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Biomedical subjects

A Zabala

Publications and source records attributed to A Zabala.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Effects of conjugated linoleic acid on body fat accumulation and serum lipids in hamsters fed an atherogenic diet.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) refers to a mixture of naturally occurring positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid that exist in dairy products and meat. The aim of the present work was to study the effects of c-9,t-11 and t-10,c-12 CLA isomers on body fat accumulation and serum lipids in hamsters fed an atherogenic diet. Hamsters were divided in four groups: one group was fed a chow diet (control) and the other three groups were given semi-purified atherogenic diets with 0.5% linoleic acid (LA), c-9,t-11 or t-10,c-12 CLA. Body weight and food intake were measured daily. After 6 weeks, adipose tissues from different anatomical locations and liver were dissected and weighed. Serum glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c and triacylglycerol levels, as well as total and free cholesterol, triacylglycerol and phospholipid content in liver were determined by enzymatic methods. No differences in either energy intake or final body weight were found. The addition of t-10,c-12 CLA reduced fat accumulation and led to lower serum cholesterol, as compared with LA group. Nevertheless the level remained higher than in the control animals. The reduction in serum cholesterol was limited to LDL-c. This isomer also reduced triacylglycerol content in liver but did not modify serum triacylglycerol level. In summary, the present study demonstrates that t-10,c-12 CLA is the biologically active agent when anti-obesity and hypocholesterolaemic properties of CLA are considered. In contrast, the isomer c-9,t-11 has no effect on lipid metabolism in hamsters.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2001

Anti-proliferative effect of two lactic acid bacteria strains of human origin on the growth of a myeloma cell line.

AIMS: Twenty lactic acid bacteria strains were isolated from human faeces and tested by MTT assay for stimulation or inhibition of the proliferation of Vero and myeloma cells. METHODS AND RESULTS: None of the strains significantly affected the proliferation of Vero cells. However, two isolates (HN1 and HA8) showed a strong inhibition of myeloma cell proliferation (16.7 and 5.0%, respectively) by MTT assay. CONCLUSION: Both strains have an anti-proliferative effect on a tumoral cell line. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The beneficial effect of LAB cancer therapy has been linked to their ability for immunomodulation.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed2001

Anagallis arvensis poisoning in cattle and sheep in Uruguay.

Outbreaks of Anagallis arvensis poisoning were observed from 1994 to 1998 in cattle and sheep in Uruguay during December and January. Cattle morbidity varied between 3.2 and 53.2% and lethality 42.6 and 100%. Sheep morbidity was 2.8 to 42.9% and lethality 81.3 to 100%. Nine outbreaks occurred on barley and wheat stubble, and 1 in a field previousy ploughed but not cultivated. Clinical signs were weakness, staggers, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), coma, and death. Serum levels of creatinine and urea were elevated. Gross lesions were characterized by sc petechiae, fluid in body cavities, mesenteric and perirenal edema, yellowish or pale kidneys with petechiae on the cortex, esophageal erosive lesions or ulcers, and hemorrhagic abomasitis and enteritis. Severe nephrosis was observed histologically. The green plant collected in a field where an outbreak occurred was administered to 2 sheep at doses of 160 and 224 g/kg bw and produced clinical signs and pathology similar to those observed in field cases.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Risk of diarrheal disease in Ecuadorian day-care centers.

To determine the risk for diarrheal disease (DD) in day-care centers (DCC) for children residing in a poor urban slum area of Quito, Ecuador, compared with that for children from the same environment but cared for in their own residential home (RH), a prospective age-, sex- and locale-controlled study of DD was conducted, including 115 children in DCC and 115 in RH, ages 12 to 42 months. The overall incidence of DD was 46/1000 child weeks. Diarrhea was more common in DCC than in RH (relative risk (RR), 1.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.38 to 2.22; P < 0.001). Poor hygienic practices were more prevalent in DCC than in RH. The use of reused water for child handwashing before eating and for washing raw vegetables was associated with a higher risk of DD in DCC than in RH (RR = 4.08, CI 2.93 to 5.67, P < 0.001; RR = 3.90, CI 2.79 to 5.44, P < 0.001, respectively). These two practices were risk factors in the DCC (RR = 2.74, CI 2.08 to 3.68, P < 0.001; RR = 2.05, CI 1.55 to 2.71, P < 0.001, respectively) when compared with their absence in the same DCC. Shigella (RR = 3.58, CI 1.19 to 10.78, P < 0.02), Aeromonas (RR = 10.47, CI 1.35 to 81.05, P < 0.01), rotavirus (RR = 2.86, CI 1.87 to 4.39, P < 0.001) and Giardia (RR = 1.59, CI 1.00 to 2.59, P < 0.05) were more common in DCC than in RH. More than two-fifths of the Shigella and Aeromonas isolates were resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Diseases of Compulsory Notification (DCN) in Navarra. 2002].

