Soil Effects on the Bioactivity of Hydroxycoumarins as Plant Allelochemicals.

Soil plays a primary role in the activity of plant allelochemicals in natural and agricultural systems. In this work, we compared the phytotoxicity of three natural hydroxycoumarins (umbelliferone, esculetin, and scopoletin) to different model plant species (Lactuca sativa, Eruca sativa, and Hordeum vulgare) in Petri dishes, and then selected the most phytotoxic compound (umbelliferone) to assess how its adsorption and dissipation in two distinct soils affected the expression of its phytotoxic activity. The root growth inhibitory effect of umbelliferone was significantly greater than that of esculetin and scopoletin, and the dicot species (L. sativa and E. sativa) were more sensitive to the hydroxycoumarins than the monocot species (H. vulgare). For all three plant species tested, the phytotoxicity of umbelliferone decreased in the following order: soilless (Petri dishes) > soil 1 > soil 2. In soil 2 (alkaline), umbelliferone displayed negligible adsorption (Kf < 0.01) and rapid biodegradation (t1/2 = 0.2-0.8 days), and its phytotoxicity was barely expressed. In soil 1 (acid), umbelliferone displayed enhanced adsorption (Kf = 2.94), slower biodegradation (t1/2 = 1.5-2.1 days), and its phytotoxicity was better expressed than in soil 2. When the microbial activity of soil 2 was suppressed by autoclaving, the phytotoxicity of umbelliferone, in the presence of soil, became similar to that observed under soilless conditions. The results illustrate how soil processes can reduce the allelopathic activity of hydroxycoumarins in natural and agricultural ecosystems, and suggest scenarios where the bioactivity of hydroxycoumarins may be better expressed.

Factores sociodemográficos, clínicosy farmacológicos asociados alreingreso precoz en pacientesde salud mental / Socio-demographic, clinical and pharmacological factors associated with early admission in mental health patients

Introducción: Los reingresos precoces (entre las 24 horasy 30 días tras el alta) pueden ser traumáticos para los pacientes psiquiátricos y sus familias, por lo que determinar losfactores que lo predisponen es esencial desde un punto devisto tanto terapéutico como económico.Metodología. Se llevó a cabo un estudio de casos y controles retrospectivo para el periodo entre 2015-2017. Se emparejaron los casos con los controles según edad, diagnóstico, sexo y fecha de ingreso. Se recogieron variables sociodemográficas, clínicas y farmacológicas de interés.Resultados. Se analizaron 86 controles y 86 casos. El grupo mayoritario fue F20-29 (70,9%). En el análisis bivarianteresultaron estadísticamente significativas (ES)las variables“entorno urbano vs. rural” (p=0,011), mala adherencia farmacológica (AdFa) subjetiva (p=0,048), mala AdFa objetiva(p=0,023), ausencia de red de apoyo (p=0,019), seguimiento deficiente en consultas externas de psiquiatría (p=0,021),falta de empleo (p=0,046) y un mayor número de ingresos en el año previo (p<0,001). En el análisis multivariantefueron ES las variables: número de reingresos el año previo(OR=1,536; IC95%:1,174–2,009; p=0,002), habitar en un entorno “urbano” (OR=2,791; IC95%:1,017–7,663; p=0,046),ausencia de red de apoyo OR=2,255; IC95%:1,160–4,384;p=0,017) y un seguimiento ambulatorio inestable (OR=2,156;IC95%:1,101–4,223; p=0,025). Conclusiones. El habitar en un entorno urbano, una bajaAdFa, la ausencia de red de apoyo, un seguimiento deficiente enconsultas externas de psiquiatría, la falta de empleo y un altonúmero de reingresos en el año previo se relacionan de formadirecta con el reingreso precoz en pacientes psiquiátricos. (AU)

