The involvement of thaumatin-like proteins in plant food cross-reactivity: a multicenter study using a specific protein microarray

Cross-reactivity of plant foods is an important phenomenon in allergy, with geographical variations with respect to the number and prevalence of the allergens involved in this process, whose complexity requires detailed studies. We have addressed the role of thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) in cross-reactivity between fruit and pollen allergies. A representative panel of 16 purified TLPs was printed onto an allergen microarray. The proteins selected belonged to the sources most frequently associated with peach allergy in representative regions of Spain. Sera from two groups of well characterized patients, one with allergy to Rosaceae fruit (FAG) and another against pollens but tolerant to food-plant allergens (PAG), were obtained from seven geographical areas with different environmental pollen profiles. Cross-reactivity between members of this family was demonstrated by inhibition assays. Only 6 out of 16 purified TLPs showed noticeable allergenic activity in the studied populations. Pru p 2.0201, the peach TLP (41%), chestnut TLP (24%) and plane pollen TLP (22%) proved to be allergens of probable relevance to fruit allergy, being mainly associated with pollen sensitization, and strongly linked to specific geographical areas such as Barcelona, Bilbao, the Canary Islands and Madrid. The patients exhibited >50% positive response to Pru p 2.0201 and to chestnut TLP in these specific areas. Therefore, their recognition patterns were associated with the geographical area, suggesting a role for pollen in the sensitization of these allergens. Finally, the co-sensitizations of patients considering pairs of TLP allergens were analyzed by using the co-sensitization graph associated with an allergen microarray immunoassay. Our data indicate that TLPs are significant allergens in plant food allergy and should be considered when diagnosing and treating pollen-food allergy.

Clinical audit of COPD patients requiring hospital admissions in Spain: AUDIPOC study.

BACKGROUNDS AUDIPOC is a nationwide clinical audit that describes the characteristics, interventions and outcomes of patients admitted to Spanish hospitals because of an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD), assessing the compliance of these parameters with current international guidelines. The present study describes hospital resources, hospital factors related to case recruitment variability, patients' characteristics, and adherence to guidelines. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS An organisational database was completed by all participant hospitals recording resources and organisation. Over an 8-week period 11,564 consecutive ECOPD admissions to 129 Spanish hospitals covering 70% of the Spanish population were prospectively identified. At hospital discharge, 5,178 patients (45% of eligible) were finally included, and thus constituted the audited population. Audited patients were reassessed 90 days after admission for survival and readmission rates. A wide variability was observed in relation to most variables, hospital adherence to guidelines, and readmissions and death. Median inpatient mortality was 5% (across-hospital range 0-35%). Among discharged patients, 37% required readmission (0-62%) and 6.5% died (0-35%). The overall mortality rate was 11.6% (0-50%). Hospital size and complexity and aspects related to hospital COPD awareness were significantly associated with case recruitment. Clinical management most often complied with diagnosis and treatment recommendations but rarely (<50%) addressed guidance on healthy life-styles. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE The AUDIPOC study highlights the large across-hospital variability in resources and organization of hospitals, patient characteristics, process of care, and outcomes. The study also identifies resources and organizational characteristics associated with the admission of COPD cases, as well as aspects of daily clinical care amenable to improvement.

Unusual manifestation of toscana virus infection, Spain.

This study was supported in part by project 05/305, Junta de Andalucía, Spain

Behaviour of the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in Andalusia, Spain, at the onset of the 2009-10 season.

In Andalusia, Spain, the pandemic influenza A(H1N1)v virus has spread throughout the community, being the dominant influenza strain in the season so far. The current objective of the Andalusia Health Service is focussed on the mitigation of the health and social impact by appropriate care of the patients at home or in health centres. The 2009-10 seasonal influenza epidemic started early compared with to previous seasons. This article analyses the influenza A(H1N1)v situation in Andalusia until the week 39/2009.

A three-year aeropalynological study in Estepona (southern Spain).

