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Genetics is responsible for 80% of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) predisposition. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been linked to AGA risk and the metabolism of its first-line therapies. Genotypic and allelic frequencies have not been described in Mexican individuals; therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the genetic distribution of SNPs associated with AGA predisposition and drug metabolism. Using Real Time-PCR, we genotyped SNPs rs4827528 ( AR ), rs7680591 ( FGF 5), rs1042028, rs1042157, rs788068 and rs6839 ( SULT 1 A 1) and rs776746 ( CYP 3 A 5) in 125 (controls = 60, cases = 65) male volunteers from Northern and Western Mexico. The SULT 1 A 1 SNPs rs1042028 (C/T) and rs788068 (T/A/C) resulted in a 100% distribution of the ancestral allele C and mutated allele A, respectively; rs1042028 diverges from the previously reported frequency, while the rs788068 ancestral allele was found to be more predominant than the reported frequency. Rs1042028, rs788068 and rs4827528, were not in Hardy-Weinberg (HW) equilibrium; conversely, rs1042157 and rs6839, rs776746, and rs7680591 followed HW principles. A statistically significant difference ( P <0.05) was obtained for the rs1042157 allelic frequency between cases and controls in Western Mexico. We reported the genotypic and allelic frequencies of seven polymorphisms in Mexican individuals from Northern and Western Mexico., Competing Interests: None., (IJMEG Copyright © 2022.)

Dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase-1A (DYRK1A) is an enzyme directly involved in Alzheimer's disease, since its increased expression leads to β-amyloidosis, Tau protein aggregation, and subsequent formation of neurofibrillary tangles. Hologram quantitative structure-activity relationship (HQSAR, 2D fragment-based) models were developed for a series of 6-arylquinazolin-4-amine inhibitors (36 training, 10 test) of DYRK1A. The best HQSAR model (q2 = 0.757; SEcv = 0.493; R2 = 0.937; SE = 0.251; R2pred = 0.659) presents high goodness-of-fit (R2 > 0.9), as well as high internal (q2 > 0.7) and external (R2pred > 0.5) predictive power. The fragments that increase and decrease the biological activity values were addressed using the colored atomic contribution maps provided by the method. The HQSAR contribution map of the best model is an important tool to understand the activity profiles of new derivatives and may provide information for further design of novel DYRK1A inhibitors.

The use of "nutritional supplements" containing unapproved substances has become a regular practice in amateur and professional athletes. This represents a dangerous habit for their health once no data about toxicological or pharmacological effects of these supplements are available. Most of them are freely commercialized online and any person can buy them without medical surveillance. Usually, the steroids intentionally added to the "nutritional supplements" are testosterone analogues with some structural modifications. In this study, the analyzed product was bought online and a new anabolic steroid known as methylstenbolone (2,17α-dimethyl-17β-hydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-3-one) was detected, as described on label. Generally, anabolic steroids are extensively metabolized, thus in-depth knowledge of their metabolism is mandatory for doping control purposes. For this reason, a human excretion study was carried out with four volunteers after a single oral dose to determine the urinary metabolites of the steroid. Urine samples were submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis of glucuconjugated metabolites followed by liquid-liquid extraction and analysis of the trimethylsilyl derivatives by gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometric data allowed the proposal of two plausible metabolites: 2,17α-dimethyl-16ξ,17β-dihydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-3-one (S1), 2,17α-dimethyl-3α,16ξ,17β-trihydroxy-5α-androst-1-ene (S2). Their electron impact mass spectra are compatible with 16-hydroxylated steroids O-TMS derivatives presenting diagnostic ions such as m/z 231 and m/z 218. These metabolites were detectable after one week post administration while unchanged methylstenbolone was only detectable in a brief period of 45 h., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is an uncommon, contagious, sexually transmitted disease (STD). We report a case of a 17-year-old teenager who presented with a 2-month-old ulcerous vegetant lesion in the right inguinal region. The patient was diagnosed with LGV and received erythromycin treatment. Three months after treatment, he presented with a new ulcerous lesion, very similar to the previous one, in the right supraclavicular region. He was diagnosed with a diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Both diseases are rare in Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil, and physicians should not neglect the possibility of STDs in such cases.

