Computational Structural Revision of Elaeophorbate and Other Triterpenoids with the Help of NAPROC-13. A New Strategy for Structural Revision of Natural Products.

A considerable number of natural products have been published in recent years with misassigned structure, even though they had been correctly elucidated in the past. The availability of databases containing revised structures can prevent the amplification of errors in structural elucidation. NAPROC-13, a dereplication tool based on the 13C chemical shift, has been used to search for substances that, possessing the same chemical shifts, have been described with different structures. The correct structure of these different structural proposals is verified by computational chemistry. This paper reports the structural revision of nine triterpenoids following this methodology.

Synergistic Combination of NAPROC-13 and NMR 13C DFT Calculations: A Powerful Approach for Revising the Structure of Natural Products.

This article describes the structure revision of nine triterpenoids that have been reported corresponding to the same 13C NMR data set. In addition, 13C NMR calculation shows that some chemical shift assignments must be swapped. Our analysis improves the fit between the experimental and calculated data. Correcting misassigned structures and correctly assigning each signal is essential for elucidating new structurally related compounds. Furthermore, the ambiguity of several compounds, the structure of which differs in the literature and the Sci-Finder database, has been eliminated. Misassigned structures were found by chemical shift searches in NAPROC-13, and the results provide two or more different compounds with the same 13C NMR data. The process to determine the correct, most likely structural proposal in agreement with the experimental 13C NMR data was carried out by DFT calculations.

First report of Hibiscus soymovirus in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Colombia in mixed infection.

Hibiscus is native to southeast Asia but well suited to Colombia's arid soil and dry climates from the coast to the mountains of Bogotá. Viruses infecting hibiscus in Colombia are largely unexplored, with four viruses previously known: hibiscus chlorotic ringspot virus (HCRSV), hibiscus latent Fort Pierce virus (HLFPV), hibiscus latent Singapore virus (HLSV), and citrus leprosis virus C2 (CiLV-C2) (Padmanabhan et al., 2023). Mixed infections between these viruses were frequently detected. A recent virome analysis of a single hibiscus plant from Colombia revealed multiple viruses in mixed infection; : HCRSV, HLFPV, passion fruit green spot virus (PFGSV), a strain of physalis vein necrosis nepovirus, four novel carlavirus, one new potexvirus and a mitovirus. In addition, few smaller contigs of blunervirus and soymovirus were also identified in the high throughput sequencing (HTS) data, but their presence in the mixed infection could not be validated (A. Roy et al. 2023unpublish data). During Brevipalpus-transmitted virus (BTV) surveys, two asymptomatic and 15 hibiscus foliar samples showing green ringspots with central chlorotic spots in senescing areas, mosaic, and black or chlorotic spots were collected from six departments (states) in three geographical regions of Colombia: Tolima (n=4) and Cauca Valley (n=2) (Andean region), Meta (n=6) and Casanare (n=1) (Orinoquia region), and Quindío (n=1) and Risaralda (n=1) (coffee growing region). About 100 mg of 17 hibiscus leaf samples were separately processed for RNA isolation without DNase I treatment and tested for known BTVs, and for newly discovered hibiscus soymovirus (HSV; genus Soymovirus family Caulimoviridae) using PCR assays (Padmanabhan et al. 2023, Wang et al. 2023). To identify potential HSV infection in the samples, published SVF1/SVR1 and newly designed primer pairs (HSV-REP-F/-R and HSV-CPG-F/-R) were used to amplify the 430 nt transactivation (ORF-VI), 631 nt replicase (REP) and 401 nt coat protein gene (CPG), respectively (Supplementary 1). Of 17 samples tested, three from Tolima and one each from Meta and Quindío yielded all three expected size amplicons. Bi-directional sequencing followed by BLASTn analysis revealed 95-98% nt identity with the CPG, REP, and ORF-VI genes of HSV (OP757659). Ribo-depleted libraries were prepared using the RNA extracts of five HSV PCR positive samples. HTS yielded 11.6 to 50.3 million raw reads per sample library. Adapters were trimmed and filtered from the raw reads with Trimmomatic v0.39 and then assembled using SPAdes v3.15.5 (Padmanabhan et al., 2023). Contigs were blasted against the Arabidopsis proteome and a RefSeq-based viral protein database. Potential viral sequences were then blasted against the complete NCBI nr database. Assembled soymo contigs covered 99-100% of the HSV genome, with per-nucleotide read depths of 23.8 to 393. Contigs from the Tolima (Accessions; OR621030- OR621032 and Quindío samples (OR621033) covered 99-100% of the HSV genome and had >96-98% nt identity to Hawaiian isolate (OP757659) whereas the Meta sample contigs covered 78% of the genome with 9495% nt identity. HTS contigs shared >98-99% nt identities with their PCR amplicons. Along with HSV, other virus sequences (HCRSV, HLFPV, PFGSV, CiLV-C2, and mycoviruses) were variously detected from all five libraries. Due to mixed infection no symptom similarity was noticed among these 5 samples. The findings in hibiscus in Tolima, Meta and Quindío represent the first confirmed report of HSV infection in hibiscus in Colombia. The widespread distribution suggests the possibility of HSV dispersion via movement of planting material, and potential further spread to another hibiscus growing region.

