The arrival of direct antiviral agents against hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 2014 was a before and after in the treatment of the disease. However, its high price made accurate estimates about the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) essential to guide health policies. For this reason, at the end of 2015 the digestive service of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital entered into an ambitious epidemiological study whose basic objectives were:

– Determine the seroprevalence and prevalence of HCV viremia and analyze the factors associated with it.

– Evaluate the viability of a population screening program and subsequent treatment of hepatitis C, based on these current epidemiological data of our country.

With these previous objectives, the Gastroenterology and Hepatology service of the IDIVAL and Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital designed a multicenter epidemiological study (Santander, Madrid, Valencia) led by the IDIVAL. The study included more than 12,000 people who adequately represented the more than 30 million people between 20 and 74 years of age residing in Spain in 2015.

The following figure summarizes the organization of the study:

The results of the study show that the prevalence of active HCV infection (viremia) is clearly lower than previously estimated (0.4% in the estimated population segment), a very relevant figure, only 25-30% of anti-HCV positive patients are viral. Once the previous data were obtained, a cost-effectiveness study was carried out that demonstrated, without a doubt, the viability of a population screening program and subsequent treatment of hepatitis C in Spain (Figure 2).

The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis (Q1 in infectious diseases), and are expected to contribute to reassess the National Strategic Plan against HCV and continue to lead the elimination of HCV worldwide.

Ref. Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection in a country with universal access to direct‐acting antiviral agents: Data for designing a cost‐effective elimination policy in Spain. Javier Crespo Antonio Cuadrado Christie Perelló Joaquin Cabezas Susana Llerena Javier Llorca Sergio Cedillo Elba Llop María Desamparados Escudero Marta Hernández Conde … See all authors. First published: 22 November 2019 https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13238

Digestive, Pathological Anatomy and Oncology Units of the Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital have published in MPDI, open access journal, a review of the porto-sinusoidal vascular disease associated with oxaliplatin.

The article “Porto-Sinusoidal Vascular Disease Associated to Oxaliplatin: An Entity to Think about It” is a review of the literature of a rare entity such as the porto-sinusoidal vascular disease associated with oxaliplatin. It is a hepatic vascular disease, in which, patients with a history of exposure to oxaliplatin (mostly in the context of stage III and IV colon cancer) develop presinusoidal portal hypertension (i.e., without an underlying cirrhosis) years after end of chemotherapy treatment. In most cases, the disease is asymptomatic in the form of platelet and splenomegaly, but in a small percentage, patients can develop the typical complications of portal hypertension such as bleeding from esophageal / peristomal varicose veins, ascites or encephalopathy.

This review is the prelude to a multicenter study, led by the Digestive Service in collaboration with the HUMV Oncology Service, which has been carried out in 8 Spanish hospitals and whose preliminary results confirm that there are early markers of disease development vascular portosinusoidal after exposure to oxaliplatin, such as the persistence of plaquetopenia and splenomegaly after the end of chemotherapeutic treatment, so this subgroup of patients would benefit from a specific follow-up in Hepatology units.

Legend: 

There are three mechanisms through which oxaliplatin can cause sinusoidal damage:

1. Oxaliplatin can potentially cause liver sinusoid endothelial cell damage and stimulate both free radical release, glutathione transferase depletion, and decrease extracellular matrix metalloproteinase expression (MMP-2 and MMP -9) thereby altering the integrity of the sinusoidal wall. The damage to the sinusoidal wall, favors the passage of erythrocytes to the space of Dissé and formation of perisinusoidal fibrosis.

2. Said vascular damage causes the obstruction of the sinusoidal capillaries and the appearance of areas of parenchymal extinction, thus interrupting the portal circulation, and can generate an increase in presinusodal pressure.

