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Biomedical subjects

Carlos Blanco

Publications and source records attributed to Carlos Blanco.

61 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Epidemiology and treatment of hypochondriasis.

Although hypochondriasis has been one of the most durable disease concepts in psychopathology, little is known about its epidemiology and treatment. In this article, we review the last three decades of research into these two aspects of hypochondriasis. According to DSM-IV, hypochondriasis is a distressing preoccupation with the fear or thought, based on physical sensations, that one has a serious disease. The prevalence of hypochondriasis in the general population is unknown; however, studies in primary care suggest that the prevalence in this setting is between 0.8 and 4.5%. There are, at present, no conclusive data about specific risk factors for hypochondriasis, although patients with hypochondriasis have higher rates of anxiety, depressive and other somatoform disorders than patients without the disorder. To date, there have been no studies documenting a genetic or familial predisposition for hypochondriasis, or for somatoform disorders in general. Cognitive behavioural therapy has been shown in controlled studies to be efficacious in the treatment of hypochondriasis. Although the evidence is stronger for individual therapy, group cognitive-behavioural therapy may also be useful. Other therapies such as supportive or psychoanalytical psychotherapy may be efficacious for certain patients, but the lack of standardised treatments and controlled studies makes them a less preferable treatment option at present. Little is known about the pharmacological treatment of primary hypochondriasis. The limited number of published studies and the absence of controlled trials make it impossible to be certain of the efficacy of existing medications. On the basis of the available information, however, it appears that the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors hold promise for the treatment of this disorder. However, more information is needed for their efficacy to be clearly established.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

The osmoprotectant glycine betaine inhibits salt-induced cross-tolerance towards lethal treatment in Enterococcus faecalis.

The response of Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433 to salt stress has been characterized previously in complex media. In this report, it has been demonstrated that this bacterium actively accumulates the osmoprotectant glycine betaine (GB) from salt-enriched complex medium BHI. To further understand the specific effects of GB and other osmoprotective compounds in salt adaptation and salt-induced cross-tolerance to lethal challenges, a chemically defined medium lacking putative osmoprotectants was used. In this medium, bacterial growth was significantly reduced by increasing concentrations of NaCl. At 0.75 M NaCl, 90% inhibition of the growth rate was observed; GB and its structural analogues restored growth to the non-salt-stressed level. In contrast, proline, pipecolate and ectoine did not allow growth recovery of stressed cells. Kinetic studies showed that the uptake of betaines shows strong structural specificity and occurs through a salt-stress-inducible high-affinity porter [Km = 3.3 microM; Vmax = 130 nmol min(-1) (mg protein)(-1); the uptake activity increased 400-fold in the presence of 0.5 M NaCl]. Moreover, GB and its analogues were accumulated as non-metabolizable cytosolic osmolytes and reached intracellular levels ranging from 1-3 to 1.5 micromol (mg protein)(-1). In contrast to the beneficial effect of GB on the growth of salt-stressed cultures of E. faecalis, its accumulation inhibits the salt-induced cross-tolerance to a heterologous lethal challenge. Indeed, pretreatment of bacterial cells with 0.5 M NaCl induced resistance to 0.3% bile salts (survival of adapted cells increased by a factor of 6800). The presence of GB in the adaptation medium reduced the acquisition of bile salts resistance 680-fold. The synthesis of 11 of the 13 proteins induced during salt adaptation was significantly reduced in the presence of GB. These results raise questions about the actual beneficial effect of GB in natural environments where bacteria are often subjected to various stresses.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1999

Site-specific integration of corynephage phi16: construction of an integration vector.

