Background: Several studies in mothers of infants with Down syndrome (DS) (MoIDS) have suggested that the 677C>T and 1298A>C variants of the 5,10-methylentetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene can increase the risk of having a child with DS. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the MTHFR 677C>T and 1298A>C variants as potential maternal risk factors for DS. Materials and Methods: Using TaqMan allelic discrimination assay, we genotyped 95 MoIDS and 164 control mothers from western Mexico. Data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Results: We found that MoIDS had a significantly higher risk for the MTHFR 677TT genotype (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.4, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.1-10.6), and the MTHFR 677T allele (aOR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.3), particularly in MoIDS <35 years of age. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the presence of the 677TT genotype and 677T allele of the MTHFR 677C>T variant are maternal risk factors for DS in Mexican MoIDS.

OBJECTIVE: This retrospective study aimed to perform the first external validation of the ACR/EULAR classification criteria for inflammatory myopathy (IIM) in a Mexican dynamic cohort where the patients were evaluated with clinical and laboratory values. As secondary objectives, we presented the clinical characteristics of the patients and included antibodies other than anti Jo1 to evaluate their impact on our population.
METHODS: This study included 70 patients with IIM and 70 patients with differential diagnoses of IIM, according to the absolute score of the classification criteria. We obtained sensitivity and specificity in the modality without biopsy, and as an exploratory analysis, we added other antibodies from the myositis extended panel. We analyzed the area under the curve (AUC) of three models: score without antibodies, with anti Jo1 and with any antibody.
RESULTS: The ACR/EULAR criteria showed increased specificity and at least similar sensitivity to that of the original cohort (85% sensitivity and 92% specificity), with a cohort point of >55%. When we classified patients into definite, probable, possible, and no IIM categories, by adding the extended myopathy panel, 6 of the 10 patients initially classified as \"no IIM\" changed their classification to \"Probable IIM\" and 4 to \"Definite IIM\"; of the 16 patients classified as \"probable IIM,\" 15 changed their classification to \"Definite IIM.\"
CONCLUSIONS: Considering the limitations of this study, we concluded that the 2017 EULAR/ACR criteria for IIM classification are sensitive and specific for classifying patients with IIM in the Mexican population. Additionally, the addition of antibodies other than anti-Jo1 may improve performance in certain populations.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of salivary gland tumors in a population of a tertiary hospital in the State of Mexico, and to describe demographic variables.
METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional and retrospective study of salivary gland tumors reported in a tertiary hospital in the State of Mexico in the period 2008-2019 is presented.
RESULTS: A prevalence of 0.049% was found. There was no difference between sex in the studied population. Benign salivary gland tumors were the most frequent (86.7%). The age range most affected was 51-60 years. The most frequently found tumor was the pleomorphic adenoma, followed by Warthin\'s tumor. There was 13.33% of sialolipomas, and one myoepithelioma. There were no cases of sublingual gland tumors or minor salivary glands.
CONCLUSIONS: Tumors of the major salivary glands are infrequent tumors; population cases from a central Mexican state and their demographic characteristics are presented to contribute to the information found in local and international literature.
OBJECTIVE: Determinar la incidencia de los tumores de glándulas salivales en una población de un hospital de tercer nivel en el Estado de México y describir variables demográficas.
UNASSIGNED: Se presenta un estudio observacional, transversal y retrospectivo de los tumores de glándulas salivales reportados en un hospital de tercer nivel en el Estado de México en el periodo 2008-2019.
RESULTS: Se encontró una prevalencia del 0.049%. No hubo diferencia entre sexos en la población afectada. Los tumores de glándulas salivales benignos fueron los más frecuentes (86.7%). El rango de edad mayormente afectado fue el de 51-60 años. El tumor más frecuentemente encontrado fue el adenoma pleomorfo, seguido por tumor de Warthin. Se presentó un 13.33% de sialolipomas y un mioepitelioma. No se presentó ningún caso de tumores de glándulas sublinguales ni glándulas salivales menores.
UNASSIGNED: Los tumores de glándulas salivales mayores son tumores infrecuentes, se exponen casos de población de un Estado del centro de México y sus características demográficas para contribuir a la información encontrada en literatura local e internacional.

