[Nutritional problems of vegetarian and vegan children]. / Problemática nutricional de los niños vegetarianos y veganos.

Introduction: The number of people following plant-based diets to a greater or lesser degree is increasing, but the more restrictive a diet, the greater the risk of nutritional deficiencies. The childhood stage is a stage of great physical and maturational growth, therefore, nutritional deficiencies at this stage can have serious and sometimes permanent consequences. People who follow restrictive diets of any kind, such as plant-based diets, should receive support from specialized staff to ensure that their diets are varied and balanced, as is desirable in any case.

Introducción: Está aumentando el número de personas que siguen dietas basadas en vegetales en mayor o menor grado, pero cuanto más restrictiva es una dieta, más riesgos existen de presentar deficiencias nutricionales. La etapa infantil es una etapa de gran crecimiento físico y madurativo, por ello, las deficiencias nutricionales en esta etapa pueden acarrear consecuencias graves y, en ocasiones, permanentes. Las personas que siguen dietas restrictivas de cualquier tipo, como son las dietas basadas en vegetales, deben recibir apoyo de personal especializado para conseguir que sus dietas sean variadas y equilibradas, como es deseable en cualquier caso.

[Properties of milk in sleep induction]. / Propiedades de la leche en la inducción del sueño.

Introduction: Sleep induction and its quality are issues of growing concern because its deterioration affects a large number of people and poses a risk to their well-being and quality of life and long-term health. There are several factors involved in the problem, but nutrition is one of them and in particular milk consumption has often been linked to sleep habits, sometimes as a promoter and sometimes as an inhibitor. The purpose of this review is to examine the matter further. On reaching the brain, tryptophan is the basis for the synthesis of serotonin and melatonin, which improve the induction and quality of sleep. But there is competition between tryptophan and other long-chain neutral amino acids (LNAA) (valine, leucine, isoleucine, tyrosine and phenylalanine) to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain. In this sense, milk proteins with a high tryptophan content and the highest ratio between tryptophan and LNAA are very useful in promoting sleep. Moreover, milk also provides various micronutrients that help in the transformation of tryptophan into serotonin and melatonin, as well as antioxidant components, anti-inflammatory and bioactive peptides, and recent studies indicate that it favorably modulates the composition of the intestinal microbiota. Studies show that increasing milk consumption, up to the recommended intake and within a correct diet, favors the achievement and maintenance of quality sleep.

Introducción: La inducción del sueño y su calidad son temas de preocupación creciente porque su deterioro afecta a un número elevado de personas y supone un riesgo en su bienestar y calidad de vida y en la salud a largo plazo. Hay diversos factores implicados en el problema, pero la nutrición es uno de ellos y, en concreto, el consumo de leche se ha relacionado frecuentemente con los hábitos de sueño, a veces como factor promotor y otras como inhibidor. Profundizar en el tema es el objeto de la presente revisión. El triptófano, al llegar al cerebro, es la base para la síntesis de serotonina y melatonina, que mejoran la inducción y la calidad del sueño. Pero hay una competencia entre el triptófano y otros aminoácidos neutros de cadena larga (ANCL) (valina, leucina, isoleucina, tirosina y fenilalanina) para cruzar la barrera hematoencefálica y llegar al cerebro. En este sentido, las proteínas de la leche, con elevado contenido en triptófano y la relación más elevada entre triptófano y ANCL, son muy útiles en la promoción del sueño. Por otra parte, la leche también aporta diversos micronutrientes que ayudan en la transformación del triptófano en serotonina y melatonina, así como componentes antioxidantes, antiinflamatorios y péptidos bioactivos, y estudios recientes indican que modula favorablemente la composición de la microbiota intestinal. Los estudios realizados ponen de relieve que aumentar el consumo de leche, hasta el aporte aconsejado y dentro de una alimentación correcta, favorece el conseguir y mantener un sueño de calidad.

