Biomedical subjects

C de Blas

Publications and source records attributed to C de Blas.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Influence of source and percentage of fat added to diet on performance and fatty acid composition of egg yolks of two strains of laying hens.

We conducted a trial to study the influence of strain of hen (white vs. brown) and source and percentage of added fat to diet on productive performance and fatty acid (FA) profile of the egg yolk. There were nine dietary treatments: a control diet without added fat and eight diets arranged as a 2 x 4 factorial (5 vs. 10% added tallow, olive, soy, or linseed oil). Each treatment was replicated five times, and the trial lasted 12 wk. White hens produced yolks with more saturated FA (P < 0.001) and less monounsaturated FA (P < 0.001) and polyunsaturated FA (P < 0.05) than brown hens. Fat supplementation improved egg mass output (P < 0.05) and feed efficiency of hens (P < 0.001). Linseed and soy oil diets produced greater egg mass than diets based on tallow or olive oil (59.6, 59.4, 57.9, and 57.1%, respectively; P < 0.001). The proportion of saturated FA in the yolk decreased as the percentage of added fat increased (36.5, 32.3, and 31.0% for diets containing 0, 5, and 10% added fat, respectively; P < 0.001). When the alpha-linolenic acid content of the diets increased from 0 to 0.8%, the arachidonic, docosapentanoic, and docosahexanoic acids in the egg yolk increased. Increases in the alpha-linolenic acid content of the diet over 2.3% did not further augment the concentration of docosapentanoic or docosahexanoic acid of the yolk and, in fact, decreased that of arachidonic acid. Only diets supplemented with linseed oil produced eggs with measurable amounts of eicosapentanoic acid. Diets supplemented with soy oil, with moderate levels of alpha-linolenic acid and high levels of linoleic acid, increased arachidonic and docosahexanoic acids in the egg yolk but not eicosapentanoic acid.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2001

Immunotherapy units: a follow-up study.

Immunotherapy units are becoming an increasingly important component of allergy and clinical immunology departments in Spain. The objective of this study was to establish the rate of adverse reactions registered in an immunotherapy unit in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, from May 1998 to May 2000. A total of 5,108 immunotherapy doses were administered to 339 patients (123 males and 216 females): 254 patients (75%) received mite, 48 patients (14.1%) pollen, 7 patients (2%) cat, 2 patients (0.6%) Alternaria alternata, and 38 patients (11.2%) hymenoptera venom immunotherapy; 238 patients (70.2%) had rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma, 59 (17.4%) rhinoconjunctivitis, 5 (1.4%) asthma, and 38 (11.2) hymenoptera sensitivity. A total of 42 episodes of adverse reactions were recorded (0.8% of all the administered doses). Of these reactions, 36 (85.7%) occurred within 30 minutes after the injection was administered, consisting of 15 large local reactions (0.3% of the total amount of injection given) and 21 systemic reactions (0.4%) that occurred only in asthmatic patients. All the systemic reactions were mild and rapidly reversible with appropriate treatment. Only in two cases was an immediate systemic reaction associated with a large local reaction. Six reactions (14.3%) occurred after 30 minutes and consisted only of large local reactions. A total of 15 systemic episodes (71.4% of all the systemic reactions) were registered at initial build-up doses. As to the types of allergens, 14.2% of the individuals receiving cat immunotherapy, 7.8% of the individuals receiving hymenoptera venom, 6.3% of the individuals receiving pollen immunotherapy, and 2.7% of the individuals receiving mite immunotherapy experienced an adverse reaction. Only 0.8% of the administered doses presented any kind of adverse reaction, of which only 0.4% were systemic. The latter were always mild and rapidly reversible with adequate treatment, and there was no vital danger for any patient. Immunotherapy is a safe modality of treatment for allergic respiratory diseases and immunotherapy units provide a controlled and safe environment for its administration.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Havana tomato virus, a new bipartite geminivirus infecting tomatoes in Cuba.

