Actualización en la patología pulmonar relacionada con la infección VIH

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in a reduction of opportunistic infections associated with cellular and humoral immunosuppression. However, what is still unclear is the impact of HAART on the development of other diseases not associated with AIDS, such as lung cancer and COPD. The aim of this paper is to review the most innovative and relevant aspects of lung pathology in patients infected with HIV.     

Inflamación y apoptosis en la hipertensión arterial. Importancia de la extensión de la lesión de órgano diana

Introduction and objectives

To investigate the relationship between inflammatory and apoptotic parameters and the severity and extent of target organ damage in patients with essential hypertension.

Methods

We studied 159 consecutive patients with treated essential hypertension. An exhaustive evaluation of damage to heart, kidney, and blood vessels was performed and plasma levels of inflammatory (interleukin 6 and soluble receptor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha type 2) and apoptotic markers (soluble receptor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha type 1 and soluble Fas receptor) were determined. Patients were categorized into four groups: a) no organ damage (33 patients); b) 1 organ damaged (52 patients); c) 2 organs damaged (44 patients), and d) 3 organs damaged (30 patients).

Results

Serum levels of interleukin 6, soluble receptor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha type 1 and soluble receptor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha type 2 were higher in patients with target organ damage than in hypertensive patients without organ damage. Increasing levels of these molecules were progressively associated with an increase in the number of organs damaged, and the highest levels were observed in the group with damage to 3 organs (heart, kidney, and blood vessels). There were no differences in soluble Fas receptor levels between groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, smoking, diabetes mellitus, abdominal circumference, interleukin 6, and soluble receptor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha type 1 were independently related to the number of target organs damaged.

Conclusions

Extensive hypertensive disease with involvement of more target organs was associated with greater inflammatory and apoptotic activation in these hypertensive patients.Full English text available from:www.revespcardiol.org     

Characterization of chicken secretin (SCT) and secretin receptor (SCTR) genes: a novel secretin-like peptide (SCT-LP) and secretin encoded in a single gene

Secretin and the secretin receptor have been reported to play an important role in regulating pancreatic water and bicarbonate secretion in mammals; however, little is known about their expression, structure, and biological functions in non-mammalian vertebrates including birds. In this study, the full-length cDNAs encoding secretin and secretin receptor have first been cloned from duodenum of adult chickens. The putative chicken secretin receptor (cSCTR) is 449 amino acids in length and shares high sequence identity (58-63%) with its mammalian counterparts. Interestingly, chicken secretin cDNA encodes not only the secretin peptide (cSCT), but also a novel secretin-like peptide (cSCT-LP), which shares high amino acid identity with chicken (56%) and mammalian (48-52%) secretin. Using a pGL3-CRE-luciferase reporter system, we further demonstrated that both cSCT (EC₅₀: 0.31 nM) and cSCT-LP (EC₅₀: 1.10 nM), but not other structurally-related peptides, could potently activate cSCTR expressed in CHO cells, suggesting that both peptides may function as potential ligands for cSCTR. Using RT-PCR, the expression of secretin and secretin receptor in adult chicken tissues was also examined. Secretin was detected to be predominantly expressed in small intestine, while the mRNA expression of cSCTR was restricted to several tissues including gastrointestinal tract, liver, testis, pancreas and several brain regions. Collectively, results from present study not only established a molecular basis to elucidate the physiological roles of SCT, SCT-LP and SCTR in chickens, but also provide critical insights into structural and functional changes of secretin and its receptor during vertebrate evolution.     

Genomic analysis of high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma

Smoldering myeloma is an asymptomatic plasma cell dyscrasia with a heterogeneous propensity to progress to active myeloma. In order to investigate the biology of smoldering myeloma patients with high risk of progression, we analyzed the genomic characteristics by FISH, SNP-arrays and gene expression profile of a group of patients with high-risk smoldering myeloma included in a multicenter randomized trial. Chromosomal abnormalities detected by FISH and SNP-arrays at diagnosis were not associated to risk of progression to symptomatic myeloma. However, the overexpression of four SNORD genes (SNORD25, SNORD27, SNORD30 and SNORD31) was correlated with shorter time to progression (P<0.03). When plasma cells from high-risk smoldering patients who progressed to symptomatic myeloma were sequentially analyzed, newly acquired lesions together with an increase in the proportion of plasma cells carrying a given abnormality were observed. These findings suggest that gene expression profiling is a valuable technique to identify smoldering myeloma patients with high risk of progression. (Clinical Trials NCT00443235).