Consequences of a low protein diet on the liver and longissimus dorsi transcriptome of Duroc × Iberian crossbred pigs.

Low protein diets supplied during the growing period of pigs can diminish their growth rate and increase the intramuscular fat (IMF) content which affects the sensorial and technological characteristics of the products. In the present study, the effects of a low protein diet supplied during the growing period of Duroc × Iberian crossbred pigs on several phenotypic traits and on liver and longissimus dorsi transcriptome were analysed at the beginning (EARLY) and at the end (LATE) of the growing period. Two experimental groups of 10 crossbred pigs each were fed two isocaloric diets with different protein content: control diet (C) with 16.5% protein and 0.8% lysine and low protein diet (LP) with 11% CP and 0.6% lysine. Animals fed LP diet have a slower growth than those fed C diet, but no effect of LP diet was observed on the IMF content. The transcriptomes of liver and longissimus dorsi were characterised and quantified through RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). In liver, 134 and 480 differentially expressed annotated genes and new isoforms (DEGs) were detected between C and LP diets for EARLY and LATE animals, respectively. In muscle, 128 and 68 DEGs were detected at EARLY and LATE time-points. Functional interpretation revealed that LP diet may inhibit immune system molecules and processes in both tissues at EARLY stage. In liver, the DEGs mainly affect lipid and cholesterol metabolic processes, while in muscle, the expression changes would be involved in growth, development and meat quality. In conclusion, a low protein diet supplied during the growing period seems to slow down the growth of Duroc × Iberian crossbred pigs, but it also seems to affect multiple biological processes that could compromise the immune system of Duroc × Iberian crossbred pigs. Therefore, these results question the adequacy of this type of regime in Duroc × Iberian pigs that must be studied in greater depth before being implemented.

Development of a 64 SNV panel for breed authentication in Iberian pigs and their derived meat products.

Spanish legislation regulates the labelling of Iberian pig meat and dry-cured products, which are labelled as "Ibérico" or "100% Ibérico" when they come from Duroc x Iberian crossbred or Iberian purebred pigs. Although the analytical authentication of breed origin is not mandatory, a genetic diagnostic tool is demanded by producers and consumers. We have designed a 64 Single Nucleotide Variant genotyping panel displaying extreme allelic frequencies between Duroc and Iberian purebred samples. Average proportions of Iberian alleles of 0.99, 0.01, 0.77 and 0.48 were estimated by admixture clustering analysis of known origin samples, for Iberian and Duroc purebred, 75% Iberian and 50% Iberian classes, respectively. A supervised analysis with 1419 samples showed some overlapping between contiguous classes, but the calculated degrees of separability ranged from 0.800 to 0.996, exceeding the threshold value (0.70) for considering suitable for prediction. Therefore, this panel is a useful genetic tool to infer purebred or crossbred Iberian origin of live animals, meat and dry-cured products.

[Validity and reliability of the QOLIE-10 instrument for assessing health related quality of life in epilepsy of refractory epilepsy adult patients at a Colombian neurological center]. / Validez y fiabilidad del instrumento para evaluación de calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en epilepsia QOLIE-10 en pacientes adultos con epilepsia refractaria en un centro neurológico colombiano.

AIM: To determine feasibility, reliability and validity of the shortened version of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-10 (QOLIE-10) in a population of refractory epilepsy adult patients in the Colombian Caribbean. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected from 63 adult refractory epilepsy patients. The ten items of QOLIE-10 were derived from the Spanish version of QOLIE-89. We assess feasibility, validity, factorial analysis with communalities, reliability through internal consistency and sensitivity to change. RESULTS: Clinical and demographic features were determined; quality of life was established through frequencies. Construct validity: through factor analysis communalities there were no items considered irrelevant and were grouped into one single dimension. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin: 0.891. Bartlett's test of sphericity: p < 0.001. Average intraclass correlation coefficient 0.843. The internal consistency reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.98. The QOLIE-10 questionnaire for the assessment of health-related quality of life was validated in Spanish for adult patients with refractory epilepsy with excellent validity, reliability parameters and easy, quick filling. CONCLUSIONS: The QOLIE-10 questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for use in adult patients with refractory epilepsy in Colombia. Health professionals are encouraged to use this questionnaire to routinely examine the influences of the disease process in epilepsy patients.

