Soyamilk fermented with riboflavin-producing Lactobacillus plantarum CRL 2130 reverts and prevents ariboflavinosis in murine models.

It has been previously shown that Lactobacillus plantarum CRL 2130 is able to produce riboflavin in soyamilk. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of this riboflavin-bio-enriched soyamilk to revert and/or prevent the nutritional deficiency of riboflavin using different animal models. When used to supplement the diets of previously depleted animals, it was shown that the growth, riboflavin status and morphology of the small intestines reverted to normal parameters and were similar to animals supplemented with commercial riboflavin. In the prevention model, the same tendency was observed, where animals that received soyamilk fermented with L. plantarum CRL 2130 did not show signs of riboflavin deficiency. This new bio-fortified soya-based product could be used as part of normal diets to provide a more natural alternative to mandatory fortification with riboflavin for the prevention of its deficiency.

B-group vitamin production by lactic acid bacteria--current knowledge and potential applications.

Although most vitamins are present in a variety of foods, human vitamin deficiencies still occur in many countries, mainly because of malnutrition not only as a result of insufficient food intake but also because of unbalanced diets. Even though most lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are auxotrophic for several vitamins, it is now known that certain strains have the capability to synthesize water-soluble vitamins such as those included in the B-group (folates, riboflavin and vitamin B(12) amongst others). This review article will show the current knowledge of vitamin biosynthesis by LAB and show how the proper selection of starter cultures and probiotic strains could be useful in preventing clinical and subclinical vitamin deficiencies. Here, several examples will be presented where vitamin-producing LAB led to the elaboration of novel fermented foods with increased and bioavailable vitamins. In addition, the use of genetic engineering strategies to increase vitamin production or to create novel vitamin-producing strains will also be discussed. This review will show that the use of vitamin-producing LAB could be a cost-effective alternative to current vitamin fortification programmes and be useful in the elaboration of novel vitamin-enriched products.

[Influence of anesthesia and antisepsis on the earliest gynecologic laparotomies: historical notes on the bicentennial of the introduction of ovariectomy]. / Influencias de la anestesia y antisepsia sobre las primeras laparotomías ginecológicas. Notas históricas a propósito del 2do centenario de la introducción de la ovariectomía.

On the occasion of the bicentennial of the first ovariectomy, we reviewed the beginnings of abdominal gynecologic surgery in Spain in order to shed light on aspects that are still unclear in medical historiography and that are often wrongly presented. We consulted a large number of sources that allowed us to follow events in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, discovering information we consider definitive and that confirmed our initial hypotheses. The work of Dr Federico Rubio, the first to perform an ovariectomy in Spain, is highlighted among the early experiences of our Spanish surgeons. Emphasis is placed on the high mortality rate associated with this operation at the beginning. We also analyze the problems of anesthesia and antisepsis and the influence of each on the surgical procedure. The events uncovered were the work of a group of forward-thinking surgeons who made considerable progress against opposing groups with more conservative views and whose contributions to Spanish surgery were far less brilliant.

Influencias de la anestesia y antisepsia sobre las primeras laparotomías ginecológicas. Notas históricas a propósito del 2º centenario de la introducción de la ovariectomía / Influence of anesthesia and antisepsis on the earliest gynecologic laparotomies: historical notes on the bicentennial of the introduction of ovariectomy

Con motivo del segundo centenario de la primeraovariectomía, hemos realizado este trabajo con el propósitode revisar los comienzos de la cirugía ginecológicaabdominal en España, a la vez que se pretende esclareceralgunos aspectos históricos que aparecen en nuestrahistoriografía médica no perfectamente claros y, muchasveces, tergiversados. Se analiza una importante bibliografíaque nos permitió hacer un seguimiento a lo largodel último cuarto del siglo XIX, proporcionándonosdatos que consideramos definitivos y que confirmaríannuestras suposiciones iniciales. Se hace hincapié en lalabor del Dr. Federico Rubio cómo iniciador en Españade la operación de la ovariectomía, así como de las experienciasprimeras de nuestros cirujanos; destacando lagran mortalidad de esta operación durante estos primerosensayos. También se analizó el problema de la anestesiay de la antisepsia, y la influencia que ambas tuvieronsobre esta cirugía, resaltando la labor de un grupode cirujanos de nueva mentalidad que con el auxilio deestos medios, lograron éxitos notables en contraposicióna otros, que anclados en el pasado, escribían una páginade mucho menos brillo en nuestra cirugía(AU)

