Cortisone in saliva of pigs: validation of a new assay and changes after thermal stress.

BACKGROUND: Cortisone is derived from cortisol through the action of the enzyme 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type II, and it has gained importance in recent years as a biomarker of stress. This study aimed to develop and validate an assay for the measurement of cortisone in pig saliva and evaluate whether its concentration varies in stressful situations. For this purpose, a specific immunoassay was developed and validated analytically, and a study was performed to evaluate whether cortisone concentrations in saliva can vary under heat stress conditions. RESULTS: The assay proved to be accurate, reliable, and sensitive for the measurement of cortisone in pig saliva. The limit of detection of the assay was set at 0.006 ng/ml, and the lower limit of quantification was 0.023 ng/ml. It also correlated significantly with the results obtained by LC‒MS/MS (P = 0.003; r = 0.64). In addition, the cortisone concentration in animals subjected to prolonged heat stress decreased significantly 15 days after treatment (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: According to these results, cortisone measured by this assay could be used as a tool for the non-invasive evaluation of thermal stress in pig saliva.

Coupling Miniaturized Stir Bar Sorptive Dispersive Microextraction to Needle-Based Electrospray Ionization Emitters for Mass Spectrometry: Determination of Tetrahydrocannabinol in Human Saliva as a Proof of Concept.

Direct coupling of sample preparation with mass spectrometry (MS) can speed up analysis, enabling faster decision-making. In such combinations, where the analysis time is mainly defined by the extraction procedure, magnetic dispersive solid-phase extraction emerges as a relevant technique because of its rapid workflow. The dispersion and retrieval of the magnetic sorbent are typically uncoupled stages, thus reducing the potential simplicity. Stir bar sorptive dispersive microextraction (SBSDME) is a novel technique that integrates both stages into a single device. Its miniaturization (mSBSDME) makes it more portable and compatible with low-availability samples. This article reports the direct combination of mSBSDME and MS using a needle-based electrospray ionization (NESI) emitter as the interface. This combination is applied to determine tetrahydrocannabinol in saliva samples, a relevant societal problem if the global consumption rates of cannabis are considered. The coupling requires only the transference of the magnet (containing the sorbent and the isolated analyte) from the mSBSDME to the hub of a hypodermic needle, where the online elution occurs. The application of 5 kV on the needle forms an electrospray on its tip, transferring the ionized analyte to the MS inlet. The excellent performance of mSBSDME-NESI-MS/MS relies on the sensitivity (limits of detection as low as 2.25 ng mL-1), the precision (relative standard deviation lower than 15%), and the accuracy (relative recoveries ranged from 87 to 127%) obtained. According to the results, the mSBSDME-NESI-MS/MS technique promises faster and more efficient chemical analysis in MS-based applications.

Determination of hexanal and heptanal in saliva samples by an adapted magnetic headspace adsorptive microextraction for diagnosis of lung cancer.

In this work, an analytical method for the determination of two endogenous aldehydes (hexanal and heptanal) as lung cancer biomarkers in saliva samples is presented for the first time. The method is based on a modification of magnetic headspace adsorptive microextraction (M-HS-AME) followed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). For this purpose, an external magnetic field generated by a neodymium magnet is used to hold the magnetic sorbent (i.e., CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles embedded into a reversed-phase polymer) in the headspace of a microtube to extract the volatilized aldehydes. Subsequently, the analytes are desorbed in the appropriate solvent and the extract is injected into the GC-MS system for separation and determination. Under the optimized conditions, the method was validated and showed good analytical features in terms of linearity (at least up to 50 ng mL-1), limits of detection (0.22 and 0.26 ng mL-1 for hexanal and heptanal, respectively), and repeatability (RSD ≤12%). This new approach was successfully applied to saliva samples from healthy volunteers and those with lung cancer, obtaining notably differences between both groups. These results reveal the prospect of the method as potential diagnostic tool for lung cancer by saliva analysis. This work contributes to the Analytical Chemistry field presenting a double novelty: on the one hand, the use of M-HS-AME in bioanalysis is unprecedentedly proposed, thus expanding the analytical potential of this technique, and, on the other hand, the determination of hexanal and heptanal is carried out in saliva samples for the first time.

A novel approach for the homogenization of cellulose to use micro-amounts for stable isotope analyses.

Climate reconstructions using stable isotopes from tree-rings are steadily increasing. The investigations concentrate mostly on cellulose due to its high stability. In recent years the available amount of cellulose has steadily decreased, mainly because micro-structures of plant material have had to be analyzed. Today, the amounts of cellulose being studied are frequently in the milligram and often in the microgram range. Consequently, homogeneity problems with regard to the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen from cellulose have occurred and these have called for new methods in the preparation of cellulose for reliable isotope analyses. Three different methods were tested for preparing isotopically homogenous cellulose, namely mechanical grinding, freezing by liquid nitrogen with subsequent milling and ultrasonic breaking of cellulose fibres. The best precision of isotope data was achieved by freeze-milling and ultrasonic breaking. However, equipment for freeze-milling is expensive and the procedure is labour-intensive. Mechanical grinding resulted in a rather high loss of material and it is also labour-intensive. The use of ultrasound for breaking cellulose fibres proved to be the best method in terms of rapidity of sample throughput, avoidance of sample loss, precision of isotope results, ease of handling, and cost.

