PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Ferrer

Publications and source records attributed to M Ferrer.

189 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiology of mental disorders in Spain: methods and participation in the ESEMeD-Spain project].

INTRODUCTION: The ESEMeD-Spain study is part of a European project on the epidemiology of mental disorders, which is also part of a World Health Organization initiative called World Mental Health Surveys. The main objectives of the study are to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders in Spain; to analyze their association with sociodemographic variables and predisposing and protective factors; to evaluate their impact on the quality of life; and to describe and evaluate the health care received by people with mental disorders. METHODS: A representative sample of the noninstitutionalized Spanish population older than 18 years is interviewed. Sample size is 5,500 people. The instrument used in the interviews is the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), a questionnaire designed to be used by lay interviewers that allows the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. Strict quality control of field work has been established. Furthermore, approximately 200 subjects are re-interviewed by a psychiatrist using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and several questionnaires to measure clinical severity. RESULTS: Field work started in September 2001 and finished in November 2002. Up to Ap ril 2002, more than 4,300 people have been interviewed. Preliminary response rate has been 68.7%. Comparison of the age and gender of the study sample with the general Spanish population shows high representativeness. CONCLUSIONS: The ESEMeD-Spain project will produce un - precedented scientific information about the epidemiology of mental disorders in Spain.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Validation of a multiplex PCR for detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli].

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) cause non-bloody or bloody diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. The aim of the present study was to validate a multiplex PCR for the STEC diagnosis based on the detection of stx1, stx2 and rfbO157 genes. The multiplex PCR validation was carried out in two independent laboratories in a parallel way. Work range, selectivity and robustness were established. The PCR performance was evaluated using different concentrations of two STEC strains harboring different target genes. The work range depended on the strain analyzed, the maximum and the minimum values were 6.6 x 10(7) and 1.0 x 10(4) CFU/50 microl. The detection limit was 1.0 x 10(4) CFU/50 microl and the cut limit 1.0 x 10(5) CFU/50 ml. A good robustness was observed when different variables were introduced. Inclusivity, exclusivity, positive predictivity, negative predictivity and analytical accuracy were of 100%. Interference was not shown when different concentrations of STEC strains, carrying different genes, were used. The validated technique is an appropriate alternative for detection and confirmation of STEC O157 and non-O157 strains from bacterial cultures.

Cell Fractionation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Spontaneous in vitro IgE synthesis: modifications induced by immunotherapy.

In this study, we used an in vitro experimental model with peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) capable of synthesizing IgE to study the possible parallelism between in vitro IgE synthesis and the findings obtained in vivo showing changes in serum IgE values during immunotherapy (IT). Blood samples were extracted from 10 healthy subjects and 39 allergic patients for lymphocyte culture. Allergic patients were classified into five groups according to the time of IT. After incubation for 7 days at 37 degrees C, IgE values were assessed by means of a radioimmunoassay technique modified for low values. Likewise, total serum IgE was assessed. Spontaneous in vitro production of IgE in control individuals (G0) was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than the mean production in allergic patients (GA). When patients were grouped according to the time of IT, we observed that IgE values decreased during the course of IT. The significant differences found between allergic patients and control individuals eventually disappeared from the third year of treatment. We found a statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.575, p < 0.001) between total serum IgE values and in vitro IgE production in all subjects. We conclude that IT induces a series of variations in lymphocyte IgE production in vitro, which consists of a significant decrease in IgE production from the second year of IT compared with that of patients without IT. IgE production eventually reaches levels similar to those in healthy subjects. The symptomatic recovery shown by all patients was associated with evident immunological changes, which confirms the clinical utility of this treatment in allergic diseases and the importance of its long-term effects.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antigen-specific sulphidoleukotriene production and histamine release in pollinic patients.

We studied sulphidoleukotriene (sLT) production, by means of CAST-ELISA (Bühlmann) in 92 atopic (54 pollinic and 38 non-pollinic) patients, and in 9 control subjects, after antigenic stimulation of peripheral blood leukocytes with 20 ng/ml and 2 ng/ml of Lolium perenne pollen extract, in the presence of IL-3. Antigen-specific stimulation of leukocytes from pollinic patients studied during the pollen season led to a sLT production significantly higher (p = 0.03 at 2 ng allergen/ml) than in those studied out of the pollen season. Histamine release was also significantly higher in pollen season than out of the season (p = 0.04 at 20 ng allergen/ml and p < 0.001 at 2 ng allergen/ml). There was a significant positive correlation between sLT production and histamine release (r = 0.67 at 2 ng allergen/ml and r = 0.57 at 20 ng/ml, both p < 0.001), and between sLT production and skin test results (r = 0.5 at 2 ng allergen/ml and r = 0.46 at 20 ng allergen/ml, both p < 0.001). We found that sLT production was lower, although not significantly, in patients older than 40 years, and histamine release was significantly (p = 0.02) higher in women than in men at 2 ng allergen/ml. We conclude that sLT production in pollinic patients is higher when antigenic pressure is increased in the environment, and that sLT quantification by CAST-ELISA might be useful for evaluation of this sensitization, with analogous results to the histamine release test.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Abuse of therapy with corticosteroids in the asthmatic patient and the deficient control of suprarenal function. Indication of therapy with ACTH.

