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INTRODUCTION: Dementia is a chronic, degenerative disease with a strong impact on families and health systems. The instruments currently in use for measuring cognitive impairment have different psychometric characteristics in terms of application time, cut-off point, reliability, and validity. The objective of this review is to describe the characteristics of the validated, Spanish-language versions of the Mini-Cog, Clock-Drawing Test, and Mini-Mental State Examination scales for cognitive impairment screening. DEVELOPMENT: We performed a three-stage literature search of articles published on Medline since 1953. We selected articles on validated, Spanish-language versions of the scales that included data on reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 screening tools assessed in this article provide support for primary care professionals. Timely identification of mild cognitive impairment and dementia is crucial for the prognosis of these patients.

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Introducción: La demencia es una enfermedad crónica degenerativa de alto impacto para las familias y los sistemas de salud. Los instrumentos de medición del deterioro cognitivo que se utilizan actualmente tienen características psicométricas diferentes en cuanto a tiempo de aplicación, punto de corte, confiabilidad y validez. El objetivo de la presente revisión fue describir las características de las escalas Mini Cog, Prueba del reloj y Mini- Mental para tamizaje de deterioro cognitivo validadas al idioma español. Desarrollo: La búsqueda bibliográfica se realizó en 3 etapas mediante la base de datos Medline a partir del año 1953. Se realizó una selección de publicaciones validadas al español que incluyeran la confiabilidad, validez, sensibilidad y especificidad de las escalas. Conclusiones: Las 3 herramientas de tamizaje descritas en este artículo proporcionan un apoyo para el personal de salud. La detección oportuna es crucial para el pronóstico de las personas que viven con deterioro cognitivo leve o demencia. (AU)

Introduction: Dementia is a chronic, degenerative disease with a strong impact on families and health systems. The instruments currently in use for measuring cognitive impairment have different psychometric characteristics in terms of application time, cut-off point, reliability, and validity. The objective of this review is to describe the characteristics of the validated, Spanish-language versions of the Mini-Cog, Clock-Drawing Test, and Mini–Mental State Examination scales for cognitive impairment screening. Development: We performed a three-stage literature search of articles published on Medline since 1953. We selected articles on validated, Spanish-language versions of the scales that included data on reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity. Conclusions: The 3 screening tools assessed in this article provide support for primary care professionals. Timely identification of mild cognitive impairment and dementia is crucial for the prognosis of these patients. (AU)

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INTRODUCTION: Dementia is a chronic, degenerative disease with a strong impact on families and health systems. The instruments currently in use for measuring cognitive impairment have different psychometric characteristics in terms of application time, cut-off point, reliability, and validity. The objective of this review is to describe the characteristics of the validated, Spanish-language versions of the Mini-Cog, Clock-Drawing Test, and Mini-Mental State Examination scales for cognitive impairment screening. DEVELOPMENT: We performed a three-stage literature search of articles published on Medline since 1953. We selected articles on validated, Spanish-language versions of the scales that included data on reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 screening tools assessed in this article provide support for primary care professionals. Timely identification of mild cognitive impairment and dementia is crucial for the prognosis of these patients.

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Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine associated with tissue damage in multiple autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. The role of MIF in multiple sclerosis (MS) and the contribution of its polymorphisms are unknown in our population. Therefore, we decided to investigate the genetic association of -794 CATT5-8 (rs5844572) and -173 G>C (rs755622) MIF polymorphisms with MS, clinical variables and MIF serum levels in the population of western Mexico. 230 MS patients diagnosed according to McDonald criteria and 248 control subjects (CS) were recruited for this study, both polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR and PCR-RFLP and MIF serum levels were measured by ELISA kit. Severity and progression of MS were evaluated by EDSS and MSSS scores, respectively. Genotypes carrying the 5 repeats alleles of -794 CATT5-8MIF polymorphism present higher MIF serum levels in comparison with no carriers, and the presence of 5,7 heterozygous genotype contribute to the increase of disease severity and damage progression in MS patients. Notably when we stratified by sex, an effect of risk alleles (7 repeats and -173*C) of both MIF polymorphisms on EDSS and MSSS scores on males was found (p < 0.01). This study suggests that polymorphic alleles of MIF polymorphisms could act as sex-specific disease modifiers that increase the severity and progression of MS in male Mexican-Mestizo western population.