On the occasion of the bicentennial of the firstovariectomy, we reviewed the beginnings of abdominalgynecologic surgery in Spain in order to shed light onaspects that are still unclear in medical historiographyand that are often wrongly presented. We consulted alarge number of sources that allowed us to follow eventsin the last quarter of the nineteenth century, discoveringinformation we consider definitive and that confirmedour initial hypotheses. The work of Dr Federico Rubio,the first to perform an ovariectomy in Spain, ishighlighted among the early experiences of our Spanishsurgeons. Emphasis is placed on the high mortality rateassociated with this operation at the beginning. We alsoanalyze the problems of anesthesia and antisepsis andthe influence of each on the surgical procedure. Theevents uncovered were the work of a group of forwardthinkingsurgeons who made considerable progressagainst opposing groups with more conservative viewsand whose contributions to Spanish surgery were farless brilliant(AU)

Notas históricas relativas a la Neurocirugía y a la Neuroanestesia en España / No disponible

El presente articulo trata de esclarecer algunos aspectos relativos al desarrollo histórico de la Neurocirugía y de la Neuroanestesia en España durante la primera mitad del siglo XX. El objetivo es el de analizar aspectos puntuales de la historia de la neurocirugía y procurar hacer una aproximación a las primeras experiencias llevadas a cabo por cirujanos españoles; al mismo tiempo que se trata de de perfilar cómo nuestros cirujanos resolvieron los problemas que la anestesia les iba planteando en la nueva cirugía. Basamos nuestra investigación en datos dispersos que hemos hallado en la bibliografía médica española, que analizados nos permiten asegurar que en España se iniciaron las técnicas Neuroquirúrgicas simultáneamente con lo ocurrido en otros países de nuestro entorno sociocultural; sin embargo, estos primeros ensayos no tuvieron continuidad, ya que tan sólo unos pocos cirujanos siguieron practicando muy tímidamente esta cirugía. Antes de los comienzos de la guerra civil española, algunos cirujanos decidieron especializarse en esta nueva rama de la cirugía, y para ello visitaron algunas clínicas especializadas en el extranjero. La guerra civil de 1936-1939 supuso un hándicap importante para poder asistir a clínicas extranjeras por razones obvias, pero en la postguerra inmediata fueron ya más los que iniciaron en España la nueva especialidad y se crearon varios servicios neuroquirúrgicos en Barcelona y Madrid. La Neurocirugía siguió entre nosotros una evolución paralela a lo acontecido en otros países y la neuroanestesia supo responder puntualmente a los muchos retos que aquella le fue presentando a lo largo de la primera mitad del siglo XX, pudiéndose diferenciar claramente cómo los primeros ensayos fueron realizados con anestesia inhalatoria; después, a partir de principios del siglo XX, fue la local y ya en la década de los años cuarenta se inician las modernas técnicas con intubación traqueal y relajación muscular (AU)

In this paper we will clarify several points about the historical development of neurosurgery and neuroanaesthesia in Spain in the first half of XX th century. Our aim is an analysis of specific events of the history of neurosurgery with an approach to the first experiences of Spanish surgeons in this field. Also we will study how the surgeons faced the anaesthesia problems caused by this new surgery. We have based our investigation in the sparse data we found in Spanish medical literature, and we can verify that the beginning of neurosurgery in Spain was in the same period than in other nearby countries. However, apart from isolated experiences, there was not continuity in the neurosurgical practice, and only a small number of surgeons kept on with this activity. Before the onset of the Spanish civil war (1936-1939), a few surgeons decided to specialize in neurosurgery and visited several foreign hospitals. Obviously, the war complicated these stays, but after the war a greater number of surgeons involved in neurosurgery, and several departments of neurosurgery established in Barcelona and Madrid. Neurosurgery followed an evolution similar to that of other western countries, and also neuroanaesthesia evolved accordingly to cope with the new problems of this type of surgery in the first half of XX th century. Inhalatory anaesthesia was the choice in the first trials of neuroanaesthesia, followed by local anaesthesia at the beginning of XX th century. The modern techniques of anaesthesia, including endotracheal intubation and muscle relaxation began in the forties in Spain (AU)

