Toxoplasma-SPECIFIC IgG SUBCLASS ANTIBODY RESPONSE IN CEREBROSPINAL FLUID SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS WITH CEREBRAL TOXOPLASMOSIS

SUMMARY Cerebral toxoplasmosis can be highly debilitating and occasionally fatal in persons with immune system deficiencies. In this study, we evaluated the Toxoplasma gondii-specific IgG subclass antibody response in 19 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis who had a positive IgG anti-T. gondii ELISA standardized with a cyst antigen preparation. There were no significant differences between the rates of positivity and the antibody concentrations (arithmetic means of the ELISA absorbances, MEA) for IgG1 and IgG2, but the rates of positivity and MEA values for these two IgG subclasses were significantly higher than those for IgG3 and IgG4. The marked IgG2 response in CSF from patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis merits further investigation

Toxoplasma-SPECIFIC IgG SUBCLASS ANTIBODY RESPONSE IN CEREBROSPINAL FLUID SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS WITH CEREBRAL TOXOPLASMOSIS

A toxoplasmose cerebral pode ser altamente debilitante e ocasionalmente fatal em pessoas com deficiências do sistema imune. Nesse estudo, nós avaliamos a resposta de anticorpos das subclasses da IgG para o Toxoplasma gondii em 19 amostras de líquido cefalorraquidiano (LCR) de pacientes com toxoplasmose cerebral que apresentavam uma reação IgG anti-T. gondii positiva com ELISA padronizada com uma preparação antigênica de cistos. Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre as taxas de positividade e as concentrações de anticorpos (média aritmética das absorbâncias das reações ELISA, MEA) para IgG1 e IgG2, mas as taxas de positividade e valores MEA para estas duas subclasses de IgG foram significativamente superiores aos da IgG3 e IgG4. A resposta marcante de anticorpos IgG2 em LCR de pacientes com toxoplasmose cerebral merece investigação adicional.Cerebral toxoplasmosis can be highly debilitating and occasionally fatal in persons with immune system deficiencies. In this study, we evaluated the Toxoplasma gondii-specific IgG subclass antibody response in 19 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis who had a positive IgG anti-T. gondii ELISA standardized with a cyst antigen preparation. There were no significant differences between the rates of positivity and the antibody concentrations (arithmetic means of the ELISA absorbances, MEA) for IgG1 and IgG2, but the rates of positivity and MEA values for these two IgG subclasses were significantly higher than those for IgG3 and IgG4. The marked IgG2 response in CSF from patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis merits further investigation

Produção de novilhas de corte em pastagem de Coastcross-1 consorciada com Arachis pintoi com e sem adubação nitrogenada Beef heifer production in Coastcross-1 and Arachis pintoi mixed pasture with or without nitrogen fertilization