The use of corticosteroids, either oral, parenteral or as aerosol, means a great step forward in bronchial asthma treatment. Nevertheless, given the abuse of their administration, we find more and more frequently, cases of corticodependent bronchial asthma, due to a deficient control in the clinical evolution. For this reason, we performed a study with 39 patients diagnosed with corticodependent intrinsic bronchial asthma. Basal cortisol determination was performed in all, and all of them followed posttreatment with ACTH, antibiotics and mucolytics, as well as follow up of respiratory function parameters and clinical evolution. We found a mean increase in cortisol levels of 488% (basal: 2.49 +/- 0.33 micrograms/dl; posttreatment: 14.59 +/- 2.9 micrograms/dl). Regarding the respiratory function tests, FEV1 improved from 59.38 +/- 4.23% to 68.52% +/- 4.28% (15.4% increase); MEF50 went from 28.62 +/- 3.47% to 35.9 +/- 3.81% (25.4% increase) and MEF25-75 improved from 28.89 +/- 3.47% to 37.05 +/- 3.93% (28.2% increase). Clinical symptomatology and medication improved in general, going from an initial punctuation of 8.5 to a posttreatment score of 7.47. In general, 50% of the patients studied improved from the clinical point of view, only 47.2% had a discrete improvement, and only one patient got worse. Side effects with ACTH treatment appeared in 28.2% of the cases, mainly peripheral edemas, especially in the lower extremities. In conclusion, with patients undergoing lengthy corticosteroid therapy, control of their suprarenal function is absolutely necessary. If a glandular insufficiency appears with low levels of plasmatic cortisol, we advise treatment with ACTH in association with antibiotics.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Study of IgE-dependent sulphidoleukotriene cellular releasability.

Cellular releasability of mediators, as termed by Lichtenstein and Conroy (1), can be triggered by interaction with allergens, anti-IgE antibodies or other agonists. Genetic factors can also influence the cell releasability. We studied 104 subjects, including 92 atopic patients (62 sensitive to D. pteronyssinus and 54 sensitive to Lolium perenne) and 12 healthy controls. Sulphidoleukotriene (sLT) production was measured after allergen and anti-IgE stimulus with CAST-ELISA, and histamine release using a fluorometric method. We found a significant sLT production after anti-IgE stimulation, higher than in basal conditions with medium alone. The sLT production was also significantly higher in sensitive patients than in healthy controls. We found 14.5% of healthy and atopic subjects to be non-responders to anti-IgE stimulus. We also found a positive and significant correlation between sLT production and histamine release. Moreover, we observed a significant positive correlation between IgE-dependent and antigen-specific sLT release. We also noticed a decrease in sLT production and a decrease in histamine release with aging. Male patients had a sLT production significantly higher than female patients. With respect to clinical diagnosis, the group of patients with rhinitis had the highest mediator production. Finally, pollinic patients studied during the spring had a higher sLT production to anti-IgE than those studied out of this season. We conclude that quantification of sLT production after anti-IgE stimulation is a useful method to study cell releasability of mediators and that such releasability is higher in atopic patients than in healthy donors. We must emphasize the usefulness in allergy diagnosis of relying not only on the use of methods demonstrating the existence of sensitization to an allergen, but also of techniques able to quantify the ability to respond to that allergen. In this way we would be able to evaluate the clinical and immunological evolution of patients and to follow up the efficacy of their treatment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of immunotherapy on allergen-specific production of sulphidoleukotriene and histamine.

Numerous controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of specific immunotherapy, although its mechanism is not completely understood. Few studies have addressed the effects of immunotherapy on the release of mediators. We measured in vitro sulphidoleukotriene (sLT) and histamine release after specific stimulus (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus or Lollium perenne) in a group of patients under immunotherapy (n = 35) and compared the results with those obtained in a group of allergic patients without immunotherapy (n = 57). SLT quantification was carried out by cellular stimulation allergen test (CAST)-ELISA and we measured the amount of histamine release using a fluorometric method. We found a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of allergen-specific mediator release on the group of patients under immunotherapy treatment. When we studied the group of patients sensitive to D. pteronyssinus we also observed a significant reduction in sLT release after the in vitro stimulus with anti-IgE. In vitro sLT production could be a good marker for follow-up immunotherapy. This study provides more evidence to support the immunological and cellular changes induced by immunotherapy.

Adolescent↗