Chilling-induced changes of vacuolar proton pumps in hypocotyls of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vigna unguiculata</Emphasis>

Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) is a legume adapted to high temperatures and is sensitive to low temperatures. Temperature is one of the limiting factors of growth and yield for many crops but its effect on cowpea metabolism is not known. We investigated the effect of chilling on activity of vacuolar proton pumps (V-ATPase and V-PPase) and their protein content in tonoplast vesicles of cowpea hypocotyls. Seedlings grown for 7 days at 10 or 4°C were used for experiments. Chilling treatment at 10 or 4°C markedly suppressed growth of cowpea seedlings. Following chilling at 10 and 4°C, activity of both proton pumps and the relative amount of V-PPase and subunit A of V-ATPase were significantly increased. Both substrate hydrolysis and H⁺ transport activities of V-PPase remained at relatively high levels during chilling treatment. For V-ATPase, treatment at 10°C for 6 days increased the ATP hydrolysis activity. However, the H⁺ transport activity of the enzyme was increased when treated for 4 days but was markedly decreased when treated for 6 days. Our results provide evidence for different regulation for these vacuolar proton pumps, indicating that V-PPase is the more stable proton pump throughout chilling stress.     

Aspergilosis invasora en el paciente con enfermedad oncohematológica

Invasive aspergillosis is the most common invasive fungal infection in patients with acute hematological malignancies or treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation due to the marked alteration of the physiological mechanisms of antifungal immunity that takes place in these situations. For this reason, antifungal prophylaxis has a relevant role in these patients. The introduction of new antifungal agents has motivated the updating of recommendations for prophylaxis and treatment in different guidelines.The objectives of this chapter are a brief review of the mechanisms of immunity against fungi, the definition of risk for developing an invasive fungal infection and an update of the prophylaxis recommendations and treatment of invasive aspergillosis in the group of patients with hematological diseases.     

The Tissue Bank at the National Nuclear Research Institute in Mexico

The Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ, The National Nuclear Research Institute) received during 1997-1998 strong support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to establish the first and only one tissue bank (BTR ININ tissue bank) in Mexico that uses ionising radiation as sterilising agent. In that time, the BTR staff was trained in different tissue banks in several countries. Basic equipment for tissue processing donated by the IAEA was received in 1998. In July, 1999 the Mexican Health Secretariat gave the Sanitary License No. 1062000001 to the BTR to operate as an official organ and tissue bank. In August, 2001 the ININ and the Hospital Materno Infantil (HMI-ISSEMYM) signed an agreement to collaborate in amnion processing. The hospital is responsible for donor selection, serology tests, tissue procurement and washing, since this hospital is the BTR amnion supplier. The tissues are collected by ININ weekly with complete documentation. The BTR is responsible for processing: cleaning, air drying, packaging, labelling, microbiological control and sterilisation by gamma irradiation. The sterilised tissue is kept under quarantine for 6 months to obtain the results of the donor second serology test. From March to June, 2002 the BTR has processed 347.86 units (50 cm(2) each), is say, 17,393 cm(2). In addition, the pig skin xenograft process has been implemented and a protocol for clinical applications of it is running at the Hospital Central Sur de Alta Especialidad (PEMEX). Also the ININ tissue bank present status and perspectives are described.     

A common haplotype of <Emphasis Type="Italic">DRD3</Emphasis> affected by recent positive selection is associated with protection from schizophrenia

The number and frequency of susceptibility alleles at loci associated to most psychiatric disorders is largely unknown, in spite of its relevance for the design of studies aiming to find these alleles. Both, common polymorphisms and rare mutations may contribute to the genetic susceptibility to complex psychiatric disorders, being the relative relevance of each type of variation currently under debate. Here, we confirmed the existence of a common protective haplotype against schizophrenia at the dopamine D₃ receptor (DRD3) gene, by replication and pooled analysis with previous data (Mantel–Haenszel χ² P value = 0.00227; OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.68–0.92, based on 794 cases and 1,078 controls from three independent populations of European origin). This protective haplotype is at very low frequency in Sub-Saharan Africans (median 0.06) and at intermediate frequencies in other populations (median 0.25). We also revealed, by examining the patterns of linkage disequilibrium around this gene, that the protective haplotype has reached high frequency in non-African populations due to selection acting, most probably, on a linked functional polymorphism, the non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism Ser9Gly (rs6280), also at DRD3. Thus, this finding shows that the natural selection may play a role in the existence of common alleles conferring different susceptibility to schizophrenia. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Associations between common variation in the aromatase gene promoter region and testosterone concentrations in two young female populations

We recently reported association between a coding-region single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP50) in the aromatase gene that encodes a key enzyme in testosterone metabolism, with risk for the development of precocious pubarche and circulating testosterone concentrations in two independent female populations. We have now explored further association with variation in the promoter-region of the aromatase gene. We genotyped six promoter-region haplotype-tag SNPs in young women from Oxford, UK (n = 109), and in girls with precocious pubarche (n = 186) and controls (n = 71) from Barcelona, Spain. Aromatase distal promoter-region variation was associated with plasma testosterone concentrations in both Oxford (r² = 18.3%, p = 0.01) and Barcelona (r² = 8.5%, p = 0.03) females. These associations were independent of SNP50, but appeared to be dependent on different SNPs in Oxford (r² = 13.7%, p = 0.006 with SNPs 11 (p = 0.009), 28 (p = 0.02) and 39 (p = 0.06)) and Barcelona (r² = 5.9%, p = 0.002 with SNP43 (p = 0.002)) populations. Aromatase distal promoter-region variation was also associated with PCOS symptom score in Oxford women (r² = 14.5%, p = 0.048), but, unlike SNP50, was not associated with precocious pubarche risk in Barcelona girls. In conclusion, aromatase distal promoter-region variation appears to have functional consequences for plasma testosterone concentrations in females. The variable associations with androgen-related clinical features could possibly reflect the tissue-specific promoters of the aromatase gene.     

Clinical Characteristics of Preschool Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Callous-Unemotional Traits

There is a need to know whether callous-unemotional (CU) traits identify a more severe group of oppositional defiant children (ODD). The aim of this study is to ascertain cross-sectionally and longitudinally the specific contribution of CU levels and the presence of ODD in the psychological state of preschool children from the general population. A total of 622 children were assessed longitudinally at ages 3 and 5 with a semi-structured diagnostic interview and questionnaires filled out by parents and teachers. In multivariate models simultaneously including ODD diagnosis and CU levels, controlling by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sex, severity of conduct disorder symptoms and other comorbidity, high CU scores were related to higher levels of aggression, withdrawn, externalizing and global symptomatology, functional impairment and higher probability of comorbid disorders and use of services. The contribution of CU traits on children’s psychological state was not moderated by the presence/absence of ODD. Stability for CU traits and number of ODD-symptoms between ages 3 and 5 was statistically significant but moderate-low (intra-class correlation under .40). Assessment and identification of CU traits from preschool might help to identify a subset of children who could have socialization problems, not only among those with ODD but also among those without a diagnosis of conduct problems.