Uncovering hidden therapeutic indications through drug repurposing with graph neural networks and heterogeneous data.

Drug repurposing has gained the attention of many in the recent years. The practice of repurposing existing drugs for new therapeutic uses helps to simplify the drug discovery process, which in turn reduces the costs and risks that are associated with de novo development. Representing biomedical data in the form of a graph is a simple and effective method to depict the underlying structure of the information. Using deep neural networks in combination with this data represents a promising approach to address drug repurposing. This paper presents BEHOR a more comprehensive version of the REDIRECTION model, which was previously presented. Both versions utilize the DISNET biomedical graph as the primary source of information, providing the model with extensive and intricate data to tackle the drug repurposing challenge. This new version's results for the reported metrics in the RepoDB test are 0.9604 for AUROC and 0.9518 for AUPRC. Additionally, a discussion is provided regarding some of the novel predictions to demonstrate the reliability of the model. The authors believe that BEHOR holds promise for generating drug repurposing hypotheses and could greatly benefit the field.

Evaluating the integration of Esper complex event processing engine and message brokers.

The great advance and affordability of technologies, communications and sensor technology has led to the generation of large amounts of data in the field of the Internet of Things and smart environments, as well as a great demand for smart applications and services adapted to the specific needs of each individual. This has entailed the need for systems capable of receiving, routing and processing large amounts of data to detect situations of interest with low latency, but despite the many existing works in recent years, studying highly scalable and low latency data processing systems is still necessary. In this area, the efficiency of complex event processing (CEP) technology is of particular significance and has been used in a variety of application scenarios. However, in most of these scenarios there is no performance evaluation to show how the system performs under various loads and therefore the developer is challenged to develop such CEP-based systems in new scenarios without knowing how the system will be able to handle different input data rates and address scalability and fault tolerance. This article aims to fill this gap by providing an evaluation of the various versions of one of the most reputable CEP engines-Esper CEP, as well as its integration with two renowned messaging brokers for data ingestion-RabbitMQ and Apache Kafka. For this purpose, we defined a benchmark with a series of event patterns with some of the most representative operators of the Esper CEP engine and we performed a series of tests with an increasing rate of input data to the system. We did this for three alternative software architectures: integrating open-source Esper and RabbitMQ, integrating one instance of Esper enterprise edition with Apache Kafka, and integrating two distributed instances of Esper enterprise edition with Apache Kafka. We measured the usage of CPU, RAM memory, latency and throughput time, looking for the data input rate with which the system overloads for each event pattern and we compared the results of the three proposed architectures. The results have shown a very low CPU consumption for all implementation options and input data rates; a balanced memory usage, quite similar among the three architectures, up to an input rate of 10,000 or 15,000 events per second, depending on the architecture and event pattern, and a quite efficient response time up to 10,000 or 15,000 events per second, depending on the architecture and event pattern. Based on a more exhaustive analysis of results, we have concluded that the different options offered by Esper for CEP provide very efficient solutions for real-time data processing, although each with its limitations in terms of brokers to be used for data integration, scalability, and fault tolerance; a number of suggestions have been drawn out for the developer to take as a basis for choosing which CEP engine and which messaging broker to use for the implementation depending on the of the system in question.

Propiedades de la leche en la inducción del sueño / Properties of milk in sleep induction

