Variants in BRCA1/2 in a hospital-based cohort in Chile and national literature review.

Purpose: The aim was to assess the diagnostic yield of next generation sequencing (NGS) multi-gene panels for breast and ovarian cancer in a high-complexity cancer centre in Chile. Additionally, our goal was to broaden the genotypic spectrum of BRCA variants already identified in Chilean families. Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on the genetic test results of 722 individuals from Fundación Arturo López Pérez's genetic counselling unit between 2016 and 2021. A comprehensive literature review encompassing articles analysing the frequency of germinal pathogenic variants in BRCA1/2 within the Chilean population was undertaken. Results: 23.5% of the panels had positive results, with 60% due to pathogenic variants in the BRCA1/2 genes. Seven previously unreported variants in BRCA1 from Chilean studies were identified.One or more variants of uncertain significance were detected in 31% of the results, and 11.5% of the families in this cohort presented copy number variants (CNVs) in BRCA1/2.8 studies analysed the frequency of pathogenic variants in BRCA1/2 in the Chilean population between 2006 and 2023, with a frequency between 7.1% and 17.1%.51 BRCA1 variants in 149 families have been reported in Chile and 38 BRCA2 variants in 132 families. Nine founder pathogenic variants identified by one study were present in 51.9% of the total Chilean families reported. Conclusion: Our findings advocate for the integration of NGS multi-gene panel testing as a primary strategy within our population. This approach allows for the comprehensive assessment of single nucleotide variants and CNVs in BRCA1/2, alongside other high and moderately penetrant genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer.

Comprehensive Characterization of Tissues Derived from Animals at Different Regenerative Stages: A Comparative Analysis between Fetal and Adult Mouse Skin.

Tissue regeneration capabilities vary significantly throughout an organism's lifespan. For example, mammals can fully regenerate until they reach specific developmental stages, after which they can only repair the tissue without restoring its original architecture and function. The high regenerative potential of fetal stages has been attributed to various factors, such as stem cells, the immune system, specific growth factors, and the presence of extracellular matrix molecules upon damage. To better understand the local differences between regenerative and reparative tissues, we conducted a comparative analysis of skin derived from mice at regenerative and reparative stages. Our findings show that both types of skin differ in their molecular composition, structure, and functionality. We observed a significant increase in cellular density, nucleic acid content, neutral lipid density, Collagen III, and glycosaminoglycans in regenerative skin compared with reparative skin. Additionally, regenerative skin had significantly higher porosity, metabolic activity, water absorption capacity, and elasticity than reparative skin. Finally, our results also revealed significant differences in lipid distribution, extracellular matrix pore size, and proteoglycans between the two groups. This study provides comprehensive data on the molecular and structural clues that enable full tissue regeneration in fetal stages, which could aid in developing new biomaterials and strategies for tissue engineering and regeneration.

Probiotics and Prebiotics as a Strategy for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, a Narrative Review.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic non-communicable disease, with a prevalence of 25% worldwide. This pathology is a multifactorial illness, and is associated with different risks factors, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Beside these predisposing features, NAFLD has been related to changes in the microbiota, which favor the disease progression. In this context, the modulation of the gut microbiota has emerged as a new therapeutic target for the prophylaxis and treatment of NAFLD. This review describes the changes in the gut microbiota associated with NAFLD and the effect of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics on the gut microbiota, liver damage, anthropometric parameters, blood lipids, inflammation markers and insulin resistance in these patients.

The Reparative Abilities of Menstrual Stem Cells Modulate the Wound Matrix Signals and Improve Cutaneous Regeneration.

