Blood levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines during an oral glucose tolerance test in patients with symptoms suggesting reactive hypoglycemia

We evaluated the impact of postprandial glycemia on blood levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines during an oral glucose tolerance test in non-diabetic patients with symptoms suggesting reactive hypoglycemia. Eleven patients with clinical symptoms suggesting reactive hypoglycemia received an oral glucose solution (75 g) Blood was collected at 0 (baseline), 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after glucose ingestion and the plasma concentrations of interferon-&#945; (IFN-&#945;), interferon-&#947; (IFN-&#947;), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R), interleukin 4 (IL-4), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 10 (IL-10), interleukin-12 (IL-12), interleukin 13 (IL-13), interleukin 15 (IL-15), interleukin 17 (IL-17), IFN-&#947; inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP1), monokine induced by IFN-&#947; (MIG), macrophage inflammatory protein-1&#945; (MIP-1&#945;), interleukin-1&#946; (IL-1&#946;), colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF), basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-basic), eotaxin, tumor necrosis factor &#945; (TNF&#945;), epidermal growth factor (EGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), macrophage inflammatory protein-1&#945; (MIP-1&#945;), and 1&#946; (MIP-1&#946;) were evaluated. Overall, glycemic levels increased, reached its maximum at 30 min (phase 1), returned to baseline levels at 120 min (phase 2), followed by a mild hypoglycemia at 180 min (phase 3). During phase 1, cytokine blood levels were maintained. However, we observed a synchronous fall (P<0.05) in the concentrations of pro-inflammatory (IL-15, IL-17, MCP-1) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (FGF-basic, IL-13, IL-1RA) during phase 2. Furthermore, a simultaneous rise (P<0.05) of pro-inflammatory (IL-2, IL-5, IL-17) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-1RA, IL-2R, IL-13, FGF-basic) occurred during phase 3. Thus, mild acute hypoglycemia but not a physiological increase of glycemia was associated with increased blood levels of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines

Maximização da produção e da receita agrícola com limitações de água e nitrogênio utilizando método de pontos interiores Maximization of the production and agricultural income with water and nitrogen constraints by using the interior points method

Com este trabalho, teve-se o objetivo de pesquisar o desempenho do método de pontos interiores (MPI), tipo trajetória central, na maximização de funções-objetivo associadas à produção e à receita agrícolas, com restrições de água e de nitrogênio. Para isso, foi desenvolvido um procedimento matemático que maximiza a produção e a receita líquida separadamente, em função da água e do nitrogênio aplicados à cultura numa matriz bidimensional de restrições, a partir de funções de produtividade para as culturas da aveia e da laranja-pera. O modelo foi caracterizado e, a partir dele, foram gerados resultados numéricos para diferentes cenários agrícolas. Foi possível concluir que a metodologia utilizada (MPI) foi capaz de maximizar as funções de produtividade e de receita, resultando na obtenção de valores semelhantes aos publicados na literatura, utilizando-se de programação separável.<br>The objective of this work was to evaluate the interior point method (central path) (IPM) in the maximization of objective functions associated with the agricultural production and income with water and nitrogen constraints. For this purpose, a procedure to maximize the production and income in relation to water and nitrogen applied to the culture was developed in a bi-dimensional matrix of constraints. The model was characterized and the numerical results are presented for different agricultural crops and scenes. It was concluded that the used methodology was capable of maximizing the productivity, obtaining values similar to the ones published in literature by using separable programming