Última página en la historia de las tesis doctorales y memorias sobre anestesia en España / Final leaf in the history of Spanish doctoral theses and treatises on anesthesia

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La cirugía, los cirujanos y el dolor quirúrgico en España durante el Siglo XIX / Surgery, surgeons and surgical pain in Spain during XIXth century

Tanto la cirugía como los cirujanos decimonónicos fueron motivo de estudio por parte de algunos historiadores españoles en los últimos años. En este trabajo nuestra atención queda polarizada en la actitud que tomaron estos profesionales ante el dolor quirúrgico, antes y después de la introducción de la anestesia. Con base a los textos publicados hemos analizado la valoración del dolor en las operaciones, teniendo en cuenta no sólo la opinión de cirujanos y médicos españoles, sino también de figuras relevantes de la medicina europea del siglo XIX. Al valorar el posicionamiento ante el dolor quirúrgico por parte de los médicos españoles, se tuvo en cuenta, además de sus publicaciones,sus trabajos de doctorado, que son una importante fuente bibliográfica prácticamente desconocida hasta el momento actual, ya que son textos raros e inéditos, la mayoría de los cuales no estuvieron adecuadamente catalogados en las bibliotecas y archivos hasta fechas recientes, razón por la cual su localización fue todavía más difícil.Tomando como base, pues, estos documentos, se hicieron una serie de recensiones en las que se pone de manifiesto su opinión sobre el dolor quirúrgico y lo que supuso el descubrimiento de la anestesia. Casi todas corresponden al último cuarto del siglo XIX, y en ellas se denota, por una parte, el obstáculo que el dolor ofrecía a la cirugía, a los cirujanos y a los pacientes que eran los que tenían que sufrir una operación quirúrgica más directamente; por otra, el recibimiento alborozado de la anestesia por médicosy cirujanos como uno de los inventos más maravillosos del siglo XIX y las nuevas posibilidades que con ella se le abrieron a la cirugía

Both the surgery and the Nineteenth Century surgeons were aim of study for some Spanish historians during the last years. We tried to focus our attention on the attitude that these professionals took to the surgical pain before and after the anesthesia introduction. We studied the publications about the pain during surgical procedures of Spanish surgeons and doctors and also the opinion of the Nineteenth Century European outstanding people related to medicine.To evaluate the position about surgical pain of Spanish doctors we not only took into account their publications but also their doctorship papers that are an important bibliographical resource, practically unknown until now. They are unpublished and odd texts, most of them unappropriately catalogued inlibraries and archives that made difficult their localization. In these documents are reflected their postures about the surgical pain and the improvements that implied the anesthesia discovery. Most of them belong to the last quarter of the nineteenth century and they clearly reveal that the pain was an obstacle to surgeons and most directly to the patients. They also show the great welcome the doctors and surgeons gave to the anesthesia as one of the most important discoveries of the Nineteenth Century due to the news possibilities opened with it to surgery

Nueva contribución a la historia de las tesis doctorales y memorias españolas sobre anestesia / Newly located Spanish doctoral theses and expert opinion papers on anesthesia

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Historia de anestesia epidural lumbar. A propósito del 75º aniversario de su redescubrimiento por A. M. Dogliotti / The history of epidural lumbar anestesia. About the 75yh anniversary of its new discovery by a. M. Dogliotti

