Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in urinalysis of hypertension patients with kidney disease.

Arterial hypertension (AH) is a multifactorial and asymptomatic disease that affects vital organs such as the kidneys and heart. Considering its prevalence and the associated severe health repercussions, hypertension has become a disease of great relevance for public health across the globe. Conventionally, the classification of an individual as hypertensive or non-hypertensive is conducted through ambulatory blood pressure monitoring over a 24-h period. Although this method provides a reliable diagnosis, it has notable limitations, such as additional costs, intolerance experienced by some patients, and interferences derived from physical activities. Moreover, some patients with significant renal impairment may not present proteinuria. Accordingly, alternative methodologies are applied for the classification of individuals as hypertensive or non-hypertensive, such as the detection of metabolites in urine samples through liquid chromatography or mass spectrometry. However, the high cost of these techniques limits their applicability for clinical use. Consequently, an alternative methodology was developed for the detection of molecular patterns in urine collected from hypertension patients. This study generated a direct discrimination model for hypertensive and non-hypertensive individuals through the amplification of Raman signals in urine samples based on gold nanoparticles and supported by chemometric techniques such as partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Specifically, 162 patient urine samples were used to create a PLS-DA model. These samples included 87 urine samples from patients diagnosed with hypertension and 75 samples from non-hypertensive volunteers. In the AH group, 35 patients were diagnosed with kidney damage and were further classified into a subgroup termed (RAH). The PLS-DA model with 4 latent variables (LV) was used to classify the hypertensive patients with external validation prediction (P) sensitivity of 86.4%, P specificity of 77.8%, and P accuracy of 82.5%. This study demonstrates the ability of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to differentiate between hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients through urine samples, representing a significant advance in the detection and management of AH. Additionally, the same model was then used to discriminate only patients diagnosed with renal damage and controls with a P sensitivity of 100%, P specificity of 77.8%, and P accuracy of 82.5%.

MicroRNAs overexpressed in Crohn's disease and their interactions with mechanisms of epigenetic regulation explain novel aspects of Crohn's disease pathogenesis.

BACKGROUND: In this review, we were interested to identify the wide universe of enzymes associated with epigenetic modifications, whose gene expression is regulated by miRNAs with a high relative abundance in Crohn's disease (CD) affected tissues, with the aim to determine their impact in the pathogenesis and evolution of the disease. METHODS: We used HMDD and Bibliometrix R-package in order to identify the miRNAs overexpressed in CD. The identified enzymes associated with epigenetic mechanisms and post-translational modifications, regulated by miRNAs upregulated in CD, were analyzed using String v11 database. RESULTS: We found 190 miRNAs with great abundance in patients with CD, of which 26 miRNAs regulate the gene expression of enzymes known to catalyze epigenetic modifications involved in essentials pathophysiological processes, such as chromatin architecture reorganization, immune response regulation including CD4+ T cells polarization, integrity of gut mucosa, gut microbiota composition and tumorigenesis. CONCLUSION: The integrated analysis of miRNAs with a high relative abundance in patients with CD showed a combined and superimposed gene expression regulation of enzymes associated with relevant epigenetic mechanisms and that could explain, in part, the pathogenesis of CD.

El impacto de la educación en ciencias biológicas en pacientes con enfermedad renal en un contexto de epidemia por COVID-19 / The impact of education in biological science in patients with kidney disease in the context of a covid-19 epidemic

Resumen La educación en ciencias biológicas juega un papel importante a la hora de entender los sistemas vivos y ecosistemas que nos rodea en contexto de una epidemia de tipo zoonótico como SARS-CoV-2 y cumple un papel importante para el autocuidado en pacientes con enfermedad renal que son una población en alto riesgo según datos epidemiológicos. El presente trabajo pretende describir la asociación entre la educación en ciencia biológica y la epidemia por COVID-19. La educación en ciencias biológicas es un componente importante supeditado al autocuidado para que muchos pacientes con enfermedad renal puedan entender la importancia de tener una mejor adherencia al régimen terapéutico y el régimen alimenticio, y en el caso puntual de la epidemia por COVID-19 puede permitir que ellos tomen las medidas preventivas que eviten su exposición al patógeno.

