[Update on the diagnosis of PCa in urine. The current role of urine markers]. / Actualización en el diagnóstico del CaP en orina. Papel actual de los marcadores urinarios.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is still a main health issue, in fact it is responsible for 10% of cancer deaths across Europe. The morphology of the prostate gland makes urine an ideal sample, non invasive, for determination both diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. We use urinary PCA3 levels to indicate a prostate biopsy, and it is the only urinary biomarkers in PCa with FDA approval for clinical use. Many other biomarkers based on the expression of specific genes of PCa are being studied and validated, for instance the fusion gene TMPRSS2-ERG with a commercial kit available, while another approach is to test the expression of a panel of genes. An emerging focus of research, which deserves attention, is miRNAs. Other newer approaches such as epigenetics, proteomics and metabolomics also would be very useful in the future for the development and validation of new biomarkers. In this paper we review the state of the art in the field of urinary biomarkers in PCa.

Actualización en el diagnóstico del CaP en orina. Papel actual de los marcadores urinarios / Update on the diagnosis of PCa in urine. The current role of urine markers

El cáncer de próstata (CaP) es un problema sanitario de primer orden, de lo que da idea el hecho de que es responsable del 10% de muertes por cáncer en Europa. La naturaleza y anatomía de la glándula prostática hace que la orina sea una muestra ideal y no invasiva para la determinación de biomarcadores tanto diagnósticos como pronósticos. Como punta de lanza de la nueva generación de biomarcadores de CaP tenemos los niveles urinarios de PCA3 usados para la indicación de biopsias prostáticas y el único de los biomarcadores urinarios que cuenta con aprobación de la FDA para su uso clínico. Muchos otros marcadores basados en la expresión de genes específicos del CaP están siendo estudiados y validados tanto en solitario como formando parte de paneles, tal es el caso del gen de fusión TMPRSS2-ERG que cuenta con un kit comercial. También es de resaltar la importancia del estudio de los miARNs como campo emergente. Otros enfoques más novedosos como la epigenética, proteómica y metabolómica también pueden en un futuro cercano ser claves en el descubrimiento, desarrollo y validación de nuevos biomarcadores útiles. En este trabajo se revisa el estado actual del desarrollo de todos estos marcadores biológicos

Prostate cancer (PCa) is still a main health issue, in fact it is responsible for 10% of cancer deaths across Europe. The morphology of the prostate gland makes urine an ideal sample, non invasive, for determination both diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. We use urinary PCA3 levels to indicate a prostate biopsy, and it is the only urinary biomarkers in PCa with FDA approval for clinical use. Many other biomarkers based on the expression of specific genes of PCa are being studied and validated, for instance the fusion gene TMPRSS2-ERG with a commercial kit available, while another approach is to test the expression of a panel of genes. An emerging focus of research, which deserves attention, is miRNAs. Other newer approaches such as epigenetics, proteomics and metabolomics also would be very useful in the future for the development and validation of new biomarkers. In this paper we review the state of the art in the field of urinary biomarkers in PCa

Autocuidado y calidad de vida posterior a la consejería de enfermería en pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica / Self care and quality of life after nursing counseling in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", "_i": "

Introducción: La enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica, afecta la calidad de vida de las personas y origina la necesidad de acciones adicionales de autocuidado. La intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personalizada es el conjunto de actividades para ayudar al paciente a lograr un resultado de salud deseado. Objetivos: Comparar los resultados en el autocuidado y calidad de vida de los pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica que recibieron una intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personalizada y el grupo control, identificar la proporción de pacientes que recibieron intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personalizada. Material y métodos:Ensayo clínico. Muestra de 124 pacientes (64 estudio y 60 control), hombres y mujeres con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica, en control médico. El grupo estudio recibió intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personalizada y atención médica habitual. El control recibió únicamente atención médica habitual. Se hicieron tres mediciones de las variables autocuidado, calidad de vida y apego a la intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personalizada: antes de la intervención, a los seis meses y al año posterior. En el análisis estadístico se empleó estadística descriptiva, modelo lineal general y análisis múltiple de covarianza. Resultados: La intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personalizada explica las diferencias significativas entre grupos en autocuidado (p = 0.039) y calidad de vida (St. George p = 0.020, CQR p = 0.013), los cuales se incrementaron en el grupo estudio al paso del tiempo. En 54.6% de los pacientes se observó apego a la intervención. Conclusiones: Los pacientes que recibieron la intervención, incrementaron su autocuidado y calidad de vida mejorando así la percepción de su estado de salud a pesar de que fisiológicamente no hubo cambios. La intervención de enfermería basada en consejería personal puede mejorar el autocuidado.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease causes changes that affect the quality of life of people and trigger the need for additional shares of self. Nursing intervention based on individualized counseling is the activity that a nurse does to help the patient to achieve a desired health outcome. Aim: To compare the results of self-care and quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who received a nursing intervention based on individualized counseling and control groups and identify the proportion of patients receiving nursing intervention based on individualized counseling. Material and methods: Clinical trial. Sample of 124 patients (64 study and control). The trial included men and women with confirmed diagnosis of global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease classification I, II, III, IV. Patients enrolled were under medical control of pulmonologists. The study group received medical care and nursing intervention based on individualized counseling. Control group only received medical care. The measurements were made of the variables of interest: before the intervention, six months and one year after. The statistical analysis was made using descriptive statistics and general linear model multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The nursing intervention based on individualized counseling explains the significant differences between groups in self-care (p = 0.039) and quality of life (St. George p = 0.020, CQR p = 0.013), which increased in the study group over time. The 54.6% of patients had adherence to the intervention. Discussion: Patients who received the intervention increased their self-care and quality of life. The patients improved their perception of health status even where there was no physiological change. Conclusions: Nursing intervention based on individualized counseling can improve self-care and quality of life for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Experimental infection of Artibeus intermedius bats with serotype-2 dengue virus.