Assessment of the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the stem methanol extract of Diplotropis purpurea.

Context: Since there is still a great need to search for plant species with antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities, Diploptropis purpurea (Rich.) Amshoff (Fabaceae) is studied for the first time. Objective: This evaluates the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of the stem methanol extract of Diplotropis purpurea (MEDP). Material and methods: The anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of MEDP of D. purpurea were evaluated in vivo. The antinociceptive activity was assessed in CD1 male mice were treated by oral gavage with 500 mg/kg of MEDP 30 min before submitting to acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing, hot-plate, and formalin tests. Paws oedema induced by carrageenan, histamine or serotonin were performed in male Sprague-Dawley rats to determinate the anti-inflammatory activity. Results: Oral administration of MEDP produced significant antinociceptive effects on the inflammatory phase in the formalin test [12.0 s versus 72.5 s in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) control group]. MEDP produced an analgesic effect in the hot-plate model, although the effect was modest compared to tramadol (40 and 60%, respectively). The oral administration of MEDP in a dose of 500 mg/kg showed maximum inhibition (75.1%) after 0.5 h in carrageenan-induced oedema, but it did not modify histamine or serotonin-induced oedemas. Discussion and conclusion: In the peripheral nociception model, acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing, the MEDP did not show a protective effect, but its analgesic effects were evident in the inflammatory phase of the formalin test and in the hot-plate model. These results show that the anti-inflammatory effect was accompanied by a reduction in the perception of painful stimuli.

Meta-Transcriptomic Analysis Uncovers the Presence of Four Novel Viruses and Multiple Known Virus Genera in a Single Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Plant in Colombia.

Hibiscus is not native to Colombia but well suited to its arid soil and dry climates. A single hibiscus plant from Risaralda, showing black spots on upper and lower sides of its leaves, was collected for virome analysis using meta-transcriptomic high-throughput sequencing technology. Bioinformatic analysis identified 12.5% of the total reads in the Ribo-Zero cDNA library which mapped to viral genomes. BLAST searches revealed the presence of carlavirus, potexvirus, and of known members of the genera Betacarmovirus, Cilevirus, Nepovirus, and Tobamovirus in the sample; confirmed by RT-PCR with virus-specific primers followed by amplicon sequencing. Furthermore, in silico analysis suggested the possibility of a novel soymovirus, and a new hibiscus strain of citrus leprosis virus C2 in the mixed infection. Both RNA dependent RNA polymerase and coat protein gene sequences of the potex and carla viruses shared less than 72% nucleotide and 80% amino acid identities with any alphaflexi- and betaflexi-virus sequences available in GenBank, identifying three novel carlavirus and one potexvirus species in the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis plant. The detection of physalis vein necrosis nepovirus and passion fruit green spot cilevirus in hibiscus are also new reports from Colombia. Overall, the meta-transcriptome analysis identified the complex virome associated with the black spot symptoms on hibiscus leaves and demonstrated the diversity of virus genera tolerated in the mixed infection of a single H. rosa-sinensis plant.

