Dr. Eduard Gallardo has been appointed group leader of the U762 CIBERER (Centre for Research on Rare Disease Networks) in Sant Pau, replacing Dr. Isabel Illa. This research group specializes in neuromuscular diseases.

Since 1993, Dr. Gallardo has been working in the field of desinmune neuropathies, myasthenia, inflammatory myopathies and muscular dystrophies, specifically in dysferlinopathies. He has published over 100 articles in scientific journals in the field of neuromuscular diseases and has been a principal investigator in 12 research projects.

The research carried out by this research group at CIBERER de Sant Pau is clearly translational, which has led to the development of multiple diagnostic techniques that have been incorporated into the Hospital de Sant Pau’s laboratory test portfolio.

The goals achieved in the laboratory, together with the work of excellence in the clinic of the Neuromuscular Diseases Unit of the Hospital de Sant Pau, led by Dr. Isabel Illa, have led the group to be highlighted as a unit of excellence in Spain (CSUR) – http://www.santpau.cat/web/public/csur– and in Europe (ERN).

Grup Immobiliari Alting has made a donation to the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau for the creation of a Biobank of COVID-19 samples that will contribute to its present and future research. The aim of this project is to collect, process and process samples from SARS-CoV2 seropositive patients under conditions that guarantee quality in the long term, in order to facilitate research at COVID-19 for those researchers who are seeking a drug, vaccine and/or the effects of this malaltia on certain types of patients.

The project

Surplus diagnostic blood samples will be collected from previously inactivated SARS-CoV2 positive patients at the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona. The samples will be stored at -86ºC after processing in the biobank’s biosafety laboratory to obtain plasma and cells, according to the needs of the researchers who request the samples. Processing shall be carried out in accordance with the standard work protocols of the National Biobank Network, adopted by the Sant Pau biobank to guarantee the maximum quality of the samples processed. In order to collect and process the samples, it is necessary to acquire personal protection material (disposable gowns, FFP2 masks, surgical masks and gloves), disinfection material (for hands and surfaces), reagents for processing the samples (serum, media, tubes), technical personnel for processing the samples and equipment for labelling and refrigerated conservation of samples.

What is a biomedical research biobank?

A biobank is a public or private non-profit institution that holds collections of biological samples of human origin for biomedical research purposes, with quality criteria. Biobanks use standardized protocols to process and preserve biological samples, so that they can guarantee that the results obtained from the research carried out with them are reproducible.

Alting in social projects

Alting, which actively participates in various social projects, supports research with our present and future in mind. Likewise, from Alting we express our admiration for all the staff, health and researchers who work together in the fight against COVID-19.
Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

The Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, created on 4 June 1992, is a private scientific foundation whose mission is to promote basic, clinical, epidemiological and health services research in the field of health sciences and biomedicine, with the ultimate aim of contributing to the improvement of the health of the population. On 10 December 2003, the Government of Catalonia approved the affiliation of the Institute to the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), as a university institute.

www.recercasantpau.cat

#RSCAlting #Quedateencasa # Covid19 # Investigación

The Portal de la Recerca de Catalunya (PRC) already contains the data of the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, as a centre of the Institució CERCA (Research Centres of Catalonia).

The PRC highlights the research carried out in Catalonia. It increases access and visibility of the work of researchers, improves the processes of unified management of research data for participating universities and centers, and facilitates the projection of the potential of the entire Catalan research system.

Hospital de Sant Pau, QEV Technologies engineering, the automobile company Nissan and the Eurecat technology centre have developed the Q-Vent respirator for use in hospital ICUs to alleviate the lack of equipment generated by COVID-19 throughout the world. The design of the respirator is intended to contribute to supplying emerging countries, given its performance in terms of accessibility, flexibility and reliability.

The Q-Vent ventilator, which has already been authorised by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Healthcare Products (AEMPS) for use in clinical research, has been tested at the facilities of the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau (Barcelona) with excellent results. The first 20 units will be given to CatSalut, in order to continue contributing to the provision of resources in the ICUs of Catalonia and to the development of the ongoing clinical study for the optimization of the equipment.