Dengue fever is caused by a flavivirus that primarily infects humans and Aedes sp. mosquitoes. However, viral replication in wild animals other than non-human primates has been scarcely studied. In this report, the susceptibility of Artibeus intermedius frugivorous bat to serotype-2 dengue virus (DENV-2) infection was tested. Twenty-three bats were intraperitoneally inoculated with different viral loads of DENV-2 (New Guinea-C strain). Forty-three percent of the infected bats developed bruises on the chest or on the wings. Histological analyses showed structural alterations in the spleen and bleeding in liver and intestine, but the virus was not detected by RT-PCR in any of the analyzed tissues, and it was found in only one bat (kidney) by semi-nested RT-PCR. In sera, the viral RNA was detected by semi-nested RT-PCR in 39% of bats, but only 8% of bats seroconverted. Overall, these data indicate that DENV-2 replicates poorly in these bats, suggesting they are not suitable hosts to this virus.

Comparative Studies on the Dissolution Profiles of Oral Ibuprofen Suspension and Commercial Tablets using Biopharmaceutical Classification System Criteria.

In vitro dissolution studies for solid oral dosage forms have recently widened the scope to a variety of special dosage forms such as suspensions. For class II drugs, like Ibuprofen, it is very important to have discriminative methods for different formulations in physiological conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, which will identify different problems that compromise the drug bioavailability. In the present work, two agitation speeds have been performed in order to study ibuprofen suspension dissolution. The suspensions have been characterised relatively to particle size, density and solubility. The dissolution study was conducted using the following media: buffer pH 7.2, pH 6.8, 4.5 and 0.1 M HCl. For quantitative analysis, the UV/Vis spectrophotometry was used because this methodology had been adequately validated. The results show that 50 rpm was the adequate condition to discriminate the dissolution profile. The suspension kinetic release was found to be dependent on pH and was different compared to tablet release profile at the same experimental conditions. The ibuprofen release at pH 1.0 was the slowest.

Dengue virus in Mexican bats.

Individuals belonging to five families, 12 genera, and 19 different species of bats from dengue endemic areas in the Gulf and Pacific coasts of Mexico were examined by ELISA, RT-PCR, and for the presence of dengue virus (DV) NS1 protein. Nine individuals from four species were seropositive by ELISA: three insectivorous, Myotis nigricans (four positives/12 examined), Pteronotus parnellii (3/19), and Natalus stramineus (1/4), and one frugivorous Artibeus jamaicensis (1/35) (12.86% seroprevalence in positive species). DV serotype 2 was detected by RT-PCR in four samples from three species (all from the Gulf coast - rainy season): two frugivorous, A. jamaicensis (2/9), and Carollia brevicauda (1/2), and one insectivorous, M. nigricans (1/11). The latter was simultaneously positive for NS1 protein. DV RT-PCR positive animals were all antibody seronegative. M. nigricans showed positive individuals for all three tests. This is the first evidence suggesting the presence of DV in bats from Mexico.

Alendronate interacts with the inhibitory effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 on parathyroid hormone-related protein expression in human osteoblastic cells.

