Presence of metabolic syndrome induced by different concentrations of lead in rats

Introducción. El plomo (Pb) y otros agentes ambientales son capaces, por mecanismos bioquímicos, de producir alteraciones del perfil glucídico y lipídico, y generar hipertensión arterial, la cual se produce por lesión directa sobre el endotelio y/o indirecta, renal. Objetivos. Determinar la presencia de componentes bioquímicos, antropométricos y de presión arterial como elementos constitutivos del síndrome metabólico, en ratas tratadas con distintas concentraciones de plomo. Material y método. Se trabajó con ratas Wistar, tratadas con 25, 100, 250, 500 y 1000 ppm de acetato de plomo en el agua de bebida, en distintos tiempos según la concentración de Pb y controles libres del metal (n=6 cada grupo). Laboratorio toxicológico: ALA-D (ácido delta amino levulínico deshidratasa) y plomo en sangre. Se determinaron en plasma niveles de triglicéridos, colesterol, colesterol HDL, hemoglobina (Hb) glicosilada y glucosa. Se midieron presión arterial sistólica y peso. Resultados. Todas las ratas tratadas con las distintas concentraciones de Pb presentaron un aumento del peso. La glucemia, el colesterol total y los triglicéridos plasmáticos se elevaron en los grupos tratados con 25, 500 y 1000 ppm, no así en los controles, lo mismo ocurrió con la Hb glicosilada (p<0,03). Se observó un descenso del colesterol HDL. La presión arterial se elevó en todos los grupos con respecto al grupo control (p<0,03). A mayor concentración de plomo, todos los elementos constitutivos estudiados del síndrome metabólico sufren modificaciones de manera creciente. Conclusiones. El plomo, en distintas dosis, modifica el normal funcionamiento del metabolismo de los lípidos y sus respectivas concentraciones séricas; siendo uno de los factores no convencionales de enfermedad cardiovascular aterosclerótica, al inducir síndrome metabólico.Background. Lead and other environmental agents can produce, by biochemical mechanisms, alterations in carbohydrate and lipid profile and generate high blood pressure, which is produced by direct injury in endothelium and/or indirect kidney damage. Objectives. To determine the presence of biochemical, anthropometric components and elevation of blood pressure as constituent elements of metabolic syndrome in rats treated with different concentrations of lead. Material and method. We worked with Wistar rats, treated with 25, 100, 250, 500, 1000 ppm of lead acetate in drinking water at different times depending on the concentration of lead and other group of metal-free water (control) (n=6 each group). Toxicological laboratory: ALA-D (Delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase) and lead in blood. Plasmatic determinations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, glycosylated hemoglobin (Hb) and glucose were done. Systolic blood pressure and weight were measured. Results. All rats treated with different concentrations of lead presented an increase in weight. Glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides were elevated in treated groups with 25, 500 and 1000 ppm, not so in controls, the same thing happened with glycosylated Hb (p&lt;0.03). A decrease in HDL cholesterol was observed. Blood pressure was raised in all lead treatments groups and not in control group (p&lt;0.03). In lead highest concentration, all the constituent elements of the studied metabolic syndrome suffer increasingly modifications. Conclusions. Lead in different doses modifies the normal functioning of lipids metabolism and their respective concentrations of serum; inducing metabolic syndrome, it would be one of unconventional, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk factors.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Intoxicação por chumbo: avaliação clínica e estudos complementários em crianças