Background: Early readmissions (between 24 hours and30 days after discharge) can be disruptive for psychiatric patients and their families. The aim of this study is to determinethe factors influencing this early readmission.Methods. A retrospective case-control study was carriedout from 2015 to 2017. Cases were matched with controlswith a similar age (± 10 years), admission date (± 30 days),ICD-10 diagnosis and sex. Sociodemographic, clinical andpharmacological factors were examined.Results. 86 cases and 86 controls were chosen. The largest ICD-10 group was F20-29 (70,9%). Statistically significant (SS) factors according to the bivariate analysis were:urban vs. rural living environment (p=0.011); poor subjectivepharmacological adherence (AdFa, p=0.048); poor objective AdFa (p=0.023); poor social or family support (p=0.019);poor follow-up in psychiatric outpatient consultations (p=0.021); unemployment (p=0.046); and a higher numberof readmissions during the previous year (p<0.001). In themultivariate analysis, SS factors were: urban living environment (OR=2.791; 95% CI, 1.017–7.663; p=0.046); poorsocial or family support (OR=2.255; 95% CI, 1.160–4.384;p=0.017); poor follow-up in psychiatric outpatient consultations (OR=2.156; 95% CI, 1.101–4.223; p=0.025); anda higher number of readmissions during the previous year(OR=1.536; 95% CI, 1.174–2.009; p=0.002).Conclusions. Living in an urban environment; poor AdFa;poor social or family support; poor follow-up in psychiatric outpatient consultations; unemployment; and a highernumber of readmissions during the previous year were all directly related to early readmissions for psychiatric patients. (AU)

Sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacological factors influencing early readmission in mental health settings.

Early readmissions (between 24 hours and 30 days after discharge) can be disruptive for psychiatric patients and their families.

Sorption and dissipation of the allelochemicals umbelliferone and salicylic acid in a Mediterranean soil environment: Effect of olive-mill waste addition.

Allelochemicals are receiving much attention as natural alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Very little is known, however, about the processes to which allelochemicals are subjected once they reach the soil environment, despite the fact that it is widely recognized that such processes can dramatically influence their bioactivity and applicability as eco-friendly pesticides. The objectives of this study were to characterize the sorption and dissipation of two phenolic allelochemicals, umbelliferone (UM) and salicylic acid (SA), after their simultaneous application to a Mediterranean agricultural soil and to assess to what extent sorption and dissipation were affected by amending the soil with an agro-industrial organic waste (olive-mill waste, OMW), as a common agronomic practice in Mediterranean agricultural systems. In experiments conducted under standard laboratory conditions, UM (pKa = 7.5) showed greater sorption than SA (pKa = 2.8) and both allelochemicals displayed very short half-lives in the tested soil (DT50 < 1 day). Furthermore, the addition of OMW increased the sorption of UM and the half-lives of both SA and UM in the soil. A field experiment conducted on unamended and OMW-amended soil plots confirmed the ability of OMW to increase the persistence of SA and UM under a real Mediterranean soil environment and showed that, for all treatments, the allelochemicals displayed higher half-lives in the field than under standard laboratory conditions. This was attributed to reduced biodegradation of UM and SA under progressive soil drying, which was thus identified as a factor that can prolong the persistence of allelochemicals in semi-arid soil environments. We highlight the need to test the environmental fate of allelochemicals under specific agro-climatic scenarios and illustrate how management practices can help increase their soil persistence so that their bioactivity can be better expressed.

Sorption, persistence, and leaching of the allelochemical umbelliferone in soils treated with nanoengineered sorbents.

Coumarins represent an important family of allelochemicals with fungicidal, bactericidal, insecticidal, nematicidal, and herbicidal properties. Like for other allelochemicals, the short persistence of coumarins in soils can reduce their biological activity and hamper their application as environmentally friendly agrochemicals. We evaluated the sorption of the coumarin umbelliferone by eight soils and six sorbent materials, and then selected two nanoengineered sorbents, hexadecyltrimethylammonium-modified Arizona montmorillonite (SA-HDTMA) and olive-mill waste biochar (BC), to assess the effect of their addition to two distinct soils on umbelliferone sorption, persistence, and leaching. Umbelliferone was sorbed to a greater extent by the acid soils (A1-A2, Kd > 4.0 L kg-1) than by the alkaline soils (B1-B6, Kd < 0.5 L kg-1). The addition of BC and SA-HDTMA at a rate of 4% to alkaline soil (B2) increased the umbelliferone sorption Kd value from 0.3 to 1.6-2.0 L kg-1, whereas their addition to acid soil (A1) increased the Kd value from 4.6 to 12.2-19.0 L kg-1. Incubation experiments showed that BC had more impact than SA-HDTMA on the persistence of umbelliferone in the soils, increasing its half-life from 0.3-2.5 to 1.2-14.4 days, depending on the soil. Furthermore, the addition of BC to the top 0-5 cm of soil columns reduced leaching of umbelliferone and led to accumulation of umbelliferone residues in the top 0-5 cm soil layer. The addition of nanoengineered materials, such as organoclays and biochars, could thus be a suitable strategy to increase the persistence and reduce the mobility of coumarins in the rhizosphere with the aim of prolonging their biological activity.

