Fatores de suscetibilidade genética para a hipertensão arterial: a via de sinalização pelo recetor de hidrocarbonetos aromáticos

As doenças cardiovasculares estão entre as causas de morte mais comuns em todo o mundo, sendo responsáveis por milhões de mortes anualmente. Estas doenças estão intrinsecamente relacionadas com a hipertensão, resultando no agravamento dos distúrbios cardíacos e dos vasos sanguíneos com a idade, embora algumas dessas mortes possam ocorrer prematuramente abaixo dos 70 anos de idade. Embora a prevalência global de hipertensão tenda a uma redução no número de novos casos de hipertensão, países economicamente menos estáveis contradizem essas tendências, observando-se um aumento na prevalência de hipertensão. Além disso, a hipertensão apresenta muitas possibilidades quanto à sua etiologia, dificultando a identificação de causas específicas para o desenvolvimento da doença. Alguns polimorfismos de nucleótido único estão associados ao desenvolvimento de hipertensão, no contexto da exposição a hidrocarbonetos aromáticos policíclicos. O presente trabalho teve como foco a análise, PCR-RFLP, dos SNPs ARNT C567G e CYP1A2 C-163A na população tailandesa, relacionando-os com a elevada exposição a PAHs por meio do fumo do tabaco e da poluição atmosférica. Os resultados demonstram um claro desvio no pool genético para ambos os SNPs, face ao esperado pelo equilíbrio de Hardy-Weinberg. Por exemplo, apenas 7,02% da população não apresentava um polimorfismo em nenhum dos SNPs. Além disso, tanto no ARNT C567G quanto no CYP1A2 C-163A, os genótipos homozigotas para a variante foram os mais prevalentes. Este estudo sugere que a razão pela qual a população tailandesa poderá ser mais propensa ao desenvolvimento de hipertensão reside no facto de que grande percentagem de indivíduos pode apresentar SNPs que contribuem para a ativação de PAHs, aliado à percentagem preocupante de fumadores ativos e passivos. A grande maioria da população também se encontra exposta a níveis perigosos de PAHs atmosféricos nas suas áreas de residência. A falta de urgência na implementação de um sistema de monitoração da HTA mais alargado, aliada à dificuldade de acesso aos cuidados de saúde pode ser a causa da falta de controlo da prevalência de hipertensão por parte do sistema nacional de saúde da Tailândia.Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common causes of death globally, taking millions of lives each year. These diseases are intrinsically related with hypertension, resulting in the aggravation of heart and blood vessel disorders with age, although some of these deaths can occur prematurely under 70 years of age. Even though the global prevalence of hypertension is trending towards a decrease in the number of new afflicted population with hypertension, low- and medium-income countries contradict these trends, for we can observe a rise in the prevalence of hypertension. Furthermore, hypertension as a chronic disease has many possibilities as to its etiology, making it hard to pinpoint specific causes for the onset of the disease. Some single nucleotide polymorphisms have been found to be associated with the development of hypertension, for they occur in genes associated with the conversion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into their active forms. This dissertation focuses on the analysis, by PCR-RFLP, of both ARNT C567G and CYP1A2 C-163A SNPs on the Thai population, linking it with the high exposure to PAHs via smoking and atmospheric pollution. The results demonstrate a clear deviation in the genetic pool for both SNPs, versus what was expected via the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. For instance, only 7,02% of our population had no polymorphism on any of the SNPs. Furthermore, in both ANRT C567G and CYP1A2 C-163A, the variant genotypes were the most prevalent in the population. This study suggests that the reason the Thai population are prone to develop hypertension resides in the fact that a big percentage of individuals may have SNPs that contribute to the over activation of PAHs, linked to the fact that many of them are active and passive smokers. A great majority of the population are also exposed to dangerous levels of atmospheric PAHs in their residential areas. A lack of urgency in the implementation of a better monitoring system allied with difficulty in accessing medical care may be the cause for the lack of hypertension prevalence control by the Thailand national health system

Association between blood lactate and heart rate variability in type 2 diabetics during resistance exercise / Associação entre o lactato de sangue e a variabilidade da frequência cardíaca em diabéticos do tipo 2 durante o exercício de resistência

Introduction: During exercise, the branchs sympathetic and parasympathetic, central and peripheral mechanisms interact inducing adjustments on of heart rate (HR) responses according to the intensity, which can be changed in the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Those changes may occur during the time after resistance exercise recovery. Objective: To to compare the method of determining the LA by the blood lactate dosage and HRV, RMSSD and SD1 rates, in individuals with DM2. Results and conclusion: The results of our study show that you have more than 30% of 1RM for the GC as well as for the DM2 group, the latter containing more expressive when compared also with as 40 and 50% loads of 1RM. What is a HRV was observed a significant reduction in relation to the rest in the RMSSD and SD1 indices of CG and soon without a GM2 group, showing in both groups a tendency of stabilization after 30% of 1RM and not being possible to find the LA, determined by HRV, in this specific population submitted to an incremental protocol of resisted lower limb exercise

