Polyvalent Bacterial Lysate with Potential Use to Treatment and Control of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections.

Overuse of antimicrobials has greatly contributed to the increase in the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, a situation that hinders the control and treatment of infectious diseases. This is the case with urinary tract infections (UTIs), which represent a substantial percentage of worldwide public health problems, thus the need to look for alternatives for their control and treatment. Previous studies have shown the usefulness of autologous bacterial lysates as an alternative for the treatment and control of UTIs. However, a limitation is the high cost of producing individual immunogens. At the same time, an important aspect of vaccines is their immunogenic amplitude, which is the reason why they must be constituted of diverse antigenic components. In the case of UTIs, the etiology of the disease is associated with different bacteria, and even Escherichia coli, the main causal agent of the disease, is made up of several antigenic variants. In this work, we present results on the study of a bacterial lysate composed of 10 serotypes of Escherichia coli and by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella aerogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabilis, Citrobacter freundii, and Staphylococcus haemolyticus. The safety of the compound was tested on cells in culture and in an animal model, and its immunogenic capacity by analysing in vitro human and murine macrophages (cell line J774 A1). The results show that the polyvalent lysate did not cause damage to the cells in culture or alterations in the animal model used. The immunostimulatory activity assay showed that it activates the secretion of TNF-α and IL-6 in human macrophages and TNF-α in murine cells. The obtained results suggest that the polyvalent lysate evaluated can be an alternative for the treatment and control of chronic urinary tract infections, which will reduce the use of antimicrobials.

Fractura de cadera en adultos mayores: Impacto del tratamiento quirúrgico oportuno en la morbimortalidad / Hip Fracture in Elderly Patients: The Impact of Timely Surgical Treatment in Morbimortality

Resumen Introducción Las fracturas de cadera comprenden las regiones de la cabeza, el cuello femoral y la región intertrocantérica. Son una de las causas de morbilidad y mortalidad más importantes en adultos mayores y afectan el equilibrio físico, mental, funcional y social de estos pacientes. Hasta 50% de los pacientes con fractura de cadera, muere en los primeros 6 meses posteriores a la lesión y un gran número de los que sobrevive no recupera su nivel previo de independencia y funcionalidad. La pronta solución quirúrgica disminuye la mortalidad y las complicaciones; cada dos días de espera quirúrgica duplica el riesgo de muerte. Caso clínico Paciente del sexo femenino, de 74 años, que cayó desde su propio plano de sustentación, a consecuencia de lo cual presentó incapacidad para la marcha y dolor progresivo a nivel de cadera derecha. Acudió al servicio de ortopedia para ser valorada 42 días después de la caída. A la exploración física ortopédica: El miembro pélvico derecho en actitud de rotación externa y acortamiento de 1 cm; los arcos de movilidad de cadera, limitados por dolor; la fuerza por grupos musculares no se valoró debido al dolor. Se le realizó radiografía anteroposterior (AP) de pelvis, en la que se observó un trazo simple a nivel subcapital en la cadera derecha. 52 días después de la caída, se le realizó una artroplastia total de cadera derecha. Conclusiones La fractura de cadera es una patología común en pacientes ancianos, y se relaciona con alta morbimortalidad. Es imprescindible un manejo temprano, disminuir el riesgo de complicaciones y la mortalidad.

Abstract Introduction Hip fracture, may occur in the femoral head, neck or in the intertrochanteric line. It is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients and it affects the physical, mental, functional and social equilibrium of these patients. Up to 50% of patients with hip fracture die in the first six months after the injury and many those who survive don´t recover their previous level of independence and functionality. Early surgical resolution diminishes mortality and complications. Every two days that the surgery is postponed doubles the risk of death. Case report study A 74-year-old female patient who presented a fall from her own height, is rendered incapable of walking and presents progressive pain in her right hip. She consults an orthopedic doctor for examination 42 days after the fall. Physical examination: right pelvic lower limb with an external rotation and a 1 cm shortness, hip mobility arches limited by pain. Muscle group strength was not examined because of the pain. An AP x-ray of the pelvis was performed that showed a simple trace at subcapital level on the right hip. A total arthroplasty of the right hip was performed 52 days after the patient's fall. Conclusions Hip fracture is a common problem in elderly patients and is associated with a high morbimortality. It is important to handle these cases early to diminish the risk of complications and mortality.

Current status of non-viral gene therapy for CNS disorders.

INTRODUCTION: Viral and non-viral vectors have been used as methods of delivery in gene therapy for many CNS diseases. Currently, viral vectors such as adeno-associated viruses (AAV), retroviruses, lentiviruses, adenoviruses and herpes simplex viruses (HHV) are being used as successful vectors in gene therapy at clinical trial levels. However, many disadvantages have risen from their usage. Non-viral vectors like cationic polymers, cationic lipids, engineered polymers, nanoparticles, and naked DNA offer a much safer option and can therefore be explored for therapeutic purposes. AREAS COVERED: This review discusses different types of viral and non-viral vectors for gene therapy and explores clinical trials for CNS diseases that have used these types of vectors for gene delivery. Highlights include non-viral gene delivery and its challenges, possible strategies to improve transfection, regulatory issues concerning vector usage, and future prospects for clinical applications. EXPERT OPINION: Transfection efficiency of cationic lipids and polymers can be improved through manipulation of molecules used. Efficacy of cationic lipids is dependent on cationic charge, saturation levels, and stability of linkers. Factors determining efficacy of cationic polymers are total charge density, molecular weights, and complexity of molecule. All of the above mentioned parameters must be taken care for efficient gene delivery.

