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Two kidney transplant recipients from a single donor became infected with HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus type 1) in Spain. One developed myelopathy 8 months following surgery despite early prescription of antiretroviral therapy. The allograft was removed from the second recipient at month 8 due to rejection and immunosuppressors discontinued. To date, 3 years later, this patient remains infected but asymptomatic. HTLV-1 infection was recognized retrospectively in the donor, a native Spaniard who had sex partners from endemic regions. Our findings call for a reappraisal of screening policies on donor-recipient organ transplantation. Based on the high risk of disease development and the large flux of persons from HTLV-1 endemic regions, pre-transplant HTLV-1 testing should be mandatory in Spain.

Background HTLV-1 infection is a neglected disease, despite infecting 10-15 million people worldwide and severe illnesses develop in 10% of carriers lifelong. Acknowledging a greater risk for developing HTLV-1 associated illnesses due to immunosuppression, screening is being widely considered in the transplantation setting. Herein, we report the experience with universal HTLV testing of donors and recipients of solid organ transplants in a survey conducted in Spain. Methods All hospitals belonging to the Spanish HTLV network were invited to participate in the study. Briefly, HTLV antibody screening was performed retrospectively in all specimens collected from solid organ donors and recipients attended since the year 2008. Results A total of 5751 individuals were tested for HTLV antibodies at 8 sites. Donors represented 2312 (42.2%), of whom 17 (0.3%) were living kidney donors. The remaining 3439 (59.8%) were recipients. Spaniards represented nearly 80%. Overall, 9 individuals (0.16%) were initially reactive for HTLV antibodies. Six were donors and 3 were recipients. Using confirmatory tests, HTLV-1 could be confirmed in only two donors, one Spaniard and another from Colombia. Both kidneys of the Spaniard were inadvertently transplanted. Subacute myelopathy developed within 1 year in one recipient. The second recipient seroconverted for HTLV-1 but the kidney had to be removed soon due to rejection. Immunosuppression was stopped and 3 years later the patient remains in dialysis but otherwise asymptomatic. Conclusion The rate of HTLV-1 is low but not negligible in donors/recipients of solid organ transplants in Spain. Universal HTLV screening should be recommended in all donor and recipients of solid organ transplantation in Spain. Evidence is overwhelming for very high virus transmission and increased risk along with the rapid development of subacute myelopathy.

Póster presentado en The Energy and Materials Research Conference - EMR2015 celebrado en Madrid (España) entre el 25-27 de febrero de 2015 Solid state chemistry thrives on a rich variety of solids that can be synthesized using a wide range of techniques. It is well known that the preparative route plays a critical role on the physical and chemical properties of the reaction products, controlling the structure, morphology, grain size and surface area of the obtained materials. This is particularly important in the area of ABO3 perovskite compounds given that they have for long been at the heart of important applications [1]. Particularly, perovskite systems such as La1-xSrxFeO3 (LSF) are now receiving researchers attention for their interesting applications [2-4] such as ceramic membranes (CMs) for oxygen separation, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) electrodes for efficient power generation, catalysts for complete oxidation of CO in vehicle engines, etc. In order to develop these advanced materials, combustion methods (glycine-nitrate, urea based, and other modifications) have been proposed as one of the most promising methods for their synthesis [5,6]. This method consists of a highly exothermic self-combustion reaction between the fuel (usually glycine, urea or alanine) and the oxidant (metal nitrates), that produces enough heat to obtain the ceramic powders. The characteristics (including purity, structure and size) of the combustion synthesis oxide powders are typically determined by several synthetic parameters, such as the species of fuel and oxidizer reactants, the fuel/oxidizer ratio, and the subsequent sintering treatment after combustion process [7]. In the other hand, physical properties of these perovskite materials are very sensitive to changes in the doping level (x), the average size of the A cations (), and the effects of A cation size disorder (σ2(rA)) quantified as σ2(rA) = – 2 [8]. Our searching approach to find the optimum synthetic conditions for new materials within the LSF system has been based on the study of only one of the indicated parameters isolated from the rest. In this sense, this study is focused on the effect of the variation of the cation size disorder, calcination temperature and the fuel/oxidizer ratio of glycine/nitrate on the structural, morphological, electrical and catalytic properties of a series of Ln0.5M0.5FeO3-δ perovskites (Ln = La, Sm; M = Ba, Sr).