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Biomedical subjects

A García

Publications and source records attributed to A García.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Long-term liver dysfunction after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation: clinical features and course in 61 patients.

This retrospective study has aimed at determining the prevalence, aetiology and clinical evolution of chronic liver disease (CLD) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). A total of 106 patients who had been transplanted in a single institution and who had survived for at least 2 years after BMT were studied. The prevalence of CLD was 57.5% (61/106). In 47.3% of cases more than one aetiopathogenic agent coexisted. The causes of CLD were iron overload (52.4%), chronic hepatitis C (47.5%), chronic graft-versus-host disease (C-GVHD) (37.7%), hepatitis B (6.5%), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (4.9%), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) (4.9%) and unknown two (3.3%). Twenty-three patients with iron overload underwent venesections which were well tolerated. An improvement in liver function tests (LFTs) was observed in 21 (91%) patients. All six patients with siderosis as the only cause of CLD normalized LFT as well as three patients with HCV infection. Clinical evolution was satisfactory for patients with GVHD, AIH, NASH and hepatitis B. At the last visit 23 patients continued with abnormal LFTs, and 19 of them were infected by the HCV. A sustained biochemical and virologic response was achieved in only one case out of six patients with CHC who received interferon. We have found that CLD is a common complication in long-term BMT survivors. The aetiology is often multifactorial, iron overload, CHC and C-GVHD being the main causes. The CLD followed a rather 'benign' and slow course in our patients as none of them developed symptoms or signs of liver failure and we did not observe an increase in morbidity or mortality in these patients, but a longer follow-up is necessary in HCV infected patients based on the natural history of this infection in other populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Cryptogenic gelastic epilepsy of frontal lobe origin: a paediatric case report.

Gelastic (laughing) seizures are an uncommon seizure type which in most cases has an organic cerebral pathology and specifically a hypothalamic hamartoma. The interictal EEG frequently shows focal activity. This report describes a 3 1/2-year-old boy who presented with episodes of unmotivated laughter associated with other epileptic symptomatology before the age of 3 years. Prolonged ambulatory EEG monitoring recorded electroclinical seizures starting in the right frontal area and spreading to the adjacent frontotemporal region. Neurological examination and brain magnetic resonance imaging were normal. Vigabatrin resulted in immediate remission of the seizures and normalization of the EEG.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed2000

Detection of Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi in olive plants by enrichment and PCR.

The sequence of the gene iaaL of Pseudomonas savastanoi EW2009 was used to design primers for PCR amplification. The iaaL-derived primers directed the amplification of a 454-bp fragment from genomic DNA isolated from 70 strains of P. savastanoi, whereas genomic DNA from 93 non-P. savastanoi isolates did not yield this amplified product. A previous bacterial enrichment in the semiselective liquid medium PVF-1 improved the PCR sensitivity level, allowing detection of 10 to 100 CFU/ml of plant extract. P. savastanoi was detected by the developed enrichment-PCR method in knots from different varieties of inoculated and naturally infected olive trees. Moreover, P. savastanoi was detected in symptomless stem tissues from naturally infected olive plants. This enrichment-PCR method is more sensitive and less cumbersome than the conventional isolation methods for detection of P. savastanoi.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed2000

Safety and immunogenicity of a paediatric presentation of an influenza vaccine.

BACKGROUND: Flu vaccination in otherwise healthy infants and young children is important to prevent severe disease, as well as to control epidemic spread of influenza infection. AIMS: To examine the safety and immunogenicity of a paediatric presentation of a purified, inactivated, triton split influenza vaccine. METHODS: Two doses of the vaccine, provided in prefilled syringes of 0.25 ml, were administered, one month apart, to 67 children under 3 years of age. RESULTS: Nine cases of immediate reaction to vaccination (macules/papules) were observed after the second injection only. During the study period, 9% of children experienced at least one delayed local reaction, and 28% of children presented at least one systemic reaction. Almost all reactions were mild and transient. Immunogenicity results surpassed the European Community recommendations for a 0.50 ml dose of vaccine in adults. CONCLUSION: This paediatric formulation of inactivated flu vaccine appears safe and immunogenic in children from 6 months to 3 years of age; the convenient presentation in a prefilled syringe of 0.25 ml volume will facilitate administration of the dose recommended for young children.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed2000

Single exposure to stressors causes long-lasting, stress-dependent reduction of food intake in rats.