Abstract Biologic education plays an important role in understanding the living systems and ecosystems that it does not surround in the context of a zoonotic-like epidemic such as SARS-CoV-2 may have an important role for self-care in patients with kidney disease that they are a population at high risk according to epidemiological data. That is why the present work aims to describe the association between education in biological science in patients with kidney disease in the context of a covid-19 epidemic. Biological science education is an important component subject to self-care so that many patients with kidney disease allowing them to understand, the importance of having a better adhere to the therapeutic regimen, dietary regimen and in the specific case of the epidemic by COVID-19 may allow them to take preventive measures to avoid their exposure to the pathogen.

Compromiso renal y digestivo en infecciones por COVID-19 / Renal and digestive engagement in COVID-19 infections

Resumen La infección por el síndrome respiratorio agudo severo (SARS-CoV-2) ha causado una de las emergencias epidemiológicas más grandes de los últimos 10 años y sus efectos patológicos son aún estudiados. Por lo anterior, resulta importante describir los mecanismos asociados al compromiso renal y digestivo en la infección por SARS-CoV-2. Los mecanismos patológicos en tejido renal y en intestino causados por la infección por SARS-CoV-2 son propios del tropismo viral por células de estos sistemas y de los mecanismos citopáticos de etapa lítica de la infección, con una liberación continua de viriones que favorece la generación de un entorno inflamatorio con la consecuente secreción descontrolada de citoquinas proinflamatorias que conducen a la infección entérica del intestino y a las alteraciones en el riñón.

Abstract Infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) has caused one of the largest epidemiological emergencies in the last 10 years and its pathological effects are still studied. Due to the aforementioned, it is important to describe the mechanisms associated with renal and digestive compromise in SARS-CoV-2 infection. The pathological mechanisms in kidney tissue and in the intestine caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection are characteristic of the viral tropism by cells of these systems and of the lymphocytic mechanisms of the lytic stage of the infection, with a continuous release of virions that favors the generation of an inflammatory environment with the consequent uncontrolled secretion of proinflammatory cytokines that lead to enteric infection of the intestine and alterations in the kidney.

Epigenetic Mechanisms and Posttranslational Modifications in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

The complex physiology of eukaryotic cells is regulated through numerous mechanisms, including epigenetic changes and posttranslational modifications. The wide-ranging diversity of these mechanisms constitutes a way of dynamic regulation of the functionality of proteins, their activity, and their subcellular localization as well as modulation of the differential expression of genes in response to external and internal stimuli that allow an organism to respond or adapt to accordingly. However, alterations in these mechanisms have been evidenced in several autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The present review aims to provide an approach to the current knowledge of the implications of these mechanisms in SLE pathophysiology.

Integrated analysis of microRNA regulation and its interaction with mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in the etiology of systemic lupus erythematosus.

The aim of this study was to identity in silico the relationships among microRNAs (miRNAs) and genes encoding transcription factors, ubiquitylation, DNA methylation, and histone modifications in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To identify miRNA dysregulation in SLE, we used miR2Disease and PhenomiR for information about miRNAs exhibiting differential regulation in disease and other biological processes, and HMDD for information about experimentally supported human miRNA-disease association data from genetics, epigenetics, circulating miRNAs, and miRNA-target interactions. This information was incorporated into the miRNA analysis. High-throughput sequencing revealed circulating miRNAs associated with kidney damage in patients with SLE. As the main finding of our in silico analysis of miRNAs differentially expressed in SLE and their interactions with disease-susceptibility genes, post-translational modifications, and transcription factors; we highlight 226 miRNAs associated with genes and processes. Moreover, we highlight that alterations of miRNAs such as hsa-miR-30a-5p, hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-142-5p, and hsa-miR-324-3p are most commonly associated with post-translational modifications. In addition, altered miRNAs that are most frequently associated with susceptibility-related genes are hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-374a-5p, hsa-miR-34a-5p, hsa-miR-31-5p, and hsa-miR-1-3p.

Cell Signaling in Neuronal Stem Cells.

The defining characteristic of neural stem cells (NSCs) is their ability to multiply through symmetric divisions and proliferation, and differentiation by asymmetric divisions, thus giving rise to different types of cells of the central nervous system (CNS). A strict temporal space control of the NSC differentiation is necessary, because its alterations are associated with neurological dysfunctions and, in some cases, death. This work reviews the current state of the molecular mechanisms that regulate the transcription in NSCs, organized according to whether the origin of the stimulus that triggers the molecular cascade in the CNS is internal (intrinsic factors) or whether it is the result of the microenvironment that surrounds the CNS (extrinsic factors).