Gilberto Vargas-Alarcon

Instituto Nacional de Cardiología

Background Ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) is a risk factor for atherosclerosis disease. We aimed to assess whether nitric oxide stable metabolites (NOx) and l -arginine mediate the association between PM 2.5 and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) increase. Methods We selected 251 participants from the control group of GEA (Genetics o...

Objective: We evaluated whether five (rs12617336, rs12617656, rs1558957, rs3788979, and rs17574) single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the DPP4 gene that have not been sufficiently explored, are candidates to be risk markers of in-stent restenosis. Methods: The genotypes were determined in 190 patients (60 patients with restenosis and 130 with...

The cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) enzyme plays an important role in the conversion of cholesterol to bile acid, contributing to the reduction of cholesterol plasma levels in normal conditions. Nonetheless, recent studies have shown that some genetic variants in the enhancer and promoter regions of the CYP7A1 gene reduce the expression of...

Background The transmission of hantaviruses through rodents has been associated with the development of severe illnesses, including Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (CPS) and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS). Environmental changes impacting rodent populations affect their global distribution. These are severe diseases, potentially lethal, and w...

Background Marburg virus (MARV), which is spread by one species of fruit bats, can cause deadly Marburg virus disease (MVD, also known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, MHF), which is a severe form of viral hemorrhagic fever with symptoms similar to Ebola. MARV is considered to be very dangerous, and there are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatmen...

ABSTRACT Background: In the present study, we evaluated whether DEFB1 gene polymorphisms are associated with the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Two rs11362 A/G, and rs1800972 C/G gene polymorphisms of DEFB1 gene were genotyped by 5’exonuclease TaqMan assays in 219 patients with CAD and 522 control individuals. Results: The dist...

Searching for positive selection signals across genomes has identified functional genetic variants responding to environmental change. In Native Americans of Mexico, we used the fixation index (Fst) and population branch statistic (PBS) to identify SNPs suggesting positive selection. The 103 most differentiated SNPs were tested for associations wit...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with various complications, including diabetic foot, which can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Non-healing foot ulcers in diabetic patients are a major risk factor for infections and amputations. Despite conventional treatments, which have limited efficacy, there is a need for more effectiv...

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) participates in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. In vitro studies have reported that the MCP-1 rs1024611 polymorphism is associated with increased MCP-1 concentrations. The study aimed to define whether MCP-1 concentrations are associated with premature coronary artery disease (pCAD) and...

The host immune response might confer differential vulnerability to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. The Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8), could participated for severe COVID-19 outcomes. To investigated the relationship of TLR8 rs3764879-C/G, rs3764880-A/G, and rs3761624-A/G with COVID‐19 outcomes and with biochemical parameters. A cross-sectional study of 830 la...

Background Rodents and many wild and domestic animals, including cattle, donkeys, goats, hares, ostriches, and sheep, spread the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV), acting as hosts for infected ticks primarily of the Hyalomma genus, which serve as vectors and reservoirs of the virus. CCHF is a severe, potentially lethal, and widespread d...

To compare the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics, disease onset, and clinical features of radiographic axial Spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) and non-radiographic axial Spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) patients. All patients who attended outpatient spondylarthritis (SpA) clinics at Hospital General de Mexico and the Instituto Nacional de...

Background Differences in the prevalence of four diabetes subgroups have been reported in Mexico compared to other populations, but factors that may contribute to these differences are poorly understood. Here, we estimate the prevalence of diabetes subgroups in Mexico and evaluate their correlates with indicators of social disadvantage using data f...

Cholesterol-7-alpha hydroxylase (CYP7A1) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of bile salts, and its activity can contribute to determining cholesterol levels and, consequently, the risk of developing coronary atherosclerotic disease. We evaluated whether seven (rs3808607 G/T, rs9297994 G/A, rs10504255 A/G, rs8192870 G/T, rs2081687 C/T, rs1457043 C/T,...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The development and severity of this infectious disease is influenced by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells, with transmemb...

The interleukin-17 (IL-17) has a crucial role during inflammation and has been associated with cardiovascular diseases, but its role in epigenetics is still poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the DNA methylation status of the IL-17A gene promoter to establish whether it may represent a risk factor for subclinical at...

Introduction More than sixteen countries are infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza A-H5N1 virus. As the virus circles the world, it has led to the slaughter of millions of poultry birds as well as the infection of farmed mink in Europe and among seals and grizzly bears on the Northern coast of America; some infected mammals exhibited...

Background: Previously restricted to remote areas of Central and Western Africa, the MPOX virus-based disease, also known as monkeypox, has now spread to more than 90 countries and has become endemic. As a consequence, the MPOX virus has become a global public health concern. Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a computational-mu...

Background The infection caused by the dengue fever virus is a severe threat to public health on a global scale; nevertheless, there is currently no effective medical treatment or vaccine available to prevent or treat the condition. Objective To better understand the physicochemical regularities of these proteins, it is necessary to carry out a co...

