María-Teresa Pérez-Gracia

University CEU Cardenal Herrera · Pharmacy

The progressive emergence of antimicrobial resistance has become a global health problem in need of rapid solution. Research into new antimicrobial drugs is imperative. Drug repositioning, together with computationalmathematical prediction models, could be a fast and efficient method of searching for new antibiotics. The aim of this study was to id...

Antimicrobial resistance is an important threat to public health worldwide, being one of the main death causes in 2050. Moreover, global health is currently underpinned by the “One Health” concept, whereby livestock is strictly related to human and environmental health. However, in the case of the meat rabbit industry, antibiotic additives are stil...

Since 2017, the SWICEU team has developed various informative actions and innovative gamification supports to educate and raise awareness about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the correct use of antibiotics among the general population especially among young people. This case study presents the results obtained in the last 5 years with the strat...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a serious global health problem. Spain is the fifth country in Europe with the highest consumption of antibiotics, due in part to ignorance of the good use of these drugs and the problem of AMR. To avoid a post-antibiotic era, adequate training on this problem is key to create social awareness. This study aime...

In May 2022, the UK International Health Regulations National Focal Point notified World Health Organization of 176 cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown etiology in children under 10 years of age. From that moment on, cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children began to be reported in several countries. As of June 17, 2022,...

Quinolones are one of the most extensively used therapeutic families of antibiotics. However, the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria has rendered many of the available compounds useless. After applying our prediction model of activity against E. coli to a library of 1000 quinolones, two quinolones were selected to be synthesized. Additionall...

Objectives Evaluate the ability of current ion-releasing materials to remineralise bacteria-driven artificial caries lesions. Materials and methods Standardised class I cavities were obtained in 60 extracted human molars. Specimens underwent a microbiological cariogenic protocol (28 days) to generate artificial caries lesions and then were randoml...

Introduction: Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health threats worldwide. Currently, antibiotic-resistant bacteria kill 700,000 people every year. These data represent the near future in which we find ourselves, a "post-antibiotic era" where the identification and development of new treatments are key. This review is focused on th...

La resistencia a los antibióticos (RA) desarrollada por las bacterias está considerada por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) como una de las principales amenazas para la salud mundial1. El alarmante incremento de esta resistencia es, sin duda, uno de los mayores problemas actuales de salud pública ya que estos compuestos constituyen una de...

Abstract Objectives: To evaluate the changes in pain pressure threshold (PPT) and active cervical range of motion (ACROM) after the application of superficial dry needling (DN) or deep DN in myofascial trigger point (MTrP) 1 of the upper trapezius versus a simulated DN technique in the gastrocnemius muscle (control group). Design: Double-blind, ra...

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease with a high morbidity burden. Despite having guidelines for its treatment, the incidence of the disease follows an increasing trend worldwide. This is mainly due to the appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains, inefficient diagnostic methods and poor sexual education. Without an effective vaccine availa...

New measures applied to reduce antimicrobial resistances (AMR) at field level in broiler production are focused on improving animals’ welfare and resilience. However, it is necessary to have better knowledge of AMR epidemiology. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate AMR and multidrug resistance (MDR) dynamics during the rearing of broilers un...

Poultry is one of the main agricultural sub-sectors worldwide. However, public concern regarding animal welfare and antimicrobial resistance has risen in recent years. Due to the influence of management practices on microbiota, it might be considered to evaluate poultry welfare and health. Therefore, the objective of this research was to analyse th...

Drug repurposing appears as an increasing popular tool in the search of new treatment options against bacteria. In this paper, a tree-based classification method using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and discrete indexes was used to create a QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship) model to predict antibacterial activity against Esche...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antibacterial resistance is a serious problem worldwide. In Spain, knowledge about the use of antibiotics is scarce, being the third country with the highest consumption of antibiotics in the world and the first in Europe. This problem is due, partly, to the abusive use of these drugs in human medic...