Considerable advances have been made toward understanding the cellular and molecular mechanism of wound healing, however, treatments for chronic wounds remain elusive. Emerging concepts utilizing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from umbilical cord, adipose tissue and bone marrow have shown therapeutical advantages for wound healing. Based on this positive outcome, efforts to determine the optimal sources for MSCs are required in order to improve their migratory, angiogenic, immunomodulatory, and reparative abilities. An alternative source suitable for repetitive, non-invasive collection of MSCs is from the menstrual fluid (MenSCs), displaying a major practical advantage over other sources. This study aims to compare the biological functions and the transcriptomic pattern of MenSCs with umbilical cord MSCs in conditions resembling the wound microenvironment. Consequently, we correlate the specific gene expression signature from MenSCs with changes of the wound matrix signals in vivo. The direct comparison revealed a superior clonogenic and migratory potential of MenSCs as well as a beneficial effect of their secretome on human dermal fibroblast migration in vitro. Furthermore, MenSCs showed increased immunomodulatory properties, inhibiting T-cell proliferation in co-culture. We further, investigated the expression of selected genes involved in wound repair (growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, AMPs, MMPs) and found considerably higher expression levels in MenSCs (ANGPT1 1.5-fold; PDGFA 1.8-fold; PDGFB 791-fold; MMP3 21.6-fold; ELN 13.4-fold; and MMP10 9.2-fold). This difference became more pronounced under a pro-inflammatory stimulation, resembling wound bed conditions. Locally applied in a murine excisional wound splinting model, MenSCs showed a significantly improved wound closure after 14 days, as well as enhanced neovascularization, compared to the untreated group. Interestingly, analysis of excised wound tissue revealed a significantly higher expression of VEGF (1.42-fold) among other factors, translating an important conversion of the matrix signals in the wound site. Furthermore, histological analysis of the wound tissue from MenSCs-treated group displayed a more mature robust vascular network and a genuinely higher collagen content confirming the pro-angiogenic and reparative effect of MenSCs treatment. In conclusion, the superior clonogenicity, immunosuppressive and migration potential in combination with specific paracrine signature of MenSCs, resulted in an enhanced wound healing and cutaneous regeneration process.

Tasa de cesáreas según la clasificación de Robson: análisis comparativo entre dos hospitales universitarios / Tasa de cesáreas según la clasificación de Robson: análisis comparativo entre dos hospitales universitarios

RESUMEN Introducción y objetivos: La ejecución de cesáreas para la interrupción del embarazo y su tasa óptima de utilización ha sido un tema controversial desde sus inicios. En esta línea Robsons y Cols proponen una clasificación para evaluar y comparar de manera eficaz las prácticas realizadas en las distintas instituciones de salud. El objetivo de este trabajo fue comparar la tasa de cesáreas realizadas durante el año 2017 tanto en el Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile (HCUCH) como en el Hospital base San José de Osorno (HBSJO), y de esta forma, describir sus diferencias estadísticas. Métodos: Los resultados se obtuvieron mediante la recopilación de datos del libro de pabellones disponible en ambos departamentos. Resultados: Se observó una diferencia significativa en la interrupción del embarazo vía alta, la que alcanzó un 55,7% en el HCUCH, en contraste con un 35,7% en el HBSJO. En el HCUCH, el 87,8% de la totalidad de los partos correspondieron a mujeres con embarazos de bajo riesgo, realizándose cesárea en el 52,9% de ellas. En el HBSJO en cambio, las cifras fueron de un 74,6% y 32,2% respectivamente. En las únicas categorías en las cuales no existió una diferencia estadísticamente significativa en cuanto a la tasa de cesáreas realizadas fueron las distocias de presentación y los embarazos gemelares, alcanzando un a tasa de 100% en embarazos gemelares en el HBSJO. Las hipótesis que explican estas diferencias radican principalmente en la organización administrativa y a la población atendida en cada hospital. Conclusiones: Los distintos centros asistenciales de nuestro país se rigen por distintas formas de funcionamiento. Esto explica entre otras cosas, la diferencia estadísticamente significativa que se produce al comparar la tasa de cesárea del HCUCH con el HBSJO. Hacemos un llamado en este trabajo a utilizar el método de clasificación de Robson para facilitar la supervisión y la comparación crítica de estos índices en los hospitales.

