A comprehensive approach to chemical accumulation and biological effects of short-term Cu exposure in juveniles of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) has been achieved. Fish were exposed to 0.01-10mgL-1 nominal Cu concentrations for 24-96h. Metal concentrations in water and gills, liver, muscle and brain tissues were studied along with oxidative stress biomarkers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, lipid peroxidation). Induction of oxidative damage was observed in all the organs with differential antioxidant responses; gills appearing as the most sensitive from low environmentally water Cu concentrations as 0.01mgL-1. Histopathological alterations were also observed in liver and gills, even without a significant Cu accumulation. The results show that the combination of oxidative stress parameters, particularly lipid peroxidation and glutathione peroxidase activities, and histopathological alterations provide a good model fish and reliable early biomarkers for monitoring Cu pollution in seawater and might call for the protection agencies to revise the Cu environmental standards.
Biomarkers/metabolism , Copper/toxicity , Water Pollutants, Chemical/toxicity , Animals , Antioxidants/metabolism , Bass , Catalase/metabolism , Environmental Pollution , Gills/drug effects , Gills/metabolism , Glutathione Peroxidase/metabolism , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Liver/drug effects , Liver/metabolism , Oxidation-Reduction , Oxidative Stress , Superoxide Dismutase/metabolism
No disponible
Infant , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Pleural Effusion/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Bacterial/epidemiology , Empyema, Pleural/epidemiology , Incidence , Spain/epidemiology
We present here a retrospective study of nine patients diagnosed with Whipple's disease (WD) in our hospital. This report em-phasises clinical presentation, diagnostic methods, treatment and response to treatment. In our study, the disease was more frequent in males, and the most frequent presenting symptoms were arthralgia, diarrhoea and weight loss. Since the intestine is almost always affected, oral endoscopy is a useful technique for the diagnosis of WD because it shows the typical miliary pattern and aids in obtaining biopsies to show the presence of PAS-positive macrophages (a suggestive though not diagnostic finding), to show bacilli using electron microscopy, or to detect genetic material using PCR. Our patients responded well to treatment. The most frequently used antibiotic was oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for at least one year. Treatment with penicillin G and IM streptomycin for 14 days was reserved for severe cases or cases that responded poorly to treatment.
Whipple Disease , Adult , Aged , Anti-Bacterial Agents/administration & dosage , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Anti-Infective Agents/administration & dosage , Anti-Infective Agents/therapeutic use , Biopsy , Endoscopy , Female , Humans , Intestinal Mucosa/pathology , Intestine, Small/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Penicillin G/administration & dosage , Penicillin G/therapeutic use , Penicillins/administration & dosage , Penicillins/therapeutic use , Radiography, Abdominal , Retrospective Studies , Streptomycin/administration & dosage , Streptomycin/therapeutic use , Time Factors , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination/administration & dosage , Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination/therapeutic use , Whipple Disease/diagnosis , Whipple Disease/drug therapy , Whipple Disease/pathology
Presentamos un estudio retrospectivo de nueve pacientes diagnosticados de enfermedad de Whipple (EW) en nuestro hospital, haciendo hincapié en las formas de presentación clínica, métodos diagnósticos, pautas de tratamiento y respuesta al mismo. En nuestra serie la enfermedad fue más frecuente en el varón, siendo los síntomas más frecuentes las artralgias, diarrea y pérdida de peso. Al ser la afectación intestinal casi constante, la endoscopia oral es una técnica útil para el diagnóstico de EW ya que además de mostrar el típico patrón miliar permite la toma de biopsias demostrando la presencia de macrófagos PAS + (hallazgo sugestivo pero no diagnóstico) y la demostración de los bacilos mediante microscopía electrónica o material genético de los mismos mediante técnicas de PCR. La respuesta al tratamiento fue favorable en nuestros pacientes, siendo el fármaco más utilizado el trimetropim-sulfametoxazol vía oral durante al menos un año, reservando el tratamiento intramuscular durante 14 días con penicilina G y estreptomicina en los casos más graves o con escasa respuesta al tratamiento. (AU)
Female , Adult , Aged , Humans , Middle Aged , Male , Whipple Disease , Intestinal Mucosa , Streptomycin , Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination , Biopsy , Penicillin G , Retrospective Studies , Anti-Bacterial Agents , Penicillins , Anti-Infective Agents , Intestine, Small , Radiography, Abdominal , Endoscopy , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Time Factors
OBJETIVO: Valorar el rendimiento diagnóstico de la baciloscopia y el cultivo en muestras de jugo gástrico en la tuberculosis pulmonar infantil y analizar la relación existente con parámetros clínicos, radiológicos y epidemiológicos de niños con tuberculosis. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Estudio prospectivo, controlado y ciego de 421 muestras de aspirado gástrico procedentes de 139 niños remitidos por sospecha de tuberculosis. Los niños se clasificaron atendiendo a factores clinicorradiológicos, sin tener en cuenta los resultados microbiológicos y realizando un seguimiento prolongado de los pacientes para confirmar el diagnóstico clínico. RESULTADOS: La baciloscopia fue positiva en 6 de los 46 niños con tuberculosis activa (sensibilidad, 13 por ciento) y en 3 de los 93 niños de los grupos de control (especificidad, 96,8 por ciento). El cultivo fue positivo en 15 pacientes con tuberculosis activa (sensibilidad, 32,6 por ciento), y su rendimiento fue mayor cuando el parénquima pulmonar estaba afectado en la radiografía de tórax. Mycobacterium tuberculosis también se aisló en 2 niños con infección tuberculosa sin enfermedad aparente y en uno de ellos se realizó tomografía computarizada (TC) que mostró adenopatías mediastínicas que no eran visibles en la radiografía de tórax. El tiempo medio de crecimiento de los cultivos positivos fue de 42 días. CONCLUSIÓN: La baciloscopia y el cultivo tienen baja sensibilidad en muestras de aspirado gástrico de niños con tuberculosis pulmonar. El resultado del cultivo requiere varias semanas y la baciloscopia puede presentar falsos positivos. Algunos niños con infección tuberculosa sin enfermedad aparente presentan actividad microbiológica que puede ser secundaria a adenopatías mediastínicas no visibles en la radiografía de tórax (AU)
Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Male , Infant , Female , Humans , Sensitivity and Specificity , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary , Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Prospective Studies , Data Interpretation, Statistical , Gastric Juice
OBJECTIVES: To analyze the patients diagnosed of infectious mononucleosis (IM) in our institution, in order to study the symptoms and clinical evolution. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We retrospectively analyse 37 hospitalized children aged between 3 months and 14 years. Diagnosed of IM by production of immunoglobulin M (IgM) to viral capsid antigen (VCA). RESULT: In our series of 37 children, 14 were less than 4 years old. Among clinical data, lymphadenopathy (86%), fever (81%) and pharyngotonsillitis (70%) were the more striking. We found jaundice only in three of the older children. Upper airways obstruction was common, and specially severe in young children. Three patients developed pneumonia during the disease course. Only ten patients produced heterophile antibodies. Two children showed dual antibody rises to Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus. Corticotherapy was used in 7 children. The complications are presented in 68% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical aspects of IM were similar to those in the young adult, and complications occur more frequently. We found lack of heterophile antibodies, more frequent in youngest.