3. The appearance of regenerative nodular hyperplasia is favored by chronic hypoxia of the centrolobular areas.

Ref. Porto-Sinusoidal Vascular Disease Associated to Oxaliplatin: An Entity to Think about It. Puente A, Fortea J, Del Pozo C, Huelin P, Cagigal ML, Serrano M, Cabezas J, Arias Loste MT, Iruzubieta P, Cuadrado A, Llerena S, Lopez C, Fábrega E, Crespo J. PMID: 31771307 DOI: 10.3390/cells8121506

The Neuropediatrics service and the Genetics Unit of the Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital have published in the Frontiers Neuroscience the study “Rare Variants in 48 Genes Account for 42% of Cases of Epilepsy With or Without Neurodevelopmental Delay in 246 Pediatric Patients”, a collaborative work in which geneticists and neuropediatras from all over Spain and Portugal have participated.

The objective of this work has been to characterize the genetic architecture of epilepsy in the pediatric population of the Iberian and Canary Islands, carrying out a targeted sequencing of 246 patients with epileptic seizures of childhood onset with or without delay in neurological development. 107 variants were detected in 48 different genes, involved in neuronal excitability, neurological development, synaptic transmission and metabolic pathways. In 42% of the cases, variants that were classified as pathogenic or probably pathogenic were detected. Of the 48 mutated genes, 32 were dominant, 8 were recessive and 8 linked to the X chromosome. Of the patients for whom family studies could be performed, it was shown that the mutations were de novo (not inherited) in 82% of the cases. Variations in the number of copies (large losses or gains of DNA) in the global mutational load was 9%.

For this study, customized panels progressively updated with high vertical mean coverage were used, which allowed the establishment of a definitive diagnosis in a large proportion of cases (42%) and the detection of CNV (even duplication) with high fidelity. In 10.5% of the patients associations were detected that are pending confirmation through functional and / or family studies.

The results obtained had important consequences for the clinical management of the patients, since a significant proportion of them had been misdiagnosed, and their families were finally able to resort to genetic counseling. In some cases, a more appropriate treatment was selected for the patient in question, or an inappropriate treatment was discontinued.

Likewise, the results of this study also suggest the existence of modifying genes that may explain the incomplete penetrance of some epilepsy-related genes. Further studies will be required to discover the role of structural variants, epimutations (epigenetics) and oligogenic inheritance in epilepsy, thus providing a more complete molecular picture of this disease.

To conclude, given the broad phenotypic spectrum of most epilepsy-related genes, the use of efficient genomic tools such as that used in this study is essential for early diagnosis and treatment, and therefore should be implemented as tools for first level diagnosis for children with epilepsy without a clear etiological basis.

Thus, the indication of such genomic tools, which cover the broad clinical spectrum, in other pediatric diseases of genetic basis could be extended. 

Ref. Rare Variants in 48 Genes Account for 42% of Cases of Epilepsy With or Without Neurodevelopmental Delay in 246 Pediatric Patients. Fernández-Marmiesse A, Roca I, Díaz-Flores F, Cantarín V, Pérez-Poyato MS, Fontalba A, Laranjeira F, Quintans S, Moldovan O, Felgueroso B, Rodríguez-Pedreira M, Simón R, Camacho A, Quijada P, Ibanez-Mico S, Domingno MR, Benito C, Calvo R, Pérez-Cejas A, Carrasco ML, Ramos F, Couce ML, Ruiz-Falcó ML, Gutierrez-Solana L, Martínez-Atienza M.

On January 8, the first session of the year of the IV Progress Reports Valdecilla Program will take place, with the presentations of Nerea Martínez Magunacelaya, Elena Sanz Piña and Sara Marcos González of the Biobank Valdecilla. This session will allow us to know in more detail the organization, operation and characteristics of the Biobank and its vital importance for research.

The Valdecilla Biobank is a research support platform created in order to enhance and facilitate biomedical research through the management of human biological samples and their associated data guaranteeing strict compliance with current legislation and ethical principles that are own. The Valdecilla Biobank is part of the National Biobank Network and the Biobank Platform, promoted and funded by the Carlos III Health Institute. (https://www.idival.org/es/Soporte/Biobanco-valdecilla).

