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Introducción: El síndrome metabólico se está convirtiendo en uno de los principales problemas de salud pública del siglo XXI. Se considera que la aparición del síndrome metabólico está determinada por la interacción de factores genéticos, ambientales y nerviosos centrales (disfunción de los centros hipotalámicos de hambre y saciedad) que generan dos alteraciones metabólicas importantes: la resistencia a la acción de la insulina y la obesidad visceral. La relación de este síndrome, que concentra en la actualidad al mundo científico, con las alteraciones del sueño sigue siendo un punto sin esclarecer. Aunque se ha teorizado sobre la relación causa efecto, se desconoce aún su interrelación convirtiéndose su estudio en un objetivo primario de la investigación epidemiológica. Muestra y métodos: Se reclutaron 1016 sujetos que acudieron al servicio de Fisiología Respiratoria del Hospital Universitario "San Cecilio" de Granada (España) por sospecha de Apnea de Sueño. Resultados: Se encontró una correlación significativa (p < 0,001) entre los valores de apneas hipopneas y los valores de saturación de Oxigeno nocturna con las diferentes alteraciones metabólicas asociadas al síndrome metabólico (Hipertensión, Diabetes y Obesidad). Por el contrario, no se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas test (t-Student) en la mayoría de las variables entre el grupo NO-Apnea y el grupo Apnea moderada. Conclusiones: Los sujetos con apnea de sueño poseen significativamente más riesgo de desarrollar síndrome metabólico, y por lo tanto de presentar patología cardiovascular. Estos sujetos deben ser evaluados en este sentido para reducir la morbimortalidad asociada a estas patologías.Introduction: The Metabolic Syndrome is one of the first health problems in the public health of the century. It's consider that the beginning of the syndrome is determined by numerous factors that developed two main metabolic disturbances: the insulin resistance and the central obesity. This relationship is concentrating the scientific world. As the cause-effect relationship has to be answered, the epidemiologic research has focused on without results. Material and methods: 1,016 subjects were recruited in the sleep disorders laboratory in San Cecilio Hospital with sleep apnea suspicion. Results: Significant correlation (p < 0,001) was found between sleep apnea severity and nocturnal saturation values and the different metabolic disturbances related to the metabolic syndrome (Hypertension, Diabetes and obesity). By the contrary, we doesn't found significant differences between No-Sleep apnea group and moderate sleep apnea group in the majority of the variables. Conclusions: Subjects with sleep apnea have significantly more possibilities to develop metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular pathology. These subjects had to be evaluated in this sense to reduce the impact associated to this pathology. more...

Objetivos: la hemorragia digestiva baja (HDB) es una causa frecuente de ingreso hospitalario; pese a ello, no se conocen con exactitud los factores que influyen en su evolución. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron comparar los cambios en el manejo de la HDB en nuestro Servicio entre los años 2005 y 2007, así como analizar diferentes parámetros que pudieran influir en su pronóstico. Pacientes y métodos: se incluyeron retrospectivamente todos los ingresos por HDB durante el periodo 2005-2006 y prospectivamente los del 2006-2007. En todos se realizó historia clínica, exploración -incluyendo tacto rectal- y análisis sanguíneo. Se realizó colonoscopia en la mayoría de los pacientes. Resultados: se incluyeron 137 pacientes en el 2005-2006: requirieron transfusión de hemoderivados el 36%. El 31% había presentado algún episodio de HDB previamente. El 62% presentó una evolución favorable. El tiempo desde el ingreso hasta la colonoscopia y la estancia media fueron de 4,1 y 10,2 días respectivamente. En el 2006-2007 se incluyeron 96 pacientes: requirieron transfusión el 42%. El 33% había presentado HDB previamente. La evolución fue favorable en el 67%. El tiempo hasta la colonoscopia y la estancia media fueron de 2,6 y 7,7 días respectivamente. Los divertículos fueron el hallazgo más frecuente en ambos periodos. Conclusiones: durante el 2006-2007 la estancia media de los pacientes con HDB ingresados en el Servicio de Aparato Digestivo se redujo respecto al 2005-2006 en un 25% y el tiempo de realización de la colonoscopia en un 37%; esto no logró más localizaciones del punto sangrante ni una disminución en la recurrencia de la hemorragia.Objectives: lower intestinal bleeding (LGIB) is a frequent reason for hospitalization; however, the prognostic factors have not been clearly defined. The aim of this paper was to analyze several clinical parameters and the management of this entity in our department from 2005 to 2007. Material and methods: all hospitalized patients with LGIB were retrospectively (2005-2006) and prospectively (2006-2007) included. Medical records, physical examination (anal digital examination included), blood testing, and colonoscopic examination (in most of patients) were performed. Results: 137 patients were included during 2005-2006: 36% of them required blood transfusion; thirty-one percent of patients showed previous episodes of LGIB, and 62% had a favorable outcome. Time from admission to colonoscopy was 4.1 days, and length of stay was 10.2 days. In the 2006-2007 study 96 patients were included: 42% of them required blood transfusion, thirty-three percent of patients showed previous episodes of LGIB, and 68% had a favorable outcome. Time from admission to colonoscopy was 2.6 days, and length of stay was 7.7 days. The most frequent etiology was diverticulosis in both studies. Conclusions: hospital length of stay and time from admission to colonoscopy in patients with LGIB was reduced by 25% and 37%, respectively, in the 2005-2006 period with regard to the 2006-2007 one; however, there were no more bleeding points or a decrease in bleeding recurrence. more...

Objetivos: la esofagitis eosinofílica (EE) es una entidad de interés creciente caracterizada en el adulto por disfagia y episodios de impactación alimentaria recurrentes. Nuestro objetivo fue estudiar las características clínicas, endoscópicas, manométricas y pH-métricas en los pacientes con EE, así como la relación que pudiera existir entre ellas. Pacientes y métodos: se estudiaron de forma prospectiva durante un año los pacientes adultos diagnosticados de EE. En todos se realizó endoscopia digestiva alta con toma de biopsias, manometría esofágica estacionaria y pH-metría ambulatoria. Se documentó además el tiempo de evolución clínica, los antecedentes de atopia, la presencia de eosinofilia periférica, la frecuencia de la disfagia y el número de desimpactaciones y complicaciones endoscópicas. Resultados: se estudiaron 11 pacientes (edad media 35 años). Todas las endoscopias presentaron hallazgos patológicos: traquealización en 5, alteraciones mucosas en 4, en 3 anillos esofágicos distales y en 2 estenosis esofágicas. Precisaron desimpactaciones endoscópicas 7 pacientes. Se produjeron desgarros de la mucosa esofágica durante la endoscopia en 2 pacientes. La manometría esofágica fue patológica en 6 pacientes, de estos, 5 fueron trastornos de hipomotilidad. La pH-metría fue patológica en 2 casos. Presentaron eosinofilia periférica 3 pacientes. Conclusión: aunque los hallazgos patológicos en la endoscopia son frecuentes, no siempre justifican los episodios de impactación alimentaria característicos de la EE. Los trastornos de motilidad en forma de peristalsis esofágica ineficaz son el hallazgo manométrico más frecuente, aunque tampoco se han podido relacionar con un mayor número de episodios de disfagia o de impactaciones.Objectives: eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is a condition characterized by dysphagia and frequent food impaction in young adults. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical aspects, endoscopic features, pH-metric and motility disorders in EE. Patients and methods: adult patients with EE were prospectivity included. Endoscopy with biopsy, stationary esophageal manometry, and 24-hour pH-metry were performed. We analyzed the duration of disease, allergies, blood peripheral eosinophilia, prevalence of dysphagia, number of food impaction episodes, and complications during the endoscopic procedure. Results: eleven male patients with a mean age of 35 years were followed. Endoscopy showed esophageal disorders in all cases: 5 esophageal felinizations, mucosal abnormalities in 4 cases, distal rings in 3 cases, and 2 esophageal stenoses. In two cases mucosal tearing during the endoscopic procedure was described. In 6 patients the manometric study showed motor disorders affecting the esophageal body, 5 of them displaying hypomotility. Two patients showed pathological gastroesophageal reflux during pH-monitoring. Blood peripheral eosinophilia was detected in 3 patients. Conclusion: although endoscopic abnormalities are frequently found, they do not usually explain dysphagia and food impaction episodes in EE. Ineffective esophageal peristalsis is the most prevalent manometric disorder associated with this entity, although it is not clearly related to symptom worsening either. more...

The scattering of the acoustic waves generated by a monopolar source propagating through a two-dimensional elliptic vortex, fixed or convected by a uniform flow, is studied by solving the Linearized Euler Equations in Cartesian coordinates using the Discontinuous Galerkin Method. For a fixed vortex position, the number, amplitudes, and angular spreads of the acoustic interference beams resulting from the sound scattering are found to significantly depend on the orientation of the vortex major axis with respect to the direction of the incident waves and on the vortex maximum tangential velocity. In particular, additional interference beams are obtained at large observation angles for a more elliptical vortex. For a convected elliptic vortex, the interference beams are curved as the angle between the incident acoustic wave and the vortex major axis varies when the vortex travels in the downstream direction. As expected, the scattering of the acoustic waves leads to spectral broadening in this case. Moreover, the widths and the frequencies of the lateral lobes obtained in the spectra on both sides of the peak at the source frequency are different for elliptic and round vortices., (© 2024 Acoustical Society of America.) more...