Caecal microbiota and its modulation play an important role in poultry health, productivity and disease control. Moreover, due to the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, society is pressing for a reduction in antibiotic administration by finding effective alternatives at farm level, such as less intensified production systems. Hence, the...

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease with a high morbidity burden. Despite having guidelines for its treatment, the incidence of the disease follows an increasing trend worldwide. This is mainly due to the appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains, inefficient diagnostic methods and poor sexual education. Without an effective vaccine availa...

Background: The caecal microbiota and its modulation play an important role in animal health, productivity and disease control in poultry production. In this sense, it could be considered as a biomarker of poultry health. Furthermore, due to the emergence of resistant bacteria and the increasing social pressure to establish animal-friendly manageme...

With the pressing issue of antibiotic resistance, there is a constant need for new antibiotics. However, the fact that traditional methods of drug discovery are expensive and time‐consuming has discouraged the pharmaceutical industry, leaving the burden of discovery to research institutions. This is where quantitative structure–activity relationshi...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an important threat to public health worldwide. Furthermore, different studies have demonstrated a close association between antibiotic use in animal production and AMR in humans. It is well known that it is necessary to reduce antibiotic administration in farms by finding effective alternative treatments, using mo...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is one of the main causes of acute hepatitis in both developed and developing countries. This infectious disease has a high prevalence and incidence in Europe. HEV infection has a greater clinical impact in vulnerable populations, such as immunosuppressed patients, pregnant women and patients with underlying liver...

Wild birds have repeatedly been found to be involved in the dissemination of enteric bacterial pathogens in the environment. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of Salmonella and Campylobacter as well as the antimicrobial resistance in wild Bonelli's eagles nestlings in Eastern Spain. In addition, we compared the efficiency of two...

Aim: Due to antibiotic resistance and the lack of investment in antimicrobial R&D, quantitative structure–activity relationship (SAR) methods appear as an ideal approach for the discovery of new antibiotics. Result & methodology: Molecular topology and linear discriminant analysis were used to construct a model to predict activity against Escherich...

Experimentation in mammals is a long and expensive process in which ethical aspects must be considered, which has led the scientific community to develop alternative models such as that of Galleria mellonella. This model is a cost and time effective option to act as a filter in the drug discovery process. The main limitation of this model is the la...

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have become a public health threat worldwide. There are three major mechanisms by which Enterobacteriaceae become resistant to carbapenems: enzyme production, efflux pumps and porin mutations. Of these, enzyme production is the main resistance mechanism. There are three main groups of enzymes responsibl...

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the obligate human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This Gram‐negative diplococcus is highly infective due to its virulence factors: pili, Por proteins, Opa proteins, Rmp proteins, lipooligosaccharides and IgA protease. The most common form of presentation in men is acute anterior urethritis, whi...

The detection of multidrug-resistant bacteria is a growing problem; however, the role of domesticated animals in the propagation of antimicrobial resistance has barely been studied. The aim of this study was to identify extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli strains in domestic animal feces to assess their antimicrobial...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is one of the main causes of acute hepatitis in both developed and developing countries. This infectious disease has a high prevalence and incidence in Europe. HEV infection has a greater clinical impact in vulnerable populations, such as immunosuppressed patients, pregnant women and patients with underlying liver...

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease with a high morbidity burden. Incidence of this disease is rising due to the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant strains. Neisseria gonorrhoeae has shown an extraordinary ability to develop resistance to all antimicrobials introduced for its treatment. In fact, it was recently classified as a “Prior...

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease with a high morbidity burden. Incidence of this disease is rising due to the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant strains. Neisseria gonorrhoeae has shown an extraordinary ability to develop resistance to all antimicrobials introduced for its treatment. In fact, it was recently classified as a “Prior...