Harlem Health Advocacy Partners: A Local Health Department's Place-Based Community Health Worker Program.

In January 2015, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched Harlem Health Advocacy Partners (HHAP), a place-based initiative to demonstrate the capacity of a CHW workforce to improve the health of residents of public housing. The long-term goal of HHAP is to improve the population health of residents of public housing in East and Central Harlem and to close racial gaps in health and social outcomes. A variety of evaluation approaches have been used to assess the initiative. This paper describes the HHAP model and methods for evaluating the program.

Academic stress, hair and saliva cortisol, and their relationship with body mass index and fat percentage in first year medical students.

Introduction: Although a large part of the population may be exposed to various pressures that can lead to mental or eating problems and increased perceived stress, the transition from adolescence to adulthood has been shown to be a crucial stage. Medical students are particularly vulnerable during the transition period as they must adapt to new circumstances, which may contribute to increased perceived stress. Cortisol plays an important role between stress, weight gain, and the development of obesity. We designed a study to investigate the association between stress, eating behaviour, cortisol, and body weight in a sample of first-year medical students. Methods: We determined 75 first-year medical students' hair and salivary cortisol concentrations by ELISA and related it to self-reported stress, eating behaviour, and anthropometric measurements throughout the academic period. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in females was 25% and 10%, and in males was 35% and 6%, respectively. We report an increase in hair cortisol, higher self-reported stress scores, and BMI mainly in females. Finally, we found evidence of positive associations between hair cortisol and BMI in females (r = 0.348) and males (r = 0.423). Conclusion: There is a low association between short-term single-point cortisol measures and long-term cortisol, mainly in males. Hence, short-term cortisol reactivity is moderately associated with long-term cortisol reactivity when both are evaluated simultaneously. These results support the previous evidence of positive associations between cortisol with body fat percentage and BMI, and finally, that eating behaviours are modified by academic stress perception, mainly in females.

Five New Species of Aureoboletus and Chalciporus (Boletaceae, Boletales) and Their Ethnomycological Aspects.

Among Boletales, the family Boletaceae has the highest diversity worldwide. Additionally, this fungal group has great ecological relevance because it not only includes mainly ectomycorrhizal but also saprotrophic species. Furthermore, some species are used as food and have sociocultural and economic importance worldwide. In Mexico, the Boletaceae family boasts a substantial number of species, yet our understanding of these species remains far from comprehensive. In this work, by using macro- and micromorphological and phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from multi-gene analyses based on ITS, nrLSU, rpb1, rpb2, and tef1, we report five new species belonging to the genera Aureoboletus and Chalciporus: A. ayuukii and A. elvirae from a Quercus scytophylla forest, A. readii from a mixed forest, C. perezsilvae from cloud forest, and C. piedracanteadensis from both a mixed coniferous forest and a Quercus-Pinus forest. In Mexico, four species of Aureoboletus are used as a food source, and in this work, we add another one, A. readii, which is traditionally consumed by members of the Tlahuica-Pjiekakjoo culture, who are located in the central part of the country. This work contributes to our knowledge of two genera of Boletaceae in a geographical area that is scarcely studied, and thus, our understanding of its biocultural relevance is enriched.

Broadening the Knowledge of Mexican Boletes: Addition of a New Genus, Seven New Species, and Three New Combinations.