Since 1998, the Epidemiological Survelliance System of Navarra has included the notification of 34 transmissible infectious diseases, to which are added epidemic outbreaks of any aetiology and cause. Reporting to the system is carried out on a weekly basis by every doctor who suspects, or diagnoses, any of these processes. In our autonomous community, Diseases of Compulsory Notification (DCN) are reported using standardised forms on a weekly basis to the Section of Infectious Diseases and Control of Outbreaks of the Public Health Institute. Notification is made by the doctors and/or paediatricians of Primary Care and by certain services of Specialised Care. Subsequently, the information is sent to the National Epidemiology Centre where data from the Autonomous Communities is centralised and diffused. The year 2002 marks the fifth year of the new Epidemiological Vigilance System. In these five years there have been 74,814 notifications of disease, 17,184 in the year 2002, which provides a balance of notification of 74.07% for this year. In 2002, under the heading of respiratory transmitted diseases, 24,870 cases of Inluenza were reported, Epidemic Index (EI: 0.80). 58% of total annual cases were reported in the first nine weeks of the year, with a maximum in week 4 when 3,277 cases were reported. 16 cases of Meningococcal Disease were reported to the system (EI: 1.07). All the cases were confirmed microbiologically and all appeared in a sporadic way. With respect to the causative serogroup, on 12 occasions Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B was isolated and in the 4 remaining cases serogroup C was isolated. One case was notified in infants of less than 2 years of age (Rate: 10.52 cases per 100,000), another case in children between 2 and 5 years (5.52 cases per 100,000), 5 cases in the age group of 6 to 19 years (Rate: 5.86 cases per 100,000) and the remaining nine cases in the age group of persons aged 20 years or over (2.2 per 100,000). 70 cases of Legionellosis were declared in 2002 (EI: 4.67), all but one under the clinical form of pneumonia. Twenty-two of the cases were presented in the context of two outbreaks with a community origin, which affected 17 and 5 persons respectively. Similarly, there was a notable increase in the declaration of cases of bacillary dysentery, with 6 cases (EI: 2.00), brucellosis, with 10 cases (EI: 1.67) and chickenpox, with 4,346 notified cases (EI: 1.61).

Communicable Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Surveillance report on Diseases of Compulsory Declaration (DCD) in Navarra. 2001].

The Epidemiologic Surveillance System of Navarra includes the notification of 34 communicable diseases, to which are added epidemic outbreaks of any aetiology and cause. Every doctor who suspects, or diagnoses, any of the processes carries out reporting to the system on a weekly basis. In 2001, under the heading of diseases of respiratory transmission, 7,779 cases of Flu were reported (EI: 0.20), with the particular circumstance that the winter epidemic peak did not occur; 48% of total annual cases were reported in the first 12 weeks of the year, with a maximum in week 4 when only 449 cases were reported. 10 cases of Meningococcal Disease were reported to the system (EI: 0.59), a figure that is considered to be an historical minimum. Nine cases were confirmed microbiologically and all appeared in a sporadic way. With respect to the causative serogroup, on 6 occasions Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B was isolated and in the 3 remaining cases serogroup C was isolated. By age groups, 3 cases were declared in infants of less than 2 years of age (Rate: 34.6 cases per 100,000), 2 cases in children between 2 and 5 years (11.0 cases per 100,000), 4 cases in the age group of 6 to 10 years (Rate: 4.7 per 100,000) and the remaining case in the age group of persons aged 20 years or over (0.24 per 100,000). 42 cases of Legionellosis were declared in 2001, all under the clinical form of pneumonia. Twenty-five of them were presented in a context of outbreak; three community outbreaks and one with a nosocomial origin, which affected 19 persons. Similarly, there was a notable increase in the declaration of cases of Hepatitis A, with 33 cases (EI: 2.06), brucellosis, with 9 cases (EI: 0.81) and above all parotiditis, with 267 notified cases (EI: 8.34).