Q-Vent is a 22kg portable equipment developed by QEV Technologies and the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau that automates a resuscitator device that manually assists the patient’s breathing, in order to make up for the lack of conventional automatic respirators in the face of the emergency situation generated by the new coronavirus worldwide.

The objective of the Hospital de Sant Pau, QEV Technologies, Nissan and Eurecat is to make available to any market an accessible and easy-to-use respirator that is at the same time robust and reliable.

“From the beginning of the epidemic we took on the challenge of developing a low-cost portable system that could reach all corners of the world, especially in those emerging countries where the COVID-19 was going to cause great damage and where most patients would not have access to respirators. And thanks to the effort and will of all, it has been achieved,” explains Miguel Valldecabres, CEO of QEV Technologies.

“From Sant Pau we support this initiative to fight against COVID-19. We believe it is necessary to help emerging countries that have lower economic capacities than those we have in Europe and that is why we support the QEV Technologies project so that this ventilator can be useful in ICUs anywhere in the world”, confirms Dr. José M. Guerra, scientific coordinator of the project, a doctor from the Arrhythmia Unit of the Hospital de Sant Pau and coordinator of the Clinical and Translational Cardiology Research Group of the research institute of this centre.

Nissan develops the production process
Production of the Q-Vent will begin this week at Nissan’s Zona Franca engine and gearbox plant, where engineers have developed the production process for mass production, with a capacity of 180 units per day.

Eurecat has been in charge of advising on the design of components and the production of some of them, as well as managing the process for including hospitals in the clinical study, as is the case with the Althaia Foundation (Hospital Red Asistencial Universitaria de Manresa).

Control of frequency, pressure and volume of oxygen supplied
Q-Vent allows you to control the values of frequency, pressure and volume of oxygen supplied to the patient and includes a safety system with sound alarms and an internal auxiliary battery that, in the event of a power failure, gives it an autonomy of at least 36 minutes. The device is monitored and controlled by a PC with Windows operating system supplied and by means of the Open source software -Covid Patient Tracker-. The software has remote connectivity and requires no configuration, allowing immediate use.

Security system with alarms
The software has been designed to guarantee its stable operation over time and incorporates an acoustic alarm system. These alarms are activated both in the event of accidental disconnection and any alternation in the programmed or measured parameters.

Connectivity
The Q-Vent is equipped with Open Source software -Covid Patient Tracker- which allows for the monitoring and control of an unlimited number of respirators in real time from a single PC, thus reducing the time required for medical supervision.

Acknowledgements
The Hospital de Sant Pau, QEV Technologies engineering, the Nissan automotive company and Eurecat would like to thank their suppliers and collaborators for all the support received, and make special mention of the support provided by the AEMPS, CatSalut, ACCION and LGAI.

Cochrane ha creado un nuevo registro universal de estudios en humanos sobre COVID-19 como respuesta al desafío global que plantea la actual pandemia. Este Registro de estudios COVID-19, que ya contiene más de 1.200 estudios, se actualiza constantemente con los nuevos trabajos publicados o en marcha, con el objetivo de facilitar la investigación y la toma de decisiones de salud basada en la evidencia . Pronto ofrecerá también la posibilidad de buscar por metadatos relevantes y crear alertas sobre los nuevos estudios disponibles.

El objetivo del registro es ayudar a los investigadores a identificar la evidencia disponible, priorizar temas y producir revisiones rápidas que permitan desarrollar nuevas intervenciones terapéuticas, diagnósticas y preventivas. Este proyecto encaja con la misión de Cochrane de promover la toma de decisiones de salud basadas en la evidencia mediante la realización de revisiones sistemáticas y otros resúmenes de la evidencia. Y se suma a otros recursos, como Evidencias COVID-19, desarrollado por el Centro Cochrane Iberoamericano.

