Dynamics of Human Anelloviruses in Plasma and Clinical Outcomes Following Kidney Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Torque teno virus, the major member of the genus Alphatorquevirus , is an emerging biomarker of the net state of immunosuppression after kidney transplantation. Genetic diversity constitutes a main feature of the Anelloviridae family, although its posttransplant dynamics and clinical correlates are largely unknown. METHODS: The relative abundance of Alphatorquevirus , Betatorquevirus , and Gammatorquevirus genera was investigated by high-throughput sequencing in plasma specimens obtained at various points during the first posttransplant year (n = 91 recipients). Total loads of all members of the Anelloviridae family were also quantified by an "in-house" polymerase chain reaction assay targeting conserved DNA sequences (n = 195 recipients). In addition to viral kinetics, clinical study outcomes included serious infection, immunosuppression-related adverse event (opportunistic infection and cancer)' and acute rejection. RESULTS: Alphatorquevirus DNA was detected in all patients at every point, with an increase from pretransplantation to month 1. A variable proportion of recipients had detectable Betatorquevirus and Gammatorquevirus at lower frequencies. At least 1 change in the predominant genus (mainly as early transition to Alphatorquevirus predominance) was shown in 35.6% of evaluable patients. Total anelloviruses DNA levels increased from baseline to month 1, to peak by month 3 and decrease thereafter, and were higher in patients treated with T-cell depleting agents. There was a significant albeit weak-to-moderate correlation between total anelloviruses and TTV DNA levels. No associations were found between the predominant Anelloviridae genus or total anelloviruses DNA levels and clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides novel insight into the evolution of the anellome after kidney transplantation.

Diversity and dynamic changes of anelloviruses in plasma following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Monitoring of alphatorquevirus (torque teno virus [TTV]) DNA in plasma may prove to be useful to assess the net state of immune competence following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). There are scarce data published on the prevalence of beta (torque teno mini virus [TTMV]) and gammatorqueviruses (torque teno midi virus [TTMDV]) and, in particular, on the dynamics of anelloviruses in allo-HSCT patients. Twenty-five allo-HSCT recipients with available plasma specimens obtained before conditioning and after engraftment were included. Degenerated primers targeting a highly conserved genomic sequence across all anelloviruses were designed for genomic amplification and high-throughput sequencing. Co-detection of TTV, TTMV, and TTMDV both in pre-transplant and post-engraftment plasma specimens was documented in more than two-thirds of patients. The use of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays targeting TTMV and TTMDV in addition to TTV may add value to TTV-specific PCR assays in the inference of the net state of immunosuppresion or immune competence in this clinical setting.

Identificación de especies de Mycoplasma y de Ureaplasma diversum en rodeos lecheros de Argentina / Identification of species of Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma diversum from Argentinian dairy herds

Varias especies de Mycoplasma y Ureaplasma diversum pueden causar enfermedades en el ganado bovino lechero, asociadas o no a manifestaciones clínicas. En nuestro país, ha sido detectada la presencia de solo tres especies de este grupo hasta el momento: Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma californicum y Mycoplasma canadense. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue identificar otras especies de la familia Mycoplasmataceae. Se estudiaron treinta y cinco aislamientos compatibles con Mycoplasma spp. obtenidos a partir de diferentes muestras de bovinos, con o sin sintomatología clínica, provenientes de ocho rodeos ubicados en las provincias de Santa Fe, Córdoba, Buenos Aires y San Luis. Mediante el uso de reacciones en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR) específicas de especie se identificaron Mycoplasma bovigenitalum, Mycoplasma alkalescens, Mycoplasma bovirhinis y U. diversum, y mediante la amplificación y posterior secuenciación del espacio intergénico 16-23S ARNr se identificaron Mycoplasma arginini y M. californicum. La identificación de estas especies por primera vez en nuestro país es un hecho de Argentina relevancia, que representa un importante avance en el conocimiento para incluir estos patógenos en el diagnóstico diferencial de determinadas entidades clínico-patológicas de los bovinos de Argentina.

Several species of Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma diversum can cause diseases in dairy cattle, which can be associated or not with clinical manifestations. In our country, the presence of Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma californicum and Mycoplasma canadense has been detected, being the only mycoplasma species identified so far. The objective of this study was to identify other species of the Mycoplasmataceae family. Thirty-five Mycoplasma spp.-like isolates obtained from different samples from cattle, with or without clinical symptoms, from eight herds located in the provinces of Santa Fe, Cordoba, Buenos Aires and San Luis were utilized in the present study. Through the use of species-specific polymerase chain reactions (PCR) Mycoplasma bovigenitalium, Mycoplasma alkalescens, Mycoplasma bovirhinis and U. diversum were identified and through amplification and further sequencing of the 16-23S rRNA intergenic spacer regions, Mycoplasma arginine and M. californicum were identified. The identification of these species represents an important advance in knowledge in order to include these pathogens in the differential diagnosis of certain clinical and pathological entities of cattle from Argentina.

Correlation of zinc with oxidative stress biomarkers.

Hypertension and smoking are related with oxidative stress (OS), which in turn reports on cellular aging. Zinc is an essential element involved in an individual's physiology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of zinc levels in serum and urine with OS and cellular aging and its effect on the development of hypertension. In a Spanish sample with 1500 individuals, subjects aged 20-59 years were selected, whose zinc intake levels fell within the recommended limits. These individuals were classified according to their smoking habits and hypertensive condition. A positive correlation was found (Pearson's C=0.639; p=0.01) between Zn serum/urine quotient and oxidized glutathione levels (GSSG). Finally, risk of hypertension significantly increased when the GSSG levels exceeded the 75 percentile; OR=2.80 (95%CI=1.09-7.18) and AOR=3.06 (95%CI=0.96-9.71). Low zinc levels in serum were related with OS and cellular aging and were, in turn, to be a risk factor for hypertension.

