Aniel Jessica Leticia Brambila-Tapia

MTHFR C677T, MTHFR A1298C, and OPG A163G polymorphisms in Mexican patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis

MTHFR polymorphisms C677T and A1298C are associated with reduced MTHFR enzyme activity and hyperhomocysteinemia, which has been associated with osteoporosis. The A163G polymorphism in osteoprotegerin (OPG) has been studied in osteoporosis with controversial results. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association(s) among MTHFR C677T, MTHFR A1298C, and OPG A163G polymorphisms in Mexican patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. The femoral neck and lumbar spine bone mineral densities (BMDs) were measured in 71 RA patients, and genotyping for the three polymorphisms was performed via restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Patients with osteoporosis/osteopenia exhibited statistically significant differences in the genotype frequencies of MTHFR C677T as well as an association with femoral neck BMD; TT homozygotes had lower BMDs than patients with the CT genotype, and both of these groups had lower BMDs than patients with the CC genotype. The associations of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism with osteoporosis/osteopenia and femoral neck BMD suggest that these polymorphisms confer a risk of developing osteoporosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, a risk that may be reduced with folate and B complex supplementation.

Main Functions and Taxonomic Distribution of Virulence Genes in Brucella melitensis 16 M

Many virulence genes have been detected in attenuated mutants of Brucella melitensis 16 M; nevertheless, a complete report of these genes, including the main Cluster of Orthologous Groups (COG) represented as well as the taxonomical distribution among all complete bacterial and archaeal genomes, has not been analyzed. In this work a total of 160 virulence genes that have been reported in attenuated mutants in B. melitensis were included and analyzed. Additionally, we obtained 250 B. melitensis randomly selected genes as a reference group for the taxonomical comparisons. The COGs and the taxonomical distribution profile for 789 nonredundant bacterial and archaeal genomes were obtained and compared with the whole-genome COG distribution and with the 250 randomly selected genes, respectively. The main COGs associated with virulence genes corresponded to the following: intracellular trafficking, secretion and vesicular transport (U); cell motility (N); nucleotide transport and metabolism (F); transcription (K); and cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis (M). In addition, we found that virulence genes presented a higher proportion of orthologs in the Euryarchaeota and Proteobacteria phyla, with a significant decrease in Chlamydiae, Bacteroidetes, Tenericutes, Firmicutes and Thermotogae. In conclusion, we found that genes related to specific functions are more relevant to B. melitensis virulence, with the COG U the most significant. Additionally, the taxonomical distribution of virulence genes highlights the importance of these genes in the related Proteobacteria, being less relevant in distant groups of organisms with the exception of Euryarchaeota.

47,XXX/45,X/46,XX mosaicism in a patient with Turner phenotype and spontaneous puberal development

OBJECTIVE To describe a patient with infertility and phenotypic combination of Turner and triple-X syndrome related to mos 47,XXX/45X/46,XX karyotype. DESIGN Case report. SETTING División de Genética, Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Occidente and Hospital de Ginecología y Obstetricia, CMNO, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. PATIENT(S) The 24-year-old patient presented a phenotypic combination of Turner syndrome and X polysomy. She showed wide and short neck, low posterior hairline, cubitus valgus, bilateral shortening of the fourth and fifth metacarpals, multiple nevi, and müllerian anomalies but had spontaneous pubarche, thelarche, and menarche. INTERVENTION(S) Laboratory evaluations, imaging studies, ovarian biopsy, G-banding karyotype, and in situ fluorescence hybridization. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Clinical and laboratory findings. RESULT(S) A karyotype: mos 47,XXX/45X/46,XX was found in the cytogenetic studies, a bicornuate uterus in the ultrasonographic scan, and a normal ovarian profile in the laboratory tests. CONCLUSION(S) The infertility in the present case can be related to either bicornuate uterus or subclinical abortions due to aneuploid ova. Cytogenetic assessment provides important information regarding infertile patients with uterine factors and short stature.