“Una de las virtudes de este registro es que contribuirá a no precipitarse prescribiendo tratamientos que aún están en fase de estudio. Asimismo, ayudará a que dejen impulsarse proyectos de investigación poco sólidos o con un bajo número de pacientes si se comprueba que hay otros en marcha que pueden aportar mucho más “, destaca Xavier Bonfill, director del Servicio de Epidemiología de Sant Pau y director del Centro Cochrane Iberoamericano.

Karla Soares-Weiser, la editora en jefe de Cochrane, califica este recurso como un gran avance para la síntesis rápida de la evidencia sobre COVID-19: “Cochrane ha lanzado un registro de importancia crítica basado en estudios que expone claramente los criterios de elegibilidad y los recursos que estamos utilizando. El objetivo de este recurso es apoyar los esfuerzos de síntesis de la evidencia, como las revisiones sistemáticas vivas, los metaanálisis en red vivos y las revisiones rápidas a partir de guías vivas relacionadas con la COVID-19 “.

Todos los estudios incluidos en el registro están clasificados según sus características, lo que permite realizar búsquedas específicas por tipo de estudio y de diseño, fecha de publicación, objetivo y otras características relevantes. “Cochrane ha estado trabajando durante varios años en soluciones y procesos tecnológicos para mejorar la eficiencia en la síntesis de evidencia y avanzar hacia un modelo de ecosistema de evidencia viva. La COVID-19 nos presenta un gran desafío y utilizaremos nuestras herramientas de síntesis y gestión de datos para ayudar a dar una respuesta rápida a las preguntas más importantes para los tomadores de decisiones del mundo. Este registro es una pieza clave para poder dar esta respuesta”, señala Chris Mavergames, jefe de Tecnología e Informática de Cochrane y líder del proyecto.

Isabelle Boutron, epidemióloga del Centro de Investigación en Epidemiología y Estadística y directora de Cochrane Francia, señala que “el Registro de estudios COVID-19 de Cochrane nos ayuda a sintetizar de manera muy rápida los estudios primarios para nuestro metanálisis en red vivo. Así podemos proporcionar la evidencia relevante para los investigadores que trabajan activamente en diagnóstico, intervenciones preventivas, terapias y vacunas para la COVID-19 “.

Página web del COVID-19 Study Register:   https://covid-19.cochrane.org/ Más información y entrevistas: Victoria Leo Centre Cochrane Iberoamericà Tel: +34 93 553 7814 | comunica@cochrane.es

The first project of the Sant Pau Research Institute funded by the Department of Health is led by researchers José F. Nomdedeu Guinot and Silvia Vidal Alcorisa and aims to define the effective immune response against COVID-19 by studying antibodies against SARS-CoV -2 in the blood of health professionals. The second is led by the researcher Ivan Castellví, who plans to identify a possible marker to determine which COVID-19 patients will suffer from worsening respiratory failure.

The Department of Health, through the Directorate General for Healthcare Research and Innovation (DGRI), will invest 4 million euros in 19 research and innovation projects to prevent and treat COVID-19 disease. As part of an emergency call for proposals in collaboration with Biocat, the projects have been selected from among researchers at different healthcare research centers committed to the IRISCAT alliance (Institutes for Healthcare Research and Innovation of Catalonia).

Researchers from the Research Group on Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services of the Sant Pau Research Institute – IIB Sant Pau, in collaboration with the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network, have launched “Evidences COVID-19”, a new information resource that offers relevant related information with the SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

This resource, which is continuously updated and expanded, offers a series of documents that synthesize the most relevant information to answer priority questions about the pandemic, in the form of reviews of the scientific literature and critical evaluations of published studies.

The documents are intended to synthesize and update the knowledge available regarding COVID-19, and give a collaborative response to the current health emergency. These documents address issues related to the epidemiology, clinical, prevention, and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 infection.