La inducción del sueño y su calidad son temas de preocupación creciente porque su deterioro afecta a un número elevado de personas y suponeun riesgo en su bienestar y calidad de vida y en la salud a largo plazo. Hay diversos factores implicados en el problema, pero la nutrición es unode ellos y, en concreto, el consumo de leche se ha relacionado frecuentemente con los hábitos de sueño, a veces como factor promotor y otrascomo inhibidor. Profundizar en el tema es el objeto de la presente revisión.El triptófano, al llegar al cerebro, es la base para la síntesis de serotonina y melatonina, que mejoran la inducción y la calidad del sueño. Pero hayuna competencia entre el triptófano y otros aminoácidos neutros de cadena larga (ANCL) (valina, leucina, isoleucina, tirosina y fenilalanina) paracruzar la barrera hematoencefálica y llegar al cerebro. En este sentido, las proteínas de la leche, con elevado contenido en triptófano y la relaciónmás elevada entre triptófano y ANCL, son muy útiles en la promoción del sueño. Por otra parte, la leche también aporta diversos micronutrientesque ayudan en la transformación del triptófano en serotonina y melatonina, así como componentes antioxidantes, antiinflamatorios y péptidosbioactivos, y estudios recientes indican que modula favorablemente la composición de la microbiota intestinal.Los estudios realizados ponen de relieve que aumentar el consumo de leche, hasta el aporte aconsejado y dentro de una alimentación correcta,favorece el conseguir y mantener un sueño de calidad. (AU)

Sleep induction and its quality are issues of growing concern because its deterioration affects a large number of people and poses a risk to theirwell-being and quality of life and long-term health. There are several factors involved in the problem, but nutrition is one of them and in particularmilk consumption has often been linked to sleep habits, sometimes as a promoter and sometimes as an inhibitor. The purpose of this review isto examine the matter further.On reaching the brain, tryptophan is the basis for the synthesis of serotonin and melatonin, which improve the induction and quality of sleep. Butthere is competition between tryptophan and other long-chain neutral amino acids (LNAA) (valine, leucine, isoleucine, tyrosine and phenylalanine)to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain. In this sense, milk proteins with a high tryptophan content and the highest ratio betweentryptophan and LNAA are very useful in promoting sleep.Moreover, milk also provides various micronutrients that help in the transformation of tryptophan into serotonin and melatonin, as well as antioxidantcomponents, anti-inflammatory and bioactive peptides, and recent studies indicate that it favorably modulates the composition of the intestinalmicrobiota. Studies show that increasing milk consumption, up to the recommended intake and within a correct diet, favors the achievementand maintenance of quality sleep. (AU)

Problemática nutricional de los niños vegetarianos y veganos / Nutritional problems of vegetarian and vegan children

Está aumentando el número de personas que siguen dietas basadas en vegetales en mayor o menor grado, pero cuanto más restrictiva es unadieta, más riesgos existen de presentar deficiencias nutricionales.La etapa infantil es una etapa de gran crecimiento físico y madurativo, por ello, las deficiencias nutricionales en esta etapa pueden acarrearconsecuencias graves y, en ocasiones, permanentes.Las personas que siguen dietas restrictivas de cualquier tipo, como son las dietas basadas en vegetales, deben recibir apoyo de personal especializado para conseguir que sus dietas sean variadas y equilibradas, como es deseable en cualquier caso. (AU)

The number of people following plant-based diets to a greater or lesser degree is increasing, but the more restrictive a diet, the greater the riskof nutritional deficiencies.The childhood stage is a stage of great physical and maturational growth, therefore, nutritional deficiencies at this stage can have serious andsometimes permanent consequences.People who follow restrictive diets of any kind, such as plant-based diets, should receive support from specialized staff to ensure that their dietsare varied and balanced, as is desirable in any case. (AU)

Subjective well-being's alterations as risk factors for major depressive disorder during the perimenopause onset: an analytical cross-sectional study amongst Mexican women residing in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

