The Uses of Herbaria in Botanical Research. A Review Based on Evidence From Argentina.

Botanists, a section of the broad universe of researchers in Biology, are intensive users of herbaria. Presumably, all botanists use herbaria, with greater or lesser frequency and intensity, in the development of their research. In this article, we will try to prove this statement. For this purpose, an institutional history of Botany and herbaria in Argentina is presented. This study will also show that there are other fields of knowledge in which the herbarium has a role as an input, or data source, for research (e.g. agronomy, ethnobotany, medicine). On the other hand, it will be demonstrated that, in addition to the uses of the herbarium in basic science, this institution has a crucial role in the knowledge and preservation of biodiversity, and in the improvement of species for commercial use.

Physicochemical properties of nixtamalized corn flours with and without germ.

This research studied the influence of the germ components on the physicochemical properties of cooked corn and nixtamalized corn flours as a function of the calcium hydroxide content (from 0 to 2.1 w/w) and steeping time (between 0 and 9h). A linear relationship was found between calcium content in germ and steeping time used during nixtamalization process. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that calcium carbonate is formed into the germ structure to 2.1 w/w of calcium hydroxide and 9h steeping time. The presence of the germ improves the development of peak viscosity in flours, and it is related to the increases in calcium concentration in germ and the formation of amylose-lipid complexes. No significant changes were observed in palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids of corn oil. The levels of further corn oil deterioration were 2.1 w/w of calcium hydroxide concentration and 9h of steeping time.

New melatonin-cinnamate hybrids as multi-target drugs for neurodegenerative diseases: Nrf2-induction, antioxidant effect and neuroprotection.

BACKGROUND: Neurodegenerative diseases share many pathological pathways, such as abnormal protein aggregation, mitochondrial dysfunction, extensive oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Cells have an intrinsic mechanism of protection, the Nrf2 transcriptional factor, known as the master regulator of redox homeostasis. RESULTS: Based on the common features of these diseases we have designed a multi-target hybrid structure derived from melatonin and ethyl cinnamate. The obtained derivatives were Nrf2 inducers and potent-free radical scavengers. These new compounds showed a very interesting neuroprotective profile in several in vitro models of oxidative stress, Alzheimer's disease and brain ischemia. CONCLUSION: We have designed a new hybrid structure with complementary activities. We have identified compound 5h as an interesting Nrf2 inducer, very potent antioxidant and neuroprotectant.

Tocilizumab en pacientes con artritis reumatoide activa y respuesta inadecuada a fármacos antirreumáticos modificadores de la enfermedad o antagonistas del factor de necrosis tumoral: subanálisis de los datos españoles de un estudio abierto cercano a la práctica clínica habitual / Tocilizumab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors: Subanalysis of Spanish results of an open-label study close to clinical practice

Objetivos: Analizar la experiencia española en un estudio internacional para evaluar tocilizumab en pacientes con artritis reumatoide (AR) con respuesta insuficiente al tratamiento con fármacos antirreumáticos modificadores de la enfermedad convencionales (FAME) o anti-TNF en condiciones cercanas a la práctica clínica habitual. Material y métodos: Subanálisis de 170 pacientes con AR que participaron en España en un ensayo clínico, internacional abierto de fase iiib, que presentaban una respuesta inadecuada al tratamiento con FAME o anti-TNF. Los pacientes recibieron 8 mg/kg de tocilizumab cada 4 semanas en combinación con FAME o en monoterapia durante un periodo de 20 semanas. Se evaluaron la seguridad y la eficacia de tocilizumab distinguiendo entre pacientes con fallo a FAME o anti-TNF y, dentro de estos, entre los que habían hecho o no periodo de lavado del anti-TNF. Resultados: Los acontecimientos adversos más frecuentes fueron infecciones (25%) y elevación de colesterol total (38%) y transaminasas (15%). Cinco pacientes abandonaron el estudio por un acontecimiento adverso. El 71/50/30% de los pacientes cumplía criterios de respuesta ACR 20/50/70 a los 6 meses del inicio del tratamiento con tocilizumab. Los pacientes naïve para anti-TNF presentaron una mayor respuesta ACR20: el 76% frente a un 64% en el grupo anti-TNF con lavado previo y el 66% en el grupo anti-TNF sin lavado previo. Conclusiones: Se confirma el perfil de seguridad de tocilizumab en pacientes con AR y fallo a FAME o anti-TNF. Tocilizumab es más eficaz en pacientes que no responden de forma satisfactoria al tratamiento con FAME convencionales que con anti-TNF (AU)

