Trastornos de la alimentación en pacientes hospitalizados en un Servicio de Salud Mental Pediátrico / Eating behavior disorders in patients hospitalized in a Mental Health Service

INTRODUCTION: Los trastornos de la alimentación e ingesta (TAI) tienen una elevada prevalencia durante la adolescencia, asociándose a alta morbimortalidad. En nuestro país no existen datos que caractericen a los adolescentes con TAI que requieren hospitalización. OBJETIVO: Describir y analizar las hospitaliza ciones debidas a TAI en niños y adolescentes en un Servicio de Salud Mental Pediátrico (SSMP). PACIENTES Y MÉTODO: Se recolectaron los datos de los registros clínicos de pacientes con TAI hospitalizados en el SSMP del Hospital Roberto del Río entre 2005-2015. Se estudiaron las variables de ingreso: motivo de hospitalización, tipo de TAI, estado nutricional, repercusión sistémica y variables sicosociales (comorbilidades siquiátricas, funcionamiento de la familia, abuso e ideación/intento suicida). Para la comparación de variables cuantitativas entre grupos se utilizó el test t-Student y para variables categóricas chi-cuadrado o Test Fisher. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 93 pacientes, me diana de edad 14,6 años, 84% género femenino. El diagnóstico más frecuente fue anorexia nerviosa (AN) (71%) y la causa más frecuente de hospitalización fue el fracaso del tratamiento ambulatorio, seguido por ideación/intento suicida. Al ingreso, 40% de los pacientes presentaban déficit nutricio nal, 96% comorbilidad psiquiátrica y 88% disfunción familiar. CONCLUSIÓN: La AN fue el TAI más frecuente dentro de los pacientes hospitalizados y el fracaso del tratamiento ambulatorio el principal motivo de ingreso. Esto último podría ser explicado, en parte, por la alta prevalencia de disfunción familiar y comorbilidad psiquiátrica de los pacientes y su familia, que estaría complicando el trata miento ambulatorio.

INTRODUCTION: Eating disorders (ED) have a high prevalence during adolescence, associated with high morbidity and mortality. In our country, there are no data that characterize adolescent inpatients with ED. OBJECTIVE: To describe and analyze hospitalizations of children and adolescents due to ED admitted in a Pediatric Mental Health Service (PMHS). PATIENTS AND METHOD: Data were collected from the clinical record of patients with ED hospitalized in the PMHS of the Hospital Roberto del Río during 2005-2015. The following admission variables were studied: cause for hospitalization, ED type, nu tritional status, systemic involvement, and psychosocial variables (psychiatric comorbidities, family functioning, abuse, and suicide ideation/attempt). The t-Student test was used for quantitative varia bles and the chi-square or Fisher Test for qualitative variables for the comparison between groups. RESULTS: 93 patients were included, with an average age of 14.6 years, 84% of them were women. The most frequent diagnosis was anorexia nervosa (AN) (71%) and the most frequent cause for hospita lization was the failure of outpatient treatment, followed by suicide ideation/attempt. At admission, 40% of the patients had malnutrition, 96% psychiatric comorbidity, and 88% family dysfunction. CONCLUSION: AN was the most frequent ED among inpatients and the failure of outpatient treatment was the main cause for hospitalization. The latter could be explained, in part, by the high prevalence of family dysfunction and psychiatric comorbidity of patients and their families which would com plicate outpatient treatment.

Protective effect of an antimicrobial peptide from Mytilus edulis chilensis expressed in Nicotiana tabacum L

A "defensin-like" antibacterial peptide from Mytilus edulis chilensis, was sub-cloned into a binary vector for expression in plant tissues. The resulting new clone was electroporated into A. tumefaciens to transform tobacco plants. The presence of the construct in transgenic tobacco lines was demonstrated through RT-PCR, Northern and Western blots. Transformed positive plants were selected and grown for challenging. Tobacco leaves were infiltrated with Pseudomonassyringae pv. syringae and visual lesions determined at different times post-exposure. Of seven plants exposed, four gave variable protection up to seven days post-infection while one of them appears to be fully protected. These results suggest that defensin-like antimicrobial peptides from molluscs are a good source to provide resistance of tobacco plants to Pseudomonassyringae pv. syringae.