BACKGROUND: Subjective well-being (SWB) can be defined as a self-report evaluation that reflects the satisfaction, and emotional level, over several social and personal indicators. Alterations in these indicators could become risk factors (RF) for major depressive disorder (MDD), but this association has not been studied at women's life stages such as the perimenopause onset, despite its increasing prevalence for depressive symptomatology. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify if SWB's alterations determine RF for MDD during the perimenopause. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional study was realized in 252 Mexican women with perimenopause's age range (48 ± 1.7) and menopausal symptomatology, treated on Medical Units belonging to Jalisco's 13th Health-Region. We applied the INEGI's Basic Self-Reported Wellbeing Survey (BIARE) that measured 30 SWB's indicators. To identify MDD's presence, the Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) was applied. The sample was studied with associative analysis, along with logistic regression models, to determine adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS: Trough the BDI-II we identified 40.5% women with MDD. When compared with the undepressed group we found lower scores in all the SWB's indicators, along with significant associations for depressive symptomatology. However, the logistic regression allowed us to identify significant RF when the women specifically reported personal life-dissatisfaction (aOR 9.6, 95% CI 1.90-17.68), emotional imbalances between happiness/sadness (aOR 7.1, 95% CI 1.49-13.57) and concentration/boredom (aOR 6.7, 95% CI 1.43-13.48); free-time dissatisfaction (aOR 5.5, 95% CI 1.17-5.70), public security unconformity (aOR 5.4, 95% CI 2.20-11.3), and sense of purposelessness (aOR 4.2, 95% CI 1.07-19.41). CONCLUSION: The main objective of the study was to determine if SWB's alterations are RF for depressive symptomatology, finding that social indicators with low scores are associated with MDD by means of aOR -Which were higher when compared to international research studies. Considering this, we suggest that more studies should be implemented, in order to understand and correctly attend the women's social conditions during their perimenopause transition.

Fast and accurate annotation of acoustic signals with deep neural networks.

Acoustic signals serve communication within and across species throughout the animal kingdom. Studying the genetics, evolution, and neurobiology of acoustic communication requires annotating acoustic signals: segmenting and identifying individual acoustic elements like syllables or sound pulses. To be useful, annotations need to be accurate, robust to noise, and fast.We here introduce DeepAudioSegmenter (DAS), a method that annotates acoustic signals across species based on a deep-learning derived hierarchical presentation of sound. We demonstrate the accuracy, robustness, and speed of DAS using acoustic signals with diverse characteristics from insects, birds, and mammals. DAS comes with a graphical user interface for annotating song, training the network, and for generating and proofreading annotations. The method can be trained to annotate signals from new species with little manual annotation and can be combined with unsupervised methods to discover novel signal types. DAS annotates song with high throughput and low latency for experimental interventions in realtime. Overall, DAS is a universal, versatile, and accessible tool for annotating acoustic communication signals.

Intestinal Intervention Strategy Targeting Myeloid Cells to Improve Hepatic Immunity during Hepatocarcinoma Development.

Innate immunity in the tumor microenvironment plays a pivotal role in hepatocarcinoma (HCC) progression. Plant seeds provide serine-type protease inhibitors (SETIs), which can have a significant influence on liver inflammation and macrophage function. To elucidate the influence of SETIs to counter pro-tumorigenic conditions, at the early stages of HCC development, it was used as an established model of diethylnitrosamine/thioacetamide-injured liver fed with a standard diet (STD) or high-fat diet (42%) (HFD). The administration of SETIs improved survival and ameliorated tumor burden via modulation of monocyte-derived macrophages as key effectors involved in diet-induced HCC development. RT-qPCR analyses of hepatic tissue evidenced a diet-independent downregulatory effect of SETIs on the transcripts of CD36, FASN, ALOX15, and SREBP1c; however, animals fed with an STD showed opposing effects for PPAR and NRLP3 levels. These effects were accompanied by a decreased production of IL-6 and IL-17 but increased that of TNF in animals receiving SETIs. Moreover, only animals fed an HFD displayed increased concentrations of the stem cell factor. Overall, SETIs administration decreased the hepatic contents of lysophosphatydilcholine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Notably, animals that received SETIs exhibited increased hepatic proportions of CD68+CX3CR1+CD74+ cells and at a higher rate in those animals fed an HFD. Altogether, the data evidence that oral administration of SETIs modulates the tumor microenvironment, improving hepatic innate immune response(s) and favoring a better antitumoral environment. It represents a path forward in developing coadjutant strategies to pharmacological therapies, with either a preventive or therapeutic character, to counter physiopathological conditions at early stages of HCC development.