Speaker: Nerea Martínez Magunacelaya
Responsible for the Node of solid samples of the Valdecilla Biobank.

Doctor in Biology from the University of the Basque Country. His entire scientific career has been dedicated to cancer research. He spent 4 years at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg (Germany), studying new molecular markers for ovarian cancer. He subsequently obtained a postdoctoral fellowship (MINECO) that he developed at the Spanish Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in Madrid. He collaborated with Lymphoma Group on numerous projects focused on molecular markers of B-cell lymphomas. In 2007, he was awarded a Miguel Servet Contract from the Carlos III Health Institute, and focused his research on the study of the expression of miRNAs in B-cell lymphomas. In 2011 he moved to IDIVAL, where he continued his work in molecular biology of lymphomas, studying mutational profiles for personalized therapy.

She has collaborated as a teacher in the Master in Molecular Oncology (CNIO) (2005-2015), and has supervised 1 doctoral thesis. Member of the Thematic Network for Cooperative Research in Cancer-RTICC (Hematologic Tumors Program) (2007-2017), and the Center for Biomedical Research in Red Cancer (CIBERONC). He has published more than 80 articles indexed in PubMed and has registered 4 patents.

Speaker: Elena Sanz Pineapple

Research support technician of the DNA and Fluids Node of the Valdecilla Biobank. Training program for research support technicians “Tec-Val”.

Graduated in Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Master in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the University of Cantabria.

Speaker: Sara Marcos González

Responsible Node of Neurological Tissues of the Valdecilla biobank. Pathology Anatomy Specialist, responsible for the Neuropathology area, at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (Santander, Cantabria).

Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Extremadura. Pathological Anatomy Specialist at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital.

The session will take place on Wednesday, January 8 at 2:00 p.m. in Hall 16 (1^st floor, classroom 4-5) of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (maximum capacity of 30 people). The talk of each speaker will be about 20 minutes followed by a small debate. In addition, at the end a small agape will be served to continue the conversation and encourage interaction between participants and attendees.

Attendance certificates will be issued if 80% of the sessions are attended throughout the academic period.

Any questions or clarifications can be contacted at proyectos1@idival.org

Published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria on December 27, 2019, the Biosanitary Dynamization 2020 Autonomous Plan includes 11 research support programs for an estimated grant amount of more than € 1.2M, aimed at promoting research, innovation and intrapreneurship in the biosanitary field of Cantabria.

The 11 programs as a whole prioritize talent, internationalization and innovation: contracts and promotion.

Contract line that includes the following programs:

• Tec-Val: contracts in practices of support technicians for research platforms to be developed in the IDIVAL Central Support Unit.

• Ges-Val: contracts in research management practices to be developed in the IDIVAL Central Support Unit.
  
  

Promotion line that includes the following programs:

– Four project programs:

• Next-Val: aimed at emerging researchers.

• Inn-Val: for the development of research projects.

• Prim-Val: for primary care projects.

• Trans-Val: for transition of National Plan projects.
  
  

– Two talent attraction programs:

• Mentoring: junior program for new residents.

• Innplant: senior program for new service managers or section that arrive at Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital from other centers.
  
  

– A facilitation program for clinical researchers

• Intensification modality A.

• Intensification modality B or self-intensification.

– A predoctoral mobility program.

· A support program for research groups (Support).

It should be noted that other promotion programs will have their own calls such as the López Albo-Valdecilla Post-Residency program that will be convened by the Cantabria Public Health System directly and the predoctoral contract program that will be jointly convened by IDIVAL and the University of cantabria.

The deadlines for submitting applications for the different programs will be the following:

More Information (link)

The Photonics Engineering Group of the UC-IDIVAL and the CIBER-BBN has developed a sensor system that, located in a rigid endoscope, makes it intelligent, facilitating spatial orientation in endoscopic surgery. This allows more efficient and effective operations and to reduce the stress of the surgeon during their operations.

