Inorganic arsenic exposure has been linked to the development of several health conditions, including adverse birth outcomes, and around 150 million of people worldwide are exposed to levels above the WHO suggested limit of 10 μg/L. A recent risk assessment in pregnant women of Tacna, of this same population performed by our group, found that 70.25% were exposed to arsenic concentrations in drinking water ≥ 25 μg/L. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between prenatal total urinary arsenic (U-tAs) and inorganic arsenic (U-iAs) with adverse birth outcomes. A total of 147 pregnant women from the province of Tacna, Peru, during February–March, 2019, were evaluated for U-tAs and U-iAs exposure during their second trimester of pregnancy, while the birth records of their children were collected from the local hospital. The geometric mean U-tAs was 43.97 ± 25.88 μg/L (P₅₀ 22.30, range 5.99–181.94 μg/L) and U-iAs was 5.27 ± 2.91 μg/L. Controlling for maternal age, pre-pregnancy BMI, parity, mother’s education, and newborn sex, no relationship was observed between tertile of U-tAs and the birth outcomes considered, although we found an apparent but statistically non-significant dose–response relationship for small for gestational age 2.38% (95% CI 0.003, 0.16), versus 7.32% (95% CI 0.02, 0.21%), and versus 8.57% (95% CI 0.03, 0.25%). This finding requires further evaluation considering other factors such as metabolic arsenic species, additional maternal covariates, and ethnicity.

Necesidades de investigación para el diagnóstico de anemia en poblaciones de altura

Peru has had the highest death toll from the pandemic worldwide; however, it is not clear what the effects of the different variants on these outcomes are. The study aimed to evaluate the risk of death, hospitalization, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates of COVID-19 according to the SARS-CoV-2 variants detected in Peru from March 2020-February 2022. Retrospective study using open-access databases were published by the Peruvian Ministry of Health. Databases of genomic sequencing, death, COVID-19 cases, hospitalization and ICU, and vaccination were used. Crude and adjusted Cox proportional hazards regressions with clustered variances were modeled to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) of outcomes by variant. Lambda variant had the highest risk of death (HR 1.92, 95% CI 1.37-2.68), whereas the Delta variant had the lowest risk (HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.31-0.82). Mu variant had the highest risk of hospitalization (HR: 2.39, 95% CI 1.56-3.67), Omicron the lowest (HR 0.45, 95%CI 0.23-0.90), and Gamma had the highest ICU admission rate (HR 1.95, 95%CI 1.40-2.71). SARS-CoV-2 variants showed distinctive risks of clinical outcomes, which could have implications for the management of infected persons during the pandemic.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) affects, worldwide, 50% of 60‐year‐old men. The Peruvian plant red maca (Lepidium meyenii) inhibits BPH in rodents. This study aimed to determine the effects of methanolic red maca extract and its n‐butanol and aqueous fractions on expression of androgen and oestrogen receptors in rats with testosterone enanthate‐induced BPH. Thirty‐six rats in six groups were studied. Control group received 2 mL of vehicle orally and 0.1 mL of propylene glycol intramuscularly. The second group received vehicle orally and testosterone enanthate (TE) (25 mg/0.1 mL) intramuscularly in days 1 and 7. The other four groups were BPH‐induced with TE and received, during 21 days, 3.78 mg/mL of finasteride, 18.3 mg/mL methanol extract of red maca, 2 mg/mL of n‐butanol fraction, or 16.3 mg/mL of aqueous fraction from red maca. Treatments with red maca extract and its n‐butanol but not aqueous fraction reduced prostate weight similar to finasteride. All maca treated groups restored the expression of ERβ, but only the aqueous fraction increased androgen receptors and ERα. In conclusion, butanol fraction of red maca reduced prostate size in BPH by restoring expression of ERβ without affecting androgen receptors and ERα. This effect was not observed with aqueous fraction of methanolic extract of red maca.