Infectious Mononucleosis , Child , Child, Preschool , Hospitalization , Humans , Infant , Infectious Mononucleosis/complications , Infectious Mononucleosis/diagnosis , Retrospective Studies
Infectious and obstructive adenotonsillar processes are common in the pediatric population. Bacteriological and serological studies were made of acute tonsillitis, recurrent acute tonsillitis with tonsillar hypertrophy, and tonsillar hypertrophy. Positive cultures were more frequent in tonsils than in adenoids. Pathogenic microorganisms were isolated more often in infectious than in obstructive processes. Anti-streptococcal antibody titers were raised in infectious processes, but remained within normal limits in obstructive processes. Serum total IgE levels were similar in both processes. These findings show that tonsillar hypertrophy is not related directly with microorganisms or atopic pathology.
Adenoids/microbiology , Gram-Positive Bacteria/isolation & purification , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/etiology , Tonsillitis/complications , Tonsillitis/microbiology , Acute Disease , Adolescent , Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Gram-Positive Bacteria/immunology , Humans , Immunoglobulin E/blood , Infant , Male , Tonsillitis/blood
The recognition of children with tuberculous infection without disease is often difficult. Minimal active disease may be present in many cases but unrecognised on chest radiography or by microbiologic methods. We have performed computed tomography in 22 children with tuberculous infection, a normal chest radiograph and negative microbacterial culture. In 16 children we also performed DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction in gastric aspirates. It was found that 14 of 22 (63%) infected children had enlarged lymph nodes. Adenopathies were more frequent in children less than 8 years-old and in the right paratracheal positions. Polymerase chain reaction was positive in 4 of 8 studied children with abnormal computed tomography and in none of the children with normal computed tomography. The demonstration of unrecognised active disease raises the question of the adequate treatment for the children with tuberculous infection. It is proposed that a two drug regimen would be more appropriate than isoniazid alone in children less than 8 years old.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis/genetics , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosis , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , DNA, Bacterial/analysis , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Tuberculosis, Lymph Node/diagnosis , Tuberculosis, Lymph Node/diagnostic imaging , Tuberculosis, Lymph Node/microbiology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnostic imaging , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/microbiology
BACKGROUND: The pathogenic factors of Behçet's disease (BD) differentiate according to geographical zones. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible relation between this process and infection by type I herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) in Spain. METHODS: The prevalence of antibodies vs HSV-1 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) was studied by complement fixation in three series: A) 34 patients with BD; B) 21 with primary uveitis; C) 40 controls. HSV-1 specificity was established by ELISA. HLA typing was performed in 32 individuals from series A. RESULTS: The frequency of anti HSV-1 in A (76%) was greater (p = 0.045) than in C (55%) and B (66%). These differences were more evident when titers equal/superior to 1/64 were considered as positive, with this being a value exceeding the 97.5% percentage of the control series (A = 21%, C = 2%, p = 0.015), specially for the ocular BD subgroup (26%, p = 0.011 with respect to C). The B series did not differ from C (p = 0.88). To the contrary no differences were observed in the distribution of titers vs CMV. Although a greater frequency of anti HSV-1 was observed in HLA-B51+ the differences were not significant (p = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of evaluable titers of anti-HSV-1 is greater in patients with BD (specially with ocular involvement) than in the control series. No association was found between higher titers and HLA PB51+ phenotype.
Antibodies, Viral/analysis , Behcet Syndrome/etiology , Herpes Simplex/complications , Herpes Simplex/immunology , Humans
We present two cases of neonatal varicella in newborn twins, who had serious complications in spite of being given human anti-chickenpox immuneglobulin (zoster immuneglobulin ZIG) prophylaxis. We comment on current criteria of the prophylaxis in newborns with risk of severe neonatal varicella.
Chickenpox/congenital , Diseases in Twins , Acyclovir/therapeutic use , Chickenpox/immunology , Chickenpox/therapy , Female , Humans , Immunization, Passive , Infant, Newborn , Male , gamma-Globulins/administration & dosage
Boutonneuse Fever/diagnosis , Q Fever/diagnosis , Rickettsiaceae Infections/diagnosis , Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Boutonneuse Fever/pathology , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Q Fever/pathology , Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne/pathology