Occupational dosimetric assessment (inhalation pathway) from the application of phosphogypsum in agriculture in South West Spain.

Phosphogypsum (PG) has been traditionally applied as Ca-amendment in saline marsh soils in SW Spain, where available PG has 710+/-40Bqkg(-1) of 226Ra. This work assesses the potential radiological risk for farmers through 222Rn exhalation from PG-amended soils and by inhalation of PG-dust during its application. A three-year field experiment was conducted in a commercial farm involving two treatments: control and 25tPGha(-1) with three replicates (each 0.5ha plots). The 222Rn exhalation rate was positively correlated with potential evapotranspiration, which explained 67% of the variability. Statistically significant differences between the control and PG treatments were not found for 222Rn exhalation rates, and mean values were within the lowest quartile of the typical range for 222Rn exhalation from soils. Airborne dust samples were collected during the application of PG and sugar-beet sludge amendments. The highest PG-attributable 226Ra concentration in the dust samples was 3.3x10(2)microBqm(-3), implying negligible dose increment for exposed workers.

Neumonía por Mycoplasma pneumoniae: una rara causa de distrés respiratorio del adulto / Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia: and uncommon cause of adult respiratory distress syndrome

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Evaluación de una metodología para la determinación de la HbA1c en el analizador Hitachi 717 / Evaluation of an immunoturbidimetric assay adapted to the Hitachi 717 analyzer

Se ha introducido una metodología Inmunoturbidimétrica para la determinación de la fracción Alc de la hemoglobina en el analizador Hitachi 717, siguiendo las especificaciones del fabricante. Se ha realizado una valoración de dicha técnica en el Analizador, determinando la imprecisión interserial e intraserial, la linealidad, y la correlación con dos técnicas representativas, cromatografía de intercambio iónico-HPLC, y cromatografía de afinidad a captura iónica. Los resultados obtenidos muestran un coeficiente de variación intra e interserial inferior al 4.7 por ciento, una buena linealidad y unos coeficientes de correlación de r=0.94 y r=0.91 respecto a los dos métodos con los que se ha realizados la comparación. Por todo lo anterior consideramos que esta metodología es útil para un número pequeño de muestras (10-15 día), puede simultanearse la determinación en el autoanalizador con las técnicas bioquímicas habituales y es más barata que otras técnicas automatizados ya introducidas (AU)

Leishmaniasis laríngea: presentación de dos casos clínicos / Laryngeal leishmaniasis: presentation of two clinical cases

Presentamos 2 casos clínicos de leishmaniasis laríngea, diagnosticados en nuestro hospital. La leishmaniasis aislada de laringe es una rara forma de leishmaniasis mucosa que en el litoral mediterráneo se ha asociado a infección por leishmania donovani ifantum. En nuestros pacientes la aparición de esta extraña forma de leishmaniasis se ha asociado a alcoholismo crónico en el primer caso y a la toma de esteroides inhalados en el segundo. En ninguno de los 2 pacientes existe antecedentes de viajes al extranjero ni se asocia la enfermedad a infección por HIV. El diagnóstico se realizó en los 2 casos por observación directa de las leishmanias en las biopsias mucosas. El tratamiento propuesto fueron los antimoniales, siendo sustituidos en uno de los casos por amfotericina B liposomal por intolerancia a los primeros (AU)

Sepsis neumocócica en una paciente con infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana esplenectomizada vacunada

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[Acute iron poisoning. A case report]. / Intoxicación aguda por hierro en un caso.

The ingestion of iron-containing products is a potential toxicological emergency. It is a leading cause of pediatric unintentional ingestion fatalities because some iron-containing compounds are readily available (vitamin mixtures, iron pills). Among adults, it has been described as accidental overdoses (mainly in pregnancy) and as suicidal attempts. We report a 42 years old woman, admitted due to the intentional ingestion of iron pills with suicidal purposes. A plain abdominal X ray showed at least 20 pills in the gastric fundus and antrum. She was successfully treated with intravenous desferroxamine chelation. Plain abdominal X ray examination can be very useful in the diagnosis of acute iron poisoning.

Meningitis meningocócica sin reacción inflamatoria en líquido cefalorraquídeo / Meningococcal meningitis with no signs of inflammatory reaction in the cerebrospinal fluis

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Absceso cerebral en paciente inmunocompetente / No disponible

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