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory rheumatic disease. RA symptoms make the disease disabling and strongly impact the quality of life of patients. Among the available forms of treatment, balneotherapy seems to be one of the most common forms of nonpharmacological treatment for rheumatic disease. The aim was to explore the effectiveness of balneotherapy for improving the quality of life of patients with RA., Methods: Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and The Cochrane library were searched for randomized or clinical controlled trials published in English or Spanish until May 2021. Risk of bias of included articles were assessed using the Cochrane tool. A total 535 records were retrieved, and seven met the inclusion criteria. All the included studies showed statistically significant improvements in the quality of life of patients who received balneotherapy treatment despite differences in treatment administration. Sessions should be approximately 20 min long and use natural mineral waters enriched with elements, or mud, at a water temperature between 35-38 °C., Conclusions: Balneotherapy benefits the quality of life of people with RA. The obtained results show positive effects for both mineral bathing and immersion in sand or mud on the quality of life of people who suffer from RA. more...

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR T-cells) for the treatment of relapsing/refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia have led to exciting clinical results. However, CAR T-cell approaches revealed a potential risk of CD19-/CAR+ leukemic relapse due to inadvertent transduction of leukemia cells., Background: METHODS: We evaluated the impact of a high percentage of leukemia blast contamination in patient-derived starting material (SM) on CAR T-cell drug product (DP) manufacturing. In vitro as well as in vivo models were employed to identify characteristics of the construct associated with better profile of safety in case of inadvertent B-cell leukemia transduction during CAR T-cell manufacturing., Results: The presence of large amounts of CD19+ cells in SM did not affect the transduction level of DPs, as well as the CAR T-cell rate of expansion at the end of standard production of 14 days. DPs were deeply characterized by flow cytometry and molecular biology for Ig-rearrangements, showing that the level of B-cell contamination in DPs did not correlate with the percentage of CD19+ cells in SM, in the studied patient cohort. Moreover, we investigated whether CAR design may affect the control of CAR+ leukemia cells. We provided evidences that CAR.CD19 short linker (SL) prevents complete epitope masking in CD19+CAR+ leukemia cells and we demonstrated in vitro and in vivo that CD19 +CAR(SL)+leukemic cells are killed by CAR.CD19 T-cells., Conclusions: Taken together, these data suggest that a VL-VH SL may result in a safe CAR-T product, even when manufacturing starts from biological materials characterized by heavy contamination of leukemia blasts., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.) more...

Background: Energy balance is defined as the difference between energy expenditure and energy intake. The current state of knowledge supports the need to better integrate mechanistic approaches through effective studies of energy balance in the cancer population because of an observed significant lack of adherence to healthy lifestyle recommendations. To stimulate changes in breast cancer survivors' lifestyles based on energy balance, our group developed the BENECA (Energy Balance on Cancer) mHealth app. BENECA has been previously validated as a reliable energy balance monitoring system., Objective: Based on our previous results, the goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of BENECA mHealth in an ecological clinical setting with breast cancer survivors, by studying (1) its feasibility and (2) pretest-posttest differences with regard to breast cancer survivor lifestyles, quality of life (QoL), and physical activity (PA) motivation., Methods: Eighty breast cancer survivors diagnosed with stage I to IIIA and with a body mass index over 25 kg/m2 were enrolled in this prospective test-retest quasi-experimental study. Patients used BENECA mHealth for 8 weeks and were assessed at baseline and the postintervention period. Feasibility main outcomes included percentage of adoption, usage, and attrition; user app quality perception measured with the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS); satisfaction with the Net Promoter Score (NPS); and barriers and facilitators of its use. Clinical main outcomes included measuring QoL with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL Questionnaire Core 30 (EORT QLQ-C30), PA assessment with accelerometry, PA motivation measure with a Spanish self-efficacy scale for physical activity (EAF), and body composition with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Statistical tests (using paired-sample t tests) and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were analyzed., Results: BENECA was considered feasible by the breast cancer survivors in terms of use (76%, 58/76), adoption (69%, 80/116), and satisfaction (positive NPS). The app quality score did not make it one of the best-rated apps (mean 3.71, SD 0.47 points out of 5). BENECA mHealth improved the QoL of participants (global health mean difference [MD] 12.83, 95% CI 8.95-16.71, P<.001), and EAF score (global MD 36.99, 95% CI 25.52-48.46, P<.001), daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MD 7.38, 95% CI 0.39-14.37, P=.04), and reduced body weight (MD -1.42, 95% CI -1.97 to -0.87, P<.001)., Conclusions: BENECA mHealth can be considered feasible in a real clinical context to promote behavioral changes in the lifestyles of breast cancer survivors, but it needs to be enhanced to improve user satisfaction with use and functionality. This study highlights the importance of the use of mobile apps based on energy balance and how the QoL of breast cancer survivors can be improved via monitoring., (©Mario Lozano-Lozano, Irene Cantarero-Villanueva, Lydia Martin-Martin, Noelia Galiano-Castillo, Maria-José Sanchez, Carolina Fernández-Lao, Paula Postigo-Martin, Manuel Arroyo-Morales. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 25.06.2019.) more...

