Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, characterized by articular inflammation. Oxidative damage induced by reactive oxygen species has been related to the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis in several studies, although results have been inconsistent and contradictory. To determine oxidative stress markers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Descriptive cross-sectional study in rheumatoid arthritis patients and healthy controls. In peripheral blood samples from all study subjects, lipid peroxide (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) and protein carbonyl levels were quantified as oxidative damage markers; superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities, glutathione concentration, and the reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio were analyzed as antioxidant defense indicators. Mann-Whitney U tests were run. Statistical significance (a) was 0.05%. We included 29 rheumatoid arthritis patients, 10 with active disease, and 41 healthy controls. Age was higher in the rheumatoid arthritis group; there were no differences in female:male ratio between groups. Oxidative damage was higher in rheumatoid arthritis patients; however, there was no difference between patients with active or inactive rheumatoid arthritis. Antioxidant enzyme activities, glutathione concentration, and reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio were higher in rheumatoid arthritis patients than in controls. Antioxidant levels were higher in rheumatoid arthritis patients than in healthy controls; however, they were insufficient to prevent oxidative damage. This suggests an active oxidative process in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

To describe the trends in mortality from scorpion stings in Mexico as a whole and in each of its states for the period of 1979 to 2003. We estimated the crude and standardized mortality rates due to scorpion stings and the trends during the period studied based on official mortality data for Mexico, using the codes (E905.2 and X22, respectively) from the 9th and 10th editions of the International Classification of Diseases. The results were stratified by age group. The frequencies of deaths from scorpion stings were compared using relative risk (RR), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Between 1979 and 2003 in Mexico, 6,077 deaths from scorpion stings were registered. A statistically significant downward trend was found in standardized mortality rates (beta = -0.195; P < or = 0.001), with a total reduction of 86.5% for the period of 2001-2003 versus 1979-1982. For the 2001-2003 period, the highest mortality rates were in children under 1 year of age (7.07 per 1,000,000), children 1 to 4 years old (3.78 per 1,000,000), persons 60 and older (0.84 per 1,000,000), and males (0.81 per 1,000,000). Persons in communities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants had a relative risk that was 11.8 times (95% CI: 7.86 to 17.72) that found in communities with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The states with the highest mortality rates were in the central and western regions of the country. Despite the sustained decline in the number of deaths from scorpion stings in the last 20 years in Mexico, there is still an important public health problem. The groups that are most affected are children under 5 and the elderly. Measures should be taken so that in all communities, especially small ones, adequate resources and information are available to provide for the prompt care of persons who suffer a scorpion sting.

Introducción. Durante las últimas décadas se ha podido apreciar un cambio en las variables climáticas, en especial en la temperatura ambiental. Hay evidencias que asocian el aumento de la temperatura ambiental con el incremento en las tasas de mortalidad por suicidio. Objetivo. Evaluar la relación entre la tasa de suicidio y la temperatura ambiental en Baja California Sur (BCS) durante los años 1985-2008. Método. Los datos de suicidio fueron obtenidos de las bases de Mortalidad del INEGI de 1985-2008. Se tabularon los registros con códigos: E950-E959 CIE-9 y X60-X84, Y87.0 CIE-10 para BCS. En el análisis climático se usaron las temperaturas máximas de 1985 al 2008 para BCS del Extractor Rápido de Información Climatológica (ERIC III). Para evaluar la tendencia, se utilizaron modelos de regresión lineal y cuadráticos. Los modelos lineales generalizados (GLM) se utilizaron para evaluar el efecto de las variables ambientales sobre la tasa de suicidios, con una significancia de p=0.05. Resultados. Un total de 582 suicidios ocurrieron en BCS de 1985 a 2008. Las mujeres representaron el 9% (53), con tasa anual promedio de 1.6/100 000. Los hombres 91% (529), con tasa promedio anual de 16.3/100 000. La tendencia de incremento anual se explico con modelos lineales simples y cuadráticos en ambas temporadas. En los meses cálidos el modelo cuadrático explico mejor dicho incremento (R2=0.64 p<0.01). La temperatura se correlaciono positivamente con la tasa en ambas temporadas (p<0.01). Se generaron dos modelos GLM predictivos por temporada. Discusión. En este trabajo se observo una posible relación entre el incremento de la temperatura ambiental y el número de suicidios registrados durante 24 años en BCS. Esta relación se encuentra bien definida en los meses cálidos, pero con una tendencia en aumento para los meses fríos.

Introduction: Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) represents a public health threat increasing worldwide. We assess the suitability of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for on-site screening of CRAB in a hospital facility. Methodology: A set of six primers were designed for recognizing eight distinct sequences on six targets: blaOXA-23-like, blaOXA-24-like, blaOXA-51-like, blaOXA-58-like, blaIMP, and blaVIM. A LAMP method was developed, optimized and evaluated for the identification of CRAB in thirty-three environmental samples from an outbreak in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility. Results: The sensitivity of the LAMP assay for the detection of A. baumannii was ten-fold higher than the PCR assay (1.0 ng.µL-1). The LAMP assays showed a higher detection rate for CRAB samples and robust diagnosis performance in comparison to a conventional PCR, with clinical sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% for blaOXA-23-like, blaOXA-51-like and blaVIM. Conclusions: The developed LAMP assays are powerful tools that can be useful in on-site screening of CRAB causing local outbreaks in clinics and hospitals facilities where costs and equipment restraints are imperative.