Nicolas Molano-Gonzalez

• Magíster
• Professor at Universidad del Rosario

Background Measurement of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) provides a rapid, safe, and easy method for detecting increased intracranial pressure (ICP). However, the normal mean and upper limit values may vary according to sex, age, ethnicity, and ultrasound technique. Aim We aimed to obtain the mean ONSD in a healthy Colombian adult populati...

Background There are few data on the clinical outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in cities over 1000 m above sea level (masl). Objectives To describe the clinical characteristics and mortality of patients with COVID-19 treated at a high complexity hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, at 2640 masl. Methods This was an observati...

Background Measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) provides a rapid, safe, and easy method for detecting increased intracranial pressure (ICP). However, normal mean and upper limit values may vary according to age, sex, ethnicity, and ultrasound laboratory. Aim We aim to obtain the mean of ONSD in a healthy Colombian adult population and...

Purpose We aimed to assess the effect of hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and oxygenation index on COVID-19 patients’ mortality risk. Patients and methods We retrospectively reviewed sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and clinical outcomes from patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Bogotá, Colombia. We asse...

Purpose We aimed to assess the effect of hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and oxygenation index on COVID-19 patients’ mortality risk. Patients and Methods We retrospectively reviewed sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and clinical outcomes from patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, from Ma...

Objectives This study aims to explore the association between the molecular characterization of SARS-CoV-2 and disease severity on ambulatory and hospitalized patients in two main Colombian epicenters during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We included 1000 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, collected clinical data from 997, and o...

Aims Hyperkalemia is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with the use of heart failure (HF) medications, which can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Novel approaches for hyperkalemia prevention are needed, especially in limited-resource settings. Despite multiple studies showing the beneficial impact of pharmaceutical-couns...

Background and aims: Non-invasive surrogates of cardiovascular (CV) disease such as endothelial dysfunction (ED) and peripheral arterial stiffness (AS) have been evaluated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The aim of this study was to systematically review and meta-analyze reports of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in SLE patients, as m...

Objectives To assess the effectiveness, safety, and drug survival of subcutaneous (SC) abatacept (ABA) in a cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in a real-world setting. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study from 2014 to 2018 in which patients with RA (1987 ACR criteria) were included. Patients were evaluated at a single rheumatolo...

Aim To evaluate the quality of oral fluorescein angiography (FA) in relation to food intake. Methods This is an observational, case-crossover study. We collected information from patients undergoing routine oral FA for retinal disease at the Shiley Eye Institute. Eighty patients (160 eyes) were analysed. Fasting and non-fasting images of the same...

The coexistence of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) has been documented. However, there is no consensus whether this coexistence should be considered as the same nosological condition or as polyautoimmunity. Thus, in this monocentric retrospective study, patients with SS alone (i.e., primary) were compared with patients...

Overt polyautoimmunity (PolyA) corresponds to the presence of more than one well-defined autoimmune disease (AD) manifested clinically in a single patient. The current study aimed to describe the main characteristics of juvenile PolyA in a pediatric rheumatology setting and analyze the chronological aspects, index cases, familial autoimmunity, and...

Objective: To evaluate the geoepidemiology of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) in Latin America. Methods: This was a three phase study in which original data from a Colombian cohort of patients with SS is presented, followed by a systematic review of Colombian and Latin American studies. Lastly, the geoepidemiology of SS in Latin America was assessed by...

Résumé Objectif Évaluer le lien entre résilience et évolution clinique chez des patientes atteintes de maladies auto-immunes. Méthodes Les données de 188 femmes atteintes de maladies auto-immunes, incluant la polyarthrite rhumatoïde (n = 51), le lupus érythémateux systémique (n = 70), la sclérodermie systémique (n = 35) et le syndrome de Sjögren...

OBJECTIVES: Resilience, the ability to respond positively to adverse events, may be influenced by long-term stressors and autoimmune/inflammatory conditions such as systemic sclerosis (SSc). Since the immune system plays a role in the development of resilience, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between a panel of cytokines and resilience in pat...

Objective The objectives of this systematic review and meta-regression were: 1) to compare the prevalence of cervical HPV infection between SLE patients and healthy controls and 2) to evaluate the relationship between cervical HPV infection and traditional and SLE-related risk factors for cervical HPV infection in these patients. Methods We conduc...