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of sexually transmitted infection worldwide. This virus generally causes benign lesions, such as genital warts, but persistent infection may lead to cervical cancer, anal cancer, vaginal cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer, although less frequently. Cervical cancer is a severe disease with...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is highly prevalent in developing countries, accounting for approximately 3.5 million asymptomatic infections and 70,000 deaths annually, according to World Health Organization estimations. In developed countries, the prevalence of HEV-IgG antibodies is not fully known, and in Spain it can range from 0.6% to 12% am...

Gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported notifiable disease in the United States and is becoming increasingly common in Europe. The purpose of this review was to assess the current state of drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in order to evaluate future prospects for its treatment. An exhaustive literature search was conducted to include t...

Molecular topology was used to develop a mathematical model capable of classifying compounds according to antimicrobial activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Topological indices were used as structural descriptors and their relation to antimicrobial activity was determined by using linear discriminant analysis. This t...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for more than 50% of acute viral hepatitis cases in endemic countries. Approximately 2 billion individuals live in hepatitis E–endemic areas and, therefore, are at risk of infection. According to World Health Organization, HEV causes about 20.1 million infections and 70 000 deaths every year. In developing cou...

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of sexually transmitted infection worldwide. This virus generally causes benign lesions, such as genital warts, but persistent infection may lead to cervical cancer, anal cancer, vaginal cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer, although less frequently. Cervical cancer is a severe disease with...

Hepatitis E, caused by Hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a highly prevalent disease in developing countries. In developed nations, autochthonous HEV infections seem to be an emergent disease. Its clinical manifestations and epidemiology are well known for endemic countries. It has been confirmed that hepatitis E is a zoonosis and that parenteral transmis...

Although only a single serotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV), the causative agent of hepatitis E, has been identified, there is great genetic variation among the different HEV isolates reported. There are at least four major recognized genotypes of HEV: genotypes 1 and 2 are mainly restricted to humans and linked to epidemic outbreaks in nonindustria...

Several cases of chronic infection by hepatitis E virus (HEV) in immunocompromised patients have been described recently. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are frequently immunocompromised because of the disease itself or due to therapy. Our aims were to determine HEV seroprevalence in patients with IBD and to detect possible chronic f...

Introduction Border disease virus (BDV) causes congenital disorders in sheep and results in severe, but underestimated, economic losses worldwide. However, information about BDV strains affecting several ruminants worldwide is scarce. Therefore, antigenic and genetic classification of isolates from different geographical regions is important to enh...

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main cause of acute epidemic hepatitis in developing countries and it is estimated that approximately one third of the world’s population has been infected with this virus. The aim of this study is to describe the most important clinical manifestations and epidemiological aspects in 62 hepatitis E cases treated in...

H epatitis E virus (HEV) is the agent responsible of hepatitis E, which in most cases is a self-limiting disease, being the fecal-oral route the main way of transmission. HEV is a major cause of outbreaks and sporadic cases of acute hepatitis in developing countries, mainly by the consumption of contaminated water. It is considered an emerging zoon...

Hepatitis E virus is responsible for sporadic cases of acute, self-limited viral hepatitis not only in endemic but also in industrialized countries. In addition, some reports confirm that it can cause chronic infection and even cirrhosis in immunosuppressed and also in patients infected with HIV. There are few data about prevalence and incidence of...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an increasing cause of acute hepatitis in industrialized countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of HEV in pig manure composting plants located in Spain. For this purpose, a total of 594 samples were taken in 54 sampling sessions from the different stages of composting treatment in these plants as fo...

The appearance of antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem in our society, where the adaptation of microorganisms to conventional therapies has been favored due to their incorrect use. This has driven the scientific community to develop new therapeutic alternatives hoping to obtain treatments that are more effective against increasingly resis...

Oral candidiasis, mainly caused by Candida albicans, is of great importance in stomatology due to its frequency and clinical variety. This infection is frequently observed in people with different types of predisposing factors. The clinical forms of oral candidiasis are variable and different classifications have been used. The following case is th...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an increasing cause of acute hepatitis in industrialized countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of HEV in pig manure composting plants located in Spain. For this purpose, a total of 594 samples were taken in 54 sampling sessions from the different stages of com-posting treatment in these plants as f...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an increasing cause of acute hepatitis in industrialized countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of HEV in pig manure composting plants located in Spain. For this purpose, a total of 594 samples were taken in 54 sampling sessions from the different stages of composting treatment in these plants as fo...

Acute hepatitis E is a very common disease in developing countries, to the point that, according to World Health Organization estimates, one third of the world's population has been exposed to HEV. It also causes outbreaks in refugee camps or after natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. Sporadic cases of acute hepatitis have been observed...

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical and epidemiological profiles of in 43cases of acute hepatitis, 5cases of fulminant hepatitis, and one of chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis E virus (HEV), detected over a 7-year period. PATIENTS: Forty-nine individuals (33male and 10female) treated between 2004 and 2011 in the Hospital Ramón y Cajal (Comunidad de Ma...

The etiology of chronic diarrhea is complex in humans and animals. It is always necessary to evaluate a list of differential diagnosis, including bacteria, protozoa and fungi. Basidiobolomycosis is a fungal disease reported sporadically worldwide, mainly caused by B. ranarum, a frequent organism found in soil or in the intestine and skin of lizards...

Infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV) is highly prevalent in developing countries and the WHO estimates one third of the world population has had contact with the virus. Its diagnosis and epidemiology are well known in endemic countries but, recently, there have been sporadic cases in developed countries in patients with no history of travel. Curr...

The McFarland method allows the concentration of bacterial cells in a liquid medium to be determined by either of two instrumental techniques: turbidimetry or nephelometry. The microbes act by absorbing and scattering incident light, so the absorbance (turbidimetry) or light intensity (nephelometry) measured is directly proportional to their concen...

Fecal specimens from 120 lambs in Valencia (Spain) were analyzed for Giardia duodenalis by IFA and nested-PCR using the beta giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) and small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssurRNA) genes. The highest prevalence was obtained using the ssurRNA gene (89.2%), whereas values from other tech...

Introduction: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main causative agent of enterically transmitted non-A non-B hepatitis with a self-limiting clinical presentation in humans. The increasing number of non-immigrant cases of hepatitis E and the high prevalence detected in pigs suggested that this species is a reservoir. Several studies have been published...

Hepatitis E virus, a cause of sporadic hepatitis in developed countries is present in Spain. The aims of this study were to determine whether the prevalence of IgG anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies has increased in recent years in Spain and the prevalence in a study population at risk of developing the disease following the infection. Serum samples...

We describe a fulminant autochthonous hepatic failure caused by hepatitis E (HEV) in a patient admitted in our hospital for liver-transplant evaluation. The only risk factor recorded for this severe course was the use of oral contraceptives that are known to mimic a hormonal status similar to pregnancy. The diagnosis was based on the presence of Ig...

Three hundred and eighty six faecal specimens were randomly collected from 1- to 3-month-old lambs from 16 farms in Spain to investigate the presence of different genotypes of Giardia duodenalis. Individual specimens were examined by IFA (Immunofluorescence assay) and β-giardin PCR polymerase chain reaction. Cysts of G. duodenalis were shed by lamb...

The term progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) denotes a demyelinating neurological disease caused by oligodendrocyte destruction produced by reactivation of human polyomavirus JC, usually acquired in childhood. The advent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has contributed to the marked increase in the frequency of this disease...

The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) and the risk factors for the acquisition of the virus in a population in contact with swine and unexposed to swine. A total of 198 individuals, 97 unexposed (49%) and 101 exposed (51%) to swine, were tested for the presence of HEV infection. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG i...

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), which is caused by the reactivation of an infection due to the JC human polyoma virus, affects immunocompromised patients and more especially those infected by the human immunodeficiency virus. It produces a multifocal neurological clinical picture due to the destruction of oligodendrocytes and the...

The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) and the risk factors for the acquisition of the virus in a population in contact with swine and unexposed to swine. A total of 198 individuals, 97 unexposed (49%) and 101 exposed (51%) to swine, were tested for the presence of HEV infection. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG i...

Three hundred and ninety-five pig fecal samples were analyzed looking for Blastocystis sp. using optical microscopy and PCR. A global prevalence of 46.8% has been observed in this study, although relative values of prevalence differ notably according to the strata examined, ranging from 9.3% in sows to 75% in weaners. Statistic analysis of the data...

We report the first hepatitis E infection case detected in a slaughterhouse worker. The identified strain belonged to genotype 3, subtype 3f. Partial sequence analysis of the strain isolated from his serum showed a percentage of nucleotide homology ranging from 83.4% up to 97.3% compared with European human and swine strains, respectively. These fi...

This study describes the distribution of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in a naturally infected swine population and the genetic relatedness of HEV strains on swine farms in Spain. Of fecal and serum samples collected from 131 pigs and manure-ditch samples collected from 17 farms, HEV was detected in 16%, 14%, and 59%, respectively, for an overall prevale...

Thymus piperella (L.) (family Labiatae) is an endemic taxon found in eastern Spain. The aerial part of T. piperella is principally used for culinary purposes, to flavour stuffings, sauces, pickles, stews, soups, etc. Moreover, it has traditionally been used to conserve and soften olives, and in the distillation of an alcoholic beverage named ‘herbe...

The reduction in salivary flow in patients subjected to head and neck irradiation induces changes in the oral microflora and increases the risk of oral mucosal infections. The frequent presence of fungi, particularly Candida, in the oral environment of these patients complicates identification of the most important cariogenic bacteria with the comm...

The aim of this study was to determine at which production stages hepatitis E virus (HEV) is shed by the highest number of pigs and to estimate the relative risk associated with each stage. For this purpose, 146 fecal samples of pigs from 21 farms were studied. In addition, 1 sample from the manure ditch and another sample of drinking water, collec...

The aim of the present study was to detect acute Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in patients with abnormal alanine transaminase (ALT) in which other viral hepatitis infections had been excluded in southern Spain, an area adjacent to regions where this disease is endemic. Of 336 sera tested 30 (8.92%) were positive for IgM antibodies against HEV (...

In areas with tropical or subtropical climate and poor sanitary conditions, hepatitis E is the major cause of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis, and is responsible for both water-borne outbreaks and sporadic cases of acute hepatitis. The causative agent is the hepatitis E virus (HEV), a non-enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RN...

In areas with tropical or subtropical climate and poor sanitary conditions, hepatitis E is the major cause of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis, and is responsible for both water-borne outbreaks and sporadic cases of acute hepatitis. The causative agent is the hepatitis E virus (HEV), a non-enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RN...

The hepatitis E has been considered from his first description as a disease with a epidemiologic pattern related to waste water and contaminated foods, of way similar to the hepatitis A, and with a superior prevalence in geographic zones with deficient socioeconomic conditions. The introduction of molecular techniques has contributed to obtain the...

Introdução A Chlamydia pneumoniae foi associada à doença arteriosclerótica extra-craniana, tanto por estudos seroepidemiológicos como histológicos. Realizámos um estudo de caso controlo, para determinar a seroprevalência de infecção crónica por C. pneumoniae, e detectar a bactéria em biopsias arteriais. Doentes e métodos O grupo de casos era forma...

Introduction. Chlamydia pneumoniae has relationship with artherosclerosis of carotid artery by seroepidemiological studies and by, demonstration of the bacteria in ateromata. We made a ease-control study to know the seroprevalence of chronic infection of C. pneumoniae and the presence of the bacteria in arterial biopsies. Patients and methods. The...