Hormonal Profile in Response to an Empathic Induction Task in Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: Oxytocin/Testosterone Ratio and Social Cognition.

Empathy deficits have been proposed to be an important factor for intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV perpetrators have shown a differential change in salivary oxytocin (sOXT), testosterone (sT), and cortisol (sC), following empathic and stress tasks, compared to non-violent men. However, the influence of empathic deficits in those hormones after an emotion-induction task in IPV perpetrators remains unclear. We analyzed the effects of an empathic induction task on endogenous sOXT, sT and sC levels, as well as their hormonal ratios, in IPV perpetrators (n = 12), and compared them to controls (n = 12). Additionally, we explored the predictive capacity of empathy-related functions (measured with the interpersonal reactivity index) in the hormonal responses to the task. IPV perpetrators presented lower sOXT changes and higher total sT levels than controls after the task, lower sOXT/T change and total sOXT/T levels, as well as higher total sT/C levels. Notably, for all participants, the lower the perspective taking score, the lower the total sOXT levels and sOXT changes and the higher the sT changes were. Low perspective taking also predicted smaller sOXT/T and sOXT/C changes in the empathic induction task, and higher total sT/C levels for all participants. Therefore, our results could contribute to furthering our ability to focus on new therapeutic targets, increasing the effectiveness of intervention programs and helping to reduce IPV recidivism in the medium term.

Rapid and Highly Sensitive DNA Flow Technology Platform to Detect Tick-Borne Bacterial Pathogens in Clinical Samples.

Zoonotic diseases represent a significant public health concern worldwide due to the emergence/re-emergence of vector-borne diseases in the last decade. Ticks are the most important vectors in the northern hemisphere and can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, and spotted fever rickettsioses, among others. Therefore, there is a growing need to develop better and faster diagnostic tools that can detect zoonotic human pathogens in clinical samples. In this study, we present the results for a new kit tick-borne bacteria flow chip (TBFC), which allows the simultaneous screening of seven different bacterial pathogens in human samples using a DNA flow technology platform (hybriSpot system). The analytical sensitivity and specificity of the TBFC were calculated spiking bacterial DNA in human DNA samples, and the results were compared with an in-house single PCR-reverse line blot (RLB) routinely used for diagnosis at the National Center for Microbiology in Spain. The analytical sensitivity and specificity of the TBFC were almost identical to the PCR-RLBs used in diagnosis. In addition, samples from patients (n = 212) with a wide range of clinical signs/symptoms consistent with multisystem disorders suggestive of a tick-borne infection were tested using the TBFC, and the results were compared with those obtained by PCR-RLB. The concordance of both methods using patient samples was 97.2%. The TBFC kit is a rapid new and cost-efficient diagnostic molecular tool capable of detecting tick-borne pathogens in clinical samples.

Density-Dependent Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in Fluctuating Vole Populations, Northwestern Spain.

Tularemia in humans in northwestern Spain is associated with increases in vole populations. Prevalence of infection with Francisella tularensis in common voles increased to 33% during a vole population fluctuation. This finding confirms that voles are spillover agents for zoonotic outbreaks. Ecologic interactions associated with tularemia prevention should be considered.

Distribution of Bartonella henselae variants in patients, reservoir hosts and vectors in Spain.

We have studied the diversity of B. henselae circulating in patients, reservoir hosts and vectors in Spain. In total, we have fully characterized 53 clinical samples from 46 patients, as well as 78 B. henselae isolates obtained from 35 cats from La Rioja and Catalonia (northeastern Spain), four positive cat blood samples from which no isolates were obtained, and three positive fleas by Multiple Locus Sequence Typing and Multiple Locus Variable Number Tandem Repeats Analysis. This study represents the largest series of human cases characterized with these methods, with 10 different sequence types and 41 MLVA profiles. Two of the sequence types and 35 of the profiles were not described previously. Most of the B. henselae variants belonged to ST5. Also, we have identified a common profile (72) which is well distributed in Spain and was found to persist over time. Indeed, this profile seems to be the origin from which most of the variants identified in this study have been generated. In addition, ST5, ST6 and ST9 were found associated with felines, whereas ST1, ST5 and ST8 were the most frequent sequence types found infecting humans. Interestingly, some of the feline associated variants never found on patients were located in a separate clade, which could represent a group of strains less pathogenic for humans.

Rickettsia monacensis and human disease, Spain.

We identified Rickettsia monacensis as a cause of acute tickborne rickettsiosis in 2 humans. Its pathogenic role was assessed by culture and detection of the organism in patients' blood samples. This finding increases the number of recognized human rickettsial pathogens and expands the known geographic distribution of Mediterranean spotted fever-like cases.