Objectives: To analyze the Spanish experience in an international study which evaluated tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an inadequate response to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) in a clinical practice setting. Material and methods: Subanalysis of 170 patients with RA from Spain who participated in a phase IIIb, open-label, international clinical trial. Patients presented inadequate response to DMARDs or TNFis. They received 8 mg/kg of tocilizumab every 4 weeks in combination with a DMARD or as monotherapy during 20 weeks. Safety and efficacy of tocilizumab were analyzed. Special emphasis was placed on differences between failure to a DMARD or to a TNFi and the need to switch to tocilizumab with or without a washout period in patients who had previously received TNFi. Results: The most common adverse events were infections (25%), increased total cholesterol (38%) and transaminases (15%). Five patients discontinued the study due to an adverse event. After six months of tocilizumab treatment, 71/50/30% of patients had ACR 20/50/70 responses, respectively. A higher proportion of TNFi-naive patients presented an ACR20 response: 76% compared to 64% in the TNFi group with previous washout and 66% in the TNFi group without previous washout. Conclusions: Safety results were consistent with previous results in patients with RA and an inadequate response to DMARDs or TNFis. Tocilizumab is more effective in patients who did not respond to conventional DMARDs than in patients who did not respond to TNFis (AU)

Determination of isavuconazole susceptibility of Aspergillus and Candida species by the EUCAST method.

Isavuconazole is a novel expanded-spectrum triazole, which has recently been approved by the FDA as an orphan drug to treat invasive aspergillosis and is currently being studied in phase III clinical trials for invasive candidiasis. The susceptibility of relatively few clinical isolates has been reported. In this study, the isavuconazole susceptibilities of 1,237 Aspergillus and 2,010 Candida geographically diverse clinical isolates were determined by EUCAST methodology at four European mycology laboratories, producing the largest multicenter data set thus far for this compound. In addition, a blinded collection of 30 cyp51A mutant Aspergillus fumigatus clinical isolates and 10 wild-type isolates was tested. From these two data sets, the following preliminary epidemiological cutoff (ECOFF) values were suggested: 2 mg/liter for Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus terreus, and Aspergillus flavus; 4 mg/liter for Aspergillus niger; 0.25 mg/liter for Aspergillus nidulans; and 0.03 mg/liter for Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, and Candida tropicalis. Unfortunately, ECOFFs could not be determined for Candida glabrata or Candida krusei due to an unexplained interlaboratory MIC variation. For the blinded collection of A. fumigatus isolates, all MICs were ≤2 mg/liter for wild-type isolates. Differential isavuconazole MICs were observed for triazole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates with different cyp51A alterations: TR34/L98H mutants had elevated isavuconazole MICs, whereas isolates with G54 and M220 alterations had MICs in the wild-type range, suggesting that the efficacy of isavuconazole may not be affected by these alterations. This study will be an aid in interpreting isavuconazole MICs for clinical care and an important step in the future process of setting official clinical breakpoints.

Determination of voriconazole serum concentration by bioassay, a valid method for therapeutic drug monitoring for clinical laboratories.

We describe here a simple, fast, and reliable bioassay method for therapeutic drug monitoring of voriconazole. Fifty-eight clinical and external quality control samples were evaluated with this microbiological assay, and results were compared with those obtained with a previously validated chromatographic method. A good correlation between both assays was observed. This particular microbiological method was demonstrated to be simple and offers enough precision and accuracy to perform voriconazole therapeutic drug monitoring in laboratories without specialized equipment.

Recurrent episodes of candidemia due to Candida glabrata with a mutation in hot spot 1 of the FKS2 gene developed after prolonged therapy with caspofungin.

We report two episodes of recurrent candidemia caused by echinocandin-resistant Candida glabrata in a 69-year-old patient who underwent repeated abdominal surgery. In the first episode of candidemia, an echinocandin-susceptible Candida glabrata strain was isolated, and the patient was treated with caspofungin. The isolates from the later episodes showed resistance to echinocandins. Analysis of the HS1 region of the FKS2 gene showed the amino acid substitution S663P. Microsatellite analysis demonstrated a strong genetic relationship between the isolates.

