Mutational spectrum of the iduronate-2-sulfatase gene in Mexican patients with Hunter syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Hunter syndrome, or mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), is caused by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS), which is responsible for degrading heparan and dermatan sulfate. The IDS gene is located on chromosome Xq28; pathological variants in this gene mostly consist of missense mutations and small and larger deletions, which produce different phenotypes. However, there is only one record in our population concerning the molecular mechanism of this disease; a genotype-phenotype description is not available. PATIENTS AND METHODS: There were included 24 unrelated male patients; clinical features were recorded at a database, fluorometric IDS enzyme activity testing was done for each individual, followed by Sanger sequencing to identify mutations. RESULTS: The mutational spectrum was found in 16 out of 24 Mexican patients with MPS II, and its range of phenotypes was described. The most frequent variants were of the missense type. The most affected exons were exon 3 (c.275T>G, c.284_287del, c.325T>C), exon 8 (c.1035G>C, c.550G>A), exon 9 (c.1403G>C, c.1229_1229del), and exon 7 (c.979A>C; this variant has not been previously reported). Exon 5 (c.438C>T, a non-pathogenic variant) was the least frequent. It was also found that the most severely affected patients were those with large deletions (2 out of 24) [rsaIDS: IDSP1 (P164)x0, FMR1, AFF2 (P164)x2] involving genes and pseudogenes. We found 2 patients with a synonymous mutation in exon 4. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirmed reports in the literature, since the most frequent variants were reported in exons 3 and 8. However, this result varies from one previous report in our population, which mentions large deletions and rearrangements as the most frequent alterations, since complex rearrangements were not found. According to what has been previously found, the most severely affected patients are those in which a whole gene has been deleted.

Foodborne Parasitic Diseases in the Neotropics - A Review.

Within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is stated that everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living, which ensures, as well as their family, health and well-being, and food, thereby ensuring adequate nutrition. One of the major threats to overcome this is to ensure food security, which becomes particularly challenging in developing countries due to the high incidence of parasitic diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO), considers it one of the main causes of morbidity, closely linked to poverty and related to inadequate personal hygiene, consumption of raw food, lack of sanitary services, limited access to drinking water and fecal contamination in the environment. It is estimated that more than a fifth of the world's population is infected by one or several intestinal parasites, and that in many countries of Central and South America the average percentage of infected people is 45%, being Taenia solium, Echinococcus granulosus, Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium spp, Entamoeba histolytica, Trichinella spiralis, Ascaris spp, Trypanosoma cruzi and Fasciola hepatica some of the most important ones in the neotropics. One of the main reasons why these diseases are diffi cult to control is t he ignorance of their lifecycles, as well as symptoms and current epidemiology of the disease, which contributes to a late or erroneous diagnosis. The present work aims to discuss and make public the current knowledge as well as the general characteristics of these diseases to the general audience.

Prevalence of oral lesions in patients with psoriasis

Aim: To determine the prevalence of oral lesions (OL) in patients with psoriasis, and compare these findings withthe ones found in patients without this condition.Materials and methods: In the present observational and comparative study, we evaluated 207 patients, with andwithout psoriasis, attending the dermatological consulting service of a concentration hospital in Mexico City. Thepossible association between OL and psoriasis was analyzed through a logistic regression model; the Odds Ratio(OR) and its Confidence Interval (CI) was calculated to be 95%.Results: Two hundred and seven cases were examined (80 with psoriasis and 127 without psoriasis). Of these, 75(36.2%) were men and 132 (63.7%) women. Oral lesions were found in 54 (67.5%) psoriatic patients and in 63 (49.6%)of the comparative group (p <0.012). Fissured tongue (FT) was present in 47.5 % of the patients with psoriasis andin 20.4 % of the group without psoriasis, (OR=3.46, 95% CI [1.14, 10.5], p=0.001). Geographic tongue (GT) waspresent in 12.5 % of the group with psoriasis and 4.7 % in the group without this disease (OR=3.54 95 % CI [1.97,6.79], p=0.028). Likewise, six patients (7.5 %) with psoriasis and 3 (2.36 %) from the comparative group presentedsimultaneously GT and FT (p = 0.0776). The most frequent type of psoriasis was the vulgar psoriasis (90 %), inwhich a higher prevalence of FT (p <0.05) was present. There were no differences between both groups (p>0.05)regarding the use of tobacco. Alcohol consumption was greater (55.0%) among patients with psoriasis than amongthose without psoriasis (26.7%) (p<0.05), but when the association with GT and FT was analyzed, no significantdifferences were found among (..) (AU)

Anti-tick effects of Stylosanthes humilis and Stylosanthes hamata on plots experimentally infested with Boophilus microplus larvae in Morelos, Mexico.

The anti-tick effects of the tropical pasture legumes Stylosanthes humilis and Stylosanthes hamata were evaluated and compared with two common grasses, Cenchurus ciliaris and Andropogon gayanus, in the state of Morelos, Mexico, on plots experimentally infested with larvae of the tick Boophilus microplus. The effect was evaluated by recovery of larvae from the experimental plots by flagging during a 4 week period. The anti-tick effect due to Stylosanthes was significantly higher for S. humilis and S. hamata (p < 0.05) and slightly better for S. humilis (3% survival) than for S. hamata (12% survival). Further studies are required to determine the potential role of Stylosanthes plants for tick control in Mexico.

Evaluation of a smoking cessation program for pregnant minority women.

The purpose of this project was to develop and test culturally appropriate, low literacy, smoking cessation intervention materials designed to increase quit rates and prevent relapse postpartum for low-income African American and Hispanic women. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design was used. Four Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic sites in south and central Los Angeles were identified, pair-matched based on ethnic mix, and randomized to intervention (2 sites) or control status (2 sites). Participants were 18 years of age or older and either current or exsmokers (stopped smoking in the past year). The intervention group received the "Time for a Change: A Program for Healthy Moms and Babies" program including a 15-minute one-to-one counseling session and self-help guide, incorporating behavior-change strategies, booster postcard, and incentive contest. All materials were designed to match the cultural, language, and literacy needs of the target population. The smoking cessation intervention had a positive impact on both quit-smoking behavior during pregnancy and relapse prevention postpartum. Almost twice as many smokers in the intervention group (43%) reported quitting smoking at 9 months, compared to the control group (25%) (P < 0.01). At 6 weeks postpartum, 25% of the intervention baseline smokers were abstinent, compared to 12% of the control group (P < 0.01). Although no significant differences were observed for relapse during pregnancy among exsmokers at 6 weeks postpartum, a significantly higher proportion of intervention exsmokers were still abstinent (79%), compared to control exsmokers (62%) (P < 0.01). For the exsmokers, relapse prevention rates remained significant when adjusted for cotinine validated abstinence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Development and recovery of Haemonchus contortus first larval stages on experimental plots in Mexico.

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of relative humidity, environmental temperature and precipitation on the development of Haemonchus contortus from egg to infective larvae on experimental plots in a subtropical subhumid climate of Mexico. The study was of 1 year duration, with the highest rates of recovery of first-stage (L1) and second-stage larvae (L2) obtained at the end of the rainy season, and of third-stage larvae (L3) in the post-rainy season during the autumn. The lowest rate of recovery of L1 was in winter, whereas that of L2 and L3 mainly occurred in the dry season. The shortest development period for L1 was 12 h, for L2 18 h, and for L3 36 h. The longest development period for L1 was 66 h, for L2 156 h and L3 216 h. Statistical analysis of the data obtained showed significant differences in the time of development from eggs to infective larvae with respect to the season of the year.