Profile of elderly patients attended by a Hospital-Based Health Care System in Porto Alegre, RS

Objetivo: O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar algumas características do perfil dos pacientes idosos que participaram do Programa de Atenção Domiciliar da equipe do Grupo Hospital Conceição, nos anos de 2009 e 2010. Métodos: O estudo caracteriza-se por ser descritivo, transversal e quantitativo com base em pesquisa em banco de dados do PAD (Programa de Atenção Domiciliar), no período de 2009 e 2010. Resultados: Maioria dos usuários do serviço é do sexo feminino, com idades variando de 60 a 98 anos, média de internação em torno de 25 a 30 dias. Áreas de maior complexidade utilizam mais o serviço de internação domiciliar (Medicina Interna, Emergência, Cardiologia) e os pacientes estão vinculados principalmente às unidades básicas do IAPI, Sarandi e Passo das Pedras. Conclusões: Houve um crescimento no número de internação de idosos pela equipe do PAD, porém a média de dias de internação dos pacientes diminuiu, demonstrando provavelmente, maior eficiência do serviço.Background: The aim of this paper is to present some characteristics from the profile of elderly patients who participated in the Home Care Service Hospital- Based for the years 2009 and 2010, of the Conceição Hospitalar Group (GHC). Methods: The study is characterized by being descriptive, transversal and quantitative, based on database of PAD (Home Care Program), between 2009 and 2010. Results: Most service users are female, with ages ranging from 60 to 98 years, average days of home care around 25 to 30 days. Areas of greater complexity most used the service (internal medicine, emergency, cardiology). Conclusions: There was an increase in the number of visits to the elderly by the team of PAD, however, the average of home care service of patients declined and may the demonstration of the efficiency of the service

Role of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase 4 in Regulation of Blood Glucose Levels

In the well-fed state a relatively high activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) reduces blood glucose levels by directing the carbon of pyruvate into the citric acid cycle. In the fasted state a relatively low activity of the PDC helps maintain blood glucose levels by conserving pyruvate and other three carbon compounds for gluconeogenesis. The relative activities of the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs) and the opposing pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatases determine the activity of PDC in the fed and fasted states. Up regulation of PDK4 is largely responsible for inactivation of PDC in the fasted state. PDK4 knockout mice have lower fasting blood glucose levels than wild type mice, proving that up regulation of PDK4 is important for normal glucose homeostasis. In type 2 diabetes, up regulation of PDK4 also inactivates PDC, which promotes gluconeogenesis and thereby contributes to the hyperglycemia characteristic of this disease. When fed a high fat diet, wild type mice develop fasting hyperglycemia but PDK4 knockout mice remain euglycemic, proving that up regulation of PDK4 contributes to hyperglycemia in diabetes. These finding suggest PDK4 inhibitors might prove useful in the treatment of type 2 diabetes

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) mRNA expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and non-cancerous liver tissue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) regulates lipid metabolism in the liver. It is unclear, however, how this receptor changes in liver cancer tissue. On the other hand, mouse carcinogenicity studies showed that PPARα is necessary for the development of liver cancer induced by peroxisome proliferators, and the relationship between PPARα and the development of liver cancer have been the focus of considerable attention. There have been no reports, however, demonstrating that PPARα is involved in the development of human liver cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The subjects were 10 patients who underwent hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma. We assessed the expression of PPARα mRNA in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and non-cancerous tissue, as well as the expression of target genes of PPARα, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A and cyclin D1 mRNAs. We also evaluated glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, a key enzyme in the glycolytic system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The amounts of PPARα, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase mRNA in cancerous sections were significantly increased compared to those in non-cancerous sections. The level of cyclin D1 mRNA tends to be higher in cancerous than non-cancerous sections. Although there was a significant correlation between the levels of PPARα mRNA and cyclin D1 mRNA in both sections, however the correlation was higher in cancerous sections.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present investigation indicated increased expression of PPARα mRNA and mRNAs for PPARα target genes in human hepatocellular carcinoma. These results might be associated with its carcinogenesis and characteristic features of energy production.</p

Plasma Metabolomic Profiles Reflective of Glucose Homeostasis in Non-Diabetic and Type 2 Diabetic Obese African-American Women

