Browsing by Author "Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya"

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    Diagnostic performance of GM-CSF and IL-2 in response to long-term specific-antigen cell stimulation in patients with active and latent tuberculosis infection
    (2018) Balcells Marty, María Elvira; Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya; Tiznado, Camila; García Cañete, Patricia; Naves, Rodrigo
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    Estrategia de pesquisa sistemática y seguimiento prolongado revela alto número de nuevas infecciones tuberculosas en contactos adultos en la Región Metropolitana, Chile
    (2020) Balcells Marty, María Elvira; Carvajal, Camila; Fernández, Paula; Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya; Pizarro, Alejandra; García, Patricia; Peña, Carlos; Cuevas, Gerardo; Naves, Rodrigo
    Background: Contact investigation is cardinal in the control of tuberculosis (TB) since it helps to stop its transmission. In Chile, the National TB Program strategy does not include latent TB infection testing, regular chemoprophylaxis or follow-up in adults. Active TB was found in only 1.2% of contacts at country-level during 2018. Aim: To evaluate the performance of a systematic screening ofadult household contacts with targeted chemoprophylaxis and prolonged active follow-up. Material and Methods: Prospective cohort of household contacts in Santiago. Two face-to-face visits (at 0 and 12 weeks) that included QuantiFERON TB-Gold plus tests (QFT), chest radiography (CXR) at 0 and 24 weeks and, periodic text messaging or phone call follow-up for up to 48 weeks were implemented. Contacts with positive QFT were referred for TB chemoprophylaxis. Results: A total of 200 contacts were enrolled, 69% were migrants. At baseline evaluation, 45% had a positive QFT result and 1.6% had co-prevalent active TB. At follow-up, 13% contacts further converted to QFT (+), and 5.1% more were diagnosed with active TB (mean follow-up time 32 weeks). Of these 10 further active TB cases, 6 (60%) had a negative QFT and all (100%) had normal CXR at baseline; while three cases occurred in QFT converters. Conclusions: In this cohort of household contacts, 6.7 % were diagnosed with active TB (more than 2/3 at follow-up) and 13% had a late QFT (+) conversion. Active and prolonged contacts’ follow-up are essential to detect new infections and tackle the TB epidemic in Chile.
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    Humoral immune-response to a SARS-CoV-2- BNT162b2 booster in inflammatory arthritis patients who received an inactivated virus vaccine
    (BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, 2022) Durán Santa Cruz, Josefina Gracia; Burgos Cañete, Paula Isabel; Le Corre Pérez, Monique Nicole; Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya; Martínez Valdebenito, Constanza; Castro, Mauricio; Metcalfe Torres, Valentina Estrella; Niemann Concha, Paula Valentina; Balcells Marty, María Elvira
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    Influence of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Booster among Cancer Patients on Active Treatment Previously Immunized with Inactivated versus mRNA Vaccines: A Prospective Cohort Study
    (2023) Mondaca Contreras, Sebastián Patricio; Walbaum, Benjamín; Corre, Nicole Le; Ferrés Garrido, Marcela Viviana; Valdés, Alejandro; Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza; Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya; Macanas Pirard, Patricia; Ross, Patricio; Cisternas, Betzabé; Pérez, Patricia; Cabrera, Olivia; Cerda, Valentina; Ormazábal, Ivana; Barrera Vásquez, Aldo Vincen; Prado, María E.; Venegas, María I.; Palma, Silvia; Broekhuizen, Richard; Kalergis, Alexis; Bueno, Susan M.; Espinoza, Manuel A.; Balcells Marty, María Elvira; Nervi Nattero, Bruno
    Cancer patients on chemotherapy have a lower immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Therefore, through a prospective cohort study of patients with solid tumors receiving chemotherapy, we aimed to determine the immunogenicity of an mRNA vaccine booster (BNT162b2) among patients previously immunized with an inactivated (CoronaVac) or homologous (BNT162b2) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody (NAb) seropositivity at 8–12 weeks post-booster. The secondary end points included IgG antibody (TAb) seropositivity and specific T-cell responses. A total of 109 patients were included. Eighty-four (77%) had heterologous vaccine schedules (two doses of CoronaVac followed by the BNT162b2 booster) and twenty-five had (23%) homologous vaccine schedules (three doses of BNT162b2). IgG antibody positivity for the homologous and heterologous regimen were 100% and 96% (p = 0.338), whereas NAb positivity reached 100% and 92% (p = 0.13), respectively. Absolute NAb positivity and Tab levels were associated with the homologous schedule (with a beta coefficient of 0.26 with p = 0.027 and a geometric mean ratio 1.41 with p = 0.044, respectively). Both the homologous and heterologous vaccine regimens elicited a strong humoral and cellular response after the BNT162b2 booster. The homologous regimen was associated with higher NAb positivity and Tab levels after adjusting for relevant covariates.
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    SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster in solid organ transplant recipients previously immunised with inactivated versus mRNA vaccines: A prospective cohort study
    (2022) Dib Marambio, Martín Javier; Le Corre Pérez, Monique Nicole; Ortiz Koh, Catalina Alejandra; García, Daniel; Ferrés, Marcela; Martínez Valdebenito, Constanza; Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya; Ojeda Valenzuela, María José; Espinoza Sepúlveda, Manuel Antonio; Jara Contreras, Aquiles; Arab Verdugo, Juan Pablo; Rabagliati B., Ricardo; Vizcaya Altamirano, Cecilia; Ceballos, María Elena; Sarmiento Maldonado, Mauricio; Mondaca Contreras, Sebastián Patricio; Viñuela Morales, Macarena Rocío; Pastore Thomson, Antonia; Szwarcfiter Neiman, Vania; Galdames Lavín, Elizabeth Alejandra; Barrera Vásquez, Aldo Vincent; Castro Gálvez, Pablo Federico; Gálvez Arriagada, Nicolás Marcelo Salvador; Soto Ramírez, Jorge Andrés; Bueno Ramírez, Susan; Kalergis Parra, Alexis Mikes; Nervi Nattero, Bruno; Balcells Marty, María Elvira
    Solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients have worse COVID-19 outcomes than general population and effective immunisation in these patients is essential but more difficult to reach. We aimed to determine the immunogenicity of an mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster in SOT recipients previously immunised with either inactivated or homologous SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Methods: Prospective cohort study of SOT recipients under medical care at Red de Salud UC-CHRISTUS, Chile, previously vaccinated with either CoronaVac or BNT162b2. All participants received a BNT162b2 vaccine booster. The primary study end point was anti-SARS-CoV-2 total IgG antibodies (TAb) seropositivity at 8-12 weeks (56-84 days) post booster. Secondary end points included neutralising antibodies (NAb) and specific T-cell responses. Findings: A total of 140 (50% kidney, 38% liver, 6% heart) SOT recipients (mean age 54 [13.6] years; 64 [46%] women) were included. Of them, 62 had homologous (three doses of BNT162b2) and 78 heterologous vaccine schedules (two doses of CoronaVac followed by BNT162b2 booster). Boosters were received at a median of 21.3 weeks after primary vaccination. The proportion achieving TAb seropositivity (82.3% vs 65.4%, P = 0.035) and NAb positivity (77.4% vs 55.1%, P = 0.007) were higher for the homologous versus the heterologous group. On the other hand, the number of IFN-γ and IL-2 secreting SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cells did not differ significantly between groups. Interpretation: This cohort study shows that homologous mRNA vaccine priming plus boosting in SOT recipients, reaches a significantly higher humoral immune response than inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine priming followed by heterologous mRNA booster.
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    Unraveling the role of micrornas in mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease: advances and pitfalls
    (American Society for Microbiology, 2020) Ruiz-Tagle, Cinthya; Naves, Rodrigo; Balcells Marty, María Elvira
    Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of extremely high epidemiological burden worldwide that is easily acquired through the inhalation of infected respiratory droplets. The complex pathogenesis of this infection spans from subjects never developing this disease despite intense exposure, to others in which immune containment fails catastrophically and severe or disseminated forms of disease ensue. In recent decades, microRNAs (miRNAs) have gained increasing attention due to their role as gene silencers and because of their altered expression in diverse human diseases, including some infections. Recent research regarding miRNAs and TB has revealed that the expression profile for particular miRNAs clearly changes upon Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and also varies in the different stages of this disease. However, despite the growing number of studies - some of which have even proposed some miRNAs as potential biomarkers - methodological variations and key differences in relevant factors, such as sex and age, cell type analyzed, M. tuberculosis strain, and antimicrobial therapy status, strongly hinder the comparison of data. In this review, we summarize and discuss the literature and highlight the role of selected miRNAs that have specifically and more consistently been associated with M. tuberculosis infection, together with a discussion of the possible gene and immune regulation pathways involved.