Bioimpedance Analysis: Should it be Used in Morbid Obesity?

Objectives: Questions about reliability of bioimpedance analysis (BIA) in morbidly obese subjects have curtailed its use in this setting, but metabolic implications might reignite the debate. In a prospective study, it was aimed to analyze anthropometric and clinical associations. Methods: Bariatric candidates (n = 94) with or without metabolic syndrome were consecutively investigated. Age was 34.9 +/- 10.4 years (68.1% females), and BMI was 40.8 +/- 4.6 kg m(-2). Methods included single-frequency BIA, anthropometrics, inflammatory indices, and general biochemical profile. Results: Body composition results (water, fat) in females, but not in males, were entirely consistent with the literature. In both genders good association was observed with anthropometrics (BMI, waist circumference), inflammatory indices (ferritin, C-reactive protein) and general biochemical variables. Anthropometric measurements also displayed comparable associations. Multivariate tests including the two sets of measurements indicated no predominance of one method over the other, one complementing the other as metabolic marker. Conclusions: BIA limitations were mostly relevant for males, not females. Despite such discrepancies, good associations with anthropometry were demonstrated for both genders. Correlations with liver enzymes, and indices of protein, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism could be demonstrated. BIA deserves more investigations concerning liver steatosis and ongoing inflammation, and it could contribute as well, synergistically with anthropometry, to monitor weight loss, body fat shifts, and metabolic risk. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 23: 420-422, 2011. (c) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.CNPq[300392/2008-7

Inflammation and Biochemical Features of Bariatric Candidates: Does Gender Matter?

Background Accumulated fat is an accepted trigger of inflammation and metabolic syndrome but specific biochemical associations in males and females are still debated. In a prospective study, multiple variables were analyzed to search for gender-related correlations. Methods Bariatric candidates (n=94) were consecutively investigated. Age was 34.9 +/- 10.4 years (68.1% females) and body mass index (BMI) was 40.8 +/- 4.6 kg/m(2). Methods included anthropometrics, inflammatory indices (C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), ferritin) and general biochemical profile. Results Ferritin, but not CRP or WBC, was substantially more elevated in males. Serum albumin, uric acid, creatinine, and liver enzymes AST and ALT were also higher in men. Even after BMI was adjusted, all differences remained significant, and several, notably ferritin, withstood waist circumference control. Ferritin and CRP correlated with anthropometrics, glucose-related measurements, and liver enzymes, whereas WBC was only associated with triglycerides in females. Conclusions (1) Males displayed more severe inflammation according to ferritin profile, and also more signs of liver derangement; (2) all differences continued after BMI discrepancies were adjusted for, and ferritin was significant also after control of waist girth; (3) in both genders inflammatory markers often correlated with different anthropometrics, liver enzymes, and markers of glucose homeostasis; and (4) inflammatory and biochemical gender-related dissimilarities might have prognostic implications for cardiovascular risk and other comorbidities, and deserve additional studies.CNPq[300392/2008-7

ATLANTIC MAMMAL TRAITS: a data set of morphological traits of mammals in the Atlantic Forest of South America

Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Dept Ecol, Inst Biociencias, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Santa Catarina, Ctr Ciencias Biol, Dept Ecol & Zool, Florianopolis, SC, Brazil|Caipora Cooperat, Florianopolis, SC, BrazilUniv Estadual Santa Cruz, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Conservac Biodiversidade, Lab Ecol Aplicada Conservacao, Ilheus, BA, BrazilUniv Estadual Santa Cruz, CMARF, Ilheus, BA, BrazilUniv Brasilia, Dept Ecol, Inst Ciencias Biol, Lab Ecol Vertebrados, Brasilia, DF, BrazilUniv Fed Santa Maria, Dept Ecol & Evolut, Santa Maria, RS, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Espirito Santo, Ctr Ciencias Humanas & Nat, Dept Ciencias Biol, Vitoria, ES, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Inst Ciencias Biol, Dept Biol Geral, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Mato Grosso de Sul, Inst Biociencias, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilUniv Fed Parana, Dept Zool, Curitiba, Parana, BrazilUniv Fed Parana, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Conservcao, Curitiba, Parana, BrazilUniv Estado Rio de Janeiro, Dept Ecol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Rio Claro, SP, BrazilUniv Extremo Sul Catarinense, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Ambientais, Criciuma, SC, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, ESALQ, Dept Ciencias Biol, Piracicaba, SP, BrazilUniv Nacl Misiones, CONICET, Inst Biol Subtrop, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, ArgentinaAsociac Civil Ctr Invest Bosque Atlantico, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, ArgentinaFIOCRUZ Amazonas, Inst Leonidas & Maria Deane, Manaus, Amazonas, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Dept Zootecnia, Jaboticabal, SP, BrazilField Museum Nat Hist, Integrated Res Ctr, Chicago, IL 60605 USAUniv Fed Pernambuco, Ctr Biociencias, Dept Zool, Lab Ciencia Aplicada Conservacao Biodiversidade, Recife, PE, BrazilInst Chico Mendes Conservacao Biodiversidade, Ctr Nacl Pesquisa & Conservacao Mamiferos Carnivo, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Vale Rio dos Sinos, Sao Leopoldo, RS, BrazilUniv Reg Cariri, Dept Biol, Lab Ecol Mamiferos, Crato, CE, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Dept Ecol, Lab Vertebrados, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Federal Mato Grosso do Sul, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Conservacao, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilIPE, Nazare Paulista, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Programa Posgrad Zool, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Estado Minas Gerais, Dept Ciencias Biol, Ibirite, MG, BrazilPREA, Programa Educ Ambiental, Juiz De Fora, MG, BrazilChinese Acad Sci, Inst Zool, Key Lab Zool Systemat and Evolut, Beijing, Peoples R ChinaMinist Salud Nacion, Inst Nacl Med Trop INMeT, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, ArgentinaUniv Fed Vicosa, Dept Engn Florestal, Vicosa, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Goias, Inst Biociencias, Jatai, Go, BrazilInst Chico Mendes Conservacao Biodiversidade ICMB, Ctr Nacl Pesquisa & Conservacao Primatas Brasilei, Joao Pessoa, PB, BrazilCtr Rescate Fauna Silvestre Guira Oga, Puerto Iguazu, ArgentinaFdn Hist Nat Felix de Azara, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaProjeto Carnivoros Iguacu, Foz Do Iguacu, PR, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, Dept Med Vet Prevent & Reprod Anim, Fac Ciencias Agr & Vet Jaboticabal, Jaboticabal, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Integracao Latinoamer, Inst Latinoamer Ciencias Vida & Nat, Foz Do Iguacu, PR, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Diadema, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Paraiba, Dept Sistemat & Ecol, Lab Mamiferos, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, BrazilIUCN Peccary Specialist Grp, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilWWF Brazil, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilChicago State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Chicago, IL USAUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Nucleo Ecol & Desenvolvimento Socioambiental Maca, Macae, RJ, BrazilUniv Vila Velha, Programa Posgrad Ecol Ecossistemas, Vila Velha, ES, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacl, Dept Vertebrados, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Bahia, Programa Posgrad Ecol, Salvador, BA, BrazilUniv Fed Paraiba, Dept Sistemat & Ecol, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Biol Zool, Lab Mamiferos, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Diadema, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Ticagrelor in patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease with a history of previous percutaneous coronary intervention (THEMIS-PCI) : a phase 3, placebo-controlled, randomised trial

Background: Patients with stable coronary artery disease and diabetes with previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), particularly those with previous stenting, are at high risk of ischaemic events. These patients are generally treated with aspirin. In this trial, we aimed to investigate if these patients would benefit from treatment with aspirin plus ticagrelor. Methods: The Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in diabEtes Mellitus patients Intervention Study (THEMIS) was a phase 3 randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, done in 1315 sites in 42 countries. Patients were eligible if 50 years or older, with type 2 diabetes, receiving anti-hyperglycaemic drugs for at least 6 months, with stable coronary artery disease, and one of three other mutually non-exclusive criteria: a history of previous PCI or of coronary artery bypass grafting, or documentation of angiographic stenosis of 50% or more in at least one coronary artery. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either ticagrelor or placebo, by use of an interactive voice-response or web-response system. The THEMIS-PCI trial comprised a prespecified subgroup of patients with previous PCI. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (measured in the intention-to-treat population). Findings: Between Feb 17, 2014, and May 24, 2016, 11 154 patients (58% of the overall THEMIS trial) with a history of previous PCI were enrolled in the THEMIS-PCI trial. Median follow-up was 3·3 years (IQR 2·8–3·8). In the previous PCI group, fewer patients receiving ticagrelor had a primary efficacy outcome event than in the placebo group (404 [7·3%] of 5558 vs 480 [8·6%] of 5596; HR 0·85 [95% CI 0·74–0·97], p=0·013). The same effect was not observed in patients without PCI (p=0·76, p interaction=0·16). The proportion of patients with cardiovascular death was similar in both treatment groups (174 [3·1%] with ticagrelor vs 183 (3·3%) with placebo; HR 0·96 [95% CI 0·78–1·18], p=0·68), as well as all-cause death (282 [5·1%] vs 323 [5·8%]; 0·88 [0·75–1·03], p=0·11). TIMI major bleeding occurred in 111 (2·0%) of 5536 patients receiving ticagrelor and 62 (1·1%) of 5564 patients receiving placebo (HR 2·03 [95% CI 1·48–2·76], p<0·0001), and fatal bleeding in 6 (0·1%) of 5536 patients with ticagrelor and 6 (0·1%) of 5564 with placebo (1·13 [0·36–3·50], p=0·83). Intracranial haemorrhage occurred in 33 (0·6%) and 31 (0·6%) patients (1·21 [0·74–1·97], p=0·45). Ticagrelor improved net clinical benefit: 519/5558 (9·3%) versus 617/5596 (11·0%), HR=0·85, 95% CI 0·75–0·95, p=0·005, in contrast to patients without PCI where it did not, p interaction=0·012. Benefit was present irrespective of time from most recent PCI. Interpretation: In patients with diabetes, stable coronary artery disease, and previous PCI, ticagrelor added to aspirin reduced cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, although with increased major bleeding. In that large, easily identified population, ticagrelor provided a favourable net clinical benefit (more than in patients without history of PCI). This effect shows that long-term therapy with ticagrelor in addition to aspirin should be considered in patients with diabetes and a history of PCI who have tolerated antiplatelet therapy, have high ischaemic risk, and low bleeding risk