An aeropalynological study was carried out in the atmosphere of Estepona, a very popular tourist resort situated in the "Costa del Sol", (southern Spain) based on the data obtained during a three year air-monitoring programme (March 1995 to March 1998) using a volumetric pollen trap. The 34 taxa that reached a 10-day mean air pollen concentration equal to or greater than 1 grain of pollen/m(3) of air are reflected in the calendar. The first 10 taxa, in order of abundance, were: Cupressaceae, Olea europaea, Quercus, Poaceae, Urticaceae, Plantago, Pinus, Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, Ericaceae and Castanea, the first 3 of which accounted for approximately 56 % of the annual total pollen count. The greatest diversity of pollen type occurred during spring, while the highest pollen concentrations were reached from February-June, when approximately more than 80 % of the annual total pollen was registered. The lowest concentrations were obtaining during January, August and September. The annual quantity of pollen collected, the intensity and the dates on which the maximum peaks were recorded differed for the 3 years studied, which can be explained by reference to various meteorological parameters, especially rainfall and temperature. The pollen calendar spectrum is typically Mediterranean and similar to those of nearby localities, in which many pollen types are represented and the long tails indicating long flowering periods.

Respiratory infection in congenital cardiac disease. Hospitalizations in young children in Spain during 2004 and 2005: the CIVIC Epidemiologic Study.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the rate of hospitalization for acute respiratory tract infection in children less than 24 months with haemodynamically significant congenital cardiac disease, and to describe associated risk factors, preventive measures, aetiology, and clinical course. MATERIALS AND METHODS We followed 760 subjects from October 2004 through April 2005 in an epidemiological, multicentric, observational, follow-up, prospective study involving 53 Spanish hospitals. RESULTS Of our cohort, 79 patients (10.4%, 95% CI: 8.2%-12.6%) required a total of 105 admissions to hospital related to respiratory infections. The incidence rate was 21.4 new admissions per 1000 patients-months. Significant associated risk factors for hospitalization included, with odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals shown in parentheses: 22q11 deletion (8.2, 2.5-26.3), weight below the 10th centile (5.2, 1.6-17.4), previous respiratory disease (4.5, 2.3-8.6), incomplete immunoprophylaxis against respiratory syncytial virus (2.2, 1.2-3.9), trisomy 21 (2.1, 1.1-4.2), cardiopulmonary bypass (2.0, 1.1-3.4), and siblings aged less than 11 years old (1.7, 1.1-2.9). Bronchiolitis (51.4%), upper respiratory tract infections (25.7%), and pneumonia (20%) were the main diagnoses. An infectious agent was found in 37 cases (35.2%): respiratory syncytial virus in 25, Streptococcus pneumoniae in 5, and Haemophilus influenzae in 4. The odds ratio for hospitalization due to infection by the respiratory syncytial virus increases by 3.05 (95% CI: 2.14 to 4.35) in patients with incomplete prophylaxis. The median length of hospitalization was 7 days. In 18 patients (17.1%), the clinical course of respiratory infection was complicated and 2 died. CONCLUSIONS Hospital admissions for respiratory infection in young children with haemodynamically significant congenital cardiac disease are mainly associated with non-cardiac conditions, which may be genetic, malnutrition, or respiratory, and to cardiopulmonary bypass. Respiratory syncytial virus was the most commonly identified infectious agent. Incomplete immunoprophylaxis against the virus increased the risk of hospitalization.

Trends in yearly prevalence of third-generation cephalosporin and fluoroquinolone resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections and antimicrobial use in Spanish hospitals, Spain, 1999 to 2010.

Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterobacter spp. are a major cause of infections in hospitalised patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate rates and trends of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones in infected patients, the trends in use for these antimicrobials, and to assess the potential correlation between both trends. The database of national point prevalence study series of infections and antimicrobial use among patients hospitalised in Spain over the period from 1999 to 2010 was analysed. On average 265 hospitals and 60,000 patients were surveyed per year yielding a total of 19,801 E. coli, 3,004 K. pneumoniae and 3,205 Enterobacter isolates. During the twelve years period, we observed significant increases for the use of fluoroquinolones (5.8%-10.2%, p<0.001), but not for third-generation cephalosporins (6.4%-5.9%, p=NS). Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins increased significantly for E. coli (5%-15%, p<0.01) and for K. pneumoniae infections (4%-21%, p<0.01) but not for Enterobacter spp. (24%). Resistance to fluoroquinolones increased significantly for E. coli (16%30%, p<0.01), for K. pneumoniae (5%-22%, p<0.01), and for Enterobacter spp. (6%-15%, p<0.01). We found strong correlations between the rate of fluoroquinolone use and the resistance to fluoroquinolones, third-generation cephalosporins, or co-resistance to both, for E. coli (R=0.97, p<0.01, R=0.94, p<0.01, and R=0.96, p<0.01, respectively), and for K. pneumoniae (R=0.92, p<0.01, R=0.91, p<0.01, and R=0.92, p<0.01, respectively). No correlation could be found between the use of third-generation cephalosporins and resistance to any of the latter antimicrobials. No significant correlations could be found for Enterobacter spp.. Knowledge of the trends in antimicrobial resistance and use of antimicrobials in the hospitalised population at the national level can help to develop prevention strategies.

