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Investigation
Antibiotic Resistance
Research Lines
Content with Investigacion .
B) Study of the distribution and dynamics of HPV infections in risk groups. There are some particularly vulnerable groups, some of them difficult to access (sex workers, transgender groups, etc.), in which HPV infections deserve special attention. The prevalence of HPV infection is especially high in people living with HIV and/or among men who have sex with men. Knowledge of the distribution and dynamics of infections is especially interesting in these groups, as they may help to improve current algorithms for the prevention of anogenital cancer.
C) Study of infection by HPV genotypes and their relationship with progression to neoplastic processes. The oncogenic capacity of some HPV genotypes and their involvement in the production of anogenital cancer is well known. In addition, there are other oncological processes, such as non-melanoma skin cancer, in which HPV could be implicated. Thus, members of the gamma-24 HPV species have recently been associated with skin cancer. It is to be hoped that the appearance of new genotypes and the performance of more extensive studies may lead to the identification of new associations between HPV and neoplastic processes.
D) Study of co-infections by different HPV genotypes. The presence of co-infections of different HPV genotypes is a very frequent finding, both in skin samples and in different mucous membranes. The great genetic diversity of HPV limits the ability of classical molecular methods to perform a comprehensive detection and study of the genotypes present. However, the use of massive sequencing makes it possible to eliminate some of these biases and to obtain more detailed information on the existing HPV populations, as well as to analyze interactions between the different genotypes.
E) Description of new HPV genotypes/variants. Currently at the International HPV Reference Center (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) more than 220 HPV genotypes are described, distributed in 5 different genera. However, improved molecular detection techniques, as well as the use of massive sequencing, are allowing this number to increase rapidly. The study of new genotypes and variants is essential for the validation and quality control of available diagnostic methods. Similarly, their characterization and the study of possible associations of HPV with pathologies other than those already known is a field of great interest for research.
Research projects
Content with Investigacion .
Título: Impact of vaccination against Human Papillomavirus in Spain: Studye of the distribution of genotypes and its application in surveillance. Principal Investigator: Horacio Gil. Starting/End dates: 2024-2026. Funding Entity: Acción Estratégica de Salud Intramural (AESI) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Project Reference: PI23CIII/00006.
Título: Effect of feminizing therapy on immune response in transgender women. Principal Investigator: Victor Manuel Sánchez Merino. Collaborating Investigator: Horacio Gil. Starting/End dates:2025-2027. Funding Entity: Acción Estratégica de Salud Intramural (AESI) del Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Project Reference: PI24CIII/00031.
Publications
Prevalence and genotype identification of Toxoplasma gondii in wild animals from southwestern Spain.
8. Calero-Bernal R, Saugar JM, Frontera E, Pérez-Martín JE, Habela MA, Serrano FJ, Reina D, Fuentes I. 2015. Prevalence and genotype identification of Toxoplasma gondii in wild animals from southwestern Spain. J Wildl Dis, 51:233-8.
PUBMED DOIHigh SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load and Low CCL5 Expression Levels in the Upper Respiratory Tract Are Associated With COVID-19 Severity.
4. Pérez-García F, Martin-Vicente M, Rojas-García RL, Castilla-García L, Muñoz-Gomez MJ, Hervás-Fernández I, González-Ventosa V, Vidal-Alcántara EJ, Cuadros-González J, Bermejo-Martin JF (‡), Resino S (‡ *), Martínez I (‡). High SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load and Low CCL5 Expression Levels in the Upper Respiratory Tract Are Associated With COVID-19 Severity. J Infect Dis 2022; 225(6):977-982 (A; FI= 7.76; Q1, Infectious Diseases; JCR 2021). PMID: 34910814 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiab604.
PUBMED DOIMetabolomic changes after DAAs therapy are related to the improvement of cirrhosis and inflammation in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.
5. Virseda-Berdices A, Rojo D, Martínez I, Berenguer J, González-García J, Brochado-Kith O, Fernández-Rodríguez A, Díez C, Hontañon V, Pérez-Latorre L, Micán R, Barbas C, Resino S (‡ *), Jiménez-Sousa MA (‡ *). Metabolomic changes after DAAs therapy are related to the improvement of cirrhosis and inflammation in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients. Biomed Pharmacother 2022, 147: 112626. (A; FI= 7.42; D1, Pharmacology & Pharmacy; JCR 2021).
PUBMED DOIBlood microbiome is associated with changes in portal hypertension after successful direct-acting antiviral therapy in patients with HCV-related cirrhosis.