Introduction/Objectives To compare the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics, disease onset, and clinical features of radiographic axial Spondyloarthritis (r-AxSpA) and non-radiographic axial Spondyloarthritis (nr-AxSpA) patients. Method All patients who attended outpatient spondylarthritis clinics at Hospital General de Mexico and...

Background Globally, hepatitis B and C infect 400 million people, more than 10 times the number of people living with HIV. In 2019, it was estimated that 1.1 million people died as a result of the disease (PAHO/WHO, January 2023). Objective This study aimed to conduct a computational analysis of the proteins that express the hepatitis virus envelo...

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a cytokine implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. This study aimed to determine the association of three IL-6 gene polymorphisms with increased carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and cardiometabolic risk factors. Three IL-6 polymorphisms (rs1800795, rs2069827, and rs1800796) were analyzed in 178 individuals wit...

Introduction Mexico ranks second in the global prevalence of obesity in the adult population, which increases the probability of developing dyslipidemia. Dyslipidemia is closely related to cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of death in the country. Therefore, developing tools that facilitate the prediction of dyslipidemias is esse...

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a multisystem genetic disorder with over 3000 mutations described in the fibrillin 1 (FBN1) gene. Like MFS, other connective tissue disorders also require a deeper understanding of the phenotype-genotype relationship due to the complexity of the clinical presentation, where diagnostic criteria often overlap. Our objective w...

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is frequent in preterm newborns, and its incidence is inversely associated with the degree of prematurity. The first choice of pharmacological treatment is ibuprofen. Several genes, including EPAS1, have been proposed as probable markers associated with a genetic predisposition for the development of PDA in preterm in...

The role of ABO gene polymorphisms in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and lipid metabolism is increasingly recognized. We investigated whether ABO gene polymorphisms are significantly associated with ACS and the plasma lipid profile. Six ABO gene polymorphisms (rs651007 T/C, rs579459 T/C, rs495928 T/C, rs8176746 T/G, rs8176740 A/T, and rs512770 T/C)...

Background/Purpose(s) During a viral infection, the immune response is mediated by the toll-like response and myeloid differentiation Factor 88 (MyD88), who play an important role sensing infections such as SARS-CoV-2 who has claimed the lives of more than 6.8 million people around the world. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional with a populat...

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is an inherited connective tissue disorder. As the spinal growth depends on delicate balance of forces, conditions that affect musculoskeletal matrix often lead to spinal deformities. A large cross-sectional study revealed a 63% prevalence of scoliosis among patients with MFS. Multi-ethnic genome-wide association studies and a...

Background: PM2.5 exposure has been associated with intima-media thickness (cIMT) increase. However, very few studies distinguished between left and right cIMT in relation to PM2.5 exposure. Aim: To evaluate associations between chronic exposure to PM2.5 and cIMT at bilateral, left, and right in adults from Mexico City. Methods: This study com...

Nahua population (also named Aztec or Mexica) was studied for HLA class II genes in a Mexican rural city (Santo Domingo Ocotitlan, Morelos State) belonging to the nowadays Náhuatl speaking areas in Mexico. The most frequent HLA class II alleles were typical Amerindian (HLA-DRB1*04:07, DQB1*03:01 DRB1*04:03 or DRB1*04:04) and also were some calculat...

Background From the existing knowledge of viruses, those infecting plants and bacteria and affecting animals are particularly interesting. This is because such viruses have an ability to vertically transmit to other species, including humans, and therefore could represent a public health issue of significant proportions. Objective This study aims...

The loss of function melanocortin 4-receptor (MC4R) Ile269Asn mutation has been proposed as one of the most important genetic contributors to obesity in the Mexican population. However, whether patients bearing this mutation respond differently to weight loss treatments is unknown. We tested the association of this mutation with obesity in 1683 Mex...

Background: Zika virus, which is widely spread and infects humans through the bites of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti female mosquitoes, represents a serious global health issue. Objective: The objective of the present study is to computationally characterize Zika virus polyproteins (UniProt Name: PRO_0000443018 [residues 1-3423], PRO_000044...

Objective Evidence supports the important role of neuroinflammation in some types of dementia. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of epistasis of gene cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-α, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNFα), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) on the susceptibility to the development of dementia. Materials and methods In the study,...

The increase in carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) are features of subclinical atherosclerosis that might be determined by the genetic background of patients. Among the multiple risk factors, the proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has a great impact on atheroma development. Then, we focu...

SARS-CoV-2 uses the ACE2 receptor and the cellular protease TMPRSS2 for entry into target cells. The present study aimed to establish if the TMPRSS2 polymorphisms are associated with COVID-19 disease. The study included 609 patients with COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR test and 291 individuals negative for the SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RT-PCR...

Background The association between H. pylori infection and coronary artery disease (CAD) is well-known. Alterations in DNA methylation in CAD have been reported, which can be induced by H. pylori through the DNA demethylases (DNMTs). The objective was to analyze the association and interaction of H. pylori infection and DMNT3a gene polymorphisms wi...