A single exposure to severe stressors has been shown to cause anorexia in the next 24 h, but the duration of such alterations is not known. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to different stressors, and food intake was measured for several days after stress. In experiment 1, 2 h of immobilization (Imo) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration (1,000 microgram/kg) caused a marked anorexia in the 24 h after stress, which persisted on poststress day 3. In experiment 2, changes in food intake after LPS and Imo were followed until total recovery. As in experiment 1, LPS caused initially a greater degree of anorexia than Imo, but normal food intake recovered much faster (poststress day 3 vs. poststress day 9). Changing the period of exposure to Imo between 20 min and 6 h (experiment 3) only slightly modified the pattern of response to the stressor. When different doses of LPS (50, 250, and 1,000 microgram/kg) were tested in experiment 4, a dose-dependent effect on food intake was observed, the greatest doses causing the most marked and lasting effect. The present results showed stressor-specific lasting changes in food intake caused by a single exposure to some stressors, the effect of a severe psychological stressor such as Imo being more lasting than that of LPS, despite a lower initial anorexia. A severe psychological stressor and a physical stressor such as LPS appear to change food intake in different ways.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2000

Platelet-derived growth factor and epidermal growth factor play a major role in human colonic fibroblast repair activities.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Ulceration is a common feature of inflammatory bowel diseases, where subepithelial cell growth is frequently necessary for resolution. In order to further understand the role of colonic fibroblasts in this process, we have used an in vitro model of wound repair to study the response of human colonic fibroblasts to several growth factors expressed in colonic tissues. METHODS: Proliferation was determined by [(3)H]thymidine incorporation into DNA in subconfluent fibroblast cultures. In vitro wound repair was determined in confluent fibroblast monolayers after mechanical denudation. The presence of growth factors secreted by fibroblasts was studied in conditioned medium by heparin affinity chromatography and immunodetection with specific antibodies. RESULTS: Serum and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) induced a dramatic increase in both colonic fibroblast proliferation and closure of wounded cell monolayers. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulated both fibroblast activities, but the effect was less potent. However, colonic fibroblasts did not respond to transforming growth factor-beta(1). Conditioned medium stimulated fibroblast proliferation and wound repair activity, which was reverted by the addition of suramin. Furthermore, a PDGF-like factor was isolated from colonic fibroblast-conditioned medium. CONCLUSIONS: EGF and PDGF-BB promote human colonic fibroblast-dependent wound repair activities. Human colonic fibroblasts may exert an autocrine regulation via the production of growth factors.

Cell Division↗
PubMed2000

Recovery of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to stress. Effect of stress intensity, stress duration and previous stress exposure.

