Blood Type Associated with the Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Pregnant Women.

COVID-19 forced us to investigate risk factors to provide the best medical attention, especially in vulnerable groups, such as pregnant patients. Studies in other populations have analyzed blood groups in relation to infection, complications, and death. The present study aimed to analyze the association of blood groups with the risk of infection and complications in pregnant women and newborns from the Mexican-Mestizo population. We studied 1906 individuals. Quantitative variables were analyzed through the Student's t-test. Categorical variables were analyzed through Pearson's chi-square test, and logistic regression was used to analyze the association between categorical variables and outcomes. No significant association was observed between blood groups and infection risk. Individuals with the AB blood type are at higher risk for developing severe disease, although blood groups do not seem to be involved in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the AB blood group could be considered a risk factor for developing severe COVID-19 in the Mexican population.

Clinical and genetic description of patients with prenatally identified cardiac tumors.

OBJECTIVE: Rhabdomyomas are the most common type of prenatal cardiac tumors. When isolated, 50% to 70% are related to the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). The aim of this study was to reinforce the importance of additional clinical data in patients with prenatal heart tumors. METHODS: From 2010 to 2017, 10 prenatally detected cardiac tumors were referred to the Genetics Department, and a complete family history was taken. Postnatal echocardiographic and full clinical evaluation were completed. Next generation sequencing (NGS) of the TSC1 and TSC2 genes was performed. RESULTS: The 10 cases were postnatally confirmed as rhabdomyomas. Four de novo and four family cases were detected, and only one patient was previously aware of the TSC diagnosis. Molecular analysis by NGS was performed in four patients with three TSC2 mutations, two of which were previously reported and one not. DISCUSSION: Prenatal cardiac tumors are associated with TSC in 60% of cases. Prenatal diagnosis of cardiac tumors permits a further analysis of family members using the fetus as a clue for familial disease diagnosis.

Comparative proteomic profiles reveal characteristic Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins induced by cholesterol during dormancy conditions.

Cholesterol has been reported to play an important role during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and during its dormant state inside the host. We present the determination of proteomic profiles of M. tuberculosis H37Rv in the presence of cholesterol as the sole carbon source under exponential growth and in two in vitro dormancy phases (NRP1 and NRP2). Using 2D-PAGE, we detected that M. tuberculosis expressed a high diversity of proteins in both exponential and non-replicative phases. We also found that cholesterol was involved in the overexpression of some proteins related to sulfur metabolism (CysA2), electron transport (FixB), cell wall synthesis (Ald), iron storage (BfrB), protein synthesis (Tig and EF-Tu) and dormancy maintenance (HspX and TB 31.7). According to our results we propose that proteins Ald, BfrB, FadA5 and TB31.7 are likely to play a fundamental role during in vitro dormancy of M. tuberculosis in the presence of cholesterol, helping to counteract its intracellular hostile microenvironment.