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BACKGROUND: Low cognitive performance has been associated with a wide array of adverse health-related outcomes in elderly populations. Recently, the effect of vitamin D on cognition has been studied; however, its benefits are still controversial. Moreover, most studies have been carried out on North-American and European populations where vitamin D deficiency could represent a greater public-health issue when compared to Latin American ones. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between 25-OH-vitamin D and cognitive performance in Mexican community-dwelling elderly. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional study sample of 331 community-dwelling elderly aged 70 and older, participating in the Mexican Study of Nutritional and Psychosocial Markers of Frailty. MEASUREMENTS: Serum 25-OH-vitamin D, cognitive performance as per the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the IST (Isaacs Set Test), as well as several elements from the comprehensive geriatric assessment. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 79.3 years (SD 5.9), 54.1% were women. The mean serum 25-OH-vitamin D level was 59.0 (SD 23.3) nmol/L while mean MMSE score was 22.3 (SD 3.4) and mean IST score was 37.1 (SD 9.1). Although 25-OH-vitamin D levels were lower across all the definitions of low cognitive perfomance, the difference between groups was not statistically significant in any of them. CONCLUSION: No association between 25-OH-vitamin D level and cognitive performance was found in this population of Mexican community-dwelling elderly. Further investigation is required in order to clarify its existence and if so, to delineate its characteristics.

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Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) plays a central role in inflammation, and it has been directly implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). TNF-alpha activity is mediated through TNFRI and TNFRII cell surface receptors, which act as physiological attenuators of TNF-alpha activity. We recruited 190 RA patients and 190 healthy subjects (HS) in order to associate the -383A>C TNFRI polymorphism with sTNFRI levels and DAS28 score in RA. In results, sTNFRI levels were higher in RA patients than HS (P = 0.04). The -383A>C TNFRI polymorphism did not show significant differences in both studied groups. However, in the RA group the sTNFRI levels were significantly elevated (P = 0.004) in A/A genotype carriers. In addition, the A/A genotype carriers had the higher DAS28 score than A/C genotype (P = 0.02). These data suggest that -383A>C TNFRI polymorphism is not a susceptibility marker in RA, whereas the increased levels of sTNFRI could reflect the clinical activity in RA patients.

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OBJECTIVE: To measure levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) receptor type I (sTNFRI) and type II (sTNFRII) in order to correlate them with C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and disease activity score (DAS28) in RA patients. METHODS: We recruited 41 RA patients classified according to American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria and 38 healthy subjects (HS). sTNFRI and sTNFRII were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Clinical activity in RA patients was evaluated using the Disease Activity Score using 28 joint counts (DAS28). The statistical analysis was realized using SPSS version 10.0. RESULTS: Soluble TNFRI and TNFRII levels were higher in RA patients (p = 0.04 and 0.001, respectively) than HS. Serum levels of sTNFRI correlated with sTNFRII (r = 0.699, p < 0.0001). sTNFRII correlated with DAS28 (r = 0.375, p = 0.017), RF (r = 0.505, p = 0.004), and ESR (r = 0.323, p = 0.042). CONCLUSION: The increased levels of both sTNFRI and sTNFRII suggest a secondary event related to the inflammatory state observed in RA, whereas the correlation of sTNFRII with RF, ESR, and DAS28 reflects the preferential TNFRII shedding induced by TNFalpha. sTNFRII may be useful as an additional inflammatory marker in RA.

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BACKGROUND: We describe a family with a 7-year-old proband case diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) plus secondary anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS) as well as two affected paternal aunts. We compared the frequency of these polymorphisms with healthy controls. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the mode of inheritance in this familial case of APS and SLE and the possible association of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) -675 4G/5G and PAI-2 Ser(413)/Cys polymorphisms. To compare the genotype frequency of these polymorphisms with the results found in a Mexican Mestizo population. METHODS: PAI-1 -675 4G/5G and PAI-2 Ser(413)/Cys were determined by the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique using Bsl I and Mwo I on four generations of the family studied. PAI-2 Ser(413)/Cys polymorphism was also determined in 50 healthy individuals of Mexican Mestizo origin. RESULTS: The family pedigree demonstrated that this family did not follow a Mendelian inheritance pattern. When the PAI-2 Ser(413)/Cys polymorphism was examined, we found that 60% (3/5) of the relatives homozygous to Ser(413)/Ser were affected with SLE and/or APS (p = 0.027). The proband case was 4G/5G genotype for the PAI-1 -675 4G/5G polymorphism. No differences between healthy controls of the Mexican Mestizo population and the family studied for the PAI-2 Ser(413)/Cys polymorphism or PAI-1 -675 4G/5G polymorphisms were found. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that this family did not follow the Mendelian inheritance pattern. The Ser(413)/Ser genotype demonstrated in 60% of the affected members (3/5) of this family might increase the risk for autoimmune syndromes such as APS or SLE.

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