Insulin resistance progressing to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is marked by a broad perturbation of macronutrient intermediary metabolism. Understanding the biochemical networks that underlie metabolic homeostasis and how they associate with insulin action will help unravel diabetes etiology and should foster discovery of new biomarkers of disease risk and severity. We examined differences in plasma concentrations of >350 metabolites in fasted obese T2DM vs. obese non-diabetic African-American women, and utilized principal components analysis to identify 158 metabolite components that strongly correlated with fasting HbA1c over a broad range of the latter (r = −0.631; p<0.0001). In addition to many unidentified small molecules, specific metabolites that were increased significantly in T2DM subjects included certain amino acids and their derivatives (i.e., leucine, 2-ketoisocaproate, valine, cystine, histidine), 2-hydroxybutanoate, long-chain fatty acids, and carbohydrate derivatives. Leucine and valine concentrations rose with increasing HbA1c, and significantly correlated with plasma acetylcarnitine concentrations. It is hypothesized that this reflects a close link between abnormalities in glucose homeostasis, amino acid catabolism, and efficiency of fuel combustion in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. It is speculated that a mechanism for potential TCA cycle inefficiency concurrent with insulin resistance is “anaplerotic stress” emanating from reduced amino acid-derived carbon flux to TCA cycle intermediates, which if coupled to perturbation in cataplerosis would lead to net reduction in TCA cycle capacity relative to fuel delivery

Delayed Recovery of Skeletal Muscle Mass following Hindlimb Immobilization in mTOR Heterozygous Mice

The present study addressed the hypothesis that reducing mTOR, as seen in mTOR heterozygous (+/−) mice, would exaggerate the changes in protein synthesis and degradation observed during hindlimb immobilization as well as impair normal muscle regrowth during the recovery period. Atrophy was produced by unilateral hindlimb immobilization and data compared to the contralateral gastrocnemius. In wild-type (WT) mice, the gradual loss of muscle mass plateaued by day 7. This response was associated with a reduction in basal protein synthesis and development of leucine resistance. Proteasome activity was consistently elevated, but atrogin-1 and MuRF1 mRNAs were only transiently increased returning to basal values by day 7. When assessed 7 days after immobilization, the decreased muscle mass and protein synthesis and increased proteasome activity did not differ between WT and mTOR+/− mice. Moreover, the muscle inflammatory cytokine response did not differ between groups. After 10 days of recovery, WT mice showed no decrement in muscle mass, and this accretion resulted from a sustained increase in protein synthesis and a normalization of proteasome activity. In contrast, mTOR+/− mice failed to fully replete muscle mass at this time, a defect caused by the lack of a compensatory increase in protein synthesis. The delayed muscle regrowth of the previously immobilized muscle in the mTOR+/− mice was associated with a decreased raptor•4EBP1 and increased raptor•Deptor binding. Slowed regrowth was also associated with a sustained inflammatory response (e.g., increased TNFα and CD45 mRNA) during the recovery period and a failure of IGF-I to increase as in WT mice. These data suggest mTOR is relatively more important in regulating the accretion of muscle mass during recovery than the loss of muscle during the atrophy phase, and that protein synthesis is more sensitive than degradation to the reduction in mTOR during muscle regrowth

A vulnerabilidade no contexto do envelhecimento : uma abordagem da bioética complexa