La pobreza, la mala nutrición, la injusticia social y ambiental predominan en América Latina como factores que condicionan la acción de sustancias contaminantes sobre los niños. La intoxicación con plomo y la contaminación ambiental constituyen problemas de salud pública en todo el mundo, afectando múltiples sistemas del organismo, en especial los sistemas nervioso central (SNC), hematopoyético, renal, endocrino y óseo, entre otros, en las primeras etapas de la vida. Objetivo: evaluar los efectos clínicos, bioquímicos y vasculares en niños expuestos a fuente conocida de plomo. Materiales y métodos: se estudiaron siete niños con fuente definida de exposición a plomo y se realizó laboratorio general y específico para plomo. Se valoraron función endotelial y parámetros electrocardiográficos. Estadística descriptiva. Resultados: media de edad: 6,2 años (DE± 1,6), hematocrito promedio 31% (DE±0,02); hemoglobina promedio 10,2 gr/dl (DE± 0,78). La totalidad de las muestras, 100%, presentó anemia, hipocromía, microcitosis y anisocitosis marcadas. Plombemia promedio: 37,9 ug/dl (DE± 6,22), ALA-D promedio: 8,9 U/L (DE±4,5). No se encontraron modificaciones en el perfil lipídico ni en función renal. Todos presentaron microalbuminuria y disfunción endotelial. Conclusión: estos resultados evidencian los efectos que la exposición ambiental al plomo puede producir en niños no expuestos laboralmente.Poverty, poor nutrition, environmental and social injustice prevailing in Latin America are factors that determine the action of pollutants on children. Lead poisoning and pollution constitute a public health problem throughout the world. Lead affects multiple organs: nervous system particularly, hematopoietic, renal, endocrine, bone and others. Objective: to assess clinical, biochemical and vascular effects in children exposed to known source of lead. Materials and methods: Seven children with defined source lead exposure were studied, general and specific lead laboratory were made. Endothelial function and electrocardiographic parameters were assessed. Statistic: descriptive. Results: Age average was 6,2 years (DE± 1, 6), average haematocrit 31% (DE±0,02); hemoglobin average 10,2 g/dl (DE± 0,78). 100% presented hypochromia, microcitosis, anemia and marked anisocytosis. Lead average: 37,9 ug/dl (DE±6,22), ALA-D average: 8,9 U/L (DE±4,5). No changes were found in lipid profile and kidney function. All presented microalbuminuria and endothelial dysfunction. Conclusion: These results show the effects of environmental lead exposure that can result in children not occupationally exposed.A pobreza, a má nutrição, a injustiça social e ambiental predominam na América Latina como fatores que condicionam a ação de sustâncias contaminantes sobre as crianças. A intoxicação por chumbo e a contaminação ambiental constituem problemas de saúde pública no mundo todo, afetando múltiplos sistemas do organismo, em especial o sistema nervoso central (SNC), hematopoiético, renal, endócrino e ósseo, entre outros, nas primeiras etapas da vida. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos clínicos, bioquímicos e vasculares nas crianças expostas a fontes conhecidas de chumbo. Material e método: estudaram-se sete crianças com fonte definida de exposição ao chumbo e se realizou laboratório geral e específico para chumbo. Avaliaram-se a função endotelial e parâmetros electrocardiográficos. Estadística descritiva. Resultados: Média de idade: 6,2 anos (DE± 1,6), média de hematócrito 31% (DE±0,02); média de hemoglobina 10,2 gr/dl (DE± 0,78). Da totalidade das amostras, 100%, apresentaram anemia, hipocromia, microcitose e anisocitose marcadas. Média de plumbemia: 37,9 ug/dl (DE± 6,22), média de ALA-D: 8,9 U/L (DE±4,5). Não se encontraram modificações no perfil lipídico nem em função renal. Todos apresentaram microalbuminúria e disfunção endotelial

Modern Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates replicate inside spacious vacuoles and egress from macrophages

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections are increasing at alarming rates. Therefore, novel antibiotic-sparing treatments to combat these A. baumannii infections are urgently needed. The development of these interventions would benefit from a better understanding of this bacterium\u27s pathobiology, which remains poorly understood. A. baumannii is regarded as an extracellular opportunistic pathogen. However, research on Acinetobacter has largely focused on common lab strains, such as ATCC 19606, that have been isolated several decades ago. These strains exhibit reduced virulence when compared to recently isolated clinical strains. In this work, we demonstrate that, unlike ATCC 19606, several modern A. baumannii clinical isolates, including the recent clinical urinary isolate UPAB1, persist and replicate inside macrophages within spacious vacuoles. We show that intracellular replication of UPAB1 is dependent on a functional type I secretion system (T1SS) and pAB5, a large conjugative plasmid that controls the expression of several chromosomally-encoded genes. Finally, we show that UPAB1 escapes from the infected macrophages by a lytic process. To our knowledge, this is the first report of intracellular growth and replication of A. baumannii. We suggest that intracellular replication within macrophages may contribute to evasion of the immune response, dissemination, and antibiotic tolerance of A. baumannii

Minimal Noncanonical Cosmologies

We demonstrate how much it is possible to deviate from the standard cosmological paradigm of inflation-assisted LambdaCDM, keeping within current observational constraints, and without adding to or modifying any theoretical assumptions. We show that within a minimal framework there are many new possibilities, some of them wildly different from the standard picture. We present three illustrative examples of new models, described phenomenologically by a noncanonical scalar field coupled to radiation and matter. These models have interesting implications for inflation, quintessence, reheating, electroweak baryogenesis, and the relic densities of WIMPs and other exotics.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Universidades y escuelas de negocios católicas Latinoamericanas: un compromiso en la formación de líderes con actitudes éticas

This article analyzes the contribution of Catholic universities and business schools within the Latin American context, through what they consider relevant to the development of their students' competencies. Through case studies, the visions and missions of these institutions were analyzed and compared in the level of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are most developed by both Catholic and non-Catholic universities and business schools. In the case of non-Catholic institutions, the most relevant competencies are knowledge and skills, while in Catholic institutions knowledge is equally promoted, but more than skills, attitudes are emphasized. In the study carried out, no major differences were found at the level of Latin American countries respect to Peru, in particular, as part of these. The development of attitudes is fundamental to generate a change, which implies a continuous disposition of the person; establishing relationships with others, who do not necessarily think alike. The role of Catholic universities and business schools consist in emphasize those competencies, which will allow the leaders they train to generate those changes that the current and future scenarios require.Este artículo analiza la contribución de las universidades y escuelas de negocios católicas dentro del contexto latinoamericano, a través de lo que estas consideran relevante sobre el desarrollo de competencias de sus estudiantes. Por medio del estudio de casos, se analizaron las visiones y misiones de estas instituciones y se identificaron y compararon las competencias de conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes que más desarrollan las universidades y escuelas de negocios, tanto católicas como no católicas. Se observó que en las instituciones no católicas las competencias más relevantes son el conocimiento y las habilidades, mientras que en las católicas se fomenta igualmente el conocimiento, pero más que las habilidades, se enfatiza en las actitudes. En el estudio realizado no se encontraron diferencias mayores entre Perú y el resto de países latinoamericanos. El desarrollo de las actitudes es fundamental para generar un cambio, que implique una disposición continua de la persona; estableciendo relaciones con otras, que no necesariamente piensen igual. El rol de las universidades y escuelas de negocios católicas consiste en enfatizar aquellas competencias que permitan que los líderes que forman puedan generar esos cambios que el panorama actual y futuro requieren

Elevated Peripheral Blood Plasma Concentrations of Tie-2 and Angiopoietin 2 in Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors

Background: Gastro-entero-pancreatic/neuroendocrine (NET) tumors are highly vascularized neoplasms. However, our knowledge concerning circulating levels of the angiogenic factors in NET patients still remains insufficient. Methods: The aim of this study was to measure plasma concentrations of VEGF, angiopoietin 1 (Ang-1), angiopoietin 2 (Ang-2), soluble Tie-2, endostatin, osteopontin (OPN) and chromogranin A (CgA) in 36 NET patients and 16 controls. Results: Only the plasma concentrations of Tie-2 and CgA were higher in NET patients as compared to controls. These levels were within the reference range in controls; however one control demonstrated slightly elevated Tie-2 and 4 elevated CgA. Similarly, in the subgroup of patients with carcinoid syndrome, only Tie-2 and CgA concentrations were higher than those in patients with non-functioning NETs. In turn, in the subgroup of metastatic patients, only Ang-2 levels were higher than in those with localized disease. A positive correlation was found between Ang-2 and Tie-2 levels in metastatic patients and between Ang-1 and Tie-2 in localized NETs. Conclusions: The plasma concentration of Tie-2 is proposed as an additional marker for NET patients and seems to be similarly effective as the currently used CgA level. Moreover, higher plasma levels of Ang-2 together with the positive correlation between Ang-2 and Tie-2 levels in metastatic subjects, implies that cases with a Tie-2 level above the upper limits, together with higher level of Ang-2 seem to be highly predictive of metastases

Diagnostic role of new Doppler index in assessment of renal artery stenosis

Background: Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is one of the main causes of secondary systemic arterial hypertension. Several non-invasive diagnostic methods for RAS have been used in hypertensive patients, such as color Doppler ultrasound (US). The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of a new renal Doppler US direct-method parameter: the renal-renal ratio (RRR), and compare with the sensitivity and specificity of direct-method conventional parameters: renal peak systolic velocity (RPSV) and renal aortic ratio (RAR), for the diagnosis of severe RAS. Methods: Our study group included 34 patients with severe arterial hypertension (21 males and 13 females), mean age 54 (± 8.92) years old consecutively evaluated by renal color Doppler ultrasound (US) for significant RAS diagnosis. All of them underwent digital subtraction arteriography (DSA). RAS was significant if a diameter reduction 200 cm/s with 97% sensitivity, 72% specificity, 81% positive predictive value and 95% negative predictive value; RAR >3 with 77% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 90% positive predictive value and 76% negative predictive value. The optimal sensitivity and specificity cutoff for the new RRR was >2.7 with 97% sensitivity (p 200cm/s and RAR >3). Both RRR and RPSV show better sensitivity than RAR for the RAS diagnosis.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Diagnostic role of new Doppler index in assessment of renal artery stenosis

BACKGROUND: Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is one of the main causes of secondary systemic arterial hypertension. Several non-invasive diagnostic methods for RAS have been used in hypertensive patients, such as color Doppler ultrasound (US). The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of a new renal Doppler US direct-method parameter: the renal-renal ratio (RRR), and compare with the sensitivity and specificity of direct-method conventional parameters: renal peak systolic velocity (RPSV) and renal aortic ratio (RAR), for the diagnosis of severe RAS. METHODS: Our study group included 34 patients with severe arterial hypertension (21 males and 13 females), mean age 54 (± 8.92) years old consecutively evaluated by renal color Doppler ultrasound (US) for significant RAS diagnosis. All of them underwent digital subtraction arteriography (DSA). RAS was significant if a diameter reduction > 50% was found. The parameters measured were: RPSV, RAR and RRR. The RRR was defined as the ratio between RPSV at the proximal or mid segment of the renal artery and RPSV measured at the distal segment of the renal artery. The sensitivity and specificity cutoff for the new RRR was calculated and compared with the sensitivity and specificity of RPSV and RAR. RESULTS: The accuracy of the direct method parameters for significant RAS were: RPSV >200 cm/s with 97% sensitivity, 72% specificity, 81% positive predictive value and 95% negative predictive value; RAR >3 with 77% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 90% positive predictive value and 76% negative predictive value. The optimal sensitivity and specificity cutoff for the new RRR was >2.7 with 97% sensitivity (p < 0.004) and 96% specificity (p < 0.02), with 97% positive predictive value and 97% negative predictive value. CONCLUSION: The new RRR has improved specificity compared with the direct method conventional parameters (RPSV >200cm/s and RAR >3). Both RRR and RPSV show better sensitivity than RAR for the RAS diagnosis

Light charged Higgs at the beginning of the LHC era

The terascale will be explored with the start of the LHC. One of the most fundamental questions which we expect to be answered is the root of electroweak symmetry breaking and whether the Higgs mechanism is realized in nature or not. In this context we pose the question if existing experimental data still allow for a light non-minimal Higgs sector. We tackle this question first in the context of the two Higgs doublet model and then we concentrate in two supersymmetric models, the constrained MSSM and the MSSM with non-universal Higgs masses. In both supersymmetric scearios, light pseudoscalar and light charged-Higgs bosons are still viable provided tan beta is large. In this regime, we emphasize the importance of the constraints provided by the decay B to tau nu mediated by the charged-Higgs at tree-level. In addition we comment on generic predictions for hadronic colliders and indirect searches in such scenarios.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures. Final version to be published in JHEP. Added comparison with previous works. Technical details clarifie