Boletes are one of the most common groups of fungi in temperate, subtropical, and tropical ecosystems. In Mexico, the northern region has mainly been explored in terms of bolete diversity. This study describes a new genus and seven new species based on macromorphological, micromorphological, molecular, phylogenetic, and ecological data. Garcileccinum gen. nov. is typified with G. salmonicolor based on multigene phylogenetic analysis of nrLSU, RPB2, and TEF1, and it is closely related to Leccinum and Leccinellum. Garcileccinum viscosum and G. violaceotinctum are new combinations. Boletellus minimatenebris (ITS, nrLSU, and RPB2), Cacaoporus mexicanus (RPB2 and ATP6), Leccinum oaxacanum, Leccinum juarenzense (nrLSU, RPB2, and TEF1), Tylopilus pseudoleucomycelinus (nrLSU and RPB2), and Xerocomus hygrophanus (ITS, nrLSU, and RPB2) are described as new species. Boletus neoregius is reclassified as Pulchroboletus neoregius comb. nov. based on morphological and multigene phylogenetic analysis (ITS and nrLSU), and its geographic distribution is extended to Central Mexico, since the species was only known from Costa Rica. Furthermore, T. leucomycelinus is a new record from Mexico. This study contributes to increasing our knowledge of boletes and expands the diversity found in Mexican forests.

Two new species of Trichoglossum (Geoglossaceae, Ascomycota) from south Mexico.

Two new species of Trichoglossum are described from south Mexico based on morphological and molecular evidence. Trichoglossumcaespitosum is characterized by the caespitose ascomata, rough and coiled paraphyses and the ascospores with 9-11 septa. Trichoglossumtropicale is characterized by the capitate ascomata, clavate and straight paraphyses and the ascospores with 10-12 septa. Both species grow in the tropical forests of the Yucatán peninsula. Here we provide descriptions and photographs for these species, together with a phylogenetic analyses based on the DNA sequences of nuc rDNA (ITS region and 28S gene) and a comparative table for the species known for America.

A nutritional intervention for moderate altitude endurance preparation: A case report.

Background: Moderate altitudes carry physiological and metabolic changes that can dampen exercise performance. Fortunately, these changes can be modulated by an optimal nutritional intervention. This case study represents the first nutritional intervention of a moderate altitude athlete. These results may help to establish well-designed nutritional guidelines for moderate altitude sports athletes. Case presentation: This case study examined the effects of a 11-week nutritional intervention on body composition, muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, resting and exercise nutrient oxidation, and subjective sleep quality, in a male high-level moderate altitude athlete with a very light non-exercise activity thermogenesis. During the 11-week of nutritional intervention, 2800-3500 kcal/day, 6.8-8.9 g/kg/day of carbohydrates, 1.2-1.7 g/kg/day of protein, and 1-2.5 g/kg/day of fat were prescribed. Different specific considerations were also included, such as: iron supplementation, antioxidants increment in different phases, and ergogenic aids (i.e. creatine and beta-alanine). Our results demonstrated a decrease in adiposity and an increase in fat-free mass. In parallel, the athlete improved muscle strength, and therefore endurance adaptations after a maximal effort test (i.e. enhancement of the heart rate recovery). After the intervention, the athlete not only increased the carbohydrate oxidation during exercise and resting conditions but also improved his subjective sleep quality. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a nutritional intervention based on the endurance nutritional recommendations and adapted to the altitude physiological peculiarities can induce body re-composition, improve physiological adaptations to effort, and upgrade the substrate oxidation in a moderate altitude high-level athletes.

New Proposal of Epiphytic Bromeliaceae Functional Groups to Include Nebulophytes and Shallow Tanks.

The Bromeliaceae family has been used as a model to study adaptive radiation due to its terrestrial, epilithic, and epiphytic habits with wide morpho-physiological variation. Functional groups described by Pittendrigh in 1948 have been an integral part of ecophysiological studies. In the current study, we revisited the functional groups of epiphytic bromeliads using a 204 species trait database sampled throughout the Americas. Our objective was to define epiphytic functional groups within bromeliads based on unsupervised classification, including species from the dry to the wet end of the Neotropics. We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis with 16 functional traits and a discriminant analysis, to test for the separation between these groups. Herbarium records were used to map species distributions and to analyze the climate and ecosystems inhabited. The clustering supported five groups, C3 tank and CAM tank bromeliads with deep tanks, while the atmospheric group (according to Pittendrigh) was divided into nebulophytes, bromeliads with shallow tanks, and bromeliads with pseudobulbs. The two former groups showed distinct traits related to resource (water) acquisition, such as fog (nebulophytes) and dew (shallow tanks). We discuss how the functional traits relate to the ecosystems inhabited and the relevance of acknowledging the new functional groups.