Importancia de la resonancia magnética en la encefalopatía bilirrubínica / Importance of magnetic resonance imaging in bilirubin encephalopathy

Con el objetivo de resaltar el valor diagnóstico de la resonancia magnética en la encefalopatía bilirrubínica se presenta el caso clínico de un recién nacido de 37 semanas de edad gestacional que reingresa al octavo día de vida por ictericia constatándose cifras de bilirrubina indirecta de 30,1 mg/dl. La disminución de las mismas se logró con exanguinotransfusión, fototerapia intensiva y adecuado aporte. Se solicita resonancia magnética de cráneo que informa, a nivel de ambos globos pálidos y subtalámico, un aumento de la señal en T1 y T2; contribuyendo al diagnóstico de encefalopatía bilirrubínica aguda.

In order to highlight the value of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of bilirubin encephalopathy, the clinical case of a 37 week of gestational age newborn is presented. The newborn was readmitted to hospital with jaundice on the eighth day of life, indirect bilirubin being 30.1 mg/dl. This level was decreased with exchange transfusion, intensive phototherapy and the appropriate oral supply. Magnetic resonance imaging of the skull was requested, revealing T1 and T2 hyperintensity within the globus pallidus, and the subthalamic nuclei; which contributed to the diagnose of acute bilirubin encephalopathy.

Three-Dimensional Algebraic Models of the tRNA Code and 12 Graphs for Representing the Amino Acids.

Three-dimensional algebraic models, also called Genetic Hotels, are developed to represent the Standard Genetic Code, the Standard tRNA Code (S-tRNA-C), and the Human tRNA code (H-tRNA-C). New algebraic concepts are introduced to be able to describe these models, to wit, the generalization of the 2n-Klein Group and the concept of a subgroup coset with a tail. We found that the H-tRNA-C displayed broken symmetries in regard to the S-tRNA-C, which is highly symmetric. We also show that there are only 12 ways to represent each of the corresponding phenotypic graphs of amino acids. The averages of statistical centrality measures of the 12 graphs for each of the three codes are carried out and they are statistically compared. The phenotypic graphs of the S-tRNA-C display a common triangular prism of amino acids in 10 out of the 12 graphs, whilst the corresponding graphs for the H-tRNA-C display only two triangular prisms. The graphs exhibit disjoint clusters of amino acids when their polar requirement values are used. We contend that the S-tRNA-C is in a frozen-like state, whereas the H-tRNA-C may be in an evolving state.

Periodic distribution of a putative nucleosome positioning motif in human, nonhuman primates, and archaea: mutual information analysis.

Recently, Trifonov's group proposed a 10-mer DNA motif YYYYYRRRRR as a solution of the long-standing problem of sequence-based nucleosome positioning. To test whether this generic decamer represents a biological meaningful signal, we compare the distribution of this motif in primates and Archaea, which are known to contain nucleosomes, and in Eubacteria, which do not possess nucleosomes. The distribution of the motif is analyzed by the mutual information function (MIF) with a shifted version of itself (MIF profile). We found common features in the patterns of this generic decamer on MIF profiles among primate species, and interestingly we found conspicuous but dissimilar MIF profiles for each Archaea tested. The overall MIF profiles for each chromosome in each primate species also follow a similar pattern. Trifonov's generic decamer may be a highly conserved motif for the nucleosome positioning, but we argue that this is not the only motif. The distribution of this generic decamer exhibits previously unidentified periodicities, which are associated to highly repetitive sequences in the genome. Alu repetitive elements contribute to the most fundamental structure of nucleosome positioning in higher Eukaryotes. In some regions of primate chromosomes, the distribution of the decamer shows symmetrical patterns including inverted repeats.

Human repetitive sequence densities are mostly negatively correlated with R/Y-based nucleosome-positioning motifs and positively correlated with W/S-based motifs.

We examined statistical correlations between the frequencies of seven proposed nucleosome positioning motifs and the densities of repetitive sequences in the human genome. For both parametric and non-parametric measures of statistical correlations there is a tendency for repetitive sequence density to be negatively correlated with the density of R/Y-based nucleosome positioning motifs, while being positively correlated with that of W/S-based motifs. These results largely hold even when motifs are examined only within repeat-filtered sequences. The RRRRRYYYYY motif and its 5-base shift YYYYYRRRRR, in particular, is over-represented in the human genome; and its negative correlation is consistently present at different regions and at different length scales. For some other nucleosome positioning motifs, the relationship with repeats can be regional or length scale dependent. Considering the importance of nucleosome formation in epigenetic regulations, these results may provide new insight to the evolution of repetitive sequences.