Do Not Tell Me More; You Are Honest: A Preconceived Honesty Bias.

According to the previous literature, only a few papers found better accuracy than a chance to detect dishonesty, even when more information and verbal cues (VCs) improve precision in detecting dishonesty. A new classification of dishonesty profiles has recently been published, allowing us to study if this low success rate happens for all people or if some people have higher predictive ability. This paper aims to examine if (dis)honest people can detect better/worse (un)ethical behavior of others. With this in mind, we designed one experiment using videos from one of the most popular TV shows in the UK where contestants make a (dis)honesty decision upon gaining or sharing a certain amount of money. Our participants from an online MTurk sample (N = 1,582) had to determine under different conditions whether the contestants would act in an (dis)honest way. Three significant results emerged from these two experiments. First, accuracy in detecting (dis)honesty is not different than chance, but submaximizers (compared to maximizers) and radical dishonest people (compare to non-radicals) are better at detecting honesty, while there is no difference in detecting dishonesty. Second, more information and VCs improve precision in detecting dishonesty, but honesty is better detected using only non-verbal cues (NVCs). Finally, a preconceived honesty bias improves specificity (honesty detection accuracy) and worsens sensitivity (dishonesty detection accuracy).

Cheaters, Liars, or Both? A New Classification of Dishonesty Profiles.

Experimental studies of dishonesty usually rely on population-level analyses, which compare the distribution of claimed rewards in an unsupervised, self-administered lottery (e.g., tossing a coin) with the expected lottery statistics (e.g., 50/50 chance of winning). Here, we provide a paradigm that measures dishonesty at the individual level and identifies new dishonesty profiles with specific theoretical interpretations. We found that among dishonest participants, (a) some did not bother implementing the lottery at all, (b) some implemented but lied about the lottery outcome, and (c) some violated instructions by repeating the lottery multiple times until obtaining an outcome they felt was acceptable. These results held both in the lab and with online participants. In Experiment 1 (N = 178), the lottery was a coin toss, which permitted only a binary honest/dishonest response; Experiment 2 (N = 172) employed a six-sided-die roll, which permitted gradations in dishonesty. We replicated some previous results and also provide a new, richer classification of dishonest behavior.

Rheological and Structural Study of Salmon Gelatin with Controlled Molecular Weight.

This study explores the molecular structuring of salmon gelatin (SG) with controlled molecular weight produced from salmon skin, and its relationship with its thermal and rheological properties. SG was produced under different pH conditions to produce samples with well-defined high (SGH), medium (SGM), and low (SGL) molecular weight. These samples were characterized in terms of their molecular weight (MW, capillary viscometry), molecular weight distribution (electrophoresis), amino acid profile, and Raman spectroscopy. These results were correlated with thermal (gelation energy) and rheological properties. SGH presented the higher MW (173 kDa) whereas SGL showed shorter gelatin polymer chains (MW < 65 kDa). Raman spectra and gelation energy suggest that amount of helical structures in gelatin is dependent on the molecular weight, which was well reflected by the higher viscosity and G' values for SGH. Interestingly, for all the molecular weight and molecular configuration tested, SG behaved as a strong gel (tan δ < 1), despite its low viscosity and low gelation temperature (3-10 °C). Hence, the molecular structuring of SG reflected directly on the thermal and viscosity properties, but not in terms of the viscoelastic strength of gelatin produced. These results give new insights about the relationship among structural features and macromolecular properties (thermal and rheological), which is relevant to design a low viscosity biomaterial with tailored properties for specific applications.

