Utilización de células madre para la regeneración miocárdica en la insuficiencia cardíaca

La terapia celular en la reparación miocárdica se vislumbra como una de las estrategias terapéuticas con mayor futuro en el tratamiento de la insuficiencia cardíaca. Numerosos estudios in vitro recientes apoyan la potencialidad de distintos tipos de células madre de diferenciarse hacia los tejidos necesarios para regenerar el tejido miocárdico dañado, mientras que estudios en animales de experimentación sugieren que células madre de músculo (mioblastos), médula ósea (progenitores mesenquimales, endoteliales o hematopoyéticos) e incluso del propio corazón pueden contribuir in vivo a mejorar la contractilidad cardíaca. Estos trabajos han conducido a que diversos grupos hayan iniciado estudios en pacientes con infarto de miocardio. Sin embargo, la utilización de la terapia celular en ensayos clínicos no está desprovista de controversia, fundamentalmente relacionada con la necesidad de aumentar nuestro conocimiento antes de pasar a la aplicación clínica de estas estrategias terapéuticas. Aunque es fundamental aumentar significativamente el conocimiento de los procesos, no consideramos irrazonable iniciar ensayos clínicos en los que se identifiquen preguntas concretas cuya respuesta nos permita avanzar en esta dirección

Insecurity for compact surfaces of positive genus

A pair of points in a riemannian manifold $M$ is secure if the geodesics between the points can be blocked by a finite number of point obstacles; otherwise the pair of points is insecure. A manifold is secure if all pairs of points in $M$ are secure. A manifold is insecure if there exists an insecure point pair, and totally insecure if all point pairs are insecure. Compact, flat manifolds are secure. A standing conjecture says that these are the only secure, compact riemannian manifolds. We prove this for surfaces of genus greater than zero. We also prove that a closed surface of genus greater than one with any riemannian metric and a closed surface of genus one with generic metric are totally insecure.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figure

Stem Cells to Regenerate Cardiac Tissue in Heart Failure

Myocardial regeneration is one of the most promising therapeutic strategies for heart failure patients. Many experimental studies have demonstrated that different types of stem cell can differentiate into myocardial cells and tissues necessary for regeneration of the damaged myocardium, while studies in experimental animals suggest that muscle (myoblast), bone marrow (mesenchymal, endothelial or hematopoietic progenitors) and even heart cells can help to improve heart contractility in vivo. These findings have led several groups to undertake studies in patients with myocardial infarction. However, the use of cellular therapy in clinical trials is not without controversy, mainly related with the need for better knowledge before these therapeutic strategies are used in clinical practice. Although significant enhancement of our knowledge of the processes involved is fundamental, we do not consider it unreasonable to initiate clinical trials in which specific questions are posed, whose answers will allow us to make further progress

Fibroma desmoplásico del hueso: aportación de un nuevo caso

Se presenta un caso de Fibroma Desmoplásico localizado en cuello femoral en un paciente adulto joven de 34 años, al cual se le practicó una resección amplia de la lesión y una reconstrucción por medio de un compuesto de aloinjerto intercalar proximal y prótesis total de cadera (aloprótesis). Un año después de la intervención no hay recidiva local de la lesión y se objetiva una buena incorporación del aloinjerto al huésped; con buena función de la cadera. Se revisa la literatura y se discuten algunas consideraciones diagnósticas y terapéuticas de la lesión.A case of Desmoplastic Fibroma of the Bone, located in the femoral neck, in a 34 year old male patient is reported. The tumor was treated by wide resection, the reconstruction beem performed with an allograft-prostheses composite. One year after surgery, there was no local recurrence and a good is incorporation of the allograft to the host was observed. The patient showed a good hip function. The literature is reviewed and diagnostic and therapeutic considerations are discussed

Autologous human serum for cell culture avoids the implantation of cardioverter-defibrillators in cellular cardiomyoplasty

Background: Current clinical experience with cellular cardiomyoplasty (using serum bovine-cultivated myoblasts) has demonstrated significant malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden deaths in patients. In some ongoing clinical trials the implantation of cardioverterdefibrillator is mandatory. We have hypothesized that contact of human cells with fetal bovine serum results after 3-week fixation of animal proteins on the cell surface, representing an antigenic substrate for immunological and inflammatory adverse events. Methods and Results: Autologous myoblasts were transplanted into infarcted LV in 20 patients (90% males, mean age 62±8 years). Cells were cultivated in a complete human medium during 3 weeks, using the patients' own serum obtained from a blood sample or from plasmapheresis. Injections were performed during CABG (2.1 grafts/pt). All patients had an uneventful recovery. At a mean follow-up of 14±5 months without mortality, no malignant cardiac arrhythmias are reported. LV ejection fraction improved from 28±3% to 52:k4.7% (p = 0.03), and regional wall motion score index (WMSI) from 3.1 to 1.4 (p = 0.04) in the cell-treated segments. Myocardial viability tests showed areas of regeneration. Patients moved from mean NYHA class 2.5 to class 1.2. Conclusions: A total autologous cell culture procedure was used in cellular cardiomyoplasty reducing the risk of arrhythmia. Human-autologous-serum cell expansion avoids the risk of prion, viral or zoonoses contamination. Since patients treated with noncultivated bone marrow cells are free of arrhythmia, the bovine-culture medium seems to be responsible for this complication. Cellular cardiomyoplasty may be efficient to avoid progression of ventricular remodeling and subsequent heart failure in ischemic heart disease

Prospective of Innovative Technologies for Quality Supervision and Classification of Roasted Coffee Beans

Color sorting is the major procedure employed for establish roast degree of coffee beans. However, color-based procedures have been proven to be ineffective, since coffee beans roasted to different degrees can present the same average readings in light reflectance measurements with significant quality variations. Besides to color, other major changes in beans are volume (swell), mass, form, bean pop and density. Eight samples of arabica coffee from Colombia and Guatemala have been roasted under slightly different conditions of time and temperature in order to obtain the same color classification. Sample analysis of data from nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry show differences between samples in T1 and T2 parameters at cellular and subcellular level, and image analysis carried out on X-ray μCT leading to microestruture images corroborate differences in porosity and fissures presence among them, proving the potentiality of these technological solutions for sensing the microstructure of coffee to provide tools to enhance the roasting process