Novel bioanalytical strategy using isotope pattern deconvolution and ICP-QMS for the study of iron incorporation in erythrocytes: An insight to better assessment.

Iron is an essential element for human life and its nutritional status in the human body is directly linked to human health. More than 1015 atoms of iron per second are necessary for the maintenance of haemoglobin formation. To predict iron bioavailability three approaches are normally employed: (a) faecal recovery; (b) plasma appearance; and (c) erythrocyte incorporation (the most used). Isotope Pattern Deconvolution (IPD) is a mathematical tool that allows the isolation of distinct isotope signatures from mixtures of natural abundance and enriched tracers. In this work we propose a novel strategy to assess erythrocyte iron incorporation, based on the use of an iron stable isotope (57Fe) and the IPD concept. This strategy allows direct calculation of the exogenous concentration of 57Fe incorporated into RBCs after supplementation. In this way, to determine the mass of iron incorporated into erythrocytes, the unique prediction that must be made is the blood volume, estimate to reproduce the natural dilution of the tracer (57Fe) in the blood. This novel bioanalytical approach was applied for the measurements of iron incorporation and further iron absorption studies in humans, using a group of twelve healthy participants, that should be further evaluated for the assessment of other chemical elements that could be of health concerns and directly impact society.

Variability in the community consumption of antibiotics: a problem in Europe, Spain and Asturias.

Increasing bacterial resistance is strictly correlated to the increasing use of antibiotics, currently constituting a public health problem. The aim of this study was to describe the consumption of antibiotics in Asturias, an autonomous community in northwestern Spain, and compare the results obtained with data from elsewhere in Spain and other European countries. A descriptive study was carried out on the use of antibacterial drugs for systemic use, ATC code J01 in Asturias in 2011-2015. Data were obtained from the prescription-billing information system charged to the Health Service of Asturias. The consumption data are expressed in daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants and day (DHD), and number of packages per thousand inhabitants per day. The average weighted consumption of antibiotics for systemic use in the Asturian community was 26.23 daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DHD) in 2015. This figure was higher than that of the EU/EEA population, which was 22.4 DHD, and that of the whole of Spain at 22.2 DHD. There is a wide variability in consumption among the different areas of the Asturian region. This variability is common to the rest of the country and Europe. It can be explained by the influence of the data used in the indicators and by the variability in medical practice. Priority should be given to homologating consumer-monitoring information systems and implementing national strategies aimed at providing more information to medical practitioners, encouraging the appropriate use of antibiotics so as to reduce variability, consumption and resistance.

A panel of 32 AIMs suitable for population stratification correction and global ancestry estimation in Mexican mestizos.

BACKGROUND: Association studies are useful to unravel the genetic basis of common human diseases. However, the presence of undetected population structure can lead to both false positive results and failures to detect genuine associations. Even when most of the approaches to deal with population stratification require genome-wide data, the use of a well-selected panel of ancestry informative markers (AIMs) may appropriately correct for population stratification. Few panels of AIMs have been developed for Latino populations and most contain a high number of markers (> 100 AIMs). For some association studies such as candidate gene approaches, it may be unfeasible to genotype a numerous set of markers to avoid false positive results. In such cases, methods that use fewer AIMs may be appropriate. RESULTS: We validated an accurate and cost-effective panel of AIMs, for use in population stratification correction of association studies and global ancestry estimation in Mexicans, as well as in populations having large proportions of both European and Native American ancestries. Based on genome-wide data from 1953 Mexican individuals, we performed a PCA and SNP weights were calculated to select subsets of unlinked AIMs within percentiles 0.10 and 0.90, ensuring that all chromosomes were represented. Correlations between PC1 calculated using genome-wide data versus each subset of AIMs (16, 32, 48 and 64) were r2 = 0.923, 0.959, 0.972 and 0.978, respectively. When evaluating PCs performance as population stratification adjustment covariates, no correlation was found between P values obtained from uncorrected and genome-wide corrected association analyses (r2 = 0.141), highlighting that population stratification correction is compulsory for association analyses in admixed populations. In contrast, high correlations were found when adjusting for both PC1 and PC2 for either subset of AIMs (r2 > 0.900). After multiple validations, including an independent sample, we selected a minimal panel of 32 AIMs, which are highly informative of the major ancestral components of Mexican mestizos, namely European and Native American ancestries. Finally, the correlation between the global ancestry proportions calculated using genome-wide data and our panel of 32 AIMs was r2 = 0.972. CONCLUSIONS: Our panel of 32 AIMs accurately estimated global ancestry and corrected for population stratification in association studies in Mexican individuals.

[An approach to abortion and immigration in Spain. The social economic value of the human life]. / Una aproximación al aborto e inmigración en España. El valor socioeconómico de la vida humana.

This paper enters the analysis of the phenomenon of the abortion in Spain, across the study of the reasons of his practices in the group of immigrant women resident in Murcia. The following aims appear are: a) know the prevalence of abortions in the immigrant population of an urban center of primary care health in the state of Murcia, b) know the personal attitude before this population's c) analized abortion this population's socio-economic and religious characteristics and to value their possible relationship with the abortion. The material and method used form a descriptive traverse study, carried out in primary care (Center of primary care San Andrés-state of Murcia) carried out during the months of June to December of 2007. 230 women were included. The collection of data was made by means of interview clinic carrying out a survey semistructured with open and closed questions, in total 14 items, enlarged to 23 items in case one declares voluntary abortions. The Results show us as the fundamental motives for those who are aborted they were the lack of economic means, the disadvantages for his personal projects and the pressure on the part of his pair or family. The conclusions, force first, from the bioethic reflection, to the denunciation of the political- social inaction with regard to the abortion and the ideological manipulation of the socioeconomic reasons of the same practices; and secondly, to the promotion of networks of help to the embarrassed woman and to the public defense of the absolute value of the human life.