Immunoregulatory potential of marine algal toxins yessotoxin and okadaic acid in mouse T lymphocyte cell line EL-4.

We have studied the effects of the marine algal toxins yessotoxin (YTX) and okadaic acid (OA) on the T cell receptor complex (TCR) expression, an important mechanism by which T cell responsiveness is controlled. Immune system cells are relevant targets to study the immunoregulatory potential of marine toxins since the immune system has been reported as one of the targets of marine algal toxins. This study reports results from exposing the mouse T lymphocyte cell line EL-4 to increasing concentrations of YTX and OA for 72h. We found that both YTX and OA affected TCR recycling kinetics and induced a specific and reversible TCR down-regulation in T lymphocyte EL-4 cells that was time and concentration dependent. Experiments using the potent protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor stausporine indicated that YTX-induced TCR down-regulation was partially mediated by PKC activation. In contrast, OA-induced TCR down-regulation was mediated by the serine/threonine protein phophatase 2A (PP2A) inhibition. In summary, the results suggest that OA and YTX concentrations in a similar range than those detected in mice bloodstream after oral administration have the potential to adjust the T cell responsiveness during the initiation of T cell activation by affecting the TCR expression levels via PKC and PP2A activities.

Genomic affinities in Turnera (subseries Turnera, Turneraceae) inferred by in situ hybridization techniques.

Subseries Turnera comprises a polyploid complex with ploidy levels ranging from diploid (2n = 2x = 10) to octoploid (2n = 8x = 40). The use of fluorescent in situ hybridization greatly improved the knowledge of the karyotypes of Turnera species by detecting and mapping rDNA sites. Interspecific variability in the number of sites was detected, but not in correlation with the ploidy level. A chromosome pair with a strong hybridization signal was always visible and this signal corresponded to the secondary constriction detectable by conventional techniques. Genomic in situ hybridization experiments combined with information on meiotic pairing in species and interspecific hybrids revealed that homologies detected by molecular analysis are greater than those detected by chromosome pairing. This suggests that the formation of the allopolyploids could involve species more closely related than previously assumed. Despite the molecular affinity among the genomes, the meiotic pairing is probably controlled by specific genes that restrict homeologous pairing in polyploids.

Cistitis y hematuria por Corynebacterium striatum. A propósito de un caso y revisión de la literatura científica / Cystitis and haematuria due to Corynebacterium striatum. A case report and review

Presentamos un caso de infección del tracto urinario inferior no complicada por Corynebacteriumstriatum en una paciente ambulatoria y sin factores de riesgo predisponentes. C. striatum es una bacteria saprofita de la piel y las mucosas, que se ha relacionado ocasionalmente con la infección en pacientes hospitalizados o inmunodeficientes con enfermedades subyacentes. Concluimos que este microorganismo debe considerarse un patógeno emergente, tanto en pacientes inmunodeficientes como en inmunocompetentes (AU)

We herewith report the first case of uncomplicated urinary tract infection due to Coryne bacterium striatum in an ambulatory patient without any other predisponent risk factors. C. striatum is a ubiquitous saprophyte of human skin and mucous membranes, which has been occasionally associated with infection in patients hospitalized or immunocompromised patients with underlying diseases. We conclude that C. striatum should be considered an emerging pathogen in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts (AU)

The sagittal mandibular osteotomy under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation: four years of multicenter experience.

Today many surgical procedures involving head and neck areas can be performed under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation. The authors add to this list the sagittal osteotomies of the mandibular rami, thereby avoiding the need for general anesthesia and a hospital stay. The authors designed a protocol to be followed in a multicenter study (Milan and Barcelona) and applied it in 35 clinical cases with Class II malocclusion. The surgical procedure was performed with the Monitored Anesthesia Care technique, a combination of regional anesthesia and intravenous sedation. The results were good in all the clinical cases; skeletal correction of Class II was achieved in all patients and there were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. The major advantage of this technique is the functional control of the temporomandibular joint, which avoids displacements caused by gravity and the muscular relaxation commonly seen under general anesthesia. Furthermore, this protocol allows a reduction in costs, duration of surgery, and patient morbidity and convalescence. When this technique is accepted without hesitation, all Class II patients with only mandibular deficiency deformity may be treated in the most suitable way, thus providing the most satisfactory outcomes for the patient, orthodontist, and surgeon.