Efeito agudo do exercício resistido dinâmico realizado abaixo e acima do limiar de lactato sanguíneo sobre frequência cardíaca e modulação cardíaca parassimpática de mulher hipertensa e diabética: Acute effect of dynamic resistance exercise performed below and above the blood lactate threshold on heart rate and parasympathetic cardiac modulation in hypertensive and diabetic women

Introdução: Diabetes Mellitus tipo 2 pode causar alterações do sistema nervoso autônomo levando a prejuízos nas respostas durante o exercício fisico. Uma das formas de avaliar esse sistema é através da frequencia cardíaca (FC) e da variabilidade da frequencia cardíaca (VFC). O limiar de lactato (LL) sanguíneo é momento metabólico extremamente útil e muito utilizado para prescrição individualizada da intensidade do exercício aeróbio. Objetivo: Investigar o efeito agudo do exercício físico resistido dinâmico realizado abaixo e acima do LL sobre a frequência cardíaca e a modulação cardíaca parassimpática de mulher hipertensa e diabética.  Material e método: A amostra foi composta por uma mulher de 55 anos hipertensa e diabética tipo 2. O limiar de lactato foi determinado durante o exercício de extensão de joelho (mesa romana) e aplicado dois testes: um com 10 % abaixo e outro com 10% acima do LL, com duração de um minuto cada um, mantendo respiração espontânea e sem apneia. Resultados: FC repouso = 68 e 67 bpm; FC máxima durante exercício = 86 e 93 bpm; % da FC de reserva = 18,5 e 26,3; RMSSD repouso = 13,5 e 18,8 ms; RMSSD exercício = 9,0 e 10,6; SD1 repouso = 9,7 e 13,4; SD1 exercício = 6,4 e 7,6. Conclusão: Um minuto de exercício de extensão do joelho a 20% da carga máxima causa sobrecarga cronotrópica 18,5% e diminuição da modulação cardíaca parassimpática em 33%. Na intensidade com 40% da carga máxima, acima do LL, ocorre, aumento e diminuição adicional na sobrecarga cronotrópica (7,75) e modulação parassimpática cardíaca (10%), respectivamente, de mulher hipertensa e diabétic

Physical-Chemical Characterization of Solid Waste Generated in the Water Industry: Case Study of the Water Treatment Stations of the Metropolitan Region of Recife

The objective of this research is to characterize the solid waste, commonly known as sludge, from the water treatment industry. Six main water treatment plants (Alto do Céu, Botafogo, Caixa d'água, Gurjaú, Suape and Tapacurá) were selected from the Metropolitan Region of Recife, managed by Companhia Pernambucana de Saneamento. Nine samples were collected in the eleven month period in the discharge of the sludge from the decanters. These samples were characterized physico-chemically, based on the methodology of the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (2012). The results indicated average humidity of 93%, average COD around 30 g/L and BOD of 4.5 g/L, indicating sludge of low biodegradability. The average values of total solids were 72 g/L, with 75% corresponding to fixed residues and 25% to volatiles. High concentrations of aluminum (1000 mg/L) were observed, due to the use of aluminum sulphate as a coagulant, and iron, around 500 mg/L. This study assists the manager in the decision making of the sustainable management of the sludge, mainly in relation to the final disposal

Cuidados farmacêuticos no manejo de problemas de saúde autolimitados: gripe / Pharmaceutical care in the management of self-limited health problems: influenza

Os Problemas de saúde autolimitados ou transtornos menores, são enfermidades agudas de baixa gravidade, caracterizado pelo breve período de latência. As enfermidades autolimitadas são: aftas bucais, candidíase, constipação intestinal, dermatite, diarreia (infantil e aguda), dismenorreia, hemorroidas, pediculose e gripe. Dentre esses transtornos menores, destaca-se a gripe. A gripe é uma enfermidade contagiosa de origem viral, ocasionada pelo vírus da influenza. Anualmente o vírus da influenza ocasiona milhões de infecções por todo o mundo e seus sintomas implicam em: febre, cefaleias, tosse seca ou com catarro, congestão nasal, coriza, fadiga, perda de apetite, náuseas e dores pelo corpo. Devido aos diversos sintomas apresentados, muitas vezes, são necessárias ações farmacêuticas em relação ao emprego das terapias farmacológicas e não-farmacológicas. O presente estudo trata-se de uma revisão de literatura. Para a busca dos artigos relacionados utilizou as seguintes bases de dados: Scientific Eletronic Library Online (SciELO), Web of Science e National Library of Medicine (PubMed/Medline), Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) e Google Acadêmico. E durante a pesquisa dos artigos, foram identificados inúmeros trabalhos, como critério de inclusão usou-se o idioma e o ano da publicação (Português e inglês, 2013 a 2022). Conclui-se que na maioria dos casos de gripe, os infectados diante de qualquer mudança no estado de saúde, procuram ajuda nas farmácias e drogarias devido ao fácil acesso, em consequência disso, os farmacêuticos são os primeiros profissionais de saúde a realizarem o atendimento. Ou seja, o farmacêutico é um grande aliado no manejo da gripe, no que diz respeito ao aconselhamento de medidas farmacológicas e não-farmacológicas

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination

BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript

Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease

One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials