Alejandra Mendoza - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Alejandra Mendoza
Health and Addictions/Salud y Drogas
La espiritualidad juega un rol muy importante y actúa como factor protector del consumo de alcoho... more La espiritualidad juega un rol muy importante y actúa como factor protector del consumo de alcohol y se ha observado que favorece en el tratamiento de recuperación, en el mantenimiento de la abstinencia y en el manejo del deseo intenso de consumir alcohol. Objetivo. Identificar el estado del arte de la espiritualidad y las posibles relaciones con el consumo de alcohol en Alcohólicos Anónimos (AA). Método. Siguieron los pasos propuestos por el Manual Cochrane. Como estrategia de búsqueda se incluyeron los descriptores DeCS y Mesh en todas las combinaciones posibles, así como truncadores y operadores boléanos en el título y el resumen: Spirituality AND Alcohol Consumption AND Alcoholics Anomynous. Resultados. Se identificó que la espiritualidad y los cambios positivos en ella predicen de manera positiva el porcentaje de días de abstinencia y de forma negativa la cantidad de bebidas por día de consumo, así mismo, las prácticas espirituales como el perdón se asocian significativamente c...
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Nutrición Hospitalaria
Influencia del soporte nutricional precoz y la presencia de diabetes mellitus en pacientes con ic... more Influencia del soporte nutricional precoz y la presencia de diabetes mellitus en pacientes con ictus agudo Impact of early nutritional support and presence of diabetes mellitus in patients with acute stroke
International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences
The development of noncommunicable chronic diseases is associated with smoking, sedentary lifesty... more The development of noncommunicable chronic diseases is associated with smoking, sedentary lifestyle and nutritional factors, and their detrimental effects can be reduced by a healthy lifestyle. 1,2 In Ecuador, health care of patients with diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and hypertension accounts for the majority of physicianpatient appointments and hospital discharge in the last twenty years. 3 Recently,
The 4th International Whale Shark Conference
HIV/AIDS - Research and Palliative Care
Introduction: Besides the well-known increased risk of developing HIV-related infectious comorbid... more Introduction: Besides the well-known increased risk of developing HIV-related infectious comorbidities; compared with the general population, people living with HIV (PLHIV) may also have an increased risk of developing noninfectious comorbidities (NICMs). This is the first study intended to determine the NICMs rates affecting PLHIV who were under cART regimen in Ecuador. Methods: A total of 503 HIV-positive patients were evaluated during the period June 2015-November 2016 and included in a multicenter retrospective, cross-sectional study conducted in seven main government and nongovernment community-based hospitals in Ecuador. Results: The average age of the participants was 39.2±11.9 years old and the majority of them were male (67.2%). The average age at HIV diagnosis was 34.1 years old and cART in average was started 15.9 months after HIV-diagnosis. Recruited patients were receiving cART for an average of 59.2±40.2 months. Only 9.9% (n=50) of the patients did not show any NICMs. Diabetes and pre-diabetes was found in 6% (n=30) and 16.3% (n=82) patients, respectively; however, dyslipidemia and overweight/obesity was frequent, as they affected 41.4% (n=208) and 36.4% (n=183) patients, respectively. Sixty patients (11.9%) were diagnosed with depression and 28.2% (n=142) of the studied subjects were found to have other NICMs. Conclusion: Prevalence of NICMs among subjects under cART was greater than that reported among the Ecuadorian general population, therefore specific public health actions are required to make patients aware of and prevent NICMs among PLHIV in Ecuador.
Regulating T-cells and Their Response to Cancer
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Regulatory T (Treg) cells prevent autoimmunity by limiting immune responses and inflammation in t... more Regulatory T (Treg) cells prevent autoimmunity by limiting immune responses and inflammation in the secondary lymphoid organs and nonlymphoid tissues. While unique subsets of Treg cells have been described in some nonlymphoid tissues, their relationship to Treg cells in secondary lymphoid organs and circulation remains unclear. Furthermore, it is possible that Treg cells from similar tissue types share largely similar properties. We have identified a short-lived effector Treg cell subset that expresses the α2 integrin, CD49b, and exhibits a unique tissue distribution, being abundant in peripheral blood, vasculature, skin, and skin-draining lymph nodes, but uncommon in the intestines and in viscera-draining lymph nodes. CD49b+ Treg cells, which display superior functionality revealed by in vitro and in vivo assays, appear to develop after multiple rounds of cell division and TCR-dependent activation. Accordingly, single-cell RNA-seq analysis placed these cells at the apex of the Treg...
![Research paper thumbnail of [Optimisation of nutritional screening tool CIPA: are two parameters of protein really necessary?]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/73321578/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Nutricion hospitalaria, Jan 2, 2018
the preliminary nutritional screening tool CIPA (food intake, proteins, anthropometry) is positiv... more the preliminary nutritional screening tool CIPA (food intake, proteins, anthropometry) is positive when it fulfills one of the following: control food intake (CI) 48-72 h < 50%, albumin < 3 g/dl, total protein < 5 g/dl, body mass index (BMI) < 18,5 kg/m2 or mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) ≤ 22,5 cm. The use of two protein parameters increases costs and difficulty; one of them can be suppressed without affecting validity. to evaluate the effectiveness of screening CIPA after exclusion of total protein. prospective study of hospitalized patients; prevalence or risk of malnutrition was evaluated through CIPA and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Hospital malnutrition according to complete CIPA screening (with total proteins and albumin, [CIPAc] and without total proteins [CIPAw/p]) and concordance between both methods were analyzed, as well as the association of the positive screening result with clinical outcomes. three hundred and forty-three patients were analyzed. ...
Cell reports, Jan 24, 2018
The cellular sensor stimulator of interferon genes (STING) initiates type I interferon (IFN) and ... more The cellular sensor stimulator of interferon genes (STING) initiates type I interferon (IFN) and cytokine production following association with cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) generated from intracellular bacteria or via a cellular synthase, cGAS, after binding microbial or self-DNA. Although essential for protecting the host against infection, unscheduled STING signaling is now known to be responsible for a variety of autoinflammatory disorders. Here, we report a gain-of-function mutation in STING (R284S), isolated from a patient who did not require CDNs to augment activity and who manifested a constitutively active phenotype. Control of the Unc-51-like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1) pathway, which has previously been shown to influence STING function, was potently able to suppress STING (R284S) activity to alleviate cytokine production. Our findings add to the growing list of inflammatory syndromes associated with spontaneous STING signaling and provide a therapeutic strategy fo...
Check List
The Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, was for a long time considered extirpated from Peru. How... more The Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, was for a long time considered extirpated from Peru. However, here we report the capture of 2 individuals from the north coast of Peru, indicating that this species is still extant in Peruvian waters. Both individuals were adult-sized and their encounters occurred during the austral summer, which could indicate a seasonal presence in those waters. Gillnets are still a major threat for the species as both specimens were incidentally captured with this gear. Our finding highlights the need for continuous research, awareness, and legal protection of this species.