ABSTRACT Introduction and objectives: The caesarean section execution for the interruption of pregnancy and its optimal rate of use, has been a controversial issue since its inception. In this line Robsons and Cols propose a classification to standardize and effectively compare the practices carried out in the different health institutions. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of cesareans performed during 2017 both at the "University Clinical Hospital of Chile" (HCUCH) and at the "San José de Osorno Hospital" (HBSJO), and in this way, describe their statistical differences. Methods: The results were obtained by collecting data from the pavilion book available in both departments. Results: There was a significant difference in the cesarean rate between both hospitals. This difference reached 55.7% in the HCUCH, in contrast to 35.7% in the HBSJO. In the HCUCH, 87.8% of all the deliveries corresponded to women with low risk pregnancies, with cesarean sections performed in 52.9% of them. On the other hand, in the HBSJO the values were 74.6% and 32.2% respectively. The only categories in which there was no statistically significant difference in the rate of cesarean sections performed, were pregnancies with dystocia presentation and twin pregnancies, reaching a 100% of surgical intervention in this last group. The hypotheses that explain these differences lie mainly in the administrative organization and the population served in each hospital. Conclusions: The different healthcare centers in our country are governed by different ways of functioning. This explains, among other things, the statistically significant difference that occurs when comparing the cesarean rate of the HCUCH and the HBSJO. We encourage in this study to use Robson's classification method to facilitate the supervision and critical comparison of these indices in hospitals.

Functional Role of the Disulfide Isomerase ERp57 in Axonal Regeneration.

ERp57 (also known as grp58 and PDIA3) is a protein disulfide isomerase that catalyzes disulfide bonds formation of glycoproteins as part of the calnexin and calreticulin cycle. ERp57 is markedly upregulated in most common neurodegenerative diseases downstream of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. Despite accumulating correlative evidence supporting a neuroprotective role of ERp57, the contribution of this foldase to the physiology of the nervous system remains unknown. Here we developed a transgenic mouse model that overexpresses ERp57 in the nervous system under the control of the prion promoter. We analyzed the susceptibility of ERp57 transgenic mice to undergo neurodegeneration. Unexpectedly, ERp57 overexpression did not affect dopaminergic neuron loss and striatal denervation after injection of a Parkinson's disease-inducing neurotoxin. In sharp contrast, ERp57 transgenic animals presented enhanced locomotor recovery after mechanical injury to the sciatic nerve. These protective effects were associated with enhanced myelin removal, macrophage infiltration and axonal regeneration. Our results suggest that ERp57 specifically contributes to peripheral nerve regeneration, whereas its activity is dispensable for the survival of a specific neuronal population of the central nervous system. These results demonstrate for the first time a functional role of a component of the ER proteostasis network in peripheral nerve regeneration.

Reestablishment of ischemia-reperfusion liver injury by N-acetylcysteine administration prior to a preconditioning iron protocol.

The role of iron (Fe)-induced prooxidant status in Fe preconditioning against ischemia (1 h)-reperfusion (20 h) induced liver injury was assessed using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) (1 g/kg) before Fe (50 mg/kg), given to male Sprague Dawley rats on alternate days during 10 days. IR significantly increased serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels, with drastic changes in liver histology, hepatic glutathione depletion, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 diminution (P < 0.05) (ELISA). Fe-induced liver oxidative stress, as evidenced by higher protein carbonyl/glutathione content ratios (P < 0.05) at days 11 and 12 after treatment, was abolished by NAC. Under these conditions, short-term Fe administration exerted significant protection against IR liver injury, as shown by 85% and 60% decreases in IR-induced serum AST and ALT (P < 0.05), respectively, and normalization of hepatic histology, glutathione levels, and NF-κB activation, changes that were suppressed by NAC administration prior to Fe. Results of this study indicate that NAC administration prior to an iron protocol reestablishes IR liver injury, supporting the role of Fe-induced transient oxidative stress in hepatoprotection and its potential clinical application.