Pathological consequences of stress-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may be related to the duration rather than to the intensity of HPA axis activation after exposure to the stressor. Consequently a fine analysis of post-stress events is of importance. The present experiments were designed to study the importance of three key factors in HPA recovery: intensity of the stressor (experiment 1), duration of exposure to the stressor (experiment 2) and previous experience of the animals with the situation (experiments 3 and 4). In experiment 1, analysis of both the response to the stressor and the poststress period showed that the stronger the stressor, the greater the area under the curve of HPA activation. In experiment 2, different groups of rats were exposed to different periods of immobilization (IMO) (20 min, 1 h and 2 h) and sampled before, during and after exposure to IMO. The speed of recovery of plasma corticotropin (ACTH) levels was not related to the duration of exposure to the stressor. In experiments 3 and 4, the influence of previous experience with the stressor was studied in rats daily exposed to 20 min IMO or daily injected with hypertonic saline (HS) for 8 days and sampled on days 1, 2, 5 and 8. Whereas a significant decline in plasma ACTH levels was not observed immediately after IMO until day 8, a single previous exposure to IMO was enough to enhance recovery 90 min after the end of exposure to IMO. Corticosterone levels were related to the number of previous experiences with the stressor only in the post-IMO period. In response to a novel stressor (forced swimming), chronic IMO rats showed a slightly impaired recovery as compared to stress-naive rats, suggesting that enhanced recovery of the HPA axis was specific for the homotypic stressor. After daily HS injections, a pattern similar to that after IMO was observed, the delayed, but not the early response of the HPA axis being reduced as a function of the number of previous experiences with the situation. Taken together, the present results suggest that the speed of recovery of the HPA axis after its activation by stressors is sensitive to the intensity of the stressors but not to their duration, and that adaptation to a repeated stressor is more apparent during the delayed HPA response.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed2000

Mange epizootic in white-nosed coatis in western Mexico.

From November of 1994 to June of 1996 an epizootic of mange, probably caused by the mite Notoedres cati, occurred in white-nosed coatis (Nasua narica) in the tropical dry forests of the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve in western Mexico. A monitoring scheme to determine the extent and severity of the epizootic within coatis was implemented. Trapping periods and transects were conducted for 2 yr. To control the spread of the disease, all captured infected coatis were either euthanized or treated with acaricides such as Butox and Ivomec-F, depending on the severity of their infection. Four other species of wild mammals and feral cats had skin conditions resembling mange. A more severe problem with the disease was predicted and later confirmed in the less isolated areas of the reserve, with a higher density of coatis. Our results indicate that epizootics may be more prone to occur in areas with greater fragmentation and less isolation from anthropogenic influence. Interestingly, although there was an apparently severe impact of the mange epizootic in the coati population, the long-term impact of the disease is unknown but appears to be negligible. So in order to understand the role of diseases in wildlife populations, long-term experimental studies are required.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

The relation between accommodative facility and general binocular dysfunction.

This study was designed to evaluate the relation between accommodative facility and accommodative and binocular dysfunctions. We determined whether failure to achieve 8 cycles per minute of binocular accommodative facility or 11 cycles per minute of monocular accommodative facility tends to be associated with these dysfunctions. Forty eight subjects, ages 10-30 years were examined and classified into four groups: 13 subjects with accommodative dysfunctions, 11 patients with binocular dysfunctions, 12 subjects with accommodative and binocular dysfunctions and 12 control subjects with refractive errors but no accommodative or binocular anomalies. Monocular and binocular accommodative facility was conducted using +/- 2.00 D flip lenses. In general, statistical analysis indicates that subjects with binocular and accommodative (ocular motor) anomalies performed significantly poorer than subjects of normal group on monocular and binocular facility tests. Monocular accommodative facility results showed more information about the dysfunction of the patient compared with the results of the binocular accommodative facility. In general data supported a relation between reduced accommodative facility and a general binocular dysfunction (accommodative or binocular) which demonstrates the importance of the accommodative facility test in diagnosing an accommodative or binocular anomaly.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed2000

[Evaluation of four rapid methods for the investigation of the toxigenic capacity of Clostridium difficile strains isolated in a selective medium].

BACKGROUND: Use of selective Clostridium difficile culture as a diagnostic method for C. difficile associated disease requires to prove the toxigenic ability of the isolates. Toxin B detection by cell culture assay after growing the microorganism in enriched broth is the standard method, but it delays the final diagnosis for 3-5 days. This study compares retrospectively four rapid techniques for detecting these toxigenic C. difficile strains. METHODS: 106 clinical isolates of C. difficile (72 toxigenic and 34 non-toxigenic), these and 16 clinical strains of other species of Clostridium were investigated. The four methods were performed directly from colonies growing on solid agar. They were: a) cytotoxin detection in cell culture; b) two PCR amplifications of toxin A and toxin B, respectively, and c) toxin A detection by an immunoenzymatic method (VIDAS CDA2). All these procedures were completed within a normal working day. RESULTS: Only the 72 toxigenic C. difficile strains gave positive results by cell culture and PCR techniques (sensitivity and specificity: 100%). A total of 14 out of 49 toxigenic C. difficile strains showed negative results by the VIDAS assay in the first run, but all them were positive in repeated tests. CONCLUSIONS: Although all methods performed well, the cytotoxicity assay done directly on colonies growing in CCFA is a simple and rapid technique, and appears to be well-suited for use in laboratories with access to cell cultures.

Agar↗
PubMed2000

[Barrett s epithelium: clinical review].

In this paper we review the literature about regarding etiology, natural history, methods of study and treatment of Barrett's esophagus. Likewise we review our personal experience as well as the one at national level.

Barrett Esophagus↗
PubMed1999

Chromosome loss is the most frequent mechanism contributing to HLA haplotype loss in human tumors.

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the short arm of chromosome 6 (6p) was detected in samples obtained from colon (13.8%), larynx (17.6%) and melanoma (15.3%) tumors. The parallel study of HLA-antigen expression in tumor tissues using locus- and polymorphic-specific antibodies in combination with LOH microsatellite analysis on 6p allowed us to establish that LOH in chromosome 6 is a representative phenomenon in most tumor cells present in a given tumor tissue. In most cases, specific HLA alleles had been lost in a predominant population of tumor cells, indicating that LOH is a non-irrelevant mutation that probably confers a selective advantage for survival of the mutant cell. We also demonstrate that LOH frequently occurred through chromosome loss rather than somatic recombination. LOH at all loci studied on the p and q arms of chromosome 6 was observed in at least 56.2% (9/17) cases. This HLA-associated microsatellite analysis was a useful tool for classifying tumors as LOH-positive or -negative, and therefore to consider a patient as a potential non-responder or responder in a vaccination trial.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1999

[The polymerase chain reaction as a marker of cytomegalovirus infection in heart transplant recipients].

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the usefulness of PCR in peripheral blood leukocytes for the diagnosis of CMV infection and for prognosis of CMV disease in patients with heart transplantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 54 heart transplant recipients included in a protocolized virological follow-up with blood samples (total samples: 594). Mean time of follow-up: 14.8 months (range 1-34 months). We compared a qualitative nested PCR with tube culture (CC), shell vial culture (SV) and pp65 quantitative antigenemia test (AGC). RESULTS: PCR was the most sensitive test (89.9%) followed by AGC (68.1%), SV (42.6%) and CC (33.4%). Specificity: 80 samples were positive only by PCR, 77 of which form patients with virologically documented CMV active infection, so they were considered as true positives. Three samples were from 2 patients in which the unique positive marker was PCR. If we considered these results as false positive, the calculated specificity was 99.0%. PCR was the first positive marker in 44 out of 45 patients with active CMV infection. In 9 of these patients no other viral marker was positive in the first positive sample, except for PCR. A total of 16 episodes of CMV disease were observed along the study, and a positive PCR result was detected in 15 of them. The remaining patient did not show amplification with the set of primers used in this study, but it gave a positive PCR by amplifying with a different primer pair. Positive predictive value of PCR for CMV disease was low (33.3%). Thus, a positive PCR result did not allow to distinguish between asymptomatic infection and CMV disease. CONCLUSIONS: In heart transplantation recipients CMV-PCR is a highly sensitive, specific and early marker of CMV infection but its positive predictive value for CMV disease seems unsatisfactory.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1999

Endothelin stimulates nitric oxide-dependent cyclic GMP formation in rat cerebellar astroglia.