Phi16, a temperate phage induced from Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 21792, lysogenizes its host via site-specific recombination. The phage attachment site, attP, was located to a 6.5 kb BamHI fragment of the phi16 genome. This fragment also contained phi16 integrative functions. The minimal phage DNA fragment required for integration was defined. This 1630 bp region contained a large open reading frame, int, encoding a protein of 416 amino acids with similarity in its carboxyl-terminal domain to tyrosine recombinases and particularly to the Xer recombinases. The comparison of the nucleotide sequences of attB, attL, attR, and attP identified a common 29 bp sequence, the core sequence. It lies 11 bp downstream of the 3' end of the integrase gene. phi16 integrase was shown to catalyse site-specific integration in trans to attP with an efficiency of 5x10(3) integrants per microg DNA. The integrating fragment catalysed integration in several Corynebacterium strains that are not infected by phi16, thus enlarging the host spectrum of integrating vectors derived from phi16. In these strains, the phi16 attB site was located in a conserved intergenic region and lies downstream of a clp gene.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1998

pBLA8, from Brevibacterium linens, belongs to a gram-positive subfamily of ColE2-related plasmids.

A 3.1 kb DNA fragment from pBLA8, a Brevibacterium linens cryptic plasmid, containing all the information required for autonomous replication was cloned and sequenced. Using deletion analysis, the fragment essential and sufficient for autonomous replication was delimited to 1.5 kb. This fragment is characterized by the presence of an ori site located upstream of an operon encoding two proteins, RepA and RepB, both essential for replication. Based on structural similarities and a strong conservation of ori, RepA and RepB, pBLA8 was assigned to a new subfamily of the ColE2 plasmid family. This subfamily is distinguished by the requirement for two Rep proteins and the location of an ori site upstream of the repAB operon. RepA is thought to encode primase activity, whereas RepB could be a DNA-binding protein. An Escherichia coli-B. linens shuttle vector, derived from pBLA8, was constructed. Its host spectrum was extended to Arthrobacter species.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Posttraumatic stress disorder in primary care one year after the 9/11 attacks.

OBJECTIVE: To screen for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in primary care patients 7-16 months after 9/11 attacks and to examine its comorbidity, clinical presentation and relationships with mental health treatment and service utilization. METHOD: A systematic sample (n=930) of adult primary care patients who were seeking primary care at an urban general medicine clinic were interviewed using the PTSD Checklist: the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) Patient Health Questionnaire and the Medical Outcome Study 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Health care utilization data were obtained by a cross linkage to the administrative computerized database. RESULTS: Prevalence estimates of current 9/11-related probable PTSD ranged from 4.7% (based on a cutoff PCL-C score of 50 and over) to 10.2% (based on the DSM-IV criteria). A comorbid mental disorder was more common among patients with PTSD than patients without PTSD (80% vs. 30%). Patients with PTSD were more functionally impaired and reported increased use of mental health medication as compared to patients without PTSD (70% vs. 18%). Among patients with PTSD there was no increase in hospital and emergency room (ER) admissions or outpatient care during the first year after the attacks. CONCLUSIONS: In an urban general medicine setting, 1 year after 9/11, the frequency of probable PTSD appears to be common and clinically significant. These results suggest an unmet need for mental health care in this clinical population and are especially important in view of available treatments for PTSD.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health problems and medical utilization associated with gambling disorders: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

OBJECTIVE: Pathologic gambling is believed to be associated with adverse health consequences, but no prior studies have rigorously evaluated these relationships. We sought to examine medical disorders and health service utilization associated with problem and pathologic gambling. METHOD: A total of 43,093 adults aged 18 years and older were evaluated in the 2001 to 2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Self-reported medical diagnoses and past-year medical services used were assessed. RESULTS: Pathologic gamblers were more likely than low-risk individuals to have been diagnosed with tachycardia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05-2.97), angina (OR = 2.35; 95% CI = 1.33-4.15), cirrhosis (OR = 3.90; 95% CI = 1.11-13.72), and other liver disease (OR = 2.98; 95% CI = 1.07-8.26). Gambling severity was also associated with higher rates of medical utilization with pathologic gamblers more likely than low-risk individuals to have been treated in the emergency room in the year before the survey (OR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.27-3.09). Significant effects of gambling severity remained even after controlling for demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, income, and region of the country) and behavioral risk factors such as body mass index, alcohol abuse and dependence, nicotine dependence, and mood and anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: A lifetime diagnosis of pathologic gambling is associated with several medical disorders and increased medical utilization, perhaps leading to a burden on healthcare costs in the United States.

Adolescent↗