Zinc and smoking habits in the setting of hypertension in a Spanish populations.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between trace and toxic amounts of zinc (Zn) in biological samples (blood and urine) and the smoking habits of hypertensive patients and healthy control subjects in Valladolid (Spain). In order to compare biological samples, the concentrations of these samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The limits of detection for Zn in blood plasma ranged between 4.22 and 17.34 µmol l(-1) and were <0.08 µmol g(-1) creatinine in urine. The results of this study indicate that the highest mean values of serum Zn were found in non-hypertensive nonsmokers (13.39±4.35 µmol l(-1)), whereas the highest urine Zn values were observed in hypertensive nonsmokers (2.78±2.13 µmol l(-1)). Higher Zn serum/urine quotient levels were observed in non-hypertensive and nonsmoking women, whereas lower levels were noted in non-hypertensive and smoking women (P=0.012). This study identified a correlation between Zn serum/urine quotients and cotinine levels (a marker of smoking), a correlation that suggests that smoking lowers the Zn serum/urine quotient, which was lower in hypertensive subjects than in control subjects.

Algoritmo para la evaluación del paciente con síncope. Rendimiento diagnóstico / Algorithm for the evaluation of patients with syncope. Diagnostic output

Syncope is a symptom characterized by transient and autolimited loss of consciousness, generally accompanied by the inhability to stand upright and maintain postural tone, spontaneous recovery and without sequelae. It is produced by a sudden cerebral global and transient hypoperfussion. After assessment of the symptoms and its possible mechanism, it is mandatory to determine if it is an essential syncope or otherwise another entity resembling a syncope, in order to discard it rapidly....Other details are commented in the article

Analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in Spanish breast/ovarian cancer patients: a high proportion of mutations unique to Spain and evidence of founder effects.

We screened index cases from 410 Spanish breast/ovarian cancer families and 214 patients (19 of them males) with breast cancer for germ-line mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, using SSCP, PTT, CSGE, DGGE, and direct sequencing. We identified 60 mutations in BRCA1 and 53 in BRCA2. Of the 53 distinct mutations observed, 11 are novel and 12 have been reported only in Spanish families (41.5%). The prevalence of mutations in this set of families was 26.3%, but the percentage was higher in the families with breast and ovarian cancer (52.1%). The lowest proportion of mutations was found in the site-specific female breast cancer families (15.4%). Of the families with male breast cancer cases, 59.1% presented mutations in the BRCA2 gene. We found a higher frequency of ovarian cancer associated with mutations localized in the 5' end of the BRCA1 gene, but there was no association between the prevalence of this type of cancer and mutations situated in the ovarian cancer cluster region (OCCR) region of exon 11 of the BRCA2 gene. The mutations 187_188delAG, 330A>G, 5236G>A, 5242C>A, and 589_590del (numbered after GenBank U14680) account for 46.6% of BRCA1 detected mutations whereas 3036_3039del, 6857_6858del, 9254_9258del, and 9538_9539del (numbered after GenBank U43746) account for 56.6% of the BRCA2 mutations. The BRCA1 330A>G has a Galician origin (northwest Spain), and BRCA2 6857_6858del and 9254_9258del probably originated in Catalonia (northeast Spain). Knowledge of the spectrum of mutations and their geographical distribution in Spain will allow a more effective detection strategy in countries with large Spanish populations.

Antioxidant activities and oxidative stress byproducts in human hypertension.

The objective was to study oxidative status, antioxidant activities, and reactive oxygen species byproducts in whole blood and mononuclear peripherals cells and their relationship with blood pressure. Sixty-six hypertensive patients and 16 normotensive volunteers as a control group were studied. In both, whole blood and peripheral mononuclear cells oxidized/reduced glutathione ratio and malondialdehyde was significantly higher, and the activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase was significantly lower in hypertensive patients when compared with normal subjects. The content of damaged base 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine in nuclear and mitochondrial deoxyribonucleoproteins of hypertensive subjects was also significantly higher than that of the normotensive control subjects. No differences in these measurements were found among hypertensive subjects grouped in tertiles of 24-hour average mean blood pressure or between "white-coat" and established hypertensive subjects. Furthermore, no relationship was observed between the average of 24-hour mean blood pressure and oxidized/reduced glutathione ratio, reactive oxygen species byproducts, malondialdehide, or genomic 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine. In whole blood and in mononuclear cells from hypertensive subjects, there was an increase in oxidative stress and a reduction in the activity of antioxidant mechanisms that appeared to be independent of the blood pressure values.

Anemia aplástica adquirida familiar / Familial acquired aplastic anemia

Una variedad poco frecuente de la anemia aplástica adquirida (AAA) es la forma familiar. Lo anterior se ejemplifica al considerar que de 200 casos con AAA atendidos en el servicio, sólo dos presentaron la característica de ser integrantes de una misma familia; éstos correspondieron a dos hermanos no gemelos, uno con AAA leve secundaria a derivados del benceno y que curó espontáneamente, y el otro con AAA grave relacionado con cloranfenicol y que falleció por hemorragia del sistema nervioso central. El estudio del sistema HLA mostró los mismos antígenos en ambos pacientes (A2, A28, B16, B40)