The bisphosphonate alendronate is a potent inhibitor of bone resorption by its direct action on osteoclasts. In addition, there is some data suggesting that alendronate could also inhibit bone resorption indirectly by interacting with osteoblasts. Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) produced by osteoblasts and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] are regulators of bone remodeling, which have interrelated actions in these cells. In this study, we assessed whether alendronate can affect PTHrP expression in the presence or absence of 1,25(OH)2D3 in human primary osteoblastic (hOB) cells from trabecular bone. Cell total RNA was isolated, and semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was carried out using human PTHrP-specific primers. PTHrP in the hOB cell-conditioned medium was analyzed by a specific immunoradiometric assay. We found that PTHrP mRNA and secreted PTHrP were maximally inhibited by 10(-8) - 10(-6) M of 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment within 8-72 h in hOB cells. Alendronate (10(-14) - 10(-8) M) modified neither PTHrP mRNA nor PTHrP secretion, although it consistently abrogated the decrease in PTHrP production induced by 1,25(OH)2D3 in these cells. On the other hand, alendronate within the same dose range did not affect either the vitamin D receptor (VDR) mRNA or osteocalcin secretion, with or without 1,25(OH)2D3, in hOB cells. The inhibitory effect of alendronate on the 1,25(OH)2D3-induced decrease in PTHrP in these cells was mimicked by the calcium ionophore A23187 (5 x 10-6 M), while it was eliminated by 5 x 10(-5) M of nifedipine. Furthermore, although alendronate alone failed to affect [Ca2+]i in these cells, it stimulated [Ca2+]i after pretreatment of hOB cells with 10(-8) M of 1,25(OH)2D3, an effect that was abolished by 5 x 10(-5) M of nifedipine. These results show that alendronate disrupts the modulatory effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 on PTHrP production in hOB cells. Our findings indicate that an increase in calcium influx appears to be involved in the mechanism mediating this effect of alendronate.

Effects of triiodothyronine and bovine growth hormone on glucose transporter isoform-2 (GLUT-2) and glucokinase (GK) gene expression in pancreatic islets of fetal and adult rats.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of triiodothyronine (T3) and bovine growth hormone (bGH) on the expression of glucose transporter-2 (GLUT-2) and of glucokinase (GK) from pancreatic islets of fetal and adult rats. Incubation of both sets of pancreatic islets with T3 did not modify GLUT-2 mRNA levels, but did reduce the content of GLUT-2 protein, while it reduced the expression of GK mRNAs in fetal and adult pancreatic islets. Treatment of fetal and adult pancreatic islets with 1 microg/ml bGH did not alter the expression of GLUT-2 mRNAs, but significantly increased GLUT-2 protein levels in adult islets by 50%. Also, bGH had no effect on the GK mRNA content of fetal and adult pancreatic islets whereas, in contrast, there was a significant reduction in the amount of GK protein in fetal islets cultured with that hormone but not in those corresponding to adult rats. These findings suggest that T3 and bGH are able to modulate the expression of GLUT-2 and GK mRNAs and proteins in pancreatic islets in a manner different from that in the liver, as previously reported by others. In addition, both hormones produced different responses in fetal and in adult pancreatic islets.

Expression of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor and the effect of GLP-1-(7-36) amide on insulin release by pancreatic islets during rat ontogenic development.

The expression of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor and the effects of GLP-1-(7-36) amide (t-GLP-1) on glucose metabolism and insulin release by pancreatic islets during rat development were studied. GLP-1 receptor mRNA was found in significant amounts in pancreatic islets from all age groups studied, GLP-1 receptor expression being maximal when pancreatic islets were incubated at physiological glucose concentration (5.5 mM), but decreasing significantly when incubated with either 1.67 or 16.7 mM glucose. Glucose utilization and oxidation by pancreatic islets from fetal and adult rats rose as a function of glucose concentration, always being higher in fetal than in adult islets. The addition of t-GLP-1 to the incubation medium did not modify glucose metabolism but gastric inhibitory polypeptide and glucagon significantly increased glucose utilization by fetal and adult pancreatic islets at 16.7 mM glucose. At this concentration, glucose produced a significant increase in insulin release by the pancreatic islets from 10-day-old and 20-day-old suckling rats and adult rats, whereas those from fetuses showed only a significant increase when glucose was raised from 1.67 to 5.5 mM. t-GLP-1 elicited an increase in insulin release by pancreatic islets from all the experimental groups when the higher glucose concentrations were used. Our findings indicate that GLP-1 receptors and the effect of t-GLP-1 on insulin release are already present in the fetus, and they therefore exclude the possibility that alterations in the action of t-GLP-1 are responsible for the unresponsiveness of pancreatic beta cells to glucose in the fetus, but stimulation of t-GLP-1 release by food ingestion in newborns may partially confer glucose competence on beta cells.