Aunque muchos de los autores están de acuerdo en que el cirujano español Fidel Pagés fue el auténtico descubridor de la anestesia epidural lumbar, también es cierto que los más numerosos creen que, gracias a las investigaciones del italiano A. M. Dogliotti, la anestesia epidural se difundió y popularizó por todo el mundo, hace ahora 75 años. Este trabajo fue diseñado con el propósito de aportar nuevos datos a la historia de la anestesia epidural, referidos a Pagés, a Dogliotti y a su evolución durante los primeros años de su andadura, con los que se pretende perfilar algunos aspectos no del todo claros de su devenir. Logramos reunir un importante conjunto documental de primera mano, cuyo análisis y estudio nos permitió establecer con más precisión, no solo aspectos concretos de su introducción clínica, sino seguir sus primeros pasos a lo largo de aquellos países que más se interesaron por la nueva técnica. El olvido y abandono de la anestesia epidural por el propio Pagés y los cirujanos españoles durante muchos años, manifestando más bien apatía y temor que interés por la nueva técnica, contrastan con las ilusionadas investigaciones y ensayos de cirujanos argentinos, principalmente, y otros europeaos y americanos que de una manera bien diferente reivindicaron la paternidad de la técnica para Fidel Pagés o para Dogliotti

Though many authors agree that the Spanish surgeon Fidel Pagés was the real discoverer of the lumbar epidural anesthesia, most of them think that the epidural anesthesia was spreaded and popularized all over the world, 75 years ago, thanks to the investigations of the Italian A. M. Dogliotti. This article was designed with the purpose of giving new data to the epidural anesthesia history, referred to Pagés and Dogliotti, and to their evolution during the first years of their journey. The aim of this task is to clarify some confused material, which analysis and study lead us establish with more precision, not only concrete shades of its clinic introduction, but also its first steos over the most interested countries in the new technique. The forgetfulness and desertion of Pagés and the Spanish surgeons about epidural anesthesia, showing apathy and fear instead of interest on the new technique, contrast with the excited investigations and essays of Argentine surgeons, principally, as well as European and American, who in a very different way claimed the paternity of the technique to Fidel Pagés or to Dogliotti

Anestesia locorregional del pene. Una mención especial al bloqueo intracavernoso / No disponible

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Acerca del primer y segundo debut de la anestesia epidural / On the first and second debuts of epidural anesthesia

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[Experience in the treatment of multiple sclerosis with interferon beta in Galicia]. / Experiencia del tratamiento con interferón beta en la esclerosis múltiple en Galicia.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the experience in daily clinical practice of interferon-beta (IFN-beta) treatment in relapsing-remitting (RR) and secondary progressive (SP) multiple sclerosis (MS) in Galicia (Spain). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with RR-MS and SP-MS treated with IFN-beta1a and 1b between 1995 and December/2000, analyzing demographic and clinical data. RESULTS: 313 patients were included, with a mean age of 38.2 years. A total of 296 patients (94.6%) were clinically defined MS and 17 (5.4%) were laboratory supported (Poser criteria); 84.6% of the patients were RR and 15.4% were SP. The mean duration of the disease prior to treatment was 7.06 years. Betaferon was used in 52.4% patients (115 RR-MS and 47 SP-MS), Avonex in 26% and Rebif in 21.6%. Relapse rate was reduced in 68.8% for the RR-MS for Betaferon-treated patients, 73.3% for Avonex treated and 35.7% for Rebif-treated patients. Betaferon reduced relapse rate in 50% for SP-MS. The global EDSS remained stable during IFN-beta treatment. During treatment, 33% of Betaferon, 60.5% of Avonex and 54.5% of Rebif-treated patients remained relapse-free. Treatment was suspended in 12.9% of Betaferon, 6.2% of Avonex, and 3% Rebif-treated patients. The most frequent causes of treatment suspension were increase in disability and in relapse count. CONCLUSIONS: The present study supports the benefits of IFN-beta treatment in RR MS and SP MS in daily clinical practice, with reduction in relapses count and incapacity, good over-all tolerance and low incidence of serious adverse side-effects.