The documents that are being published in this resource are of different types:

• COVID19 responses: quick reviews of the literature that answer priority questions, locally or globally, from other existing knowledge transfer products or, when necessary, from primary studies.
• Study COVID-19: Comment on the structures that are filled in by the new or original information on the coronavirus and COVID-19.
• COVID-19 clinical trials: structured comments from published clinical trials of treatments in patients with COVID-19 or strategies for disease prevention.
• Cochrane Reviews: Links to Cochrane systematic reviews included in the first two special collections that Cochrane has prepared as content related to the COVID-19 pandemic, for infection control and prevention and critical care.

This resource can be consulted in Catalan on the website of the Research Institute: https://www.recercasantpau.cat/noticies-grup/evidencies-covid-19/ and in Spanish on the website of the Center Cochrane Iberoamericà: https: //es.cochrane.org/es/recursos/evidencias-covid-19

The trial will study the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin with or without tocilizumab and, among other objectives, whether these drugs reduce in-hospital mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit.

More information

Researchers from the Lipids and Cardiovascular Pathology Group, from the Institute of Research of Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, led by Dr. Vicenta Llorente; from CSIC; from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute; from the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona and from the University of Barcelona have published an article in Metabolism. In their work, carried out in the context of different CIBER groups, they demonstrate in an experimental model that the preservation of low levels of the LRP1 receptor in cardiomyocytes (or in the heart) prevents the development of insulin resistance and obesity induced by the diet.

In the article “Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 deficiency in cardiomyocytes reduce susceptibility to insulin resistance and Obesity” they state that it is due to the fact that the LRPI receptor controls the release of a protein in the bloodstream, the cardioquin or ANP hormone, which modulates the liver’s ability to burn or oxidize the fatty acids that the diet provides to the body. The increased ability of the liver to burn fatty acids prevents them from accumulating as fat and, therefore, LRP1-deficient animals gain less weight than controls even though they are fed a diet richer in fatty acids. These results open up a new therapeutic avenue to prevent cardiac and metabolic disorders in the context of diet-induced obesity and diabetes.

About the article

Benitez-Amaro A, Revuelta-López E, Bornachea O, Cedo L, See À, Herrero L, Roglans N, Soler-Botija C, de Gonzalo-Calvo D, Nasarre L, Camino-López S, García JE, Mato E, Blanco-Vaca F, Bayes-Genis A, Sebastian D, Laguna JC, Sierra D, Zorzano A, Escuela-Gil JC, Llorente-Cortes V. “Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 deficiency in cardiomyocytes reducing susceptibility to insulin resistance and Obesity “. Metabolism. 2020 Feb 26: 154.191. doi: 10.1016 / j.metabol.2020.154191. PubMed PMID: 32112822.

Following the guidelines of the Ministry of Health regarding preventive measures of an organizational nature to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau suspends the activities that suppose a large presence of people outside the center in order to protect the safety of the people in its enclosure.

Therefore, all events that meet these characteristics are postponed to the new date.

The Sant Pau Institute for Biomedical Research – IIB Sant Pau with Dr. J. Carlos Escolà of the Research Group on Metabolic Bases in Cardiovascular Risk, organized the seminar “Transcription factor USF1 deficiency Improves cardiometabolic health, Enhancer Cholesterol efflux but has Adverse effects on reproductive function” by Matti Jauhiainen, professor at the Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Biomedicum 2U Helsinki. The conference will take place on March 11th at 3 pm in the auditorium of the Research Institute.

The Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute (IIB Sant Pau) with the Cardiovascular Biochemistry Research Group, led by Dr. José Luis Sánchez-Quesada, is organizing the seminar “Serum Amyloid A in Lipid Transport and Immune Response: Structural bases for a new function of an ancent protein” by Olga Grusky, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine . The conference will be held on March 5 at 3 pm in the auditorium of the Research Institute.

Dr. Jordi Clarimón, from the Genetic Unit of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Sant Pau Research Institute – IIB Sant Pau, together with researchers from the ACE Foundation and the Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital, have prepared a review of human genetic variability and how it can influence the appearance of degenerative dementias such as Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies or prion diseases.

To consult the article

Dr. Jordi Mancebo, director of the Intensive Medicine department of Sant Pau, is coauthor of the survey “Effect of Intravenous Interferon β-1stwhere Death and Days Free From MechanicalVentilation Among Patients With Moderate key Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: At Randomized Clinical Trial” published recently at the magazine JAMA, and of which Dr. Antoni J. Betbesé, clinical cape of the same Kick, is member of the multicèntric INTEREST Study Group.

més…

Adela Gomez has launched a ‘crowdfunding’ campaign to investigate the rare disease she suffers from, Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack nerves. The aim of the campaign was to raise 5,000 euros for the Neuromuscular Diseases Research Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute, which specialises in Guillain-Barré, in order to contribute to its research and the development of treatments; although the figure has already been exceeded, reaching a total of 11,686 euros.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a progressive paralysis, which evolves over several weeks. Recovery, which can take months, requires a long hospital stay. In fact, the young woman has been admitted to Sant Pau for one month under the supervision of Dr. Luis Querol, neurologist at the Neuromuscular Unit of the Sant Pau Neurology Service and researcher at the Neuromuscular Diseases Research Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute.

In total, there are 400 cases per year in Spain with this syndrome, so it is considered a rare disease. According to the experts, most cases recover completely, but there is a high percentage of affected people in which the sequelae are permanent or can even reach, in a few cases, death.

The Gaudí Shopping Association has donated to the Sant Pau Research Institute the 1,179.29 euros collected during the solidarity campaign organized around the World Breast Cancer Day last year by the shopkeepers who are members of this association. The money will go to a research project led by Dr. Cristina Arqueros, from the Oncology Clinical Research Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute, led by Dr. Agustín Barnadas, director of the Oncology Service of Sant Pau.

The Sant Pau Institute for Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau) with the Research Group on Metabolic Bases in Cardiovascular Risk, coordinated by Dr. José Julve, are organizing the seminar “Mitochondrial dynamics and its role in metabolic diseases” by Antonio Zorzano, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona, coordinator of the Molecular Medicine Programme at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and head of the CIBERDEM Programme: “Cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the development and progression of type 2 diabetes”. The seminar will be held on the 26th in the conference room of the Hospital.

The Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau and the company Psious have signed a collaboration agreement through which clinical researchers at the Hospital de Sant Pau will have at their disposal virtual reality equipment to carry out clinical trials with their patients. Within this collaboration framework, the use of VR in clinical trials of approximately 12 to 24 months duration is foreseen, with a variable number of patients (between 200 and 300) depending on the study and covering a range of diverse pathologies. The collaboration begins with the study Efficacy of virtual reality as a pain and anxiety distraction strategy in hysteroscopy, led by the team of Dr. Josep Estadella, from the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Hospital de Sant Pau.

Next Tuesday 25th February, at 7 p.m., Dr. Diana Fernández and nurse M.Teresa Vilella, researchers of the Primary Care Research Group of the EAP Sardenya – IIB Sant Pau, will give a talk at the Guinardó Civic Centre. The session will focus on “Telemedicine in heart failure patients: An innovative experience from the primary care centre (PCC)”. This is an activity of the Sant Pau Research Institute within the Aula 141 cycle.

More information here

Dr. Daniel Guisado, researcher of the Cerebral Vascular Disease Research Group at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau Research Institute – IIB Sant Pau, and assistant doctor at the Neurology Service of the Hospital de Sant Pau will be giving the conference “The shortcuts of blood” next Tuesday 18 February, from 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. This session is part of the “Science and Medical Research” cycle of talks at the Navas Civic Centre. Admission is free.

When a stroke occurs due to a blockage of an important artery in the brain, treatments must be carried out as quickly as possible to try to resolve the blockage with the least possible brain damage. These treatments are possible thanks to the fact that a minimum amount of blood manages to reach the neurons that are suffering (and keep them hibernating but alive) through small paths that open up with this objective: the shortcuts of the blood.

More information