Ciprofibrate therapy in patients with hypertriglyceridemia and low high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol: greater reduction of non-HDL cholesterol in subjects with excess body weight (The CIPROAMLAT study)

BACKGROUND: Hypertriglyceridemia in combination with low HDL cholesterol levels is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of ciprofibrate for the treatment of this form of dyslipidemia and to identify factors associated with better treatment response. METHODS: Multicenter, international, open-label study. Four hundred and thirty seven patients were included. The plasma lipid levels at inclusion were fasting triglyceride concentrations between 1.6–3.9 mM/l and HDL cholesterol ≤ 1.05 mM/l for women and ≤ 0.9 mM/l for men. The LDL cholesterol was below 4.2 mM/l. All patients received ciprofibrate 100 mg/d. Efficacy and safety parameters were assessed at baseline and at the end of the treatment. The primary efficacy parameter of the study was percentage change in triglycerides from baseline. RESULTS: After 4 months, plasma triglyceride concentrations were decreased by 44% (p < 0.001). HDL cholesterol concentrations were increased by 10% (p < 0.001). Non-HDL cholesterol was decreased by 19%. A greater HDL cholesterol response was observed in lean patients (body mass index < 25 kg/m(2)) compared to the rest of the population (8.2 vs 19.7%, p < 0.001). In contrast, cases with excess body weight had a larger decrease in non-HDL cholesterol levels (-20.8 vs -10.8%, p < 0.001). There were no significant complications resulting from treatment with ciprofibrate. CONCLUSIONS: Ciprofibrate is efficacious for the correction of hypertriglyceridemia / low HDL cholesterol. A greater decrease in non-HDL cholesterol was found among cases with excess body weight. The mechanism of action of ciprofibrate may be influenced by the pathophysiology of the disorder being treated

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions

Distinctive Characteristics of Anti-Mi-2 and-p155/140 Autoantibody Production in Two Cohorts of Mexican Patients with Dermatomyositis

Feces of the commercial shrimp Penaeus duorarum were experimentally decomposed by bacteria extracted from estuarine sediment for periods up to 90 days. Feces were decomposed both aerobically and anaerobically, both at 25??C and 15?? C. Subsequently, both remaining feces and decomposing media were analyzed for major organic and inorganic constituents. Decomposition occurred in several phases: an initial soluble phase and a bacterial decomposition phase of rapid rate, followed by one or more less rapid bacterial phases separated by periods where bacterial incorporation exceeded decomposition. The bacterial decomposition phases are characterized by first-order kinetics. Lower temperatures retarded decomposition. Anaerobic conditions had a greater retarding effect and applied this effect more discriminately to specific fractions -especially the lipid, and to a lesser extent, the protein fractions. Aerobic conditions not only induced a greater loss of material but also an increase in the oxidative state of the remaining material. Under all conditions studied, organic carbon content decreased more rapidly than dry weight, and it is likely that trophic potential decreased more rapidly than either

Universidad pública, organización comunitaria y ambiente: Once estudios de desarrollo alternativo en México, México

El ser humano se encuentra siempre en la búsqueda de mejores formas de enfrentar y resolver aquello que lo aqueja. En México, muchas aproximaciones se han dado para solventar problemas socioeconómicos y ambientales que trascienden fronteras políticas y administrativas, gobiernos y estructuras institucionales. En este sentido, el diálogo ha sido una herramienta útil para encontrar modelos innovadores que permitan el acercamiento a situaciones reales que requieren atención urgente, como la pobreza, la marginación, la deficiencia en los sistemas educativos, la contaminación, la deforestación y, en general, la afectación a los recursos naturales y la biodiversidad. En los últimos 50 años se han puesto en práctica innumerables modelos orientados a la conservación de los recursos naturales y la biodiversidad, a la mitigación de la pobreza y la marginación social, y a reforzar el modelo de educación pública para que tenga un impacto efectivo en la transformación de la realidad ambiental y social; algunos de estos modelos han dado resultados positivos, sin embargo, requieren ser reforzados para tener un resultado mucho más consistente. La gobernanza, como un modelo de búsqueda consensuada de acuerdos, ha surgido como una respuesta viable que permite a gobiernos en todos los órdenes, organizaciones no gubernamentales, academia, sector privado y sociedad civil cooperar en la búsqueda de soluciones adecuadas a problemas locales y de cooperación efectiva hacia un futuro sostenible. Este modelo se fundamenta en el diálogo entre todos los actores involucrados en un territorio para organizarse de acuerdo a objetivos, metas y recursos. Fomenta relaciones horizontales en las que se redimensionan los acuerdos entre lo público, lo privado y lo colectivo, se da un equilibrio a la cooperación entre los actores interesados a participar, permite el seguimiento puntual a las acciones y genera un sentido de apropiación de las acciones por parte de todos los involucrados. El presente volumen busca, precisamente, promover el análisis de temas que requieren una atención urgente en el país y formula propuestas innovadoras aplicables en modelos de gobernanza, en donde todos los interesados participen para encontrar soluciones comunes a problemas comunes.El presente libro reúne una serie de trabajos en torno a la generación de alternativas institucionales, ciudadanas y comunitarias ante las crisis civilizatorias y ambientales de la actualidad. Se abordan propuestas novedosas que han surgido al interior de la universidad pública en nuestro país, tanto en relación con la formación de profesionistas y la vinculación con grupos sociales diversos, como en relación a las estrategias de investigación enfocadas desde una perspectiva de desarrollo regional. Así vemos cómo, a través de la investigación académica, se analiza el impacto que está causando en las sociedades modernas el deterioro de la educación y de la salud pública, y sus expectativas a corto plazo; se diserta sobre la necesidad de la cohesión y de la organización social y comunitaria; pero también se hace un riguroso estudio sobre el impacto que el ser humano está generando en la biodiversidad de nuestro planeta, por lo que se proponen algunas iniciativas locales/regionales que favorezcan un manejo cuidadoso y más consciente de nuestras riquezas naturales y culturales, siempre bajo el vínculo de la participación universidad-comunidad