stores and supermarkets were determined. The exposure risk to total mercury was estimated considering the intake of these products by women of childbearing age group. Results. Total mercury highest concentrations were 0.8166 mg/kg in mota (Calophysus macropterus), and 0.6275 mg/kg in catfish (Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum). On the other hand, the highest selenium concentration was 0.6471 mg/kg in nicuro (Pimelodus blochii). Finally, it was established that for women of the childbearing age group, health risk of exposure to total mercury due to mota intake exceeded by 8.56-fold the reference dose. Conclusions. Mota intake considerably increases exposure risk to total mercury on women of childbearing age from Bogota, Colombia. The selenium levels established in the fishery products assessed, except for catfish and mota, are theoretically suggestive of a protective effect of selenium against mercury toxicity. Consequently, continuous total mercury concentrations monitoring is required to protect health of the women of childbearing age and the general population from Bogota, Colombia.
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•The integrated membrane-adsorption system has been, for the first time, proposed for anthocyanin extraction.•Membrane-based technologies have met the requirements for anthocyanin ...recovery.•A concentration up to 3221.45 from 32.05 mg ECyn-3-glu•L−1 has been achieved.•The purified di-acylated cyanidin has been fully characterized by NMR.
Anthocyanins are currently one of the most important pigments in the plants with great proven health-promoting benefits, however, their unstable chemical nature makes difficult their purification process. This work proposes the integration of two stages for the separation and purification of the pigments from red cabbage leaves. For the first stage, the acidified extract, containing 32.05 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside per milliliter (mg ECyn-3-glu•L−1), was subjected to micro, ultrafiltration and adsorption processes, allowing to concentrate up to 3221.45 mg ECyn-3-glu•L−1 of the pigments after an adsorption process. In the second stage, the pigments were fully fractionated by molecular exclusion chromatography, reverse-phase vacuum liquid chromatography and semi-preparative chromatography, isolating the stable di-acylated cyanidin with antioxidant activity. Finally, purified fractions were also analyzed by NMR analysis.
Breast cancer treatment failure is related to low response rates, high costs, and long-term toxicities. Thus, it is necessary to find less toxic, cheaper, and more effective treatments. In situ ...administration ensures drug delivery to tumor cells and decreases systemic toxic effects. The androstene-3β, 17α-diol (α-AED) reduces breast tumor cell proliferation and is an ideal candidate to treat mammary tumors. This study aims to identify the in vitro and in vivo effects of α-AED on a triple-negative mammary tumor model. An in vitro biphasic steroid effect was observed in mouse and human mammary tumor cells treated with α-AED. In this sense, cells treated with higher doses (100 and 200 μM) showed an antiproliferative effect. The α-AED administrated intratumorally reduced average tumor weight and increased the percentage of natural killer cells (NK), plasmatic, and plasmablast cells in mice tumors. Of note, VEGF levels in all α-AED-treated tumors was lower than in the control and vehicle groups. The tumor in situ increased response was reflected systemically by higher anti-4T1 IgG concentration in serum from α-AED-treated mice, but no other associated systemic changes were detected. The reduction in tumor size for the local injection of α-AED is associated with the anti-proliferative effect of this steroid, and the lower local levels of VEGF may be related to the imperceptible macroscopic metastasis in α-AED-treated mice. The above suggests that α-AED may be used in clinical studies to prove its efficacy as an alternative breast tumor treatment or in conjunction with already established therapies.
Scaffolds based on biopolymers and nanomaterials with appropriate mechanical properties and high biocompatibility are desirable in tissue engineering. Therefore, polylactic acid (PLA) nanocomposites ...were prepared with ceramic nanobioglass (PLA/n-BGs) at 5 and 10 wt.%. Bioglass nanoparticles (n-BGs) were prepared using a sol-gel methodology with a size of ca. 24.87 ± 6.26 nm. In addition, they showed the ability to inhibit bacteria such as
(ATCC 11775),
(ATCC 17802),
subsp. aureus (ATCC 55804), and
(ATCC 13061) at concentrations of 20
/
%. The analysis of the nanocomposite microstructures exhibited a heterogeneous sponge-like morphology. The mechanical properties showed that the addition of 5 wt.% n-BG increased the elastic modulus of PLA by ca. 91.3% (from 1.49 ± 0.44 to 2.85 ± 0.99 MPa) and influenced the resorption capacity, as shown by histological analyses in biomodels. The incorporation of n-BGs decreased the PLA crystallinity (from 7.1% to 4.98%) and increased the glass transition temperature (T
) from 53 °C to 63 °C. In addition, the n-BGs increased the thermal stability due to the nanoparticle's intercalation between the polymeric chains and the reduction in their movement. The histological implantation of the nanocomposites and the cell viability with HeLa cells higher than 80% demonstrated their biocompatibility character with a greater resorption capacity than PLA. These results show the potential of PLA/n-BGs nanocomposites for biomedical applications, especially for long healing processes such as bone tissue repair and avoiding microbial contamination.
Abandonment of agricultural lands promotes the global expansion of secondary forests, which are critical for preserving biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services. Such roles largely depend, ...however, on two essential successional attributes, trajectory and recovery rate, which are expected to depend on landscape-scale forest cover in nonlinear ways. Using a multi-scale approach and a large vegetation dataset (843 plots, 3511 tree species) from 22 secondary forest chronosequences distributed across the Neotropics, we show that successional trajectories of woody plant species richness, stem density and basal area are less predictable in landscapes (4 km radius) with intermediate (40-60%) forest cover than in landscapes with high (greater than 60%) forest cover. This supports theory suggesting that high spatial and environmental heterogeneity in intermediately deforested landscapes can increase the variation of key ecological factors for forest recovery (e.g. seed dispersal and seedling recruitment), increasing the uncertainty of successional trajectories. Regarding the recovery rate, only species richness is positively related to forest cover in relatively small (1 km radius) landscapes. These findings highlight the importance of using a spatially explicit landscape approach in restoration initiatives and suggest that these initiatives can be more effective in more forested landscapes, especially if implemented across spatial extents of 1-4 km radius.
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