TITLE: Validez y fiabilidad del instrumento para evaluación de calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en epilepsia QOLIE-10 en pacientes adultos con epilepsia refractaria en un centro neurológico colombiano.Objetivo. Determinar la factibilidad, la fiabilidad y la validez de la versión en castellano del cuestionario breve de calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en epilepsia QOLIE-10 en una población de pacientes adultos con epilepsia refractaria de un centro de referencia de enfermedades neurológicas del Caribe colombiano. Pacientes y métodos. Se recogieron datos de 63 pacientes con epilepsia refractaria. Los 10 ítems del cuestionario QOLIE-10 se derivaron de la versión en castellano del cuestionario QOLIE-89. Se evaluó la factibilidad, la validez, el análisis factorial con comunalidades, la fiabilidad a través de la consistencia interna y la sensibilidad al cambio. Resultados. Se determinaron las características demográficas y clínicas, y se determinó la calidad de vida por medio de las frecuencias. Validez de constructo: análisis factorial y comunalidades, no se encontraron ítems no relevantes y se agruparon en una sola dimensión. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin: 0,891. Esfericidad de Barlett: p menos de 0,001. Coeficiente de correlación intraclase media: 0,843. Fiabilidad: consistencia interna alfa de Cronbach, 0,98. Se validó el cuestionario QOLIE-10 de calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en adultos con epilepsia refractaria en castellano, con excelentes parámetros de fiabilidad y validez, y una administración rápida y fácil. Conclusiones. El cuestionario QOLIE-10 se considera una herramienta válida y fiable para su uso en la población de pacientes con epilepsia refractaria en Colombia. Se alienta a los profesionales de la salud a usar este cuestionario para examinar de manera rutinaria la influencia del proceso de enfermedad en la calidad de vida de los pacientes con epilepsia.

Tratamiento actual y nuevas terapias contra la infección crónica por el virus de la hepatitis B / Current treatment and new therapies against chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Resumen La infección crónica por el virus de la hepatitis B (VHB) es un grave problema de salud pública a nivel mundial. Sus consecuencias llegan a ser mortales y el tratamiento actual no ofrece curación sino control de la enfermedad. Las principales limitantes para una cura son la dificultad para destruir el ADN circular covalente cerrado (ADNccc) del virus en el núcleo celular y la presencia de material genético viral integrado en el ADN de la célula hospedera. No obstante, hay múltiples frentes de investigación enfocados en encontrar una cura definitiva al potenciar la respuesta inmune del hospedero o al actuar directamente contra el virus y su ciclo de replicación. En este artículo se exponen los principales avances que se han realizado en este campo.

Abstract Chronic hepatitis B virus infections are a serious public health problem worldwide. Its consequences can be deadly, and current treatment offers only control of the disease rather than a cure. The main limiting factors for a cure are the difficulty of destroying the cDNA of the virus in the cell nucleus and the presence of viral genetic material integrated into the DNA of the host cell. Multiple fronts of research focus on finding a definitive cure by enhancing the immune response of the host or by acting directly against the virus and its replication cycle. This article presents the main advances that have been made in this field.

Impact of Noise on a Dynamical System: Prediction and Uncertainties from a Swarm-Optimized Neural Network.

An artificial neural network (ANN) based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) was developed for the time series prediction. The hybrid ANN+PSO algorithm was applied on Mackey-Glass chaotic time series in the short-term x(t + 6). The performance prediction was evaluated and compared with other studies available in the literature. Also, we presented properties of the dynamical system via the study of chaotic behaviour obtained from the predicted time series. Next, the hybrid ANN+PSO algorithm was complemented with a Gaussian stochastic procedure (called stochastic hybrid ANN+PSO) in order to obtain a new estimator of the predictions, which also allowed us to compute the uncertainties of predictions for noisy Mackey-Glass chaotic time series. Thus, we studied the impact of noise for several cases with a white noise level (σ(N)) from 0.01 to 0.1.

Uso de ciclofosfamida endovenosa en nefritis lúpica / Cyclophosphamide used in the lupus nephritis

Evaluamos en forma prospectiva el efecto de la ciclofosfamida (CF) endovenosa en 20 niños (11 hembras y 9 varones) con criterios clínicos de glomerulonefritis (GN) lúpica moderada a severa. A todos se les realizó biopsia renal y última clasificación según OMS². Se indicó CF endovenosa a dosis de 500 a 750 mg/m² mensualmente durante un tiempo promedio de 8 meses y posteriormente trimestral por 18 meses, conjuntamente se indicó prednisona a 2 mg/kg/día durante el primer mes con disminución de la dosis a 0,25 mg/kg/día. Se apreció caída significativa de proteinuria (67 a 34 mg/h/m²), no hubo variación importante en los valores de depuración de creatinina inicial y final. Concluimos que la CF endovenosa es un tratamiento efectivo en casos de nefritis lúpica severa. Sin embargo, debemos tomar en cuenta los potenciales riesgos de su uso

Papel de la recto-sigmoidoscopia en la evaluación médica preventiva: un estudio de 4500 pacientes / Rol of the sigmoidoscopy-rectum in preventive physician evaluation: study of 4500 patients

Se evaluaron 4500 historias de pacientes a los que se les realizó recto-sigmoidoscopia en la unidad de Endoscopia del Hospital de Clínicas Caracas como parte de una evaluación médica preventiva entre Julio de 1995 y Abril de 1997. Se examina la incidencia de algunas patologías colorectales, como la presencia de pólipos, divertículos, entre otras, así como su relación con la edad y el sexo de los pacientes. En este estudio se demuestra que la recto

Metilprednisolona en el síndrome doloroso lumbociático / Methylprednisolone in lumbosciatic pain syndrome

El fosfato de metilprednisolona utilizado por la vía epidural muestra ser un tratamiento útil y práctico en el síndrome doloroso lumbociático de la hernia discal lumbar. Se estudiaron 100 pacientes, de los cuales el 89 porciento se vieron beneficiados por la técnica, y sólo se encontró un 11 porciento de fallos absolutos(AU)