Brain mitochondrial complex I (CI) damage is associated with the loss of the dopaminergic neurons of the Substantia Nigra in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients. However, whether CI inhibition is associated with any alteration of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) organization in PD patients is unknown. To address this issue, here we analyzed the MRC by blue native gel electrophoresis (BNGE) followed by western blotting, in mitochondria purified from fibroblasts of patients harboring PD-relevant Pink1 mutations. We found a decrease in free CI, and in free versus supercomplexes (SCs)-assembled CI in PD; however, free complex III (CIII) was only modestly affected, whereas its free versus SCs-assembled forms decreased. Interestingly, complex IV (CIV) was considerably lost in the PD samples. These results were largely confirmed in mitochondria isolated from cultured neurons from Pink1 -/- mice, and in cultured neurons and forebrain samples from the PD-related Dj1 -/- mice. Thus, besides CI damage, the MRC undergoes a profound structural remodeling in PD likely responsible for the energetic inefficiency and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) over-production observed in this disease., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) more...

Background: Human T lymphocytes infiltrating tissues in autoimmune diseases are known to express somatostatin receptors amongst other activation markers. In this study, we evaluated whether somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) using a radiolabelled somatostatin analogue ((99m)Tc-EDDA/tricine-HYNIC-tyr(3)-octreotide ((99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC)) is able to detect the presence of immune-mediated processes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and secondary Sjögren's syndrome. We also aimed to evaluate whether positivity to SRS was predictive of therapeutic response and if SRS could be used for monitoring the efficacy of immunomodulatory treatment., Methods: Eighteen patients with rheumatoid arthritis and secondary Sjögren's syndrome not responding to conventional treatment were recruited for treatment with infliximab, a monoclonal antibody against TNF-α. All patients had complete blood cell count, renal and liver function tests, measurements of ESR, CRP, ANA, ENA, and anti-dsDNA antibodies, functional salivary gland scintigraphy, labial biopsy, and ophthalmologic assessment with Schirmer's test and tear film break-up time (BUT). Diagnosis was made according to the revised criteria of the American-European Consensus Group. All patients underwent SRS at baseline and after 3-6 months of therapy with infliximab. Eleven out of 18 had repeat SRS images. Images of the salivary glands and major joints were acquired 3 h after injection of 370 MBq of (99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC. Image analysis was performed semi-quantitatively., Results: All patients showed uptake of (99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC in the joints. Salivary glands also showed variable radiopharmaceutical uptake in 12 out of 18 patients, but all patients showed presence of lymphocytic infiltration at labial salivary gland biopsy. All patients, who repeated the study after treatment, showed significant reduction of somatostatin uptake in the joints but not in the salivary glands., Conclusions: SRS using (99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC may be a useful imaging tool to assess disease activity and extent in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and may help to detect secondary Sjögren's syndrome. It may also aid therapy decision-making with anti-TNFα antibodies in the joints but not in salivary glands. more...

The benefit of intrathecal therapy and systemic rituximab on the outcome of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma at risk of central nervous system disease is controversial. Furthermore, the effect of intrathecal treatment and rituximab in diffuse large B-cell and Burkitt lymphoma with occult leptomeningeal disease detected by flow cytometry at diagnosis is unknown. Untreated diffuse large B-cell (n=246) and Burkitt (n=80) lymphoma at clinical risk of central nervous system disease and having had pre-treatment cerebrospinal fluid were analyzed by flow cytometry and cytology. Spinal fluid involvement was detected by flow cytometry alone (occult) in 33 (13%) diffuse large B-cell and 9 (11%) Burkitt lymphoma patients, and detected by cytology in 11 (4.5%) and 5 (6%) patients, respectively. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with occult spinal fluid involvement had poorer survival (P=0.0001) and freedom from central nervous system relapse (P<0.0001) compared to negative cases. Burkitt lymphoma with occult spinal fluid involvement had an inferior freedom from central nervous system relapse (P=0.026) but not survival. The amount of intrathecal chemotherapy was quantitatively associated with survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with (P=0.02) and without (P=0.001) occult spinal fluid involvement. However, progression of systemic disease and not control of central nervous system disease was the principal cause of treatment failure. In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, systemic rituximab was associated with improved freedom from central nervous system relapse (P=0.003) but not with survival. Our results suggest that patients at risk of central nervous system disease should be evaluated by flow cytometry and that intrathecal prophylaxis/therapy is beneficial., (Copyright© Ferrata Storti Foundation.) more...