The work has been carried out by a team of the group led by Prof. José Miguel López Higuera to solve existing needs pre-specified by the surgeon Jaime Viera Artiles of the Otolaryngology Service of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital.

The new device will not invade, at all, the surgical space and will facilitate the clinical execution of the operations by means of rigid endoscopes. The resulting new intelligent rigid endoscopes have been experimentally validated by surgeons at the Virtual Hospital of Valdecilla, showing fully satisfactory results.

The Ministry of Science Innovation and Universities announces various actions contemplated in the State Subprogram for Training and the State Subprogram for Incorporation, of the State Program for the Promotion of Talent and its Employability, within the framework of the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020.

The aid called are the following:

Aid for Juan de la Cierva contracts – Training: Promote the hiring of young doctors for a period of 2 years, so that they complete their postdoctoral research training in Spanish R&D centers other than those in which they carried out their predoctoral training

Aid for contracts Juan de la Cierva – Incorporation: Promote the hiring of young doctors for a period of 3 years, so that they strengthen the skills acquired during a first stage of postdoctoral training.

Aid for contracts of technical support personnel for R & D & I: Granting of 3-year grants for the hiring of technical support personnel, in research organizations dedicated to the management of equipment, facilities and other R&D infrastructures + ia in order to increase and improve the performance and performance of scientific and technological infrastructures.

The deadline for the generation and submission of applications through the computer application will end at 2:00 p.m., Peninsular time, on the indicated end date.

It is advisable to inform the National Projects Unit (gesval5@idival.org) in advance of the intention to request a project.

Link to the aid application website:

http://www.ciencia.gob.es/portal/site/MICINN/menuitem.29bfd64be21cddc5f09dfd1001432ea0/?vgnextoid=35365d99c09b2610VgnVCM1000001d04140aRCRD

Link to the call (pdf)

The IDIVAL brand, an acronym for the Marques de Valdecilla Research Institute, created in 2014, has been cited more than 10,000 times by international biomedical literature, according to data obtained on the Web of Science platform recently.

According to these data, the works published by the authors who have in their affiliation the Valdecilla brand (exclusive worldwide brand of our Hospital) have been referenced on more than 10,000 occasions by international literature, a clear sign of the rapid growth in prestige and impact of the Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute. These citations grow year by year, in a relevant way and in 2018 they have exceeded 4,000 citations. Currently more than 14 works have received more than 70 citations in international literature. These are indicators of the impact and visibility of scientific activity.

The IDIVAL brand is not only a consolidated brand in our region, it is also known internationally as evidenced by data from the scientific literature.

The calculation of the citations was made using the “IDIVAL” descriptor in the “address” field of the Web of Science (WOS) platform search engine.

The study of the mechanisms involved in the development and the appearance of the clinical manifestations of schizophrenia can help us improve the clinical capacity in the diagnosis and treatment of this important mental disorder.

Previous publications in a cohort of schizophrenia patients, belonging to the “Program of First Episodes of Psychosis in Cantabria” (PAFIP) developed in the H.U. Marquis de Valdecilla, revealed six genes whose expression was deregulated at the beginning of the disease and after antipsychotic treatment.

New results published in the journal Translational Psychiatry have validated the deregulation of the expression of one of these genes (ADAMTS2) in an independent cohort of PAFIP patients responding to antipsychotic treatment. In addition, in mouse brain, the expression of this gene located in regions related to dopaminergic (mesocorticolimbic) pathways associated with this mental disorder has been observed. Finally, in vitro studies in human neuronal cells have shown an activation of ADAMTS2 dependent on dopamine D1 receptors, through the cAMP / CREB and MAPK / ERK signaling pathways, which could be reversed by specific antipsychotics and inhibitors. of these routes.

The research results place the ADAMTS2 gene and the mechanisms that regulate its expression (CREB) as candidates for biomarkers of the onset of the disease and / or response to drug treatment. Future research could help answer some of the questions of the origin of the disease and / or in the search for new pharmacological targets to improve clinical efficacy.

This publication, innovative in the biochemical study of the disease, is part of the PhD thesis of Dr. Fulgencio Ruso Julve, framed in a translational collaboration between the Psychiatry group, led by Dr. Benedicto Crespo Facorro (HUMV-IDIVAL), and the group of Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer, led by Dr. José P. Vaqué Díez (University of Cantabria-IDIVAL), in whose preparation groups of Cyber in Mental Health (CIBERSAM-ISCIII) have participated.

Ref. Dopaminergic control of ADAMTS2 expression through cAMP/CREB and ERK: molecular effects of antipsychotics.Ruso-Julve F, Pombero A,Pilar-Cuéllar F, García-Díaz N,, Garcia-Lopez R, Juncal-Ruiz M, Castro E, Díaz Á, Vazquez-Bourgón J, García-Blanco A, Garro-Martinez E, Pisonero H, Estirado A, Ayesa-Arriola R, López-Giménez J, Mayor F Jr, Valdizán E,Meana J, Gonzalez-Maeso J, Martínez S, Vaqué JP, Crespo-Facorro B

This Tuesday, December 17, 2019, the incorporation of Dr. Maria Buti to the External Scientific Council of IDIVAL and the dismissal of Dr. Josep María Grinyo was approved in the Board of Trustees of IDIVAL.

Dr. Buti, is head of Hepatology and Internal Medicine at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, principal investigator of the Hepatic Diseases group of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and researcher attached to the Center for Biomedical Research in Disease Network Hepatic and Digestive (CIBERehd). She is currently the Policy Counselor-elected of the EASL (leader of the Committee on Public Health and Political Relations of the European Association for the Study of the Liver) and has been president of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH) during the years 2017- 2019.

Dr. Buti has published numerous scientific articles in leading journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Journal of Hepatology and has been one of the most cited researchers according to the Clarivate Analytics list. In addition, Dr. Buti has led the studies on new drugs and major clinical trials of hepatitis B and D national and international in recent years and has collaborated as an expert in the Strategic Plan for the Approach of Hepatitis C in the System National Health (2015).

With the incorporation of Dr. Buti to the external scientific council of IDIVAL, the current composition of the External Council of IDIVAL appointed by the Board of Trustees of IDIVAL is as follows:

President:

• Angel Carracedo Álvarez. Professor of Legal Medicine. University of Santiago de Compostela. IDIS
  
  

Vowels:

• Xosé Ramón Bustelo. Director of the Genomics and Proteomics Unit Cancer Research Center. CSIC-University of Salamanca. Cancer Research Center.

• Rafael Cantón Moreno. Head of the Microbiology Service of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital. Complutense University of Madrid. IRYCIS

• Miguel Delgado Rodríguez. Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health University of Jaén.

• Jordi Vila Estapé. Head of Microbiology Service. Clinical hospital of Barcelona. University of Barcelona. CRESIB
  
  
• Miguel López-Botet Arbona. Professor of Immunology, Pompeu Fabra University.

• Ana María Zubiaga Elordieta. Professor of Genetics of the University of the Basque Country, Faculty of Science and Technology. Head of the Genomics Service of the UPV / EHU.

• Manuel Elkim Patarroyo. Professor at the National University of Colombia and associate professor at Rockefeller University in New York and the University of Stockholm (Sweden).

• Maria Luz Martínez-Chantar. Group Leader Researcher. CIC bioGUNE, Derio, Vizcaya.

• Francisco Sánchez Madrid. Scientific Director of IIS-Princesa, Head of Service and Professor of Immunology. University Hospital of La Princesa, Autonomous University of Madrid.

• Ana Perez Castillo. Researcher of the Institute of Biomedical Research “Alberto Sols” CSIC-UAM (IIBM) of Madrid.
  
  
• Maria Buti Ferret. Clinical Head of the Hepatology and Internal Medicine Service of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital.