Search

El asma y la alergia son enfermedades respiratorias crónicas que poseen un amplio espectro clínico, resultado de múltiples interacciones entre factores génicos y medioambientales. La atopia y los mecanismos alérgicos se ha demostrado que están implicados en un 50-80 % de los casos asmáticos, y en aproximadamente un 50 % de los pacientes con asma grave.Los mecanismos del asma son complejos y se caracterizan por la inflamación de las vías respiratorias basados en citocinas. La activación de células T cooperadoras de tipo 2 (Th2)específicas de alérgeno y de células linfoides innatas de tipo 2 (ILC2) son las responsables de la inflamación eosinofílica. Estas respuestas de la inflamación de las vías respiratorias provocada por células Th2 e ILC2 constituyen las vías principales de la enfermedad en los pacientes con asma Th2-alta. Sin embargo, otras células importantes, las células Th17, originan el reclutamiento de neutrófilos. Esta vía podría ser la más relevante en pacientes con asma Th2-baja..., Asthma and allergy are complex chronic respiratory diseases that include a wide clinical spectrum, which is a result from multiple interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Atopy and allergic mechanisms have been demonstrated to be implicated in 50-80 % of the asthmatic cases, and in approximately a 50 % of patients with severe asthma.The mechanistic drivers of asthma are complex and are characterized by cytokine-based airway inflammation. The activation of allergen-specific T helper 2 (Th2) cells and of innatelymphocytes cells 2 (ILC2) are responsible for the eosinophilic inflammation. Airway inflammation driven by Th2 cells and ILC2 cells constitute the main pathways in patients withTh2-high asthma. However, other important T lymphocytes, the Th17 cells, cause neutrophil recruitment. This pathway could be the most relevant in patients with Th2-low asthma...

Using the 16S rRNA and mcrA genes, we investigated the composition, abundance and activity of sediment archaeal communities within 18 high-mountain lakes under contrasted metal levels from different origins (bedrock erosion, past-mining activities and atmospheric depositions). Bathyarchaeota, Euryarchaeota and Woesearchaeota were the major phyla found at the meta-community scale, representing 48%, 18.3% and 15.2% of the archaeal community respectively. Metals were equally important as physicochemical variables in explaining the assemblage of archaeal communities and their abundance. Methanogenesis appeared as a process of central importance in the carbon cycle within sediments of alpine lakes as indicated by the absolute abundance of methanogen 16S rRNA and mcrA gene transcripts (105 to 109 copies g21). We showed that methanogen abundance and activity were significantly reduced with increasing concentrations of Pb and Cd, two indicators of airborne metal contaminations. Considering the ecological importance of methanogenesis in sediment habitats, these metal contaminations may have system wide implications even in remote area such as alpine lakes. Overall, this work was pioneer in integrating the effect of longrange atmospheric depositions on archaeal communities and indicated that metal contamination might significantly compromise the contribution of Archaea to the carbon cycling of the mountain lake sediments.

The climatic-change related increase of temperatures, are expected to alter the distribution and survival of freshwater species, ecosystem functions, and also the effects of toxicants to aquatic biota. This study has thus assessed, as a first time, the modulating effect of climate-change drivers on the mercury (Hg) toxicity of freshwater algal photosynthesis. Natural benthic algal communities (periphyton) have been exposed to Hg under present and future temperature scenarios (rise of 5 °C). The modulating effect of other factors (also altered by global change), as the quality and amount of suspended and dissolved materials in the rivers, has been also assessed, exposing algae to Hg in natural river water or a synthetic medium. The EC50 values ranged from the 0.15–0.74 ppm for the most sensitive communities, to the 24–40 ppm for the most tolerant. The higher tolerance shown by communities exposed to higher Hg concentrations, as Jabarrella was in agreement with the Pollution Induced Community Tolerance concept. In other cases, the dominance of the invasive diatom Didymosphenia geminata explained the tolerance or sensitivity of the community to the Hg toxicity. Results shown that while increases in the suspended solids reduced Hg bioavailability, changes in the dissolved materials – such as organic carbon – may increase it and thus its toxic effects on biota. The impacts of the increase of temperatures on the toxicological behaviour of periphyton (combining both changes at species composition and physiological acclimation) would be certainly modulated by other effects at the land level (i.e., alterations in the amount and quality of dissolved and particulate substances arriving to the rivers).

A small hydrological basin (Lerma, NE Spain), transformed from its natural state (steppe) to rain-fed agriculture and recently to irrigation agriculture, has been monitored across four seasons of an agricultural year. The goal of this study was to assess how and whether agricultural activities impacted the nearby freshwater ecosystems via runoff. Specifically, we assessed the toxicity of three triazine herbicides, terbuthylazine, atrazine and simazine on the photosynthetic efficiency and structure of algal benthic biofilms (i.e., phototropic periphyton) in the small creek draining the basin. It was expected that the seasonal runoff of the herbicides in the creek affected the sensitivity of the periphyton in accord with the rationale of the Pollution Induced Community Tolerance (PICT): the exposure of the community to pollutants result in the replacement of sensitive species by more tolerant ones. In this way, PICT can serve to establish causal linkages between pollutants and the observed biological impacts. The periphyton presented significantly different sensitivities against terbuthylazine through the year in accord with the seasonal application of this herbicide in the crops nowadays. The sensitivity of already banned herbicides, atrazine and simazine does not display a clear seasonality. The different sensitivities to herbicides were in agreement with the expected exposures scenarios, according to the agricultural calendar, but not with the concentrations measured in water, which altogether indicates that the use of PICT approach may serve for long-term monitoring purposes. That will provide not only causal links between the occurrence of chemicals and their impacts on natural communities, but also information about the occurrence of chemicals that may escape from traditional sampling methods (water analysis). In addition, the EC50 and EC10 of periphyton for terbuthylazine or simazine are the first to be published and can be used for impact assessments.

Biolog EcoPlates™ can be used to measure the carbon substrate utilisation patterns of microbial communities. This method results in a community-level physiological profile (CLPP), which yields a very large amount of data that may be difficult to interpret. In this work, we explore a combination of statistical techniques (particularly the use of generalised additive models [GAMs]) to improve the exploitation of CLPP data. The strength of GAMs lies in their ability to address highly non-linear relationships between the response and the set of explanatory variables. We studied the impact of earthworms (Aporrectodea caliginosa Savigny 1826) and cadmium (Cd) on the CLPP of soil bacteria. The results indicated that both Cd and earthworms modified the CLPP. GAMs were used to assess time-course changes in the diversity of substrate utilisation (DSU) using the Shannon-Wiener index. GAMs revealed significant differences for all treatments (compared to control -S-). The Cd exposed microbial community presented very high metabolic capacities on a few substrata, resulting in an initial acute decrease of DSU (i.e. intense utilization of a few carbon substrata). After 54 h, and over the next 43 h the increase of the DSU suggest that other taxa, less dominant, reached high numbers in the wells containing sources that are less suitable for the Cd-tolerant taxa. Earthworms were a much more determining factor in explaining time course changes in DSU than Cd. Accordingly, Ew and EwCd soils presented similar trends, regardless the presence of Cd. Moreover, both treatments presented similar number of bacteria and higher than Cd-treated soils. This experimental approach, based on the use of DSU and GAMs allowed for a global and statistically relevant interpretation of the changes in carbon source utilisation, highlighting the key role of earthworms on the protection of microbial communities against the Cd.

Many dryland areas are being converted into intensively managed irrigation crops, what can disrupt the hydrological regime, degrade soil and water quality, enhance siltation, erosion and bank instability, and affect biological communities. Still, the impacts of irrigation schemes on the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are poorly understood. Here we assess the effects of irrigation agriculture on breakdown of coarse organic matter in soil and water. We measured breakdown rates of alder and holm oak leaves, and of poplar sticks in terrestrial and aquatic sites following a gradient of increasing irrigation agriculture in a semi-arid Mediterranean basin transformed into irrigation agriculture in 50% of its surface. Spatial patterns of stick breakdown paralleled those of leaf breakdown. In soil, stick breakdown rates were extremely low in non-irrigated sites (0.0001-0.0003day-1), and increased with the intensity of agriculture (0.0018-0.0044day-1). In water, stick breakdown rates ranged from 0.0005 to 0.001day-1, and increased with the area of the basin subject to irrigation agriculture. Results showed that irrigation agriculture affects functioning of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, accelerating decomposition of organic matter, especially in soil. These changes can have important consequences for global carbon budgets. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.