7. Virseda-Berdices A, Brochado-Kith O, Díez C, Hontañon V, Berenguer J, González-García J, Rojo D, Fernández-Rodríguez A, Ibañez-Samaniego L, Llop-Herrera E, Olveira A, Perez-Latorre L, Barbas C, Rava M (‡), Resino S (‡ *), Jiménez-Sousa MA (‡ *). Blood microbiome is associated with changes in portal hypertension after successful direct-acting antiviral therapy in patients with HCV-related cirrhosis. J Antimicrob Chemoth 2022; 77 (3): 719–726 (A; FI= 5.76; Q1, Pharmacology & Pharmacy; JCR 2020).
PUBMED DOIA Q Fever Outbreak with a High Rate of Abortions at a Dairy Goat Farm: Coxiella burnetii Shedding, Environmental Contamination, and Viability
3. Álvarez-Alonso R, Basterretxea M, Barandika JF, Hurtado A, Idiazabal J, Jado I, Beraza X, Montes M, Liendo P, García-Pérez AL. A Q Fever Outbreak with a High Rate of Abortions at a Dairy Goat Farm: Coxiella burnetii Shedding, Environmental Contamination, and Viability. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2018 Oct 1;84(20).
PUBMED DOIIrruptive mammal host populations shape tularemia epidemiology.
4. Luque-Larena, Juan J.; Mougeot, Francois; Arroyo, Beatriz; Dolors Vidal, Ma; Rodriguez-Pastor, Ruth; Escudero, Raquel; Anda, Pedro; Lambin, Xavier. Irruptive mammal host populations shape tularemia epidemiology. Plos Pathogens. 13 - 11, Public Library Science, 01/11/2017.
PUBMED DOIEnvironmental sampling coupled with real-time PCR and genotyping to investigate the source of a Q fever outbreak in a work setting.
5. Hurtado A, Alonso E, Aspiritxaga I, López Etxaniz I, Ocabo B, Barandika JF, Fernández-Ortiz DE Murúa JI, Urbaneja F, Álvarez-Alonso R, Jado I, García-Pérez AL. Environmental sampling coupled with real-time PCR and genotyping to investigate the source of a Q fever outbreak in a work setting. Epidemiol Infect. 2017 Jul;145(9):1834-1842.
PUBMED DOIDensity-Dependent Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in Fluctuating Vole Populations, Northwestern Spain
6. Rodriguez-Pastor, Ruth; Escudero, Raquel; Vidal, Dolors; Mougeot, Francois; Arroyo, Beatriz; Lambin, Xavier; Maria Vila-Coro, Ave; Rodriguez-Moreno, Isabel; Anda, Pedro; Luque-Larena, Juan J.Density-Dependent Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in Fluctuating Vole Populations, Northwestern Spain. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 23 - 8, pp. 1377 - 1379. Centers Disease Control, 01/08/2017.
PUBMED DOIGenotypes of Coxiella burnetii in wildlife: disentangling the molecular epidemiology of a multi-host pathogen
7. González-Barrio D, Jado I, Fernández-de-Mera IG, Del Rocio Fernández-Santos M, Rodríguez-Vargas M, García-Amil C, Beltrán-Beck B, Anda P, Ruiz-Fons F. Genotypes of Coxiella burnetii in wildlife: disentangling the molecular epidemiology of a multi-host pathogen. Environ Microbiol Rep. 2016 Oct;8(5):708-714.
PUBMED DOIDevelopment of Improved Serodiagnostics for Tularemia by Use of Francisella tularensis Proteome Microarrays
8. Nakajima, Rie; Escudero, Raquel; Molina, Douglas M.; Rodriguez-Vargas, Manuela; Randall, Arlo; Jasinskas, Algis; Pablo, Jozelyn; Felgner, Philip L.; AuCoin, David P.; Anda, Pedro; Davies, D. Huw. Towards Development of Improved Serodiagnostics for Tularemia by Use of Francisella tularensis Proteome Microarrays. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2016 Jul;54(7):1755-1765.
PUBMED DOIInterruption of onchocerciasis transmission in Bioko Island: Accelerating the movement from control to elimination in Equatorial Guinea
5. Herrador Z, Garcia B, Ncogo P, Perteguer MJ, Rubio JM, Rivas E, Cimas M, Ordoñez G, de Pablos S, Hernández-González A, Nguema R, Moya L, Romay-Barja M, Garate T, Barbre K, Benito A. Interruption of onchocerciasis transmission in Bioko Island: Accelerating the movement from control to elimination in Equatorial Guinea. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2018 May 3;12(5):e0006471.
