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Biomedical subjects

J Carrillo

Publications and source records attributed to J Carrillo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Reg (regenerating) gene overexpression in islets from non-obese diabetic mice with accelerated diabetes: role of IFNbeta.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The expression of IFNbeta in beta cells results in accelerated type 1 diabetes. The REG family of beta cell proliferation factors have been described as autoantigens in autoimmune diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of IFNbeta on Reg expression, and the implications of this in terms of autoimmunity. METHODS: Reg gene expression was determined in islets from non-obese diabetic (NOD) RIP-HuIFNbeta mice by cDNA microarray, quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. The effect of IFNbeta on Reg1 and Reg2 expression was assessed in the NOD insulinoma cell line NIT-1. IL-6, known to induce Reg expression, was measured in the insulitis microenvironment. Morphological studies were carried out to determine islet enlargement in this model. RESULTS: Reg2 was upregulated in islets from the NOD RIP-HuIFNbeta mice at the onset of the autoimmune attack. IFNbeta upregulates Reg1 and Reg2 genes in NIT-1 cells. The expression of Il6 was increased in islets from transgenic mice and in NIT-1 cells exposed to HuIFNbeta. Moreover, islets from transgenic mice were enlarged compared with those from wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Reg overexpression correlates well with the acceleration of diabetes in this model. The upregulation of Reg suggests that islets try to improve hyperglycaemia by regenerating the cells lost in the autoimmune attack. Reg expression is regulated by several factors such as inflammation. Therefore, the overexpression of an IFNbeta-induced autoantigen (REG) in the islets during inflammation might contribute to the premature onset of diabetes.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Paternal and maternal components of the predisposition to preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: There is an inherited maternal predisposition to preeclampsia. Whether there is a paternal component, however, is not known. METHODS: We used records of the Utah Population Database to identify 298 men and 237 women born in Utah between 1947 and 1957 whose mothers had had preeclampsia during their pregnancy. For each man and woman in the study group, we identified two matched, unrelated control subjects who were not the products of pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. We then identified 947 children of the 298 male study subjects and 830 children of the 237 female study subjects who had been born between 1970 and 1992. These children were matched to offspring of the control subjects (1950 offspring of the male control group and 1658 offspring of the female control group). Factors associated with preeclampsia were identified, and odds ratios were calculated with the use of stepwise logistic-regression analysis. RESULTS: In the group whose mothers had had preeclampsia (the male study group), 2.7 percent of the offspring (26 of 947) were born of pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia, as compared with 1.3 percent of the offspring (26 of 1973) in the male control group. In the female study group, 4.7 percent of the pregnancies (39 of 830) were complicated by preeclampsia, as compared with 1.9 percent (32 of 1658) in the female control group. After adjustment for the offspring's year of birth, maternal parity, and the offspring's gestational age at delivery, the odds ratio for an adult whose mother had had preeclampsia having a child who was the product of a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia was 2.1 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.0 to 4.3; P=0.04) in the male study group and 3.3 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.5 to 7.5; P=0.004) in the female study group. CONCLUSIONS: Both men and women who were the product of a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia were significantly more likely than control men and women to have a child who was the product of a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Unilateral eye abnormalities in reared Mediterranean gilthead sea bream.

Eye abnormalities in reared gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) were investigated clinically and by histological techniques. A significant number of fish had a cataract in one eye and ocular inflammation including gross exophthalmos. In a small number of fish gas bubbles were observed in the anterior chamber of the eye. Histological examination provided no evidence of an infectious process and a possible behavioural aetiology is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Groundwater flow system in the valley of Toluca, Mexico: an assay of natural radionuclide specific activities.

Natural radionuclides and physicochemical parameters have been evaluated in groundwater samples from boreholes belonging to the drinking water supply system of the Toluca City, Mexico. The results obtained for radon and radium, together with the physicochemical parameters of the studied samples, indicate a fast and efficient recharge pattern. The presence of a local and a regional groundwater flows was also observed. The local flow belongs to shallower water, recognized by its low radon content and dissolved ions, as compared with the regional, deeper groundwater flow with a longer residence time.

Fresh Water↗
PubMed1999

Visceral leishmaniasis in Costa Rica: first case report.

We describe a 15-month-old eutrophic immunocompetent male who presented with fever, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia, and hypergammaglobulinemia. Leishmania amastigotes were identified in spleen and bone marrow specimens. In addition, tissue culture, animal inoculation, and isoenzyme analysis identified the parasite as Leishmania donovani infantum or Leishmania donovani chagasi. The infant was successfully treated with an antimonial drug. These findings represent the first case of visceral leishmaniasis reported in Costa Rica.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Therapeutic serum drug concentrations in epileptic dogs treated with potassium bromide alone or in combination with other anticonvulsants: 122 cases (1992-1996).

OBJECTIVE: To determine therapeutic serum drug concentrations in epileptic dogs treated with potassium bromide. DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: 122 dogs with major motor epilepsy. PROCEDURE: Medical histories were collected for epileptic dogs treated with potassium bromide with or without phenobarbital sodium or primidone, from which serum was submitted for bromide analysis from May 1992 to May 1996 to the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Program at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. A therapeutic response (improved seizure control) was defined as a > or = 50% reduction in seizure frequency following initiation of bromide treatment. Serum bromide and phenobarbital concentrations and therapeutic outcome were determined for all dogs. RESULTS: 72% of epileptic dogs had a > or = 50% reduction in seizure frequency following initiation of treatment with potassium bromide. Discontinuation of barbiturate treatment was possible in 19% of those dogs originally treated with phenobarbital or primidone. Of those dogs continued on bromide and phenobarbital, 45% maintained seizure control with serum phenobarbital concentrations < 20 micrograms/ml. Significantly higher serum bromide concentrations were required when dogs were initially or eventually treated with bromide alone (mean bromide concentration, 1,906 micrograms/ml) compared with dogs treated with potassium bromide along with a barbiturate (mean bromide concentration, 1,621 micrograms/ml). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: When dogs are treated with bromide and phenobarbital, a reasonable therapeutic range for serum bromide concentrations is 810 to 2,400 micrograms/ml, and for bromide treatment alone, the range is 880 to 3,000 micrograms/ml. When phenobarbital is used in combination with bromide, a reasonable therapeutic range for serum phenobarbital concentrations is 9 to 36 micrograms/ml, although in some dogs treated with bromide, phenobarbital can eventually be discontinued.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

[Quantification of lamellar bodies in amniotic fluid: a method for the evaluation of fetal pulmonary maturity].

It was tried to know the counting up of lamellar bodies in amniotic fluid, as a test of fetal pulmonary maturity, comparing it with neonatal evolution. 31 samples of amniotic fluid of different ages of gestation, were obtained, lamellar bodies were quantified with a standard equipment of hematic counting, and comparing with neonatal evolution, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value are established. The established concentration of 30,000/l by comparison with Lecitine/Esfingomieline and with Fosfatidilglycerol was used. From 29 patients with counts greater than 30,000, none presented Respiratory Difficulty syndrome (SDR); and from two patients with lower counts, one presented SDR and one had normal neonatal evolution. Sensitivity was 96%; specificity was 100%; predictive positive value, 50%; and negative predictive value was 100%. Because of this, the test is so useful in practice. Its statistical values, its minimal cost; easiness to do, and equipment availability, justify this test as a first election.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1995

The impact of psychosocial stressors on African-American and Latino preschoolers.

Particularly for children of color, one's productivity and prosperity as an adult depend to a significant degree on one's education as a child. Education is both the attainment of skills and the development of character. In the National Academy of Science's 1993 publication, Losing Generations: Adolescents in High Risk Settings, it is clear that the single common pathway to high-risk adolescent behavior is early academic failure. Coupled with the dire effects of poverty, institutional racism, and the disintegration of public school education, the fate of many African-American and Latino preschoolers may become one of functional illiteracy or worse. Project CHILD (Community Health Initiatives Against Learning Difficulties) was a pilot community program that aimed both to identify youngsters at risk of early academic failure and to obtain a profile of learning and developmental difficulties for each child. Psychoeducational and medical screenings were the primary tools used. Parental empowerment was critical to effect beneficial changes for the children within the schools. The program succeeded in its goals. However, it also was apparent that the preschoolers were adversely affected by many stressors both within and without the families. Primary child health care must become more community-based and comprehensive to offset the effects of poverty.

Achievement↗
PubMed1995

-Prolonged fever syndrome and infection of abdominal aortic aneurysm due to Salmonella enteritidis.

Endovascular infection of atherosclerotic aorta is a rare event in the setting of aged patients with gram negative bacteremia of the salmonella group. Until the beginning of the 60s this meant an ominous diagnosis with an almost unavoidable fatal prognosis. Presently, this trend has been reverted, mostly due to an earlier diagnosis, the development of more sophisticated imaging techniques, the correct use of broad spectrum bactericidal antibiotics and prompt surgical management. Paradoxically, the incidence of arterial infections has increased in recent years, specially in old people with atherosclerotic abdominal aortic aneurysms, in whom infective endocarditis could not be demonstrated. We describe the case of a 65 year old man, with a history of longstanding non-insulin-dependent diabetes, presenting with protracted fever, weight loss and thigh pain. Blood cultures and serologic studies as well as several echocardiograms yielded negative results. An abdominal CT scan showed an infrarenal aortic aneurysm raising the clinical suspicion of arterial infection of abdominal aorta. The patient underwent surgery because of highly presumptive diagnosis of complicated aortic aneurysm. The resection was followed by an in situ graft. There was no evidence of disruption or gross collection. Samples of the aortic wall and perianeurysmatic fluid grew Salmonella enteritides. We describe the main etiopathogenic and clinic features of the entity highlighting the high sensitivity and specificity of the CT scan in the identification and characterization of infected aortic aneurysm. Certain features may firmly suggest this diagnosis without using preoperative aortography.

Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal↗
PubMed1983

Progressive cardiomyopathic lentiginosis: report of six cases and one autopsy.

Progressive cardiomyopathic lentiginosis (PCL) is a syndrome with progressive multisystem abnormalities. Lentigines, the cutaneous hallmark, are usually present from early age and are of utmost diagnostic value. Six children with PCL are reported. The most constant diagnostic features in this age group were multiple cutaneous lentigines, structural cardiac anomalies, and electrocardiographic alterations. Less constant findings were neurosensory deafness, short stature, and osseous, ocular, and genitourinary abnormalities.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