Lung cancer (LC) incidence rates and tumor characteristics among (non-Hispanic) Black and Hispanic detailed groups, normally characterized in aggregate, have been overlooked in the US. We used LC data from the Florida state cancer registry, 2012-2018, to compute LC age-adjusted incidence rates (AAIR) for US-born Black, Caribbean-born Black, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, and Central and South American populations. We analyzed 120,550 total LC cases. Among Hispanics, Cuban males had the highest AAIR (65.6 per 100,000; 95%CI: 63.6-67.6), only 8% [Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR): 0.92; 95%CI: 0.89-0.95] lower than Whites, but 2.7 (IRR 95%CI: 2.31-3.19) times higher than Central Americans. Among Blacks, the AAIR for US-born Black males was over three times that of those Caribbean-born (IRR: 3.12; 95%CI: 2.80-3.40) and 14% higher than White males (IRR: 1.14; 95%CI: 1.11-1.18). Among women, US-born Blacks (46.4 per 100,000) and foreign-born Mexicans (12.2 per 100,000) had the highest and lowest rates. Aggregation of non-Hispanic Blacks or Hispanics obscures inherent disparities within groups. Understanding the distinct LC rates in US populations is crucial for targeting public health measures for LC diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Further LC research exploring detailed race-ethnicity regarding LC in never-smokers is necessary, particularly among females and considering pertinent environmental factors.

This study aimed to explore the role of telomere length in three different diabetes types: latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood (LADA), latent autoimmune diabetes in the young (LADY), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 115 patients were included, 72 (62.61%) had LADA, 30 (26.09%) had T2DM, and 13 (11.30%) had LADY. Telomere length was measured using real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction. For statistical analysis, we used the ANOVA test, X2 test, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Patients with T2DM had higher BMI compared to LADA and LADY groups, with a BMI average of 31.32 kg/m2 (p = 0.0235). While the LADA group had more patients with comorbidities, there was not a statistically significant difference (p = 0.3164, p = 0.3315, p = 0.3742 for each of the previously mentioned conditions). There was a difference between those patients with T2DM who took metformin plus any other oral antidiabetic agent and those who took metformin plus insulin, the ones who had longer telomeres. LADA patients had shorter telomeres compared to T2DM patients but not LADY patients. Furthermore, T2DM may have longer telomeres thanks to the protective effects of both metformin and insulin, despite the higher BMI in this group.

AbstractPeople of Mexican origin in the United States have long experienced discrimination in wages, housing, and schooling, which directly impacts their participation in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce. Using interviews of Latina scientists and teachers, autoethnography, family and newspaper archives, and history and social science research, I reflect on key aspects of Mexican and Mexican American history that contribute to the challenges faced by Latinos in the US educational system today. Analysis of my own educational trajectory reveals the hidden part that teacher role models in my community and in my family played in my journey to becoming a scientist. Latina teachers and faculty, middle school science programs, and the provisioning of stipends for undergraduate researchers are emphasized as strategies for increasing student retention and success. The article concludes with several suggestions for how the ecology and evolutionary biology community can amplify the educational success of Latinos in STEM by supporting the training of Latino and other minoritized science, math, and computer science teachers.

DNA methylation (DNAm) is a plausible mechanism underlying cardiometabolic abnormalities, but evidence is limited among youth. This analysis included 410 offspring of the Early Life Exposure in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) birth cohort followed up to two time points in late childhood/adolescence. At Time 1, DNAm was quantified in blood leukocytes at long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE-1), H19, and 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD-2), and at Time 2 in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α). At each time point, cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed including lipid profiles, glucose, blood pressure, and anthropometry. Linear mixed effects models were used for LINE-1, H19, and 11β-HSD-2 to account for the repeated-measure outcomes. Linear regression models were conducted for the cross-sectional association between PPAR-α with the outcomes. DNAm at LINE-1 was associated with log glucose at site 1 [β = -0.029, p = 0.0006] and with log high-density lipoprotein cholesterol at site 3 [β = 0.063, p = 0.0072]. 11β-HSD-2 DNAm at site 4 was associated with log glucose (β = -0.018, p = 0.0018). DNAm at LINE-1 and 11β-HSD-2 was associated with few cardiometabolic risk factors among youth in a locus-specific manner. These findings underscore the potential for epigenetic biomarkers to increase our understanding of cardiometabolic risk earlier in life.

Primary hypertriglyceridemia (PHTG) is characterized by a high concentration of triglycerides (TG); it is divided between familial hyperchylomicronemia syndrome and multifactorial chylomicronemia syndrome. In Mexico, hypertriglyceridemia constitutes a health problem in which the genetic bases have been scarcely explored; therefore, our objective was to describe biochemical-clinical characteristics and variants in the APOA5, GPIHBP1, LMF1, and LPL genes in patients with primary hypertriglyceridemia. Thirty DNA fragments were analyzed using PCR and Sanger sequencing in 58 unrelated patients. The patients\' main clinical-biochemical features were hypoalphalipoproteinemia (77.6%), pancreatitis (18.1%), and a TG median value of 773.9 mg/dL. A total of 74 variants were found (10 in APOA5, 16 in GPIHBP1, 34 in LMF1, and 14 in LPL), of which 15 could be involved in the development of PHTG: 3 common variants with significative odds and 12 heterozygous rare pathogenic variants distributed in 12 patients. We report on the first Mexican patient with hyperchylomicronemia syndrome due to GPIHBP1 deficiency caused by three variants: p.R145*, p.A154_G155insK, and p.A154Rfs*152. Moreover, eleven patients were heterozygous for the rare variants described as causing PHTG and also presented common variants of risk, which could partially explain their phenotype. In terms of findings, two novel genetic variants, c.-40_-22del LMF1 and p.G242Dfs*10 LPL, were identified.

The enrollment into clinical trials of persons at risk for autosomal dominant Alzheimer\'s disease (ADAD) in whom the onset of disease can be accurately predicted facilitates the interpretation of outcomes (e.g., biomarkers, treatment efficacy). Attitudes toward involvement in such studies are biased by intrinsic cultural and social characteristics. Our objective was to study how demographic factors such as country of residence, age, sex, schooling, parenthood, and urbanization affect attitudes towards participation in hypothetical clinical trials in Mexican families at risk for ADAD living either in Mexico or in the United States.
Participants were 74 members of different families known to harbor an ADAD mutation living in Mexico (n = 50) or in the United States (n = 24). Participants were asked, in a written questionnaire, their interest in participating in four hypothetical clinical trial scenarios of increasing perceived invasiveness. The questionnaire then asked about their willingness should there be a 50% chance of being assigned to a placebo group. The influences of demographic variables on decisions were performed using Wilcoxon rank-sum for continuous variables and Fisher\'s exact test for categorical variables.
Participants who live in Mexico, who have or plan to have children, who do not attend or do not plan to attend school, and who live in rural areas gave more positive responses regarding their willingness to participate compared to those living in the U.S. The 50% chance of being in a placebo group increased the willingness to participate for family members living in Mexico. The main reason for participation was to help future generations, while the main reasons for refusal were not wanting to undergo genetic testing and consideration of adverse effects.
We found a higher level of willingness to participate in clinical trials among persons living in rural Mexico and our data suggest that altruism towards future generations is a major motivation, though this was balanced against concerns regarding side effects. Our results emphasize the importance of sharing information and assessing its understanding in potential participants with diverse backgrounds in the nature of ADAD and regarding the design of clinical trials prior to their enrollment in such studies.

Strength and muscle mass are important determinants of health status, and reference values for pediatric populations from every country or geographic region are needed. The aim of this study was to develop age- and sex-specific reference values of muscle strength and evaluate the correlation between muscle strength and appendicular lean mass in Mexican children and adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1111 healthy subjects ages 5 to 19 years of age participating in the \"Body Composition Reference Values in Mexican Children and Adolescents\" study. Smoothed reference values for the 1, 3, 5, 15, 25, 50, 75, 85, 95, 97, and 99 percentiles of muscle strength for upper and lower limbs were developed based on age and sex using Jamar® and Microfet2® dynamometers. Mean values were derived using the Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS), and lean mass was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Highly positive correlations of muscle strength with lean mass in upper limbs were found r-values 0.87-0.92 for boys and r = 0.80-0.86 for girls. High and moderate positive correlations for lower limbs were also noted for upper limbs: r = 0.74-0.86 for boys and r = 0.67-0.82 for girls. The reference values for appendicular muscle strength established in this study demonstrated a high and positive correlation between appendicular mass and muscle strength. These data will be useful when evaluating conditions and diseases affecting muscle or sports.