PUBMED DOILAMP kit for diagnosis of non-falciparum malaria in Plasmodium ovale infected patients
7. Thuy-Huong Ta-Tang, Sergio L. B. Luz, Francisco J. Merino, Isabel de Fuentes, Rogelio López-Vélez, Tatiana A. P. Almeida, Marta Lanza, Cláudia M. M. Abrahim, and José M. Rubio (2016). Atypical Mansonella ozzardi Microfilariae from an Endemic Area of Brazilian Amazonia. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg 95(3), 2016, pp. 633–636.
PUBMED DOIComparison of Imported Plasmodium ovale curtisi and P. ovale wallikeri Infections among Patients in Spain, 2005-2011.
9. Rojo-Marcos G, Rubio-Muñoz JM, Ramírez-Olivencia G, García-Bujalance S, Elcuaz-Romano R, Díaz-Menéndez M, Calderón M, García-Bermejo I, Ruiz-Giardín JM, Merino-Fernández FJ, Torrús-Tendero D, Delgado-Iribarren A, Ribell-Bachs M,Arévalo-Serrano J, Cuadros-González J (2014). Comparison of Imported Plasmodium ovale curtisi and P. ovale wallikeri Infections among Patients in Spain, 2005-2011. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014 Mar;20(3):409-16.
PUBMED DOIArbovirus surveillance: first dengue virus detection in local Aedes albopictus mosquitoes in Europe, Catalonia, Spain, 2015.
1. C Aranda; MJ Martínez; T Montalvo; R Eritja; J Navero-Castillejos; E Herreros; E Marqués; R Escosa; I Corbella; E Bigas; L Picart; M Jané; I Barrabeig; N Torner; S Talavera; Ana Vázquez; María Paz Sánchez-Seco; Nuria Busquets. Arbovirus surveillance: first dengue virus detection in local Aedes albopictus mosquitoes in Europe, Catalonia, Spain, 2015.Eurosurveillance. 23 - 47, 2018.
PUBMED DOIPhylogenetic Characterization of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Spain
2. Eva Ramírez de Arellano; Lourdes Hernández; M José Goyanes; Marta Arsuaga; Ana Fernández Cruz; Anabel Negredo; María Paz Sánchez Seco. Phylogenetic Characterization of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Spain. Emerging infectious diseases. 23 - 12, pp. 2078 - 2080. 12/2017. ISSN 1080-6059
PUBMED DOIToscana virus infection in Catalonia (Spain).
4. Neus Cardeñosa; Diana Kaptoul; Pedro Fernández Viladrich; Carles Aranda; Fernando de Ory; Jordi Niubó; Pere Plans; Angela Domínguez; Giovanni Fedele; Antonio Tenorio; María Paz Sánchez Seco. Toscana virus infection in Catalonia (Spain). Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.). 13 - 4, pp. 273 - 278. 04/2013. ISSN 1557-7759
PUBMED DOI. Autochthonous Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Spain
5. Anabel Negredo; Fernando de la Calle Prieto; Eduardo Palencia Herrejón; Marta Mora Rillo; Jenaro Astray Mochales; María P Sánchez Seco; Esther Bermejo Lopez; Javier Menárguez; Ana Fernández Cruz; Beatriz Sánchez Artola; Elena Keough Delgado; Eva Ramírez de Arellano; Fátima Lasala; Jakob Milla; Jose L Fraile; Maria Ordobás Gavín; Amalia Martinez de la Gándara; Lorenzo López Perez; Domingo Diaz Diaz; M Aurora López García; Pilar Delgado Jimenez; Alejandro Martín Quirós; Elena Trigo; Juan C Figueira; Jesús Manzanares; Elena Rodriguez Baena; Luis Garcia Comas; Olaia Rodríguez Fraga; Nicolás García Arenzana; Maria V Fernández Díaz; Victor M Cornejo; Petra Emmerich; Jonas Schmidt Chanasit; Jose R Arribas. Autochthonous Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Spain.The New England journal of medicine. 377 - 2, pp. 154 - 161. 13/07/2017. ISSN 1533-4406
PUBMED DOIZika Virus Screening among Spanish Team Members After 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Olympic Games
6. Natalia Rodriguez Valero; Alberto M Borobia; Mar Lago; Maria Paz Sánchez Seco; Fernando de Ory; Ana Vázquez; Jose Luis Pérez Arellano; Cristina Carranza Rodríguez; Miguel J Martínez; Alicia Capón; Elias Cañas; Joaquin Salas Coronas; Arkaitz Azcune Galparsoro; Jose Muñoz. Zika Virus Screening among Spanish Team Members After 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Olympic Games. Emerging infectious diseases. 23 - 8, pp. 1426 - 1428. 08/2017. ISSN 1080-6059
PUBMED DOIProlonged Zika Virus Viremia during Pregnancy
7. Anna Suy; Elena Sulleiro; Carlota Rodó; Élida Vázquez; Cristina Bocanegra; Israel Molina; Juliana Esperalba; María P Sánchez Seco; Hector Boix; Tomás Pumarola; Elena Carreras. Prolonged Zika Virus Viremia during Pregnancy. The New England journal of medicine. 375 - 26, pp. 2611 - 2613. 29/12/2016. ISSN 1533-4406
PUBMED DOIContent with Investigacion .
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Horacio Gil Gil
Research Scientist
ORCID code: 0000-0002-7114-6686
Degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1995 and PhD in Veterinary Medicine in 2002 from the University of Zaragoza. He did his PhD thesis at NEIKER Tecknalia (Derio, Vizcaya) and the National Center for Microbiology of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CNM-ISCIII, Majadahonda, Madrid) on the biological cycle of Lyme disease in the Basque Country. After that, he developed his postdoctoral training in different aspects of the pathogenesis of tularemia at the Center for Infectious Diseases, Stony Brook University, New York (USA) for 3 years. In December 2005, he joined the Reference and Research Laboratory in Special Pathogens of the CNM-ISCIII where he developed diagnostic, reference and research activities, in Bartonella, Leptospira and pathogens of interest in bioterrorism. Between 2014-2016 he participated in the European Program for the Training of Microbiologists in Public Health (EUPHEM), organized by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. During this program, he participated in an international mission for the investigation of a cholera outbreak in Ghana, proposed by the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Diseases in Hamburg (Germany). In December 2016, he worked as a laboratory consultant for the World Health Organization at their office in Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Subsequently, he worked one year with Médecins Sans Frontières as director and quality manager of the TB laboratory in Nukus (Uzbekistan).
In 2019, he joined the HIV Variability and Biology Unit at CNM-ISCIII, where he developed different reference and research activities, including his contribution to the molecular epidemiological surveillance of HIV-1 in Spain and the study of HIV-1 antiretroviral resistance. Since September 2022 he has been leading the Human Papillomavirus Unit at the CNM-ISCIII. -
Alicia Inés García Señán
Predoctoral Student UNED
Degree in Pharmacy in 2013 from the Complutense University of Madrid. She completed specialized health training in Microbiology and Parasitology at the Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca (2014-2018). During this period he studied a master's degree in Tropical Diseases at the University of Salamanca (2016). She has developed her professional activity as a clinical microbiologist at the Hospital de Santa Bárbara (Soria) (2018), Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebrón (Barcelona) (2019-2022), and Hospital Central de la Defensa (Gómez Ulla) C.S.V.E, since 2022. In September 2024 she has started PhD studies at the Human Papillomavirus Unit of the CNM-ISCIII.
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Manuela Rodríguez Vargas
Técnico de Laboratorio
List of staff
Additional Information
Our general objective is to provide early knowledge about any emerging antibiotic resistance mechanism in our country. This contribution of knowledge is based on transversal objectives that we consider key, such as 1) the ability to adapt research to emerging resistance problems, 2) the promotion of cooperative and multidisciplinary research studies working in networks with different Spanish and foreign centers, 3) the transfer of research results in an agile way to the clinical practice of the national health system, and 4) the promotion of the interrelation of research with reference, advice, training and dissemination seeking the empowerment of all.
More specifically, our main scientific objectives are the characterization of the molecular bases of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria, the study of the molecular epidemiology and population structure of resistant bacteria, the characterization of the mobile genetic elements that carry resistance genes, and the development of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic alternatives against bacteria with extensive resistance to antibiotics. In this sense, research into the dissemination pathways of Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter baumannii and carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (as a paradigm of extensive resistance and pan-resistance) is one of our current priority objectives.
Our general objective is to provide early knowledge about any emerging antibiotic resistance mechanism in our country. This contribution of knowledge is based on transversal objectives that we consider key, such as 1) the ability to adapt research to emerging resistance problems, 2) the promotion of cooperative and multidisciplinary research studies working in networks with different Spanish and foreign centers, 3) the transfer of research results in an agile way to the clinical practice of the national health system, and 4) the promotion of the interrelation of research with reference, advice, training and dissemination seeking the empowerment of all.
More specifically, our main scientific objectives are the characterization of the molecular bases of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria, the study of the molecular epidemiology and population structure of resistant bacteria, the characterization of the mobile genetic elements that carry resistance genes, and the development of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic alternatives against bacteria with extensive resistance to antibiotics. In this sense, research into the dissemination pathways of Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter baumannii and carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (as a paradigm of extensive resistance and pan-resistance) is one of our current priority objectives.