Nature
Adaptive immune responses are tailored to different types of pathogens through differentiation of... more Adaptive immune responses are tailored to different types of pathogens through differentiation of naïve CD4 T cells into functionally distinct subsets of effector T cells (T H 1, T H 2, and T H 17) defined by expression of key transcription factors (TFs) 1. Regulatory T (Treg) cells comprise a distinct anti-inflammatory lineage specified by the X-linked TF Foxp3 2, 3. Paradoxically, some activated Treg cells express the aforementioned effector CD4 T cell TFs, which have been suggested to endow Treg cells with enhanced suppressive capacity 4, 5, 6. Whether expression of these factors in Treg cells-akin to effector T cells-is indicative of heterogeneity of functionally discrete and stable differentiation states, or conversely may be readily reversible, is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that in Treg cells expression of the T H 1-associated TF T-bet, induced at steady state and following infection, gradually becomes highly stable even under non-permissive conditions. Loss-of-function or elimination of T-bet-expressing Treg cells-but not of T-bet in Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:
Nature, Jun 1, 2017
Effective adaptive immune responses require a large repertoire of naive T cells that migrate thro... more Effective adaptive immune responses require a large repertoire of naive T cells that migrate throughout the body, rapidly identifying almost any foreign peptide. Because the production of T cells declines with age, naive T cells must be long-lived. However, it remains unclear how naive T cells survive for years while constantly travelling. The chemoattractant sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) guides T cell circulation among secondary lymphoid organs, including spleen, lymph nodes and Peyer's patches, where T cells search for antigens. The concentration of S1P is higher in circulatory fluids than in lymphoid organs, and the S1P1 receptor (S1P1R) directs the exit of T cells from the spleen into blood, and from lymph nodes and Peyer's patches into lymph. Here we show that S1P is essential not only for the circulation of naive T cells, but also for their survival. Using transgenic mouse models, we demonstrate that lymphatic endothelial cells support the survival of T cells by secret...
Nature Immunology, 2016
The lymph node periphery is an important site for many immunological functions, from pathogen con... more The lymph node periphery is an important site for many immunological functions, from pathogen containment to the differentiation of helper T cells, yet the cues that position cells in this region are largely undefined. Here, through the use of a reporter for the signaling lipid S1P (sphingosine 1-phosphate), we found that cells sensed higher concentrations of S1P in the medullary cords than in the T cell zone and that the S1P transporter SPNS2 on lymphatic endothelial cells generated this gradient. Natural killer (NK) cells are located at the periphery of the lymph node, predominantly in the medulla, and we found that expression of SPNS2, expression of the S1P receptor S1PR5 on NK cells, and expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 were all required for NK cell localization during homeostasis and rapid production of interferon-γ by NK cells after challenge. Our findings elucidate the spatial cues for NK cell organization and reveal a previously unknown role for S1P in positioning cells within the medulla.
The Journal of Immunology, Apr 1, 2011
Health and Addictions/Salud y Drogas
La espiritualidad juega un rol muy importante y actúa como factor protector del consumo de alcoho... more La espiritualidad juega un rol muy importante y actúa como factor protector del consumo de alcohol y se ha observado que favorece en el tratamiento de recuperación, en el mantenimiento de la abstinencia y en el manejo del deseo intenso de consumir alcohol. Objetivo. Identificar el estado del arte de la espiritualidad y las posibles relaciones con el consumo de alcohol en Alcohólicos Anónimos (AA). Método. Siguieron los pasos propuestos por el Manual Cochrane. Como estrategia de búsqueda se incluyeron los descriptores DeCS y Mesh en todas las combinaciones posibles, así como truncadores y operadores boléanos en el título y el resumen: Spirituality AND Alcohol Consumption AND Alcoholics Anomynous. Resultados. Se identificó que la espiritualidad y los cambios positivos en ella predicen de manera positiva el porcentaje de días de abstinencia y de forma negativa la cantidad de bebidas por día de consumo, así mismo, las prácticas espirituales como el perdón se asocian significativamente c...