Soil phenanthrene phytoremediation capacity in bacteria-assisted Spartina densiflora.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have become a threat for the conservation of wetlands worldwide. The halophyte Spartina densiflora has shown to be potentially useful for soil phenanthrene phytoremediation, but no studies on bacteria-assisted hydrocarbon phytoremediation have been carried out with this halophyte. In this work, three phenanthrene-degrading endophytic bacteria were isolated from S. densiflora tissues and used for plant inoculation. Bacterial bioaugmentation treatments slightly improved S. densiflora growth, photosynthetic and fluorescence parameters. But endophyte-inoculated S. densiflora showed lower soil phenanthrene dissipation rates than non-inoculated S. densiflora (30% below) or even bulk soil (23% less). Our work demonstrates that endophytic inoculation on S. densiflora under greenhouse conditions with the selected PAH-degrading strains did not significantly increase inherent phenanthrene soil dissipation capacity of the halophyte. It would therefore be advisable to provide effective follow-up of bacterial colonization, survival and metabolic activity during phenanthrene soil phytoremediation.

Network meta-analysis of tofacitinib versus biologic treatments in moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis patients.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized primarily by inflammation and pain in the joints. Tofacitinib is an oral drug recently approved for RA treatment; it inhibits Janus protein kinases (JAK) that reduces RA symptoms when conventional DMARDs do not trigger a response. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of biological DMARDs in monotherapy or combined with methotrexate in RA patients and compare the treatments. METHODS: We reviewed the literature for articles published up to June 2017, evaluating the efficacy and safety of the biological DMARDs indicated for RA in patients with inadequate responses to conventional DMARDs and naïve to biological DMARDs, in similar populations, considering ACR50 as the efficacy variable. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each drug combination, and these parameters were transformed into differences in responses to assess the effectiveness of the alternative medicines. Equivalence therapeutic alternatives (ETA) were ensured to assess the possibility of considering these medications with equivalent efficacy. A network meta-analysis (NMA) was performed using Bayesian approaches and the fixed-effects model. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Twenty-seven randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that met the pre-established criteria were identified. The 95% CI of biological DMARDs was higher than that of placebo without methotrexate, except for certolizumab, golimumab-m, anakinra-m and adalimumab monotherapy. These DMARDs performed significantly better than the placebo, except for etanercept, certolizumab, tofacitinib and golimumab. Certolizumab-m was better than anakinra-m and adalimumab, and tocilizumab alone or combined with methotrexate was superior to adalimumab. Etanercept-m yielded a higher difference in responses compared with the other biological DMARDs, which presented more homogeneous responses, except for adalimumab and anakinra-m, which yielded worse results. None of the biological DMARDs displayed ETA to etanercept-m; however, they displayed ETA with certolizumab-m, except for adalimumab and anakinra-m. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: All biological DMARDs used in combination with methotrexate, except for etanercept, anakinra, certolizumab and tocilizumab without methotrexate, were displayed ETA on using ACR50 at week 24 in patients naïve to biological DMARDs. Etanercept displayed a greater difference in responses, although the high uncertainty of the comparative results prevented the confirmation of the increased efficacy of this drug.

Spartina densiflora demonstrates high tolerance to phenanthrene in soil and reduces it concentration.

The present study was conducted to investigate the tolerance of Spartina densiflora to phenanthrene, and to test its ability in phenanthrene dissipation. A glasshouse experiment was designed to investigate the effect of phenanthrene from 0 to 1000 mg kg(-1) on growth and photosynthetic apparatus of S. densiflora by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, gas exchange and photosynthetic pigments. We also performed chemical analysis of plant samples, and determined the concentration of phenanthrene remaining in soil. S. densiflora survived to concentrations as high as 1000 mg kg(-1) phenanthrene in soil; in fact, there was no significant difference in RGR among the treatments after 30 days. Otherwise, phenanthrene affected photosynthetic apparatus at 100 and 1000 mg kg(-1); thus, the lower ΦPSII could be explained by the declined photosynthetic pigment concentrations. Soil extraction indicated a more marked rate of phenanthrene disappearance in the soil in the presence of S. densiflora.