Este trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar a massa de forragem (MF), a taxa de acúmulo diário (TAD), a oferta de forragem (OF), a taxa de lotação (TL), a porcentagem de Arachis pintoi (PAR), o ganho médio diário (GMD) e o ganho por hectare (GPV/ha) de novilhas de corte em pastejo de Coastcross-1 consorciada com Arachis pintoi. Os consórcios avaliados foram: CA0 = coastcross + Arachis pintoi sem adubação nitrogenada; CA100 = coastcross + Arachis pintoi com 100 kg de nitrogênio; CA200 = coastcross + Arachis pintoi com 200 kg de nitrogênio; e C200 = coastcross com 200 kg de nitrogênio, distribuídos em delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com duas repetições. O manejo do pasto foi o de lotação continua com carga animal variável utilizando-se novilhas mestiças com três animais-testes por consórcio. A massa de forragem nas pastagens de coastcross + Arachis pintoi adubadas com 0, 100 e 200 kg de nitrogênio e na pastagem de coastcross adubada com 200 kg de nitrogênio foi de 2.641, 2.431, 2.760 e 2.704 kg de MS/ha, respectivamente. A taxa de acúmulo diário foi semelhante (66,12 kg de MS/ha) entre as pastagens; o verão foi a estação de maior produção, seguido da primavera, do outono, que não diferiram entre si, e do inverno (108,6; 71,1; 54,2; 30,6 kg de MS/ha, respectivamente). Na associação de coastcross + Arachis pintoi sem adubação nitrogenada, foram obtidas a maior oferta de forragem e a menor taxa de lotação (4,0 UA/ha). As maiores taxas de lotação e as menores ofertas de forragem foram observadas com a adubação nitrogenada. A porcentagem de Arachis pintoi foi maior na primavera e, na associação coastcross + Arachis pintoi sem adubação, as estimativas visuais foram sempre superiores às medidas, em virtude do baixo teor de matéria seca dessa leguminosa. O ganho médio diário foi maior no cultivo em consórcio e adubação com 200 kg de nitrogênio e na pastagem de coastcross em cultivo exclusivo com 200 kg de nitrogênio em comparação àquelas de coastcross + Arachis adubada com 100 kg de nitrogênio e sem adubação (0,51; 0,51; 0,42 e 0,38 kg/dia, respectivamente). Os ganhos anuais por hectare foram superiores a 1.000 kg/ha/ano e foram maiores no verão (221,4 kg/ha).<br>This trial was carried out to evaluate forage mass (FM), daily accumulation rate (DAR), forage offer (FO), stocking rate (SR), Arachis pintoi percentage (APP), average daily gain (ADG) and gain per hectare (GPH) of beef heifers under grazing in Coastcross-1 and Arachis pintoi mixed pasture during different seasons, from July 2003 to June 2004. The treatments were: CA0 = Coastcross + Arachis pintoi without N; CA100 = Coastcross + Arachis pintoi with 100 kg of N; CA200 = Coastcross + Arachis pintoi with 200 kg of N; and C200 = Coastcross with 200 kg of N, distributed in a randomly block design, with two repetitions. Pasture management was done through continuous grazing with variable stocking rate, using crossbred heifers with three test animals per treatment. The FM was 2641, 2431, 2760 and 2704 kg of DM/ha for CA0, CA100, CA200 and C200, respectively. Treatments presented similar DAR (66.12 kg of DM/ha) between pastures, with higher production in the summer, followed by spring and autumn, which were not different from each other, and the winter with the lowest value: 108.6; 71.7; 54.2; 30.6 kg of DM/ha, respectively. In the CA0 treatment, the highest FO and the lowest SR were obtained (4.0 AU/ha). The highest SR and lowest FO were observed in treatments with nitrogen fertilization, without difference among them. The APP in the mixture was higher in the spring, and for the CA0 treatment, with visual estimations were always higher in function of the lower dry matter percentage of this legume. For ADG was higher for CA200 and C200 treatments in relation to CA100 and CA0 with values of 0.51, 0.51, 0.42 and 0.38 kg/day, respectively. The GPH were above 1000 kg/ha/year and the summer presented the highest gain (221.4 kg/ha)

Implementation of a Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program for improvement on quality of diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: A randomized, multicenter trial

Background: Appropriate dietary recommendations represent a key part of secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of a nutritional program on quality of diet, cardiovascular events, and death in patients with established CVD. Methods: In this open-label, multicenter trial conducted in 35 sites in Brazil, we randomly assigned (1:1) patients aged 45 years or older to receive either the BALANCE Program (experimental group) or conventional nutrition advice (control group). The BALANCE Program included a unique nutritional education strategy to implement recommendations from guidelines, adapted to the use of affordable and regional foods. Adherence to diet was evaluated by the modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, stroke, myocardial revascularization, amputation, or hospitalization for unstable angina. Secondary end points included biochemical and anthropometric data, and blood pressure levels. Results: From March 5, 2013, to Abril 7, 2015, a total of 2534 eligible patients were randomly assigned to either the BALANCE Program group (n = 1,266) or the control group (n = 1,268) and were followed up for a median of 3.5 years. In total, 235 (9.3%) participants had been lost to follow-up. After 3 years of follow-up, mean modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index (scale 0-70) was only slightly higher in the BALANCE group versus the control group (26.2 ± 8.4 vs 24.7 ± 8.6, P <.01), mainly due to a 0.5-serving/d greater intake of fruits and of vegetables in the BALANCE group. Primary end point events occurred in 236 participants (18.8%) in the BALANCE group and in 207 participants (16.4%) in the control group (hazard ratio, 1.15; 95% CI 0.95-1.38; P =.15). Secondary end points did not differ between groups after follow-up. Conclusions: The BALANCE Program only slightly improved adherence to a healthy diet in patients with established CVD and had no significant effect on the incidence of cardiovascular events or death. © 2019 The Author

Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE - Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired b-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ;2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS - Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10-8). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/ C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 3 10-4), improved b-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10-5), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10-6). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS - We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis