Ca2+ signaling driving pacemaker activity in submucosal interstitial cells of Cajal in the murine colon.

Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) generate pacemaker activity responsible for phasic contractions in colonic segmentation and peristalsis. ICC along the submucosal border (ICC-SM) contribute to mixing and more complex patterns of colonic motility. We show the complex patterns of Ca2+ signaling in ICC-SM and the relationship between ICC-SM Ca2+ transients and activation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) using optogenetic tools. ICC-SM displayed rhythmic firing of Ca2+transients ~ 15 cpm and paced adjacent SMCs. The majority of spontaneous activity occurred in regular Ca2+ transients clusters (CTCs) that propagated through the network. CTCs were organized and dependent upon Ca2+ entry through voltage-dependent Ca2+ conductances, L- and T-type Ca2+ channels. Removal of Ca2+ from the external solution abolished CTCs. Ca2+ release mechanisms reduced the duration and amplitude of Ca2+ transients but did not block CTCs. These data reveal how colonic pacemaker ICC-SM exhibit complex Ca2+-firing patterns and drive smooth muscle activity and overall colonic contractions.

A high throughput machine-learning driven analysis of Ca2+ spatio-temporal maps.

High-resolution Ca2+ imaging to study cellular Ca2+ behaviors has led to the creation of large datasets with a profound need for standardized and accurate analysis. To analyze these datasets, spatio-temporal maps (STMaps) that allow for 2D visualization of Ca2+ signals as a function of time and space are often used. Methods of STMap analysis rely on a highly arduous process of user defined segmentation and event-based data retrieval. These methods are often time consuming, lack accuracy, and are extremely variable between users. We designed a novel automated machine-learning based plugin for the analysis of Ca2+ STMaps (STMapAuto). The plugin includes optimized tools for Ca2+ signal preprocessing, automated segmentation, and automated extraction of key Ca2+ event information such as duration, spatial spread, frequency, propagation angle, and intensity in a variety of cell types including the Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). The plugin is fully implemented in Fiji and able to accurately detect and expeditiously quantify Ca2+ transient parameters from ICC. The plugin's speed of analysis of large-datasets was 197-fold faster than the commonly used single pixel-line method of analysis. The automated machine-learning based plugin described dramatically reduces opportunities for user error and provides a consistent method to allow high-throughput analysis of STMap datasets.

[Splenosis and pelvic pain. A report of a case and literature review]. / Esplenosis y dolor pélvico. Reporte de un caso y revisión de la literatura.

Initially described by Buchbinder and Lipkoff in 1929, esplenosis is the transplant of the splenic heterotopy weave in the abdominal cavity. It is observed after the splenic traumatic rupture and appendectomy. It occurs also during the embryonic development. The most frequent places where it takes place are: the intrathoraxic cavity, intraperitoneal, retroperitoneo, and brain. Although the presence of this ectopic splenic weave is symptomatic, this pathology can be evident by pain in the pelvis or it can be confused with other pathologies such as hemangiomas of intestine, and endometriosis including metastasis carcinoma. It is impossible to predict which patients will develop the splenosis after the splenic trauma. The time of rupture or damage of the splectonomy and the amount of blood in the peritoneal cavity are not related with the number of implants. The symptoms are the clue. When the splenosis is diagnosed incidentally in a symptomatic patient, the complete surgery removal is not indicated. However this surgery is recommended when the abdominal pain or the diagnosis is uncertain. In this paper a case with a secondary pelvic pain, probably due to a tubaric abortion, agreeing with secondary splenosis and a traumatic splenic rupture, is reported.

Eficacia de Sulbactam/Ampicilina en la profilaxis de infecciones postquirúrgicas en gineco-obstetricia: estudio abierto comparativo / Eficacy of sulbactam/Ampicillin in prophylaxis of post-surgical infections in gyneco-obstetries. open comparative study

Se llevó a cabo un estudio multicéntrico, abierto, comparativo, de distribución al azar, para conocer el efecto como profiláctico de infecciones post-quirúrgicas en gineco-obstetricia, de la combinación de Sulbactam/Ampicilina vs. la no adminstración del fármaco. Se incluyeron 100 pacientes, 50 en cada grupo, a las que se le practicó tipo de cirugía gineco-obstetricia. Las pacientes en el grupo de Sulbactam/Ampicilina recibieron el fármaco en dosis de 0.5/1.0 g, por vía intravenosa en el momento del acto quirúrgico, lo cual se repirió 6 horas después. En este grupo no hubo ninguna infección post-quirúrgica, mientras que en el grupo que no recibió medicamento profiláctico se presentaron 4 casos de infección post/quirúrgica. Se concluye que la combinación de Sulbactam/Ampicilina es eficaz como tratamiento profiláctico en este tipo de cirugía además de ser bien tolerado y fácil de administrar