Polymorphisms in DNA-Repair Genes in a Cohort of Prostate Cancer Patients from Different Areas in Spain: Heterogeneity between Populations as a Confounding Factor in Association Studies.

BACKGROUND Differences in the distribution of genotypes between individuals of the same ethnicity are an important confounder factor commonly undervalued in typical association studies conducted in radiogenomics. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the genotypic distribution of SNPs in a wide set of Spanish prostate cancer patients for determine the homogeneity of the population and to disclose potential bias. DESIGN SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 601 prostate cancer patients from Andalusia, Basque Country, Canary and Catalonia were genotyped for 10 SNPs located in 6 different genes associated to DNA repair: XRCC1 (rs25487, rs25489, rs1799782), ERCC2 (rs13181), ERCC1 (rs11615), LIG4 (rs1805388, rs1805386), ATM (rs17503908, rs1800057) and P53 (rs1042522). The SNP genotyping was made in a Biotrove OpenArray® NT Cycler. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Comparisons of genotypic and allelic frequencies among populations, as well as haplotype analyses were determined using the web-based environment SNPator. Principal component analysis was made using the SnpMatrix and XSnpMatrix classes and methods implemented as an R package. Non-supervised hierarchical cluster of SNP was made using MultiExperiment Viewer. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS We observed that genotype distribution of 4 out 10 SNPs was statistically different among the studied populations, showing the greatest differences between Andalusia and Catalonia. These observations were confirmed in cluster analysis, principal component analysis and in the differential distribution of haplotypes among the populations. Because tumor characteristics have not been taken into account, it is possible that some polymorphisms may influence tumor characteristics in the same way that it may pose a risk factor for other disease characteristics. CONCLUSION Differences in distribution of genotypes within different populations of the same ethnicity could be an important confounding factor responsible for the lack of validation of SNPs associated with radiation-induced toxicity, especially when extensive meta-analysis with subjects from different countries are carried out.

Thiopurines related malignancies in inflammatory bowel disease: Local experience in Granada, Spain.

AIM To investigate the incidence of neoplasms in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and the potential causative role of thiopurines. METHODS We performed an observational descriptive study comparing the incidence of malignancies in IBD patients treated with thiopurines and patients not treated with these drugs. We included 812 patients which were divided in two groups depending on whether they have received thiopurines or not. We have studied basal characteristics of both groups (age when the disease was diagnosed, sex, type of IBD, etc.) and treatments received (Azathioprine, mercaptopurine, infliximab, adalimumab or other immunomodulators), as well as neoplasms incidence. Univariate analysis was performed with the student t test, χ(2) test or Wilcoxon exact test as appropriate. A logistic regression analysis was performed as multivariate analysis. Statistical significance was establish at P values of less than 0.05, and 95%CI were used for the odds ratios. RESULTS Among 812 patients included, 429 (52.83%) have received thiopurines: 79.5% azathioprine, 14% mercaptopurine and 6.5% both drugs. 44.76% of patients treated with thiopurines and 46, 48% of patients who did not receive this treatment were women (P > 0.05). The proportion of ulcerative colitis patients treated with thiopurines was 30.3% compare to 66. 67% of patients not treated (P < 0.001). Mean azathioprine dose was 123.79 ± 36.5 mg/d (range: 50-250 mg/d), mean usage time was 72.16 ± 55.7 mo (range: 1-300 mo) and the accumulated dose along this time was 274.32 ± 233.5 g (1.5-1350 g). With respect to mercaptopurine, mean dose was 74.7 ± 23.9 mg/d (range: 25-150 mg/d), mean usage time of 23.37 ± 27.6 mo (range: 1-118 mo), and the accumulated dose along this time was 52.2 ± 63.5 g (range: 1.5-243 g). Thiopurine S-methyltransferase activity was tested in 66% of patients treated with thiopurines, among which 98.2% had an intermediate or high activity. Among the patients treated with thiopurines, 27.27% (112 patients) and 11.66% (50 patients) received treatment with Infliximab and Adalimumab respectively, but only 1.83% (7 patients) and 0.78% (3 patients) received these drugs in the group of patients who did not received thiopurines (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001 respectively). Finally, 6.8% (29 patients) among those treated with thiopurines have received other immunesupresants (Methotrexate, Tacrolimus, Cyclosporin), compare to 1% (4 patients) of patients not treated with thiopurines (P < 0.001). Among patients treated with thiopurines, 3.97% developed a malignancy, and among those not treated neoplasms presented in 8.1% (P = 0.013). The most frequent neoplasms were colorectal ones (12 cases in patients not treated with thiopurines but none in treated, P < 0.001) followed by non-melanoma skin cancer (8 patients in treated with thiopurines and 6 in not treated, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION In our experience, thiopurine therapy did not increase malignancies development in IBD patients, and was an efective and safe treatment for these diseases.

