Objective: To evaluate the frequency of and risk factors for epileptic seizures in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a large cohort series. Methods: One thousand two hundred patients with SLE were analyzed. The type and frequency of risk factors for seizures associated with SLE were studied and compared with two other series reported in the literature. Results: One hundred and forty-two patients had seizures. Seventy-five patients were studied with a mean follow-up of 5 years from the first seizure episode. Fifty-eight (77%) patients had tonic-clonic seizures, 9 (12%) complex partial seizures (PS), 5 (7%) simple partial motor seizures and 3 (4%) secondary tonic-clonic seizures. In 41 (54%) patients, the seizures occurred within the first year of the SLE diagnosis. Recurrence occurred in 40 (53%) patients, and was associated with PS in 14 (35%; p = 0.006) and time of seizures with SLE onset in 5 (12.5%; p = 0.05). Less than one third of the patients had positive antiphospholipid antibodies. A concurrent infection was present in 16 (21%) patients. Conclusions: Epileptic seizures were more common during the first year after SLE diagnosis. Neither infection nor antiphospholipid syndrome was associated with the occurrence of seizures.

We have described the frequency of common muscular dystrophies in Mexico.

No abstract

Novel therapeutic approaches are emerging to restore dystrophin function in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a severe neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness. Some of the molecular therapies, such as exon skipping, stop codon read-through and internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation rely on the type and location of mutations. Hence, their potential applicability worldwide depends on mutation frequencies within populations. In view of this, we compared the mutation profiles of the populations represented in the DMD Leiden Open-source Variation Database with original data from Mexican patients (n = 162) with clinical diagnosis of the disease. Our data confirm that applicability of exon 51 is high in most populations, but also show that differences in theoretical applicability of exon skipping may exist among populations; Mexico has the highest frequency of potential candidates for the skipping of exons 44 and 46, which is different from other populations (p < 0.001). To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive comparison of theoretical applicability of exon skipping targets among specific populations.

ObjectivesTo determine the association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and Parkinson's disease and to investigate whether T. gondii seropositivity is associated with the general characteristics of patients with Parkinson's disease.DesignCase–control study.SettingCases and controls were enrolled in Durango City, Mexico.Participants65 patients with Parkinson's disease and 195 age- and gender-matched control subjects without Parkinson's disease.Primary and secondary outcome measuresSerum samples of participants were analysed for anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies by commercially available enzyme-linked immunoassays. Prevalence of T. gondii DNA was determined in seropositive subjects using PCR. The association between clinical data and infection was examined by bivariate analysis.ResultsAnti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 6/65 cases (9.2%) and in 21/195 controls (10.8%) (OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.32 to 2.18; p=0.81). The frequency of high (>150 IU/mL) antibody levels was similar among cases and controls (p=0.34). None of the anti-T. gondii IgG positive cases and four of the anti-T. gondii IgG positive controls had anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies (p=0.54). The prevalence of T. gondii DNA was comparable in seropositive cases and controls (16.7% and 25%, respectively; p=1.0). Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was associated with a young age onset of disease (p=0.03), high Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale scores (p=0.04) and depression (p=0.02). Seropositivity to T. gondii infection was lower in patients treated with pramipexole than in patients without this treatment (p=0.01). However, none of the associations remained significant after Bonferroni correction.ConclusionsThe results do not support an association between T. gondii infection and Parkinson's disease. However, T. gondii infection might have an influence on certain symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Further research to elucidate the role of T. gondii exposure on Parkinson's disease is warranted.