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) are a chronic and clinically heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by share common immunopathogenic mechanisms and risk factors (i.e., the autoimmune tautology), which explain the fact that one AD may coexist with others (i.e., polyautoimmunity - PolyA). In the present exploratory study, a mixed-cluster analysis of...

Objective: The presence of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) ranges from 3% to 9.9%; however, there is no agreement about their clinical significance. Our aim was to systematically review the literature regarding the association of arthritis and ACPAs in pSS and their role in the development of rheuma...

Background Observational studies have indicated a high but heterogeneous prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and vertebral fractures (VF) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Therefore, the objectives of this systematic review and meta-regression were: 1) to compare BMD between SLE patients and healthy controls and 2) to ev...

Funnel plots for the three models supplementary. A. Funnel plot of the model for case-controls. B. Funnel plot for GCT therapy. C. Funnel plot for vertebral fractures. (TIF)

Forest plot for vertebral fractures study. Regions codified are as follows: 1) lumbar spine 2) femoral neck and 3) total hip. (TIF)

Forest plot for case- control study. Regions codified are as follows: 1) lumbar spine 2) femoral neck and 3) total hip. (TIF)

Forest plot for therapy effect study. Regions codified are as follows: 1) lumbar spine 2) femoral neck and 3) total hip. (TIF)

Detailed search criteria for PubMed-MeSH database. (PDF)

Glucocorticoid use definitions for the analysis comparing patients with and without GCT therapy. (PDF)

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between resilience and clinical outcomes in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Methods: Focus groups, individual interviews, and chart reviews were done to collect data on 188 women with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, namely rheumatoid arthritis (n=51), systemic lupus erythematosus (n=70), system...

Background Evidence supports the existence of different subphenotypes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the pivotal role of cytokines and autoantibodies, which interact in a highly complex network. Thus, understanding how these complex nonlinear processes are connected and observed in real-life settings is a major challenge. Cluster approac...

Purpose: To correlate rheumatologic with ophthalmic and laboratory findings in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to identify what effect these have on development of ocular disease. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 172 eyes of 86 patients with RA. Patients were examined by a group of rheumatologists. Sociodemographic, clinical,...

Background Clinical response to biologics varies widely between individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To date, there are few, and in some cases, conflicting results in the personalized approach of patients with RA treated with abatacept. Only the seropositive subphenotype (anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide, CCP) was validated in several popul...

Background Survival time or time to discontinuation of medication is a surrogate of the long-term impact on the course of disease in real life. It reflects clinical effectiveness in the absence of significant adverse events [1]. Treatment discontinuation can result from loss of efficacy or safety concerns, but prognostic factors for patient retenti...

Human papillomavirus vaccine (HPVv) is used worldwide for prevention of infection. However several reports link this vaccine, with immune-mediated reactions, especially with neurological manifestations. Our previous results showed that HPVv-Gardasil and aluminum-immunized mice developed behavioral impairments. Studies have shown a positive effect o...

Autoimmune diseases share common immunopathogenic mechanisms (i.e., the autoimmune tautology), which explain the clinical similarities among them as well as their familial clustering. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune peripheral neuropathy, has been recently associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection. Based on a series of cases, this re...

We have focused on the epidemiology and immunobiology of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection and factors associated with the development of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and other neurological syndromes in Cúcuta, the capital of North Santander department, Colombia. Data of patients with ZIKV disease reported to the national population-based surveillance s...

Background Observational studies have indicated a high but heterogeneous prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and vertebral fractures (VR) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Objectives To evaluate the relationship between SLE and BMD, osteoporosis and the risk of vertebral fracture. Methods A systematic review and meta-r...

Background Therapeutic guidelines draw heavily on evidence from randomized controlled trials undertaken in well-characterized, highly-selective populations and managed in tightly-controlled settings. As such, the extent to which therapeutic efficacy in real-life populations and routine care settings is often unclear [1–2]. Objectives To assess sub...

Background Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a complex disease which can potentially involve any organ and, therefore, has a wide range of clinical manifestations (i.e., subphenotypes) [1]. Objectives To propose a novel methodology for building an index of severity in patients with SLE. Methods A cross-sectional analytical study was done on 3...