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Nutrición Hospitalaria
Influencia del soporte nutricional precoz y la presencia de diabetes mellitus en pacientes con ic... more Influencia del soporte nutricional precoz y la presencia de diabetes mellitus en pacientes con ictus agudo Impact of early nutritional support and presence of diabetes mellitus in patients with acute stroke
International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences
The development of noncommunicable chronic diseases is associated with smoking, sedentary lifesty... more The development of noncommunicable chronic diseases is associated with smoking, sedentary lifestyle and nutritional factors, and their detrimental effects can be reduced by a healthy lifestyle. 1,2 In Ecuador, health care of patients with diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and hypertension accounts for the majority of physicianpatient appointments and hospital discharge in the last twenty years. 3 Recently,
The 4th International Whale Shark Conference
HIV/AIDS - Research and Palliative Care
Introduction: Besides the well-known increased risk of developing HIV-related infectious comorbid... more Introduction: Besides the well-known increased risk of developing HIV-related infectious comorbidities; compared with the general population, people living with HIV (PLHIV) may also have an increased risk of developing noninfectious comorbidities (NICMs). This is the first study intended to determine the NICMs rates affecting PLHIV who were under cART regimen in Ecuador. Methods: A total of 503 HIV-positive patients were evaluated during the period June 2015-November 2016 and included in a multicenter retrospective, cross-sectional study conducted in seven main government and nongovernment community-based hospitals in Ecuador. Results: The average age of the participants was 39.2±11.9 years old and the majority of them were male (67.2%). The average age at HIV diagnosis was 34.1 years old and cART in average was started 15.9 months after HIV-diagnosis. Recruited patients were receiving cART for an average of 59.2±40.2 months. Only 9.9% (n=50) of the patients did not show any NICMs. Diabetes and pre-diabetes was found in 6% (n=30) and 16.3% (n=82) patients, respectively; however, dyslipidemia and overweight/obesity was frequent, as they affected 41.4% (n=208) and 36.4% (n=183) patients, respectively. Sixty patients (11.9%) were diagnosed with depression and 28.2% (n=142) of the studied subjects were found to have other NICMs. Conclusion: Prevalence of NICMs among subjects under cART was greater than that reported among the Ecuadorian general population, therefore specific public health actions are required to make patients aware of and prevent NICMs among PLHIV in Ecuador.
Regulating T-cells and Their Response to Cancer
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Regulatory T (Treg) cells prevent autoimmunity by limiting immune responses and inflammation in t... more Regulatory T (Treg) cells prevent autoimmunity by limiting immune responses and inflammation in the secondary lymphoid organs and nonlymphoid tissues. While unique subsets of Treg cells have been described in some nonlymphoid tissues, their relationship to Treg cells in secondary lymphoid organs and circulation remains unclear. Furthermore, it is possible that Treg cells from similar tissue types share largely similar properties. We have identified a short-lived effector Treg cell subset that expresses the α2 integrin, CD49b, and exhibits a unique tissue distribution, being abundant in peripheral blood, vasculature, skin, and skin-draining lymph nodes, but uncommon in the intestines and in viscera-draining lymph nodes. CD49b+ Treg cells, which display superior functionality revealed by in vitro and in vivo assays, appear to develop after multiple rounds of cell division and TCR-dependent activation. Accordingly, single-cell RNA-seq analysis placed these cells at the apex of the Treg...
Nutricion hospitalaria, Jan 2, 2018
the preliminary nutritional screening tool CIPA (food intake, proteins, anthropometry) is positiv... more the preliminary nutritional screening tool CIPA (food intake, proteins, anthropometry) is positive when it fulfills one of the following: control food intake (CI) 48-72 h < 50%, albumin < 3 g/dl, total protein < 5 g/dl, body mass index (BMI) < 18,5 kg/m2 or mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) ≤ 22,5 cm. The use of two protein parameters increases costs and difficulty; one of them can be suppressed without affecting validity. to evaluate the effectiveness of screening CIPA after exclusion of total protein. prospective study of hospitalized patients; prevalence or risk of malnutrition was evaluated through CIPA and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Hospital malnutrition according to complete CIPA screening (with total proteins and albumin, [CIPAc] and without total proteins [CIPAw/p]) and concordance between both methods were analyzed, as well as the association of the positive screening result with clinical outcomes. three hundred and forty-three patients were analyzed. ...