The cloning and nucleotide sequence of a new bipartite geminivirus found in Cuba is described. DNA A (2620 nt) and DNA B (2586 nt) presented a genomic structure resembling that of other geminiviruses transmitted by Bemisia tabaci. Both components had a common region of 168 nt with a 95% identity. Typical elements involved in replication and transcription were found in this region, though group-characteristic arrangement of iterons was not conserved in this virus. Sequence was compared with geminivirus sequences deposited in the GenBank. Interestingly, when total DNAs or individual ORFs and deduced amino acid sequences were compared, the highest scores were for different viruses. It showed to be most closely related to tomato mottle virus (81.9% and 65.5% similarity with DNAs A and B, respectively) and a member of the abutilon mosaic cluster of New World Begomoviruses. When clones A and B were co-agroinoculated they resulted highly infectious and induced symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. The A component alone was infectious but induced only mild symptoms, while the B component was not infectious. The presence of viral DNA in N. benthamiana plants was confirmed by dot-blot hybridization using specific probes. These data show that the cuban isolate is a new geminivirus for which the name of Havana tomato virus is proposed.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Direct PCR detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus.

A PCR assay for the detection and characterization of foot-and-mouth disease virus was developed. The procedure allows RT-PCR amplification following direct adsorption of viral suspensions to microtiter plates, avoiding previous steps of phenol-extraction or heating. Using this procedure, FMDV-specific (based on 3D gene sequences), as well as serotype-specific (based on VP1 gene sequences) amplification were achieved for viral samples of serotypes A, O and C, either from cell culture supernatants or from lesions of infected animals. The assay allowed detection of around 15 PFU, being 500-fold more sensitive than a conventional indirect ELISA. This new method constitutes a simple, rapid and efficient alternative for the diagnosis and characterization of FMDV by PCR.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

A method combining immunocapture and PCR amplification in a microtiter plate for the detection of plant viruses and subviral pathogens.

A method for the detection of RNA viral and subviral plant pathogens was developed that combines pathogen partial purification by solid-phase adsorbed antibodies, reverse transcriptional-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitation of the amplified products by fluorescence. The reverse transcription of the RNA is performed directly on the retained material without any previous thermal or chemical disruption of the virus particles. The whole procedure can be carried out in a microtiter plate. Its validity has been successfully confirmed for the detection of bean yellow mosaic virus, cherry leafroll virus, cucumber mosaic virus, citrus tristeza virus, grapevine fanleaf virus, potato leafroll virus, pepper mild mottle virus, and tomato spotted wilt virus, as well as the satellite RNA of cucumber mosaic virus and potato spindle tuber viroid. In this procedure virus-specific antibodies can be replaced by monoclonal antibodies against double-stranded RNA, thus offering the possibility of detection when no specific virus antibodies are available, or immunological methods are difficult to use (i.e., subviral pathogens like satellite-RNAs or viroids). The method described has the typical sensitivity of assays based on the polymerase chain reaction, it is not more laborious than ELISA, and an equivalent degree of automation is possible.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

PubMed1992

Metabolizable energy of meat and bone meal from Spanish rendering plants as influenced by level of substitution and method of determination.

Experiments were conducted to determine the MEn of eight meat and bone meal (MBM) samples. Samples averaged (DM basis): 6.01% moisture, 4.25 kcal gross energy (GE)/g, 53.3% CP, 14.5% ether extract (EE), 29.6% ash, 9.2% calcium, and 4.3% phosphorus. Samples of MBM were substituted in a corn basal diet at levels of 6, 12, 18, and 24%. Values of AMEn were determined at each level of substitution and with regression analysis, because, in general, there were no significant deviations from linearity between dietary AMEn and inclusion level. When considering all the samples studied, the average AMEn values determined with substitution at the 6, 12, 18, and 24% levels of inclusion were 2.91, 2.76, 2.67, and 2.75 kcal/g, respectively, the differences not reaching significance (P greater than .05). The TMEn values were determined by Sibbald's fasted cockerel method. Average values of MBM ME were similar whether determined by calculations based on substitution in the diet or by regression of the data (2.75 and 2.69 kcal/g, respectively). These values were similar to TMEn obtained using Sibbald's method (2.74 kcal/g). Most of the differences in MEn among the samples studied could be attributed to differences in GE, although the percentage of GE metabolized [(ME divided by GE) x 100] tended to increase (R2 = .45; P = .069) when EE content in MBM increased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abattoirs↗