Riesgo para el desarrollo de trastorno depresivo mayor al existir alteraciones en la sintomatología menopaúsica en mujeres de Guadalajara, Jalisco / Risk for the development of major depressive disorder when there are alterations in menopausal symptoms in women from Guadalajara, Jalisco

RESUMEN Antecedentes: El Trastorno Depresivo Mayor (TDM) puede presentarse durante el inicio de la menopausia, variando su prevalencia de acuerdo a diferentes factores de riesgo clínicos y sociodemográficos; presentándose una mayor asociación al existir alteraciones en la sintomatología menopaúsica. Ante esto, se buscará determinar el riesgo para desarrollar TDM al presentar alteraciones en la sintomatología menopaúsica. Metodología: Es un diseño transversal analítico que incluyó a 252 mujeres iniciando su menopausia (48±1.7 años), atendidas en centros de salud de Guadalajara, Jalisco. Las variables analizadas fueron antecedentes sociodemográficos, utilizando el Inventario de Depresión de Beck para identificar el TDM y la Escala de Valoración de la Menopausia para determinar alteraciones en los principales dominios sintomatológicos de la menopausia. Se realizaron análisis descriptivos y de asociación por medio de Odds Ratio (OR), aplicando finalmente una regresión logística. Resultados: La prevalencia de TDM fue de 40.5%, teniendo asociación con el antecedente de uso de anticonceptivos y con el agravamiento en la sintomatología menopaúsica. El análisis ajustado determinó que hay más riesgo de presentar TDM cuando existen alteraciones en los dominios sintomatológicos, tales como en el somático (OR 3.96, IC95% 1.58-9.95), el urogenital (OR 4.29, IC95% 2.13-8.65) y el psicológico (OR 13.55, IC95% 3.97-46.30). Conclusión: La presencia de alteraciones en la sintomatología menopaúsica se encuentra asociado con un mayor riesgo de presentar TDM, sobre todo si el dominio psicológico está afectado, por lo cual es necesario que el personal de salud identifique estas alteraciones y brinde un manejo temprano en esta etapa de la vida.

ABSTRACT Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) can occur during the onset of the menopause, varying its prevalence according to different clinical and sociodemographic risk factors; presenting a greater association with the existence of alterations in the menopausal symptomatology. Given this, we will seek to determine the risk to develop MDD by presenting alterations in the menopausal symptoms Methodology: It is an analytical cross-sectional design that included 252 women beginning their menopause (48±1.7 years old), and who were attended in health centers of Guadalajara, Jalisco. The analyzed variables were their sociodemographic background, using the Beck Depression Inventory to identify the MDD and the Menopause Rating Scale to determine alterations in the main symptomatological domains of the menopause. Descriptive and association analyzes were performed by means of Odds Ratio (OR), subsequently applying a logistic regression model. Results: The prevalence of MDD was 40.5%, with significant associations with the history of contraceptive use and the worsening of menopausal symptoms. The adjusted analysis allowed us to determine that there is more risk for developing MDD when there were alterations in the symptomatological domains, such as in the somatic (OR 3.96, 95% CI 1.58-9.95), the urogenital (OR 4.29, IC95% 2.13-8.65) and in the psychological (OR 13.55, IC95% 3.97-46.30). Conclusion: The presence of alterations in the menopausal symptomatology is associated with an increased risk of developing MDD, especially if the psychological domain is affected, which is why it is necessary for health personnel to identify these alterations and provide early management in this stage of live.

Esclerosis temporo mesial, evaluación diagnóstica y resultados / Temporus mesial sclerosis, diagnostic evaluation and results

La esclerosis temporo-mesial (ETM), dentro de las epilepsias del lóbulo temporal, es el tipo de epilepsia sintomática focal más frecuente, especialmente en formas parciales resistentes a los medicamentos, siendo la cirugía un tratamiento efectivo para la misma con resolución completa entre un 60 a 90% 1 Su fisiopatogenia es debido a la pérdida neuronal segmental y gliosis en el hipocampo; algunos estudios postmortem indican que estos hallazgos también están presentes en una proporción de pacientes en la amígdala, corteza entorrinal y corteza temporal 2 . Se ha demostrado un aumento de la patología en pacientes que presentaron antecedentes de convulsiones febriles en edad pediátrica, predominando en niños con crisis atípicas, hipoxia perinatal o infecciones en del sistema nervioso central.