Background Cigarette smoking has been found to play a pathogenic role in several autoimmune diseases. However, data about its influence on Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is scarce [1,2]. Objectives To assess the impact of cigarette smoking on patients with SS. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in which consecutive patients with SS (2002 AECG) fol...

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) represent a heterogeneous group of disorders that affect specific target organs or multiple organ systems. These conditions share common immunopathogenic mechanisms (i.e., the autoimmune tautology), which explain the clinical similarities they have among them as well as their familial clustering (i.e., coaggregation). As p...

Objectives The interest on autoimmune diseases (ADs) and their outcome at the intensive care unit (ICU) has increased due to the clinical challenge for diagnosis and management as well as for prognosis. The current work presents a-year experience on these topics in a tertiary hospital. Methods The mixed-cluster methodology based on multivariate de...

Background Polyautoimmunity (PolyA) is defined as the presence of more than one autoimmune disease (AD) in a single patient. When three or more ADs coexist, this extreme phenotype is called multiple autoimmune syndrome (MAS). The study of the same AD in nuclear families, also referred to as familial AD, has been extensively evaluated. However, the...

Background Therapeutic guidelines draw heavily on evidence from randomised controlled trials undertaken in well-characterised, highly-selective populations and managed in tightly-controlled settings. As such, the extent to which therapeutic efficacy in real-life populations and routine care settings is often unclear. Objectives To assess subcutaneo...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune arthropathy worldwide. The increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in RA is not fully explained by classic risk factors. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of rs1058587 SNP within GDF15(MIC1) gene on the risk of CVD in a Colombian RA population. Methods. This was...

Background Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten in susceptible individuals, and its prevalence varies depending on the studied population. Given that information on CD in Latin America is scarce, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of CD in this region of the world through a systematic review...

Objectives: Caspase-1 (casp1), a key protease involved in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), controls the brain expression of a set of eight genes: Nos2 and Ptgs2 (nitric oxide synthase 2 and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2, two inducible enzymes), Cxcl1 and Cxcl10 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 and ligand 10), Tgtp and Gbp...

Objectives To determine the prevalence and the predictive factors of autoimmune hypothyroidism (AH) within a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort, and to analyze the current information concerning the prevalence and impact of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and thyroid autoimmunity in patients with SLE.MethodsA total of 376 patients with SLE...

Objectives To examine the prevalence and associated factors related to the coexistence of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a cohort of Colombian patients with SLE, and to discuss the coexistence of APS with other autoimmune diseases (ADs). Method A total of 376 patients with SLE were assessed for the presenc...

Background A major challenge for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) research is the detection of subjects at risk. The tradeoff between complexity and interpretability is a key issue in the application of predictive models. Advance recursive partitioning (tree-based) approach (ARPA) is widely used in predictive analyses as it accounts for non-linear effects...

Background Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) has been described as the most prevalent autoimmune disease (AD) as well as being associated with other organ-specific and non-organ specific ADs. Objectives To determine the prevalence, risk factors and the impact of AITD in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods A total of 376 patien...

Background Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most serious complications of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE). Multiple clinical and serological risk and protective factors for LN have been identified in Caucasians. Objectives The aim of this study was to examine associated factors for LN in a new cohort of Latin American patients. Methods The stud...

Background Age at onset of disease (AOD) refers to the time period at which a patient experiences the first symptom(s). AOD varies among autoimmune diseases (ADs) and has been related to prognosis in some of them. Genetic, environmental and immunological factors may influence the AOD. Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is considered an AD affecting mostly old...

Background Cutaneous involvement is one of the most frequent manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); however ethnicity may influence its prevalence and clinical expression. Objectives We aimed to evaluate its prevalence and associated factors in a non-Caucasian population. Methods Data from a cohort of 310 patients with SLE (ACR 1997...

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a 50-fold than general population. Traditional risk factors, such as, cigarette smoking and dyslipidemia, are known but they cannot fully account for the increased risk. Instead, non-traditional risk factors, rela...

Background There is a clear causal relationship between tobacco smoking and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), supported by observational studies and systematic reviews (1); however, the effect of smoking on disease activity and the development of joint surface erosions has not been clearly established. Current data are conflicting, with some studies repor...

Objective. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of and associated risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Latin American (LA) patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. First, a cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 310 Colombian patients with SLE in whom CVD was assessed. Associated factors were...