Cell reports, Jan 24, 2018
The cellular sensor stimulator of interferon genes (STING) initiates type I interferon (IFN) and ... more The cellular sensor stimulator of interferon genes (STING) initiates type I interferon (IFN) and cytokine production following association with cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) generated from intracellular bacteria or via a cellular synthase, cGAS, after binding microbial or self-DNA. Although essential for protecting the host against infection, unscheduled STING signaling is now known to be responsible for a variety of autoinflammatory disorders. Here, we report a gain-of-function mutation in STING (R284S), isolated from a patient who did not require CDNs to augment activity and who manifested a constitutively active phenotype. Control of the Unc-51-like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1) pathway, which has previously been shown to influence STING function, was potently able to suppress STING (R284S) activity to alleviate cytokine production. Our findings add to the growing list of inflammatory syndromes associated with spontaneous STING signaling and provide a therapeutic strategy fo...
Check List
The Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, was for a long time considered extirpated from Peru. How... more The Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, was for a long time considered extirpated from Peru. However, here we report the capture of 2 individuals from the north coast of Peru, indicating that this species is still extant in Peruvian waters. Both individuals were adult-sized and their encounters occurred during the austral summer, which could indicate a seasonal presence in those waters. Gillnets are still a major threat for the species as both specimens were incidentally captured with this gear. Our finding highlights the need for continuous research, awareness, and legal protection of this species.
Nature
Adaptive immune responses are tailored to different types of pathogens through differentiation of... more Adaptive immune responses are tailored to different types of pathogens through differentiation of naïve CD4 T cells into functionally distinct subsets of effector T cells (T H 1, T H 2, and T H 17) defined by expression of key transcription factors (TFs) 1. Regulatory T (Treg) cells comprise a distinct anti-inflammatory lineage specified by the X-linked TF Foxp3 2, 3. Paradoxically, some activated Treg cells express the aforementioned effector CD4 T cell TFs, which have been suggested to endow Treg cells with enhanced suppressive capacity 4, 5, 6. Whether expression of these factors in Treg cells-akin to effector T cells-is indicative of heterogeneity of functionally discrete and stable differentiation states, or conversely may be readily reversible, is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that in Treg cells expression of the T H 1-associated TF T-bet, induced at steady state and following infection, gradually becomes highly stable even under non-permissive conditions. Loss-of-function or elimination of T-bet-expressing Treg cells-but not of T-bet in Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:
Nature, Jun 1, 2017
Effective adaptive immune responses require a large repertoire of naive T cells that migrate thro... more Effective adaptive immune responses require a large repertoire of naive T cells that migrate throughout the body, rapidly identifying almost any foreign peptide. Because the production of T cells declines with age, naive T cells must be long-lived. However, it remains unclear how naive T cells survive for years while constantly travelling. The chemoattractant sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) guides T cell circulation among secondary lymphoid organs, including spleen, lymph nodes and Peyer's patches, where T cells search for antigens. The concentration of S1P is higher in circulatory fluids than in lymphoid organs, and the S1P1 receptor (S1P1R) directs the exit of T cells from the spleen into blood, and from lymph nodes and Peyer's patches into lymph. Here we show that S1P is essential not only for the circulation of naive T cells, but also for their survival. Using transgenic mouse models, we demonstrate that lymphatic endothelial cells support the survival of T cells by secret...
Nature Immunology, 2016
The lymph node periphery is an important site for many immunological functions, from pathogen con... more The lymph node periphery is an important site for many immunological functions, from pathogen containment to the differentiation of helper T cells, yet the cues that position cells in this region are largely undefined. Here, through the use of a reporter for the signaling lipid S1P (sphingosine 1-phosphate), we found that cells sensed higher concentrations of S1P in the medullary cords than in the T cell zone and that the S1P transporter SPNS2 on lymphatic endothelial cells generated this gradient. Natural killer (NK) cells are located at the periphery of the lymph node, predominantly in the medulla, and we found that expression of SPNS2, expression of the S1P receptor S1PR5 on NK cells, and expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 were all required for NK cell localization during homeostasis and rapid production of interferon-γ by NK cells after challenge. Our findings elucidate the spatial cues for NK cell organization and reveal a previously unknown role for S1P in positioning cells within the medulla.
The Journal of Immunology, Apr 1, 2011