We describe a large series of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and probable invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), and the risk factors and incidence of the disease in ...patients with isolation of Aspergillus from lower respiratory tract samples. From 2000 to 2007, we retrospectively studied all patients admitted with COPD and isolation of Aspergillus (239; 16.3/1000 admissions). Multivariate logistic regression and survival curves were used. Fifty-three patients had probable IPA (3.6 cases of IPA per 1000 COPD admissions). IPA affects at least 22.1% of patients with COPD and isolation of Aspergillus in culture. In 33 of the 53 patients with probable IPA, serum galactomannan was determined; in 14 (42.4%) of these, the result was positive. Five variables were independent predictors of IPA with statistical significance: admission to the intensive-care unit, chronic heart failure, antibiotic treatment received in the 3 months prior to admission, the accumulated dosage of corticosteroids equivalent to >700 mg prednisone received in the 3 months prior to admission, and the similar accumulated dosage of corticosteroids received from admission to the first clinical isolation of Aspergillus. Multivariate analysis gave an area under the curve of 0.925 (95% CI 0.888–0.962; p <0.001). The overall mean survival of the cohort was 64.1% (28.3% for IPA patients and 75.2% for non-IPA patients). The median number of days of survival was 48 (95% CI 33.07–62.92). However, we found statistically significant differences between patients with IPA (29 days; 95% CI 20.59–37.40) and patients without IPA (86 days; 95% CI 61.13–110.86) (log rank, p <0.001).
Patients with chronic mental disorders often can suffer from sexual dysfunction. Nevertheless, the sexual functioning of new patients with first-episode psychosis has been little explored. The aim of ...this study was to investigate gender differences in sexual functioning in people with first-episode psychosis.
A group of 40 males and 37 females with first-episode psychosis took part in the research. We administered a psychiatric protocol composed of the PANSS, UKU and SCID-DSM-IV diagnosis.
We found that the 42.5% of the male group had sexual dysfunctions while the percentage of the female group was 37.8%. The correlation between sexual dysfunctions and psychopathology did not reveal any association in males. However, in females, general psychopathology and positive symptoms are linked to the alteration of vaginal lubrication: (r=0.547; p=0.003) and (r=0.485; p=0.011), although orgasm alteration was also associated with general psychopathology (r=0.500; p=0.013). Moreover, we found a relation between the alteration of vaginal lubrication with depression(r=0.627; p<0.0001) and disorder of volition (r=0.600; p<0.001).
These data suggest that the association between sexual dysfunctions and psychopathology regarded only women. Therefore, during the taking charge of patients it is fundamental to consider the gender-specific relationship between psychopathology and sexual problems.
Infections with viruses of the Flavivirus genus were explored in 22 bats (Artibeus jamaicensis) from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The detection of the viral genus was performed by RT‐PCR, and infections ...with dengue (DENV 1–4), West Nile (WNV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses were subsequently explored. Sequences from positive products were analysed using the BLAST algorithm to determine identity. In 7 (31.8%) and 2 (9.1%) bats, WNV and ZIKV were identified, respectively. The bioinformatic analysis showed 98%–100% coverage and identity for both viruses. Molecular evidence of WNV and ZIKV natural infection in bats from Yucatan, Mexico, is presented.
Chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is one of the most common medical complaints worldwide and musculoskeletal injuries have an enormous social and economical impact. Current pharmacological and ...surgical treatments aim to relief pain and restore function; however, unsatiscactory outcomes are commonly reported. In order to find an accurate treatment to such pathologies, over the last years, there has been a significantly increasing interest in cellular therapies, such as adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs). These cells represent a relatively new strategy in regenerative medicine, with many potential applications, especially regarding MSK disorders, and preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated their efficacy in muscle, tendon, bone and cartilage regeneration. Nevertheless, several worries about their safety and side effects at long-term remain unsolved. This article aims to review the current state of AMSCs therapy in the treatment of several MSK diseases and their clinical applications in veterinary and human medicine.
Esta investigación presenta una descripción acústica de los sonidos consonánticos del yagua, una lengua aislada perteneciente a la familia peba-yagua y que se habla en la región nororiental del Perú. ...El número de personas que componen la sociedad yagua actual asciende a aproximadamente 5679. La población se distribuye principalmente en las provincias de Mariscal Ramón Castilla, Putumayo y Maynas, en el departamento de Loreto, principalmente en las zonas fronterizas con Colombia y Brasil. El objetivo de este estudio es establecer el número de consonantes de la lengua yagua y detallar sus propiedades acústicas. Sobre la base de la fonética acústica y tras un acuerdo con los colaboradores yagua a fin de realizarles entrevistas para obtener estos datos necesarios para la investigación, se elicitó un conjunto de 200 palabras a 9 colaboradores de las comunidades del río Amazonas. Posteriormente, se realizó el procesamiento de las grabaciones a través del programa informático Praat, que permitió reconocer las características acústicas de los sonidos de esta lengua. Entre los resultados más resaltantes, se ha podido determinar la existencia de 20 sonidos consonánticos en yagua: p, pw, t, k, m, mw, mb, n, ɲ, nd, t͡ʃ, s, ʃ, r, ɾ, ɽ, w, β, j y h.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are essential components of the stroma that play a critical role in cancer progression. This study aimed to identify novel CAFs markers that might contribute to ...the invasion and the prognosis of colorectal cancer.
The azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate mouse model of sporadic colon cancer represents an adequate source for the isolation of CAFs and normal fibroblasts. By using the explants technique, we purified CAFs and normal fibroblasts from colon tissues. Whole-cell extracts and supernatants were subjected to in-depth quantitative proteomic analysis by tandem mass spectrometry. Further validations of upregulated proteins in CAFs were carried out by chemokine microarray and immunohistochemical analyses of mouse and human tissues.
Using a fold-change of 1.4 or more, we found 132 and 125 differentially expressed proteins in whole-cell extracts and supernatants, respectively. We found CAFs-associated proinflammatory and desmoplastic signatures. The proinflammatory signature was composed of several cytokines. Among them, CCL2 and CCL8 caused an increase in migration and invasion of colorectal cancer KM12 cells. The desmoplastic signature was composed of 30 secreted proteins. In mouse and human samples, expression of LTBP2, CDH11, OLFML3, and, particularly, FSTL1 was significantly increased in the tumoral stroma, without significant expression in the cancer epithelial cells. The combination of CALU and CDH11 stromal expression showed a significant association with disease-free survival and poor prognosis.
We have identified LTBP2, CDH11, OLFML3, and FSTL1 as selective biomarkers of cancer stroma, and CALU and CDH11 as candidate stromal biomarkers of prognostic significance in colon cancer.
Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) is vital in early development and tissue repair. FGFR4 expression levels are very restricted in adult tissues, except in several solid tumors including ...colorectal cancer, which showed overexpression of FGFR4. Here, FGFR4 mutation analysis discarded the presence of activating mutations, other than Arg(388), in different colorectal cancer cell lines and tumoral samples. Stable shRNA FGFR4-silencing in SW480 and SW48 cell lines resulted in a significant decrease in cell proliferation, adhesion, cell migration and invasion. This decrease in the tumorigenic and invasive capabilities of colorectal cancer cells was accompanied by a decrease of Snail, Twist and TGFβ gene expression levels and an increase of E-cadherin, causing a reversion to a more epithelial phenotype, in three different cell lines. In addition, FGFR4-signaling activated the oncogenic SRC, ERK1/2 and AKT pathways in colon cancer cells and promoted an increase in cell survival. The relevance of FGFR4 in tumor growth was supported by two different strategies. Kinase inhibitors abrogated FGFR4-related cell growth and signaling pathways at the same extent than FGFR4-silenced cells. Specific FGFR4-targeting using antibodies provoked a similar reduction in cell growth. Moreover, FGFR4 knock-down cells displayed a reduced capacity for in vivo tumor formation and angiogenesis in nude mice. Collectively, our data support a crucial role for FGFR4 in tumorigenesis, invasion and survival in colorectal cancer. In addition, FGFR4 targeting demonstrated its applicability for colorectal cancer therapy.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are major mediators in tumor microenvironment. We investigated the changes in protein expression in colon cancer-associated fibroblasts compared with normal ...fibroblasts (NF) in the context of searching for prognostic biomarkers, particularly for stage II patients.
CAFs and NFs isolated from colon cancer patients were used to identify differentially expressed proteins using quantitative proteomics. Stromal expression of deregulated proteins was analyzed by IHC. Prognostic impact was studied using external gene-expression datasets for training, then quantitative PCR and IHC for validation in different cohorts of patients. Combined datasets were used for prediction of risk assessment at stages II and III.
A desmoplastic signature composed of 32 proteins, highly specific for stromal components in colon cancer, was identified. These proteins were enriched for extracellular matrix organization components, TGFβ signaling pathway, fibrosis, and wound-healing proteins. The expression in CAFs of 11 upregulated proteins and four downregulated proteins, selected for biomarker validation, was verified by orthogonal techniques. LOXL2 displayed a high prognostic impact by using external independent datasets and further validation in two different cohorts of patients. High expression of LOXL2 was associated with higher recurrence P = 0.001 HR, 5.38 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.70-17.01 and overall survival P = 0.001 HR, 8.52 (95% CI, 1.90-38.29). IHC analysis revealed a prognostic value for LOXL2 in stage II patients.
We identified LOXL2 to be associated with the outcome of colon cancer patients. Furthermore, it can be used to stratify patients at stages II and III for further therapeutic decisions.
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