Revision of the genus Restingomyces, including two new species from Mexico.

To document sequestrate fungal diversity in American tropical regions, we performed a series of field surveys in southeastern Mexico and discovered two new species in the phalloid genus Restingomyces (Trappeaceae, Phallales). Here, we describe them based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) subunit 6 and nuc 28S rDNA. Restingomyces guzmanianus is characterized by the brownish peridium, yellowish brown gleba, and ellipsoid basidiospores, whereas R. yaaxtax is characterized by the white peridium, pale green gleba, and small ellipsoid basidiospores. Both species occur in medium-statured tropical dry forest. The original diagnosis of the genus Restingomyces is emended to include these novel species. Illustrations are provided.

[Impact of the new definitions in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in an adult population at Bucaramanga, Colombia]. / Impacto de las nuevas definiciones en la prevalencia del síndrome metabólico en una población adulta de Bucaramanga, Colombia.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome depends on the criteria used for its classification. Three criteria in common use are those from International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP-III) or its update (ATP-IIIa). OBJECTIVE: The prevalence statistic for generated metabolic syndrome was compared on the basis of each of the three criteria in an adult population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 155 teachers and employees in the school of medicine. The average age was 40.9; 54.2% were men. The three criteria were applied and the prevalences were compared with the Wilcoxon test and Cohen's kappa. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome prevalence generated by each criterion was as follows: ATP-III was 12.3% (95%CI 7.5-18.5), ATP-IIIa was 34.8% (95%CI 27.4-42.9) and IDF 32.9% (95%CI 25.6--40.9). The prevalence indicated by ATP-III was lower than the ATP-IIIa or IDF prevalences (p < 0,001); however those of ATPIII-a and IDF were similar (p=0,083). Poor agreement was seen between ATP-III and ATP-IIIa (k=0.414, IC95% 0.409-0.420), and between ATP-III and IDF (k=0.374, IC95% 0.368-0.379); however, very good agreement was obtained between ATP-IIIa and IDF (k=0.957, IC95% 0.950-0.963). CONCLUSION: The new definitions for metabolic syndrome, ATP-IIIa and IDF, increase the prevalence statistic by three times. This occurred despite the inclusion in IDF of an obesity factor in the criteria set.

A Place-Based Community Health Worker Program: Feasibility and Early Outcomes, New York City, 2015.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined feasibility of a place-based community health worker (CHW) and health advocate (HA) initiative in five public housing developments selected for high chronic disease burden and described early outcomes. METHODS: This intervention was informed by a mixed-method needs assessment performed December 2014-January 2015 (representative telephone survey, n=1,663; six focus groups, n=55). Evaluation design was a non-randomized, controlled quasi-experiment. Intake and 3-month follow-up data were collected February-December 2015 (follow-up response rate, 93%) on 224 intervention and 176 comparison participants, and analyzed in 2016. All participants self-reported diagnoses of hypertension, diabetes, or asthma. The intervention consisted of chronic disease self-management and goal setting through six individual CHW-led health coaching sessions, instrumental support, and facilitated access to insurance/clinical care navigation from community-based HAs. Feasibility measures included CHW service satisfaction and successful goal setting. Preliminary outcomes included clinical measures (blood pressure, BMI); disease management behaviors and self-efficacy; and preventive behaviors (physical activity). RESULTS: At the 3-month follow-up, nearly all intervention participants reported high satisfaction with their CHW (90%) and HA (76%). Intervention participants showed significant improvements in self-reported physical activity (p=0.005) and, among hypertensive participants, self-reported routine blood pressure self-monitoring (p=0.013) compared with comparison participants. No improvements were observed in self-efficacy or clinical measures at the 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Housing-based initiatives involving CHW and HA teams are acceptable to public housing residents and can be effectively implemented to achieve rapid improvements in physical activity and chronic disease self-management. At 3-month assessment, additional time and efforts are required to improve clinical outcomes.