Anaphylaxis caused by imported red fire ant stings in Málaga, Spain.

A 27-year-old woman suffered from anaphylaxis after being stung by Solenopsis invicta ants while she was handling wood from South America. The patient reported no previous adverse reactions to stings by other hymenopteran species. Intradermal skin tests with hymenoptera venom (Vespula vulgaris, Polistes species, Apis melifera) were negative. Serum specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E yielded positive results for S invicta (5.28 kU/L) and negative results for A melifera, Ves v 5 and Pol a 5. Immunodetection assays showed the presence of serum IgE against the Sol i 2 allergen. The patient had probably been stung previously although inadvertently by red fire ants while she handled infested wood from South America, and precautionary measures are thus advisable when this material is to be handled. To our knowledge this is the first case of anaphylaxis from red fire ant stings reported in Europe.

Risk of type 2 diabetes according to traditional and emerging anthropometric indices in Spain, a Mediterranean country with high prevalence of obesity: results from a large-scale prospective cohort study.

Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A proper anthropometric characterisation of T2DM risk is essential for disease prevention and clinical risk assessement. Methods: Longitudinal study in 37 733 participants (63% women) of the Spanish EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) cohort without prevalent diabetes. Detailed questionnaire information was collected at baseline and anthropometric data gathered following standard procedures. A total of 2513 verified incident T2DM cases occurred after 12.1 years of mean follow-up. Multivariable Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios of T2DM by levels of anthropometric variables. Results: Overall and central obesity were independently associated with T2DM risk. BMI showed the strongest association with T2DM in men whereas waist-related indices were stronger independent predictors in women. Waist-to-height ratio revealed the largest area under the ROC curve in men and women, with optimal cut-offs at 0.60 and 0.58, respectively. The most discriminative waist circumference (WC) cut-off values were 99.4 cm in men and 90.4 cm in women. Absolute risk of T2DM was higher in men than women for any combination of age, BMI and WC categories, and remained low in normal-waist women. The population risk of T2DM attributable to obesity was 17% in men and 31% in women. Conclusions: Diabetes risk was associated with higher overall and central obesity indices even at normal BMI and WC values. The measurement of waist circumference in the clinical setting is strongly recommended for the evaluation of future T2DM risk in women.

HypatiaSalud. Institucional Repository for the Andalusian Public Health System, Spain

HypatiaSalud will be the freely accessible institutional repository for the Public Health System in Andalucía, Spain. Open access and new technologies have changed dramatically the environment in which research is being conducted and disseminated. Traditionally University has been the universal research provider, but at present time there are Government Organizations, as Public Health Systems, which are large-producers of research. Meanwhile most universities are running institutional repositories or have plans of setting up institutional repositories in the short-term, there are not many Government Organizations working on that direction. In this sense, HypatiaSalud represents an innovative initiative. Objectives: - Enhancing institutional efficiency, effectiveness and opportunities for knowledge exchange. -Expanding access and greater use of research findings to a much wider range of users increasing the visibility and reputation of Andalusian Public Health System. - Providing the foundation for effective gathering and long-term preservation of research output. Methodology. Phase I: Researching and learning from other institutional repositories. Phase II: Designing and planning the financial, organizational, legal and technical underlying issues. Phase III: Launching the service. Phase IV: Running the service. Outcomes. Bibliometrics: catalog of the research output of the Institution, in order to determine the conditions to include this scientific output in the Institutional Repository: direct deposit, deposit after a period of embargo, or closed access when publisher will not grant permission. Promote a mandate for the deposit of all peer-reviewed final drafts (postprints) for institutional record-keeping purposes. Access to that immediate postprint deposit in HypatiaSalud may be set immediately as ‘Open Access’ if copyright conditions allows; otherwise access can be set as ‘Closed Access’. International Standards application: HypatiaSalud will support OAI-PMH and DRIVER, to allow that central repositories could harvest its content or metadata. Development of human resources strategies in order to foster self-archiving through merit acknowledge and accreditation. Conclusions. It seems likely that setting up an Institutional Repository for the Public Health System in Andalucía would have substantial net benefits in the longer term for the Institution, despite the lag between the costs and realisation of benefits.