English Abstract↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Compulsory Diseases Notification (CDN) in Navarre 2003].

Epidemiological vigilance in Navarre covers 34 transmissible diseases, whose notification is compulsory, and epidemic outbreaks of any aetiology. Notification is carried out on a weekly basis by the doctors from paediatrics, primary and specialised level who suspect or diagnose any of these diseases. In 2003, 75.0% of all the possible notification reports (a weekly report for each doctor) were received, a percentage that has improved in the last five year period. In 2003, Influenza reached a rate of 48.9 cases per 1,000 inhabitants (Epidemic Index, EI: 0.91), showing an epidemic peak in January and another in November. The rate of respiratory tuberculosis was 11.76 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and the rate of non-respiratory tuberculosis was 1.90, with a continuous trend to decrease in both cases. Five cases of tuberculosis occurred in two small family outbreaks. Thirty percent of the cases were produced in immigrants. The cases coinfected with HIV have fallen from 21% in 1996 to 2.5% in 2003. Fifteen cases of meningococcal disease were reported, (2.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), appearing in a sporadic form. Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B was isolated in 10 cases, and serogroup C in 5 cases. Eighty percent appeared in the form of sepsis, and death occurred in one case (6.7%). All of the cases younger than six years of age were vaccinated and belonged to serogroup B. The incidence of Legionnaire's disease was 3.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (EI: 0.92), without any epidemiological relation between them. There were 7 cases of malaria, all imported. The incidence of food borne infections has fallen (EI: 0.71).

Communicable Disease Control↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Communicable disease surveillance in Navarre, 2004].

Epidemiological surveillance in Navarre (584,734 inhabitants) covers 34 transmissible diseases, whose notification is compulsory, and epidemic outbreaks of any aetiology. Notification is carried out on a weekly basis by the doctors from paediatrics, primary care and specialised care. In 2004, 75.8% of all the possible notification reports (a weekly report for each doctor) were received, a percentage that has improved in the last five year period. Flu only reached 14.4 cases per 1,000 inhabitants (Epidemic Index, EI: 0.30), due to the advance of the epidemic peak for the 2003-2004 season to the month of November. The rate of respiratory tuberculosis fell to 11.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and the rate of non-respiratory tuberculosis rose to 2.7 per 100,000. Ten cases of tuberculosis (11.9%) were grouped into four outbreaks that affected adolescents and young adults. Thirty percent of the cases were produced in immigrants and 4.8% in persons coinfected with HIV, proportions that are similar to those of the previous year. Eleven cases of meningococcal disease were reported, (1.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants; EI 0.73), but only in 8 cases was the clinical form sepsis and/or meningitis. Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B was isolated in 8 cases, and serogroup C in 2 cases, the latter 2 were adults and were not vaccinated. The incidence of immunopreventable diseases continues to fall, and for the fifth consecutive year no case of measles has been reported. Legionnaire's disease, which is detected through the systematic determination of the antigen in urine, rose to 5.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (EI: 1.42), without any epidemiological relation between them. The incidence of imported diseases rose, with 12 cases of malaria, 8 of shigellosis, 5 of hepatitis A and 2 of legionnaire's disease acquired outside Spain.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

MDMA and serotonin: based on two cases.

3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA) or "ecstasy" damages serotonin neurons in all animal species and there is growing evidence that this finding also applies to humans. This fact, together with the increasing extended use in the young population, has important repercussions in the appearance of specific psychopathologic and cognitive disturbances associated to its use. The authors present two clinical cases, in which psychopathological and cognitive symptoms are detected in MDMA users that support this hypothesis. Problems in the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders associated to MDMA and its clinical and therapeutic implications are discussed.

Adolescent↗