IFITM3 and severe influenza virus infection. No evidence of genetic association.

Influenza virus infection (IVI) is typically subclinical or causes a self-limiting upper respiratory disease. However, in a small subset of patients IVI rapidly progresses to primary viral pneumonia (PVP) with respiratory failure; a minority of patients require intensive care unit admission. Inherited and acquired variability in host immune responses may influence susceptibility and outcome of IVI. However, the molecular basis of such human factors remains largely elusive. It has been proposed that homozygosity for IFITM3 rs12252-C is associated with a population-attributable risk of 5.4 % for severe IVI in Northern Europeans and 54.3 % for severe H1N1pdm infection in Chinese. A total of 148 patients with confirmed IVI were considered for recruitment; 118 Spanish patients (60 of them hospitalized with PVP) and 246 healthy Spanish individuals were finally included in the statistical analysis. PCR-RFLP was used with confirmation by Sanger sequencing. The allele frequency for rs12252-C was found to be 3.5 % among the general Spanish population. We found no rs12252-C homozygous individuals in our control group. The only Spanish patient homozygous for rs12252-C had a neurological disorder (a known risk factor for severe IVI) and mild influenza. Our data do not suggest a role of rs12252-C in the development of severe IVI in our population. These data may be relevant to recognize whether patients homozygous for rs12252-C are at risk of severe influenza, and hence require individualized measures in the case of IVI.

[Metabolism and elimination of ethosuximide in neonates whose mothers had petit mal]. / Metabolismo y eliminación de la etosuximida en el recién nacido de madre afecta de "petit mal".

In thirteen newborn infants of mothers affected with "petit mal" and treated with ethosuximide, submitted to artificial feeding with powdered milk, it was found that transplacental elimination of the drug occurred. Authors recorded daily serum concentration of ethosuximide and found that average life before it was totally eliminated was 80.62 +/- 7.24 hours. At the moment of birth serum concentration of mothers, and their newborn infants are similar due to transplacental by-pass. Through a lineal regression coefficient they find a relation between serum concentration in newborn infants and time passed from the moment of birth. This coefficient was negative and thus signified facility of the newborn to eliminate the drug. This result allows us to treat the mother adequately during anti-natal period with adequate dose to avoid subsequent epileptic attacks without producing toxicity in the newborn child.