National Health System Virtual Library Viability Project (Spain)

Introduction: The ICT progress and development are making the set up of virtual libraries easier, with great advantages for users in terms of immediate access to vast amounts of library information, online resources, and services. Most of the Autonomous Spanish Regions are presently working on the establishment of virtual libraries with the aim of optimising economic resources destined to subscribe bibliographic information sources and offering qualified documentary services to Public Health System Professionals. The Ministry of Health and Social Policy, an institution unifying health matters, issued this Project to study the National Health System Virtual Library creation viability, in order to guarantee relevant scientific information access equity. Objectives: - To study the National Health System (NHS) Virtual Library set up viability. - To elaborate the Spanish territory health information resource map. - To identify the appropriate technological model. - To identify the documentary services to be offered. - To identify the more optimum functional, structural model. - To identify the economic model. Method: - To create a chart organization for the project´s management. - To organize Work groups. - To elaborate a standardised survey model for the libraries of the autonomous regions. Results: - Identification of the different Autonomous Region libraries of health models. - Recommendations for the NHS Virtual Library: - Functional, structural model - Technological model - Financial-economic model Conclusions: The fact that the Virtual Library would be an invaluable space for access to quality scientific information, as well as that the minimum services could be offered to every NHS user regardless of geographical situation, is confirmed. Accordingly, we thought about three different models to develop the Virtual Library, depending on this initial analysis, which will allow us to establish the most suitable model for the Spanish National Health System, considering its economic, functional and technological recommendations. It would be necessary to do a study for the NHS Virtual Library Set Up following the recommendations arising from this Project.

Study of a measles outbreak in Granada with preventive measures applied by the courts, Spain, 2010 to 2011.

Measles had practically been eliminated in Granada since the systematic vaccination of children with two doses introduced in 1984. However, in 2009 the disease returned in the form of small outbreaks. This study describes the measles outbreak that occurred in Granada from October 2010 to August 2011 and the measures imposed to control it. Information was sourced from the records of the Andalusian epidemiological surveillance system. A total of 308 cases were recorded, representing an incidence rate of 33.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The first wave of the epidemic took place in Granada city, with the majority of cases occurring among families who lived in the Albaycín neighbourhood and were opposed to vaccination for ideological and/or religious reasons. The initial cases were in unvaccinated children aged 1 to 13 years. The outbreak later spread throughout the province. To control the outbreak, the vaccination schedule for the exposed children was brought up to date. The Regional Ministry of Health decided to take legal action in order to ensure vaccination of those in the initial nucleus of the outbreak.

Individual, family and environmental factors associated with pediatric excess weight in Spain: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND There is a growing worldwide trend of obesity in children. Identifying the causes and modifiable factors associated with child obesity is important in order to design effective public health strategies.Our objective was to provide empirical evidence of the association that some individual and environmental factors may have with child excess weight. METHOD A cross-sectional study was performed using multi-stage probability sampling of 978 Spanish children aged between 8 and 17 years, with objectively measured height and weight, along with other individual, family and neighborhood variables. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were calculated. RESULTS In 2012, 4 in 10 children were either overweight or obese with a higher prevalence amongst males and in the 8-12 year age group. Child obesity was associated negatively with the socio-economic status of the adult responsible for the child's diet, OR 0.78 (CI95% 0.59-1.00), girls OR 0.75 (CI95% 0.57-0.99), older age of the child (0.41; CI95% 0.31-0.55), daily breakfast (OR 0.59; p = 0.028) and half an hour or more of physical activity every day. No association was found for neighborhood variables relating to perceived neighborhood quality and safety. CONCLUSION This study identifies potential modifiable factors such as physical activity, daily breakfast and caregiver education as areas for public health policies. To be successful, an intervention should take into account both individual and family factors when designing prevention strategies to combat the worldwide epidemic of child excess weight.