CD28 proximal promoter polymorphisms in systemic lupus erythematosus susceptibility

CD28 expression and serum levels are significantly increased in patients with SLE than in healthy controls (HC). Until now, there are no studies of proximal promoter polymorphisms of CD28 gene in SLE. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the polymorphisms present in the proximal promoter of CD28 in a group of SLE and HC and to associate the polymorphisms present with the CD28 serum levels of 40 patients and 40 controls. One hundred and seven patients as well as 108 controls matched by age range and genders were included. The 11 ACR criteria were analyzed on the clinical files, and the proximal promoter region of CD28 gene was analyzed by direct sequencing of a 489-basepair fragment. C28 serum levels (sCD28) were measured by ELISA technique in 40 patients and 40 controls. Only two of the eight reported polymorphisms were found, and they correspond to rs35593994 (−372 A/G) and rs56156157 (−145 −/C). The first had a prevalence of 41 and 36% in patients and controls respectively and the second of 1.4% in both groups. None of these polymorphisms were associated with SLE, and the polymorphism −372 A/G was not associated with the clinical features of disease. Likewise, the association with the sCD28 and the genotypes of −372 A/G polymorphism was not significant. The polymorphisms of the proximal promoter of CD28 are not associated with SLE, and the polymorphism −372 A/G is not associated with the diagnostic criteria of SLE or the sCD28.

A functional and phylogenetic comparison of quorum sensing related genes in Brucella melitensis 16M

A quorum-sensing (QS) system is involved in Brucella melitensis survival inside the host cell. Two transcriptional regulators identified in B. melitensis, BlxR and VjbR, regulate the expression of virB, an operon required for bacterial intracellular persistence. In this work, 628 genes affected by VjbR and 124 by BlxR were analyzed to gain insights into their functional and taxonomical distributions among the Bacteria and Archaea cellular domains. In this regard, the Cluster of Orthologous Groups (COG) genes and orthologous genes in 789 nonredundant bacterial and archaeal genomes were obtained and compared against a group of randomly selected genes. From these analyses, we found 71 coaffected genes between VjbR and BlxR. In the COG comparison, VjbR activated genes associated with intracellular trafficking, secretion and vesicular transport and defense mechanisms, while BlxR affected genes related to energy production and conversion (with an equal effect) and translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis, posttranslational modifications and carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism (with a negative effect). When the taxonomical distribution of orthologous genes was evaluated, the VjbR- and BlxRrelated genes presented more orthologous genes in Crenarchaeota (Archaea), Firmicutes, and Tenericutes and fewer genes in Proteobacteria than expected by chance. These findings suggest that QS system exert a fine-tuning modulation of gene expression, by which VjbR activates genes related to infection persistence and defense, while BlxR represses general bacterial metabolism for intracellular adaptations. Finally, these affected genes present a degree of presence among Bacteria and Archaea genomes that is different from that expected by chance.

Influence of Anti-TNF and Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Therapy on Pulmonary Forced Vital Capacity Associated to Ankylosing Spondylitis: A 2-Year Follow-Up Observational Study

Objective. To evaluate the effect of anti-TNF agents plus synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) versus DMARDs alone for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with reduced pulmonary function vital capacity (FVC%). Methods. In an observational study, we included AS who had FVC% <80% at baseline. Twenty patients were taking DMARDs and 16 received anti-TNF + DMARDs. Outcome measures: changes in FVC%, BASDAI, BASFI, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), Borg scale after 6MWT, and St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire at 24 months. Results. Both DMARDs and anti-TNF + DMARDs groups had similar baseline values in FVC%. Significant improvement was achieved with anti-TNF + DMARDs in FVC%, at 24 months, when compared to DMARDs alone (P = 0.04). Similarly, patients in anti-TNF + DMARDs group had greater improvement in BASDAI, BASFI, Borg scale, and 6MWT when compared to DMARDs alone. After 2 years of follow-up, 14/16 (87.5%) in the anti-TNF + DMARDs group achieved the primary outcome: FVC% ≥80%, compared with 11/20 (55%) in the DMARDs group (P = 0.04). Conclusions. Patients with anti-TNF + DMARDs had a greater improvement in FVC% and cardiopulmonary scales at 24 months compared with DMARDs. This preliminary study supports the fact that anti-TNF agents may offer additional benefits compared to DMARDs in patients with AS who have reduced FVC%.