Endothelins (ETs) elicit a diversity of cellular responses in cultured astrocytes that suggest an important role of these peptides in glial cell function. Stimulation of astroglial ET receptors induces phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis and intracellular calcium mobilization, but little is known about the signalling events that occur downstream of this system. Here we show that in rat cerebellar astroglia in culture ETs produce a receptor-mediated stimulation of cyclic GMP (cGMP) formation that is rapid and totally dependent on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity. The effect is blocked by an inhibitor of PI phospholipase C, compound U73122, and by depletion of intracellular calcium stores with thapsygargin. These results indicate that calcium released by inositol trisphosphate is responsible for NOS activation and subsequent cGMP formation.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Cryptosporidium and concurrent infections with other major enterophatogens in 1 to 30-day-old diarrheic dairy calves in central Spain.

Faeces samples from 218, 1 to 30-day-old, diarrheic dairy calves in 65 dairy herds were screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium and concurrent infections with rotavirus, coronavirus, F5 Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Calves were grouped according to their age as follows: 1-7, 8-14, 15-21 and 22-30 days. Cryptosporidium infection was detected in 43.8%, 71.9%, 63.2% and 6.9% of the calves in the respective age groups. Significant differences in the detection rate of Cryptosporidium were found between the age group 22-30 days and all other age groups, and between the age group 1-7 days and the age groups 8-14 days and 15-21 days. Cryptosporidium was the only enteropathogen detected in 60 of the 114 (52.6%) diarrheic calves. Concurrent infections with other enteropathogen(s) were detected in 64.3%, 46.3%, 39.5% and 0% of the Cryptosporidium-infected calves in the age groups 1-7, 8-14, 15-21 and 22-30 days, respectively. A significant age-associated decrease in the detection rate of mixed infections (p < 0.05) was found. The detection rates of the other enteropathogens considered in calves with Cryptosporidium infection were 87% for rotavirus, 11.1% for coronavirus, 27.8% for F5+ E. coli and 1.8% for Salmonella.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1999

Molecular analysis in Spanish patients with muscle carnitine palmitoyltransferase deficiency.

The most common mutation in muscle carnitine palmitoyltransferase II (CPT II) deficiency is a missense mutation that replaces a leucine for a serine residue at amino acid position 113 of the CPT II protein (S113L). We performed molecular analysis in a group of 14 Spanish patients with CPT II deficiency from ten unrelated families. The S113L mutation was observed in 8 of the 14 patients studied. Seven patients were homozygous for the mutation, 1 patient was heterozygous, and 6 patients did not carry the mutation on either allele. Seven healthy relatives belonging to three different families carried the mutation on one allele. One patient carried the missense mutation that replaces a tyrosine for a serine at amino acid position 628 on one allele. Our data indicate that the S113L is also the most common mutation in Spanish patients with CPT II deficiency in muscle, and that further pathogenic mutations remain to be identified.

Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase↗
PubMed1999

Differential effect on U937 cell differentiation by targeting transcriptional factors implicated in tissue- or stage-specific induced integrin expression.

The inhibition of transcription factor functions was used to define their role in phorbol ester-induced cellular differentiation of a monocytic cell line, U937. We demonstrate a differential effect on cell adhesion and differentiation: antisense or competitive binding with double-stranded oligonucleotides antagonized the functions of AP-1, NF-kappaB, and PU.1 transcriptional factors. In the presence of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), U937 cells attached to the plastic surface and cells were characterized by marked expression of beta2-integrin molecules on the cell surface. We show that the in vivo differentiation of U937 cells appears to occur normally in the absence of AP-1 activity. In contrast, the addition to the cell culture of phosphorothioate oligonucleotides that contained the NF-kappaB or PU.1 binding sites significantly inhibited U937 differentiation. The absence of NF-kappaB led to pleiotropic effects with a clear reduction in the expression of integrin and other lineage-specific myeloid antigens on the cell surface. In contrast, the absence of PU.1 had a more restricted effect on integrin expresion on the cell surface, probably as a result of blockage of CD18 gene expression.

CD18 Antigens↗