Evaluación del Tratamiento Homeopático de Mujeres en Climaterio entre los 45 y 60 años con la Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) / Treatment Evaluation Homeopathic Women in Climacteric between 45 and 60 years old with Menopause Rating Scale (MRS)

La terapia hormonal es el tratamiento convencional para contrarrestar síntomas propios del climaterio; sin embargo, algunas mujeres tienen contraindicada esta terapia debido a los efectos adversos que provoca. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la utilidad del tratamiento homeopático durante el climaterio con el uso de la Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) o Escala de Calificación Menopáusica. El estudio incluyó a 31 mujeres, sin problemas cardiacos, sin terapia de reemplazo hormonal y sin antecedentes de cáncer, a quienes se les aplicó el cuestionario de la MRS para obtener un puntuaje antes del tratamiento. Para determinar el tratamiento se utilizó el repertorio electrónico Radar 10.0 para Windows, con el objetivo de repertorizar los síntomas característicos de cada paciente y determinar el medicamento similar. El medicamento fue prescrito en dinamizaciones 30CH, indicando 5 gotas sublinguales cada 8 horas. La evaluación de los pacientes se llevó a cabo cada mes durante tres meses. Se realizó una evaluación final a los tres meses por comparación de puntajes de la escala inicial y final, a través de un análisis estadístico y utilizando la prueba de Wilcoxon. Lachesis trigonocephalus y Pulsatilla nigricans fueron los medicamentos indicados con mayor frecuencia, de acuerdo con los síntomas de cada paciente. La comparación del puntaje, antes y después del tratamiento, evidenció una reducción de síntomas con diferencia estadística, lo cual reflejó una mejoría global del 35%. Esta evidencia sugiere que el tratamiento homeopático beneficia a las mujeres en el climaterio. (AU)

Hormonal therapy is the conventional treatment for counteracting climacteric symptoms; however, this treatment is contraindicated in some women due to the adverse effects that this therapy may cause. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of homeopathic therapy during the climacteric using the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS). The study included 31 women, without cardiac problems, history of no cancer or hormone replacement therapy; a MRS scale questionnaire was applied to these women to evaluate each symptom before to treatment. The Radar 10.0 for Windows electronic repertoire was used to repertorize the characteristic symptoms of each patient and determine the similarly. Homeopathic medication was prescribed in 30CH dynamization as 5 sublingual drops every 8 hrs. Patient evaluation took place monthly for 3 months. The evaluation of the results was performed by the comparison of scale scores through a statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon test. Lachesis trigonocephalus and Pulsatilla nigricans were the most frequent treatment indications, according to the symptoms of each patient. At the end of the homeopathic treatment, symptoms reduction was observed with statistical significance in the score, which reflects an overall improvement of 35%. This evidence suggested that homeopathic treatment benefits women in climacteric. (AU)

Calpain-like: A Ca(2+) dependent cystein protease in Entamoeba histolytica cell death.

Entamoeba histolytica programmed cell death (PCD) induced by G418 is characterized by the release of important amounts of intracellular calcium from reservoirs. Nevertheless, no typical caspases have been detected in the parasite, the PCD phenotype is inhibited by the cysteine protease inhibitor E-64. These results strongly suggest that Ca(2+)-dependent proteases could be involved in PCD. In this study, we evaluate the expression and activity of a specific dependent Ca(2+) protease, the calpain-like protease, by real-time quantitative PCR (RTq-PCR), Western blot assays and a enzymatic method during the induction of PCD by G418. Alternatively, using cell viability and TUNEL assays, we also demonstrated that the Z-Leu-Leu-Leu-al calpain inhibitor reduced the rate of cell death. The results demonstrated 4.9-fold overexpression of calpain-like gene 1.5 h after G418 PCD induction, while calpain-like protein increased almost two-fold with respect to basal calpain-like expression after 3 h of induction, and calpain activity was found to be approximately three-fold higher 6 h after treatment compared with untreated trophozoites. Taken together, these results suggest that this Ca(2+)-dependent protease could be involved in the executory phase of PCD.

Thr130Ile polymorphism of HNF4A gene is associated with gestational diabetes mellitus in Mexican population.

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4A) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of genes in the liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine, and other tissues. Previous studies in the Mexican population have shown a high frequency of the Thr130Ile polymorphism and have suggested its important role in the pathogenesis of early-onset type 2 diabetes. The aim of the present study was to determine whether this variant also contributes to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in a Mexican population. We studied 213 unrelated postpartum women and their neonates, who were divided into 2 groups: control and GDM. The control group was formed by 108 healthy postpartum women and their neonates, and the GDM group was formed by 105 postpartum women diagnosed with GDM and their neonates. All subjects were genotyped for the Thr130Ile polymorphism in HNF4A by Taqman allelic discrimination assays and sequencing. Our results showed a higher frequency of the minor allele of the Thr130Ile polymorphism in the GDM group compared with the control group (P = 0.0452; odds ratio, 2.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-6.59). With respect to offspring, the frequency of the polymorphism was higher in the offspring of the GDM group than in the offspring of the control group; however, no significant differences between the groups were observed (P = 0.2551; odds ratio, 1.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-3.64). The findings suggest that the Thr130Ile polymorphism is associated with GDM in the studied Mexican population.

Entamoeba histolytica: differential gene expression during programmed cell death and identification of early pro- and anti-apoptotic signals.

We have demonstrated that programmed cell death (PCD) in Entamoeba histolytica is induced in vitro by G418 aminoglycoside antibiotic. To ascertain if biochemical and morphological changes previously observed are paired to molecular changes that reflect a genetic program, we looked here for early differential gene expression during the induction of PCD. Using cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) and in silico derived analysis we showed in E. histolytica a differential gene expression during PCD induced by G418. The genes identified encoded for proteins homologous to Glutaminyl-tRNA synthase, Ribosomal Subunit Proteins 40S and 18S, Saposin-like, Silent Information Regulator-2 (Sir-2), and Grainins 1 and 2. Using real-time quantitative PCR (RT Q-PCR), we found that glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase, sir-2, grainins and saposin-like genes were strongly overexpressed after 30min of PCD induction, while its expression dramatically decreased up to 60min. On the other hand, overexpression of ribosomal genes increased only 7-fold of basal expression, showing a progressive down-regulation up to 90min. glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase, sir-2 and grainins could act as negative regulators of PCD, trying to control the biochemical changes related to PCD activation. Overexpression of saposin-like gene could act as up-regulator of some cell death pathways. Our results give evidence of the first genes identified during the early stage of PCD in E. histolytica that could be implicated in regulation of apoptotic pathways.