Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Rodríguez.
The efficacy of fosfomycin in combination with vancomycin or gentamicin was evaluated in experimental endocarditis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. After 5 days of therapy, both combinations proved to be highly effective since all rabbits had sterile vegetations.
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The effect of an olive oil used in repeated fryings on certain parameters of lipidic metabolism in rat has been studied. The control animals ingest a diet containing 15% raw olive oil, while in the experimental group the diet contains the same ratio of olive oil but used in repeated fryings. An increase in total esterified cholesterol and in cholesterol bound to HDL was observed in the experimental rats, while the levels of free cholesterol remained constant. Triglycerides decreased significantly. A tendency, non-significant, to decrease the percentage of VLDL was found. The lipidic and proteic composition of VLDL, LDL and HDL is very similar in both groups, although the phospholipid content of VLDL decreased significantly in the experimental group. Results indicate that, in the animals fed fried olive oil, their takes place an adaptation in the mechanisms related to the prevention of a rising of plasmatic cholesterol levels.
The conformational hen white egg lysozyme in the binary mixture water/Pb2+ as a function of the binary mixture composition has been studied. Intrinsic viscosity, partial specific volume and preferential adsorption parameter in the 0-0.100 M Pb2+ concentration range has been experimentally measured. The obtained results suggest that the observed conformational transition is a consequence of the interactions established between lysozyme and Pb2+ cation.
Pars plana vitrectomy was performed in 12 eyes affected with chronic endophthalmitis in patients 4-38 years of age. In 3 cases the indication was severe vitreitis and the surgical response was excellent. The other 9 eyes were operated upon during the cicatricial and sequelae stages, and the results were better the earlier surgery was performed. Lensectomy was associated in 5 cases. Good anatomical results were obtained in 9 eyes (75%); the other 3 (25%) were failures because of complications. Visual acuity improved after vitrectomy in 8 cases (66%), remained the same in 1 and became worse in the 3 anatomical failures (25%). Early pars plana vitrectomy is indicated in the chronic endophthalmitis of toxocariasis to prevent development of complications leading to loss of the eye and in order to obtain good functional results with little risk of complications. The ELISA test was performed on 5 vitreous samples and was positive in all. Toxocariasis should be strongly suspected in cases of unilateral vitreitis and/or pars planitis.
Some characteristics of the lytic development of the temperate phage phi C31 in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) were studied using a thermoinducible lysogen. The physiological state of the host and the culture medium influenced the production of progeny virus after induction. The latent period lasted 45 min and the rise period 20-30 min. RNA synthesis in induced cultures was reduced with respect to controls. This reduction was restricted to cellular transcription as evidenced by: no stable RNA being synthesized in induced cultures, and the proportion of phage specific RNA increasing from 0.5% before induction to more than 30% in induced cultures. Host RNA synthesis proceeded throughout the lytic cycle. Protein synthesis was also reduced in induced cultures, although to a lesser extent than RNA synthesis. Phage DNA synthesis started at around 10 min postinduction, marking the division between the early and late periods of phage development. Host DNA synthesis occurred during the first 20 min after induction, and gradually decreased later.
The penetration of N-formimidoyl thienamycin into extravascular fluids was studied in rabbits. Two different models were used: subcutaneously implanted tissue chambers and fibrin clots. The antibiotic was given intramuscularly as a single dose of 10 mg/kg. The degree of penetration into these compartments was determined by comparing the area under the curve for the specific fluid with the area under the curve for plasma expressed in percent. The percentage of penetration of N-formimidoyl thienamycin into tissue chamber fluid (76.24%) was similar to that into fibrin clots (75.15%).
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The effect on rats fed on a diet with 15% solid frying fat (diet B) is compared to the effect of a diet with 15% of the same fat but in the raw state (diet A). After 10 weeks being fed on these diets serum triglycerides, phospholipids, total cholesterol, free cholesterol, esterified cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and free fatty acid levels were checked. Percentage of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins as well as the composition of these lipoproteins was determined in parallel. Rats fed on diet B showed a significant increase in phospholipids and a significant decrease in VLDL when compared to those fed on diet A. Phospholipids on LDL decreased significantly in diet B fed rats. The data obtained seem to indicate that the hypercholesterolemic tendency induced by frying fat is neutralized by a decrease in VLDL levels.
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Zinc and copper status was evaluated in nineteen children with chronic diarrhea. An intestinal biopsy suggested that eight of these patients had celiac disease and eleven suffered chronic diarrhea without malabsorption and had normal villi or minimal changes. They were studied for malabsorption and compared with two control groups consisting of nineteen healthy and eleven malnourished children. Plasma zinc was depressed in the celiac disease group when compared with the normal children, but was similar to that of the malnourished children. Hair zinc was also depressed for the chronic diarrhea groups (23.2 +/- 15.2 and 34.4 +/- 21.9 micrograms/g for those with or without malabsorption respectively, vs. 97.9 +/- 15.2 for the healthy group). Plasma and hair copper values were diminished in both groups with chronic diarrhea. A significant correlation was found between plasma carotene levels after oral carotene overload, and both plasma zinc and hair copper values (r = 0.62, p less than 0.01 and r = 0.56, p less than 0.05, respectively). There was also a significant correlation between plasma zinc and plasma protein (r = 0.54, p less than 0.05). Hair determinations seem to be more sensitive than plasma values to changes in zinc or copper status in chronic diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea in children is associated with lower levels of zinc and copper, especially when accompanied by malabsorption.
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The effectiveness of fosfomycin in combination with other antibiotics was studied in vitro and in the treatment of left-sided endocarditis in rabbits caused by S. sanguis, S. faecalis, S. aureus or P. aeruginosa. In vitro combinations of fosfomycin plus penicillin, fosfomycin plus cloxacillin, and fosfomycin plus amikacin were synergistic against the strains tested. In vivo synergism was also demonstrated since fosfomycin combinations produced a greater reduction in the number of CFU/g of vegetations than the administration of one antibiotic alone.
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The binding of tritiated dexamethasone by rabbit spleen and lymph nodes was studied in vivo by dry radioautography. The labeled glucocorticoid was found in the surface and cytoplasm of eosinophil leukocytes and in the nuclei of reticular cells, plasmocytes, endothelial cells and macrophages, but not in lymphocytes, lymphoblasts or plasmoblasts. Additional administration of excess of excess of non-radioactive dexamethasone suppressed this labeling. The findings are discussed in relation to the mechanism of action of glucocorticoids in lymphoid organs.