Exemestane is an aromatase enzyme complex inhibitor. Its metabolism in humans is not fully described and there is only one known metabolite: 17β-hydroxyexemestane. In this work, excretion studies were performed with four volunteers aiming at the detection of new exemestane metabolites in human urine by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after enzymatic hydrolysis and liquid-liquid extraction. Urine samples collected from four volunteers were analyzed separately. The targets of the study were mainly the 6-exomethylene oxidized metabolites. Two unreported metabolites were identified in both free and glucuconjugated urine fractions from all four volunteers, both of them were the result of the 6-exomethylene moiety oxidation: 6ξ-hydroxy-6ξ-hydroxymethylandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (metabolite 1) and 6ξ-hydroxyandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (metabolite 2). Furthermore, only in glucoconjugated fractions from all volunteers, one metabolite arising from the A-ring reduction was identified as well, 3ξ-hydroxy-5ξ-androst-1-ene-6-methylene-17-one (metabolite 3). The molecular formulae of all these metabolites were ascertained by the determination of exact masses using gas chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS). Moreover, all metabolites were confirmed using an alternative derivatization with methoxyamine and MSTFA/TMS-imidazole., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Trimethylsilylation of anabolic agents and their metabolites is frequently achieved by using the derivatization mixture N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA)/NH(4)I/2-mercaptoethanol. Nevertheless, artifacts were formed when this mixture was employed in the monitoring of exemestane and its main metabolite 17β-hydroxyexemestane prior to GC-MS analysis. These artifacts were identified as the N-methyltrifluoroacetamide (MTFA) and trimethylsiloxyethylmercapto products of the respective trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives. Furthermore, artifact formation was evaluated taking the structure (1,4-diene-3-keto-6-exomethylene) of the compounds into account. Although these artifacts are relevant for investigations regarding the derivatization process and may be of interest in many fields, they are detrimental to cope with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in terms of the limits of detection (LODs) required. To overcome this issue, a method using an alternative derivatization was proposed: formation of methyloxime-TMS derivatives through double derivatization using O-methylhydroxylamine/pyridine and MSTFA/TMS imidazole after enzymatic hydrolysis and liquid-liquid extraction. Samples from an excretion study after administration of exemestane to healthy volunteers were analyzed by the proposed method and detection of both exemestane and its main metabolite was possible. This method showed excellent results for both analytes meeting the LODs required for antiestrogenic agents (50  ng/mL) established by WADA. The method was validated for the main metabolite, it was robust and cost-effective for qualitative and quantitative purposes, with LOD and LOQ of 10  ng/mL and 25  ng/mL, respectively., (2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: Asthmatic patients present different degrees of anxiety and depression, being psychiatric pathologies the most frequent alterations related to this illness. In this country there is available information of asthma in children but just a few about adult patients., Objectives: To know the frequency of anxiety and depression in adult asthmatic patients, compare them with healthy individuals and determine their relationship with the severity of illness., Patients and Methods: There were included asthmatic adults (GINA 2002) and as control group healthy individuals, using the HAD scale (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) to determine the presence of anxiety and depression, Results: 120 patients participated, 60 in each group with a mean age of 34 years old in the group 1 (asthmatic) and 31 years old in group 2 (healthy individuals). The HAD scale results in group 1 showed that 30% of patients presented anxiety, and 8% showed depression; in group 2 18% had anxiety and 3% depression. There are more anxiety and depression in asthmatic patients than in healthy individuals, p < 0.05, correlation between depression and severity of asthma is r = 0.288., Conclusions: Anxiety is frequent in asthmatic patients, being less common the presence of depression but related with asthma severity. These results contrast with available information where up to 54% of asthmatic patient present anxiety and 30% depression, using the same scale HAD. It is necessary to identify these problems, with the object to give an integral an accurate treatment to the patient.

Background: Spirometry is the ideal evidence to diagnose and evaluate the degree of bronchial obstruction which is present in asthma; however, it is not easy for physicians to have access to it during the first contact due to its high cost. The Borg's scale is an analogous visual scale which has an economical and simple use; it evaluates in a subjective way the respiratory difficulty in a patient in a scale from 0 to 10. It is necessary to have the right tools to know the degree of pulmonary obstruction that asthmatic patients have and to be able to give them the right medical treatment. The use of the Borg's scale to evaluate the severity of the asthmatic patients causes controversy., Objective: To determine the correlation between the spirometry and the Borg's scale in adult asthmatic patients., Patients and Methods: One hundred and one cases of male and female asthmatic patients were studied (GINA2002) from the consultation of specialties in Allergy and Clinic Immunology. A spirometry was done to all patients (Multispiro 2000) and the Borg's scale method was applied to them. The project was approved by the local research committee. The SPSS program version 12.0 was used and the Pearson's correlation test was applied., Results: The correlation between the spirometry and the Borg's scale was r = 0.345, with p < 0.05., Conclusions: There is a scarce correlation between the spirometry and the Borg's scale. The result obtained in this study does not support the use of the Borg's scale to appreciate the bronchial obstruction in adult asthmatic patients.

Background: The prevalence of asthma in Mexico is of 12% in the general population. Allergic illnesses diminish the quality of life and increase the costs of health services. In our country there is a lack of information about asthma and the concomitant presence of other allergic diseases in adults., Objective: To identify the association of asthma with other allergic illnesses in adults., Material and Methods: Patients of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Service diagnosed with allergic asthma, according to GINA, were included. The studied variables were: age, sex, and the presence of concomitant illnesses, doing a descriptive statistic analysis., Results: 100 allergic asthmatic patients were included, 69% corresponded to female and 31% to male. The association with allergic illnesses was as follows: rhinitis 92%, conjunctivitis 33% and atopic dermatitis 5%. In 13% it was associated to sinusitis, which is considered an infectious illness., Conclusions: Asthma has an important association with allergic diseases, especially rhinitis. The female group, as well as the age group between the third and fourth decades of the life, were the most affected. It is important to identify the relationship between asthma and other allergenic entities in order to establish a specific treatment, to diminish medical attention costs and to improve the quality of life of the patients.