Introdução: Até o ano de 2025, o Brasil será o sexto país com o maior número de pessoas idosas no mundo. A Bioética discute a vulnerabilidade porque a vulnerabilidade expõe os sujeitos à exploração, mas a exploração é moralmente inadequada, pois pressupõe uma relação onde uma parte encontra-se em desvantagem. Para o ano de 2050 estima-se que essa faixa etária represente 20% da população mundial, aproximadamente 2 bilhões de habitantes. Destes, mais de 60% estarão vivendo em países em desenvolvimento. Objetivos: Caracterizar a vulnerabilidade no contexto do envelhecimento, comparando grupos de idosos e adultos em diferentes situações de atendimento em hospital-geral e na comunidade. Métodos: A pesquisa se caracteriza como transversal, quantitativa e qualitativa (mixed-method) quando compara 3 grupos de idosos (1 – atendimento ambulatorial, 2 – unidade de internação, 3 – praticantes de atividade física) com 3 grupos de adultos (4 – atendimento ambulatorial, 5 – unidade de internação, 6 – praticantes de atividade física) avaliados pelos instrumentos: para avaliação da qualidade de vida (QDV), Desenvolvimento Psicológico-Mora (DPM)l, capacidade funcional (CF), coerção em pesquisa (CP) e assistência (CA). Qualitativamente, analisou-se a fala dos pacientes, conforme Bardin, por meio de uma entrevista semi-aberta. Resultados: A amostra foi composta, predominantemente, por mulheres em todos os grupos (p=0,002). O nível de escolaridade se mostrou mais alto nos grupos 3 e 6, sendo que o grupo 3 gozava de um nível de instrução ainda maior que o grupo 6. Tanto adultos quanto idosos apresentaram mediana compatível com o 5º nível de DPM e o nível de coerção na pesquisa apresentou diferença significativa no grupo 6 (p<0,001). A ocupação, quando comparou adultos e idosos apresentou predomínio de idosos aposentados (59,7%) e 28,6% de adultos trabalhadores não especializados (p<0,001). Ao compará-los nas três situações de coleta, apresentou diferença significativa entre os idosos com p=0,008. A capacidade funcional revela participantes independentes na sua maioria, sendo que nos grupos de pacientes (1,2,4 e 5) é onde encontramos os participantes com maior grau de dependência para AVD. A qualidade de vida apresentou média geral de 64,91 ± 13,35 em idosos e 62,30 ± 14,29, sem diferença significativa. O domínio com maior média para idosos foi o domínio psicológico e em adultos, a relação social. O domínio “meio ambiente” apresentou diferença significativa entre os grandes grupos, com p=0,002. Ao comparar idosos e adultos considerando o local de coleta, idosos praticantes de exercício físico e adultos da comunidade tiveram as maiores médias gerais, com p < 0,001 e p=0,019, respectivamente, em idosos e adultos. A pesquisa qualitativa extraiu da fala dos participantes categorias, cujas quatro categorias mais expressivas foram: 2 Saúde e doença– com 25% dos participantes; 8 Conduta– com 20%, 1 Autonomia – 17% e a categoria de número 7 Fragilidade – contando com 15% das inferências. Conclusão: O ambiente e a situação de saúde em que a amostra foi colhida, parece dizer mais respeito à vulnerabilidade do que o critério idade: a vulnerabilidade está mais relacionada com os agravos que o ser humano experimenta - que é dinâmico. O discurso dos participantes expressam a vulnerabilidade relacionada à doença ou falta de saúde, a um julgamento moral, à autonomia e fragilidade.Introduction: By the year 2025, Brazil will be the sixth country with the highest number of older adult worldwide. Bioethics discusses the vulnerability because the vulnerability exposes the subject to exploitation, but exploitation is morally wrong once it presupposes a relationship where one party is facing disadvantage. For the year 2050 it is estimated that this age group represents 20% of world population, approximately 2 billion people. Of these, over 60% will be living in developing countries. Goals: Search for the characterization of vulnerability in the context of aging, comparing groups of elderly people and adults in different situations of care in general hospital and community. Methods: The research is characterized as transversal, quantitative and qualitative (mixed method) when comparing three groups of older people (1 -outpatient care, 2 - inpatient unit, 3 - physically active) with 3 adult groups (4 - outpatient care, 5 - inpatient, 6 - physically active) assessed by the instruments quality of life (QOL), Moral Psychological Development (MPD) , functional capacity (FC), research coercion (RC) and assistance coercion (AC) . Qualitatively, we analyzed the speech of patients according Bardin, through a semi-open interview. Results: The sample was composed predominantly of women in all groups (p = 0.002). The level of education revealed higher in groups 3 and 6, and the group 3 enjoyed a level of even greater statement that the group 6. Both adults and elderly achieved the 5th level of MPD and the level of coercion in research showed significant difference in group 6 (p <0.001). The occupation when compared adults and the elderly showed a higher proportion of retired (59.7%) and 28.6% of adult unskilled workers (p <0.001). When the sample was compared in the three situations, showed a significant difference between in older people, with p=0.008. The functional capacity reveals independent participants mostly, and in the groups of patients (1,2,4 and 5) is where we find participants with a greater degree of dependence for ADL. The quality of life showed overall average of 64.91 ± 13.35 in older adults and 62.30 ± in 14.29 in adults, with no significant difference. The area with the highest average for seniors was the psychological domain and for adults, the social relationship. The domain "environment" show significant differences between the large group, with p = 0.002. By comparing elderly and adults considering the collection site, elderly practitioners of physical exercise and community adults had the highest average overall, with p <0.001 and p = 0.019, respectively, in the elderly and adults. Qualitative research take out from the speech of participants categories, whose four most significant categories were: 2 Health and disease-with 25% of participants; 8 Behavior- with 20%, 1 Autonomy - 17% and 7 Fragility - totaling 15% of the inferences. Conclusion: The environment and the health situation in which the sample was taken, seems to say more about the vulnerability of the age criterion: the vulnerability is more related to injuries that the human being experiences - that is dynamic. The participants express the vulnerability related to the disease or health, to a moral judgment, autonomy and frailty