(1) Background: Epidemiological studies have identified associations between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone exposure with cardiovascular disease; however, studies linking ambient air pollution and premature coronary artery disease (pCAD) in Latin America are non-existing. (2) Methods: Our study was a case–control analysis nested in the G...

Previously, it has been reported that hypoalphalipoproteinemia (HA) is associated with rs17574 DDP4 polymorphism. Considering that in diabetic patients, HA is often present and is a risk factor for premature coronary artery disease (pCAD), the study aimed to evaluate the association of this polymorphism with pCAD in diabetic individuals. We genotyp...

Introduction Severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection triggers inflammatory clinical stages that affect the outcome of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Disease severity may be associated with a metabolic imbalance related to amino acids, lipids, and energy-generating pathways. The aim of this study wa...

Subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) is the presence of coronary calcification in the absence of cardiovascular symptoms, and it usually progresses to atherosclerotic disease. Studies have shown an association of osteoprotegerin gene (OPG) variants with calcification process in cardiovascular diseases; however, to this day there are no studies that eva...

Background and Aims Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death around the world, and its rate of presentation is increasing at young ages. Despite the evidence that secondary prevention in CAD reduces the risk of recurrent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), no studies have analyzed the composite control of blood pressure,...

In the present study, we evaluated the association of the BAT1, NFKBIL, LTA, and CASP1 single nucleotide polymorphisms and the gene–gene interactions with risk of developing restenosis after coronary stenting. The allele and genotype determination of the polymorphisms (BAT1 rs2239527 C/G, NFKBIL1 rs2071592 T/A, LTA rs1800683 G/A, CASP1 rs501192 A/G...

FOXA3 is a transcription factor involved in the macrophage cholesterol efflux and macrophage reverse cholesterol transport reducing the atherosclerotic lesions. Thus, the present study aimed to establish if the FOXA3 polymorphisms are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) and cardiometabolic parameters. Two FOXA3 polymorphisms (rs1041087...

We conducted a case-control study in order to evaluate whether ABO gene polymorphisms were associated with a high risk of developing COVID-19 in a cohort of patients. Six ABO gene polymorphisms (rs651007 T/C, rs579459 T/C, rs495828 T/G, rs8176746 A/C, rs8176740 T/A, and rs512770 T/C) were determined using TaqMan genotyping assays in a group of 415...

In this chapter, we describe the main molecular features of SARS‐CoV‐2 that cause COVID‐19 disease, as well as a high‐efficiency computational prediction called Polarity Index Method®. We also introduce a molecular classification of the RNA virus and DNA virus families and two main classifications: supervised and non‐supervised algorithms of the pr...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, affecting more than 219 countries and causing the death of more than 5 million people worldwide. The genetic background represents a factor that predisposes the way the host responds to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In t...

Background In the vast variety of viruses known, there is a particular interest in those transmitted to humans and whose ability to disseminate represents a significant public health issue. Objective The present study’s objective is to bioinformatically characterize the proteins of the two main divisions of viruses, RNA-viruses and DNA-viruses. M...

Background The global outbreak of the 2019 novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) caused by the infection with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which appeared in China at the end of 2019, signifies a major public health issue at the current time. Objective The objective of the present study is to characterize the phy...

The TBX5 gene regulates morphological changes during heart development, and it has been associated with epigenetic abnormalities observed in congenital heart defects (CHD). The aim of this research was to evaluate the association between DNA methylation levels of the TBX5 gene promoter and congenital septal defects. DNA methylation levels of six Cp...

Background Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of immature lymphocytes, in whose development involves both environmental and genetic factors. It is well known that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in coding and noncoding genes contribute to the susceptibility to ALL. This study aims to determine wh...

Osteopontin (OPN) is considered a clinical predictor of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to evaluate the association of the OPN gene polymorphisms rs2728127 and rs11730582 with the development of premature coronary artery disease (pCAD), cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiometabolic parameters. We evaluated 1142 patients with pCAD and 1073 contr...

Objective: We evaluated whether cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene polymorphisms are associated with the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and/or restenosis in patients with coronary stent. Methods: Two polymorphisms of the CETP gene [-971 A/G (rs4783961), and Taq1B A/G (rs708272)] were genotyped by 5'exonuclease TaqMan assay...

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) enhance accumulation of interleukin (IL)-1 beta-producing macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions. However, the potential synergistic effect of native LDL (nLDL) and LPS on the inflammatory ability and migration pattern of monocyte subpop...

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder for which Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes are well identified as risk factors. SLE patients present different clinical phenotypes, which are partly explained by admixture patterns variation among Mexicans. Population genetic has insight into the high genetic vari...

There is an inconsistent finding about the relationship of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) with dementia susceptibility, as well as with cognitive impairment. To substantiate this, we examined COMT genotype effects in certain cognitive domains in dementia. To evaluate the effects of COMT Val158Met on cognitive performance, we used The Mini-Ment...