The temporo-mesial sclerosis (MTS), within the epilepsies of the temporal lobe, is the type of focal symptomatic epilepsy more frequent, especially in partial forms resistant to the medicines, being the surgery an effective treatment for the same with complete resolution between 60 to 90%. Its pathophysiology is due to segmental neuronal loss and gliosis in the hippocampus; Some postmortem studies indicate that these findings are also present in a proportion of patients in the amygdala, entorhinal cortex and temporal cortex. An increase in the pathology has been demonstrated in patients who had a history of febrile convulsions in the pediatric age, predominantly in children with atypical crises, perinatal hypoxia or infections in the central nervous system.

High Concentrations of Sodium Chloride Improve Microbicidal Activity of Ibuprofen against Common Cystic Fibrosis Pathogens.

Ibuprofen (IBU-H), a widely used anti-inflammatory, also shows a marked antimicrobial effect against several bacterial species, including those involved in cystic fibrosis such as Pseudomona aeruginosa, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Burkholderia cepacia complex. Additionally, our results show significant synergy between water soluble Na-ibuprofen (IBU-Na) and ionic strength. Salt concentrations above 0.5 M modify the zeta potential promoting the action of Na-IBU; thus, with 1 M sodium chloride, IBU-Na is ten times more efficient than in the absence of ionic strength, and the minimum effective contact time is reduced from hours to minutes. In short time periods, where neither IBU-Na nor controls with 1 M NaCl show activity, the combination of both leads to a reduction in the bacterial load. We also analyzed whether the changes caused by salt on the bacterial membrane also promoted the activity of other microbicide compounds used in cystic fibrosis like gentamicin, tobramycin and phosphomycin. The results show that the presence of ionic strength only enhanced the bactericidal activity of the amphipathic molecule of IBU-Na. In this respect, the effect of saline concentration was also reflected in the surface properties of IBU-Na, where, in addition to the clear differences observed between 145 mM and 1 M, singular behaviors were also found, different in each condition. The combination of anti-inflammatory activity and this improved bactericidal effect of Na-IBU in hypertonic solution provides a new alternative for the treatment of respiratory infections of fibrotic patients based on known and widely used compounds.

Silver Nanoparticles with High Loading Capacity of Amphotericin B: Characterization, Bactericidal and Antifungal Effects.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the most appropriate conditions to generate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) loaded with a potent antimycotic drug like amphotericin B (AmB), characterize the physicochemical properties, and to evaluate the cytotoxic effect and biological activity of these new nanostructures as a potential nanocarrier for hydrophobic drugs. It was determined that the optimal molar ratio between Ag and AmB is 1/1 given the uniformity of size around 170 nm of the nanoparticles generated as well as their strongly negative ζ potential of -35 mV, a condition that favors repulsions between AgNPs and inhibiting their aggregation. In this condition, only 0.8 mg.mL-1 of Ag is needed to solubilize 5 mg.mL-1 of AmB, a concentration currently used in commercial formulations. It is important to emphasize that the loading capacity (w/w) of this nanostructure is much higher than that of micellar and liposomal formulations. These AgNP-AmB nanoparticles retain both the bactericidal effect of silver and the cytotoxic and antifungal effect of AmB. However, it was shown that these nanoparticles are spontaneously associated with plasma lipoproteins (LDL and HDL), inhibiting their cytotoxic effects on red blood cells and on at least two cell lines, Vero and H1299 and slightly reducing its bactericidal effect on P. aeruginosa. In contrast, the antifungal effect of the formulation is maintained and is even higher than that when the nanoparticle is not associated with lipoproteins, indicating that this association is of the reversible type. The characterization of these nanoparticles is discussed as a potential new model formulation able to improve the antifungal therapeutic efficiency of AmB.