Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón

About: Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón is a healthcare organization based out in Madrid, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 11975 authors who have published 12386 publications receiving 244847 citations.

Features and Functionalities of Smartphone Apps Related to COVID-19: Systematic Search in App Stores and Content Analysis.

Abstract: Background: Knowledge of the quantity and quality of apps related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is lacking In addition, no directory has been established listing all the apps developed to address the COVID-19 pandemic Objective: The aim of this study was to identify smartphone apps designed to address the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze their characteristics Methods: We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study of all smartphone apps associated with COVID-19 Between April 27 and May 2, 2020, we searched the App Store (iOS) and Google Play Store (Android) for COVID-19 apps The search terms used were coronavirus, COVID-19, and SARS-COV-2 The apps were downloaded and evaluated The variables analyzed were name, platform, country, language, category, cost, update date, size, version, number of downloads, developer, and purpose Purpose was further classified into the following categories: news, general information, self-diagnosis, contact tracing, notices to contacts, notification of close cases, awareness, helplines, monitoring of clinical parameters, recording of symptoms and treatment, and messaging with health care professionals Results: We identified 114 apps on the investigated platforms Of these, 62/114 (544%) were on Android and 52/114 (456%) were on iOS Of the 114 apps, 37 (325%) were developed in Europe, 32 (281%) in Asia, and 30 (263%) in North America The most frequent languages were English (65/114, 570%), Spanish (34/114, 298%), and Chinese (14/114, 123%) The most common categories were health and well-being/fitness apps (41/114, 412%) and medicine apps (43/114, 377%) Of the 114 apps, 113 (991%) were free The mean time between the date of the analysis and the date of the last update was 111 days (SD 110) Overall, 95 of the 114 apps (833%) were intended for the general population, 99 apps (79%) were intended for health professionals, and 3 apps (26%) were intended for both Regarding the type of developer, 64/114 apps (561%) were developed by governments; 42/114 (641%) were developed by national governments, and 23/114 (359%) were developed by regional governments The apps with the highest number of downloads (100,000+) were developed by governments (P=13), except for the World Health Organization app (500,000+) The purposes of the apps available in Western languages (107/114, 939%) were determined; the most common purposes were general information about COVID-19 (66, 640%), COVID-19 news (53, 510%), recording of symptoms (53, 510%), and contact tracing (51, 477%) More than one purpose was identified for 99/107 apps (925%) Conclusions: This paper offers a comprehensive and unique review of all available COVID-19 apps Governments have adopted these tools during the pandemic, and more than half of the apps were developed by government agencies The most common purposes of the apps are providing information on the numbers of infected, recovered, and deceased patients, recording of symptoms, and contact tracing

CD163L1 and CLEC5A discriminate subsets of human resident and inflammatory macrophages in vivo.

Abstract: Macrophages (Mf) can be differentiated and polarized in vitro from human CD14 + monocytes under the influence of GM-CSF (GM-Mf) and M-CSF (M-Mf). GM-Mfs are proinflammatory and M-Mfs have an anti-inflammatory phenotype. We found selective expression of the lectin C-type lectin domain family 5 member A (CLEC5A) transcripts in GM-Mfs and the scavenger receptor CD163 molecule-like 1 (CD163L1) in M-Mfs by microarray assay. In vitro, CD163L1 expression was induced by IL-10 and M-CSF and CLEC5A by inflammatory cytokines and cell adherence. In secondary lymphoid organs, their respective expression was restricted to CD68 + /CD163 + Mfs that preferentially produced either TNF (CLEC5A + ) or IL-10 (CD163L1 + ). Mfs from healthy liver and colon tissue were mostly CD163L1 + , and CLEC5A + cells were scarce. In contrast, CLEC5A + Mfs were abundant in the intestinal lamina propria from patients with inflam- matory bowel disease (IBD), with higher numbers of CLEC5A + CD163L1 + found compared with those in secondary lymphoid organs. CLEC5A + cells were CD14 + CD209 2 CD11b + CD11c + TNF + IL-10 + , and single positive CD163L1 + cells were CD14 2 CD209 + CD11b 2 CD11c 2 TNF 2 IL-10 + in healthy donors and had lost the ability to produce IL-10 and to express CD209 in those with IBD. In melanomas, CLEC5A + tumor-associated Mfs (TAMs) were not detected in 42% of the cases evaluated, but CD163L1 + TAMs were found in 100%. Similar to IBD, CD163L1 + TAMs expressed high levels of CD209 and produced significant amounts of IL-10, and CLEC5A + TAMs were CD14 hi and produced enhanced levels of TNF in metastases. Overall, these results suggest that CD163L1 expres- sion is associated with tissue-resident Mfs with an anti-inflammatory or anergic phenotype and that CLEC5A + Mfs exhibit TNF-producing ability and might display a proinflammatory effect. J. Leukoc. Biol. 98: 000-000; 2015.

Analysis of Changes in Recent Tuberculosis Transmission Patterns after a Sharp Increase in Immigration

Abstract: We conducted a population-based molecular epidemiological study of tuberculosis (TB) in Madrid, Spain (2002 to 2004), to define transmission patterns and factors associated with clustering. We particularly focused on examining how the increase in TB cases among immigrants in recent years (2.8% in 1997 to 1999 to 36.2% during the current study) was modifying transmission patterns. Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained from patients living in nine districts of Madrid (1,459,232 inhabitants) were genotyped. The TB case rate among foreign-born people was three to four times that of Spanish-born people, and the median time from arrival to the onset of treatment was 22.4 months. During the study period, 227 (36.3%) patients were grouped in 64 clusters, and 115 (50.7%) of them were in 21 clusters with mixed Spanish-born and foreign-born patients. Three of the 21 mixed clusters accounted for 21.1% of clustered patients. Twenty-two of 38 (57.9%) immigrants in mixed clusters were infected with TB strains that had already been identified in the native population in 1997 to 1999, including the three most prevalent strains. Factors identified as independent predictors of clustering were homelessness (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.2 to 4.5; P = 0.011) and to be born in Spain (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.6; P = 0.002). The results indicated that (i) TB transmission was higher in Spanish-born people, associated mainly with homelessness, (ii) that foreign-born people were much less likely to be clustered, suggesting a higher percentage of infection before arriving in Spain, and (iii) that an extensive transmission between Spanish- and foreign-born populations, caused mainly by autochthonous strains, was taking place in Madrid.

Characterization of Clonal Complexity in Tuberculosis by Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit-Variable-Number Tandem Repeat Typing

Abstract: In recent years, the application of molecular tools has shown us that clonal complexity in infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is not anecdotal. Exogenous reinfections, mixed infections, compartmentalization, and microevolution are different aspects of this issue. The detection and characterization of clonal variants of M. tuberculosis by standard genotyping methods is laborious and frequently requires expertise. Our aim was to evaluate a new genotyping PCR-based method for M. tuberculosis, mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable-number tandem repeat typing (MIRU-VNTR), as a potential tool to simplify and optimize the clonal analysis of tuberculosis. MIRU-VNTR was able to detect mixed clonal variants in vitro, even for clones at low ratios (1:99). This technique was prospectively applied to search for cases infected by more than one clone. Clonal variants within the same host were detected in 3 out of 115 cases (2.6%), including cases with clones which were indistinguishable by restriction fragment length polymorphism or spoligotyping. In one case, coinfecting clonal variants differed in antibiotic susceptibilities. MIRU-VNTR was applied to cases with proven polyclonal infection, and it succeeded in detecting the coinfecting strains and proved useful in confirming cases of compartmentalized infection. MIRU-VNTR is a simple, rapid, and sensitive method which could facilitate and optimize the identification and characterization of clonal complexity in M. tuberculosis infection.

Inhibition of Phosphodiesterase Type IV Suppresses Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication and Cytokine Production in Primary T Cells: Involvement of NF-κB and NFAT

Abstract: Rolipram, a phosphosdiesterase type IV-specific inhibitor, prevented p24 antigen release from anti-CD3-activated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected T cells and CD4(+)-cell depletion associated with viral replication in a dose-responsive manner but minimally inhibited T-cell proliferation. Moreover, rolipram reduced the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) by HIV-infected T cells. The transcriptional ability of a luciferase reporter gene under control of the HIV long terminal repeat, induced by phorbol myristic acetate plus ionomycin or by TNF-alpha, in primary T and Jurkat cells was also inhibited by rolipram. Rolipram inhibited NF-kappaB and NFAT activation induced by T-cell activation in Jurkat and primary T cells, as measured by transient transfection of reporter genes and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Exogenous addition of TNF-alpha in the presence of rolipram restored NF-kappaB but not NFAT activation or p24 release. Addition of dibutyryl-cyclic AMP (dBcAMP) mimicked the effects of rolipram on p24 antigen release, NF-kappaB activation, and TNF-alpha secretion, but it did not affect NFAT activation or IL-10 production. The protein kinase A inhibitor KT5720 prevented the inhibition of TNF-alpha secretion but not that of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) replication caused by rolipram. Our data indicate that blockade of phosphodiesterase type IV could be of benefit against HIV-1 disease by modulating cytokine secretion and transcriptional regulation of HIV replication, and they suggest an important role of NFAT in HIV replication in primary T cells. Some of those activities cannot be ascribed solely to its ability to increase cAMP.