Antioxidant Activity of Carvone and Derivatives against Superoxide Ion.

Carvone has corroborated its versatility as starting material for building blocks synthesis in organic chemistry, being achieved a new chiral lactone. It has been done a study on the antioxidant activity against superoxide of carvone and a chloro derivative that show the potent activity of the natural product (R)-carvone, 1.

Obesidad: un problema en la atención de Covid-19 atención de Covid-19 / Obesity: a problem in Covid-19 care

Actualmente el mundo atraviesa una de las peores crisis a nivel salud secundario a la infección por un nuevo coronavirus de alta transmisibilidad y mortalidad, que ha impactado múltiples aspectos. Se ha establecido de forma general que la severidad de la infección está asociada con edad avanzada y comorbilidades como hipertensión y diabetes. Por otro lado, la obesidad en este momento representa una de las mayores amenazas del sector salud, por su gran relación con morbimortalidad a nivel cardiometabólico, esto conlleva a un alto costo de la enfermedad. Este artículo busca alertar sobre lo que han llamado algunos expertos el "choque de dos pandemias", esto dado al aumento de la prevalencia de obesidad a nivel mundial, donde nuestro país no está exento, que podría relacionarse con un número mayor de personas vulnerables a la infección por COVID-19 y sus complicaciones respiratorias y de esta manera evitar desenlaces catastróficos.

Currently the world is going through one of the worst health crises secondary to the infection by a new highly transmissible and deadly coronavirus, which has impacted multiple aspects. It has been generally established that the severity of the infection is associated with old age and comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes. On the other hand, obesity at this time represents one of the greatest threats to the health sector, due to its strong relationship with morbidity and mortality at the cardiometabolic level which leads to a high cost of the disease. This article seeks to warn about what some experts have called the "clash of two pandemics", this given the increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide, where our country is not exempt, which could be related with a greater number of people vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and related respiratory complications and thus avoid catastrophic outcomes.

[Mathematical model for the analysis of vaccination and vector control in malaria incidence]. / Modelo matemático para análisis de vacunación y control del vector en incidencia de malaria.

OBJECTIVES: A model describing malaria behavior through a system of ordinary differential equations. METHODS: In order to construct the model, the interaction between man and the malaria vector was taken into account in different infectivity and immunity states. We also considered the vaccination effect by means of an infection blocking vaccine and parameters representing larval and adult vector control. RESULTS: The model developed enables simulation of malaria disease behavior in various settings: in a natural manner without intervention, with either vector control or vaccination, and considering vector control and vaccination together. CONCLUSIONS: We obtained numerical conditions for the existence of a non-trivial equilibrium state, conditioned to the existence of a single real positive root of a fourth degree polynomial. This is a problem that remains unsolved.

Síndrome opsoclonus mioclonus paraneoplásico en pediatría: reporte de caso y revisión de la literatura / Paraneoplastic opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome in children: case report and literature review

El síndrome opsoclonus mioclonus (SOM) es una entidad poco frecuente en pediatría que por consenso de expertos se define como aquel que cumple tres de cuatro criterios: opsoclonus, ataxia, mioclonus, alteraciones de la conducta o del sueño y diagnóstico de neuroblastoma. Frecuentemente el SOM en niños se presenta asociado a tumores de la cresta neural, siendo el neuroblastoma el más prevalente, seguido por ganglioneuroblastoma, ganglioneuroma y hepatoblastoma. La asociación SOM y neuroblastoma tiene su pico de incidencia entre los 6 y 36 meses de edad y la posibilidad de que un niño con SOM tenga un neuroblastoma es de cerca del 50%. Si bien el SOM no es una patología frecuente en pediatría, su asociación con enfermedades neoplásicas sí lo es y desconocer su existencia y la presentación clínica puede llevar a demoras o subdiagnóstico del tumor con impacto negativo en el pronóstico tanto de la entidad de base como del futuro neurológico del paciente. Se presenta el caso de una niña de 15 meses con SOM asociado a ganglioneuroblastoma retroperitoneal que mejoró luego de la resección del tumor y el tratamiento con corticoides e inmunoglobulina.

Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome (OMS) is a rare condition in children, that for expert consensus is defined to be met three of the four criteria: opsoclonus, ataxia, myoclonus, behavioral disorders or sleep and diagnosis of neuroblastoma. OMS frequently occurs in children associated with neural crest tumors, the most prevalent being neuroblastoma, followed by ganglioneuroblastoma, ganglioneuroma, and hepatoblastoma. The OMS association and neuroblastoma has a peak incidence between 6 and 36 months of age and the possibility that a child with neuroblastoma have a OMS is about 50%. While the OMS is not a common pediatric pathology, its association with neoplastic disease is very strong and ignore its existence and clinical presentation may lead to delays or underdiagnosis of the tumor with negative impact on the prognosis of the entity base and the future neurological patient. Here we present the case of a girl of 15 months with OMS associated with retroperitoneal ganglioneuroblastoma that improved after tumor resection and treatment with corticosteroids and immunoglobulin.

Vasoactive effects of different fractions from two Panamanians plants used in Amerindian traditional medicine.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Cecropia obtusifolia (Cecropiaceae) and Psychotria poeppigiana (Synonym: Cephaelis elata, Rubiaceae) are two Latin American plants broadly used in traditional Amerindian medicine. The former, together with many other species of the genus Cecropia, share the folk reputation of curing heart failure, cough, asthma and bronchitis. The latter is used in Panama by Kuna and Ngäbe Buglé (Guaymies) native Indians for the treatment of dyspnea. AIM OF THE STUDY: Based on screening of selected medicinal Panamanian plants by radioligand-binding techniques by Caballero-George et al. (2001), the present study was carried out in order to investigate the vasoactive effects of different fractions from both P. poeppigiana and C. obtusifolia on rat thoracic aorta and identify active fractions and their chemical constituents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Both acid and neutral methanol fractions (P-AMeOH and P-NMeOH) and acid and neutral dichlorometane fractions (P-ADCM and P-NDCM) were obtained from P. poeppigiana crude methanolic and dichlorometane extracts, respectively. Identical fractionation was carried out for C. obtusifolia (C-AMeOH, C-NMeOH, C-ADCM and C-NDCM. Vasorelaxant effect of all fractions, and their inhibition of contractile responses to angiotensin II were evaluated in isolated aortic rings. RESULTS: P-AMeOH, P-NMeOH and P-ADCM fractions induced a concentration-dependent relaxation (43.9+/-1.8%, 35.3+/-4.7% and 52.9+/-3.5%, respectively) in the endothelium-intact aorta precontracted by phenylephrine (PE, 10(-6)M). The relaxation produced by C-AMeOH and C-NMeOH (57.3+/-2.5% and 53.3+/-3.3%, respectively) was greater than the effect produced by C-ADCM and C-NDCM (42.2+/-3.4% and 21.8+/-0.8%, respectively). Only the incubation of the aortic rings with P-AMeOH reduced the maximum contraction induced by angiotensin II at 20.08+/-0.55%. CONCLUSIONS: The direct vasorelaxation effect observed could explain in part the ethnomedical use of these plants in Amerindian traditional medicine. The most active fractions contain phenolic and aromatic acid compounds. Furthermore, P-AMeOH, the only fraction that showed both vasorelaxant effect and inhibition of contractile responses to angiotensin II, is the most rich in aromatic acids compounds and the only one that contains scopoletin.