The paradox of obesity and its relationship to cardiorespiratory fitness in patients with heart failure

Antecedentes A pesar de que el índice de masa corporal se asocia con mejores resultados en la insuficiencia cardiaca establecida, el impacto de la aptitud cardiorrespiratoria sobre la paradoja de la obesidad es menos claro. Objetivo Evaluar la relación entre el estado nutricional por el índice de masa corporal y los niveles de aptitud cardiorrespiratoria en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca. Materiales y métodos Se realizó un estudio transversal y descriptivo en 40 sujetos con insuficiencia cardiaca (edad 66,8±11,4 años; índice de masa corporal 27,4±4,8 kg·m–1; fracción de eyección del ventrículo izquierdo 40,5±8,3%). Se evaluó el índice de ·masa corporal como indicador de obesidad y el riesgo se clasificó según valores de referencia internacionales. La aptitud cardiorrespiratoria medida con el test de caminata de seis minutos y los valores del consumo de oxigeno por VO2max, la distancia y el numero de pasos alcanzados se agruparon y compararon por los valores de referencia del indice de masa corporal. Resultados En los sujetos con índice de masa corporal ? 25 kg·m–1, se observaron correlaciones negativas en la distancia alcanzada en el test de caminata de 6 min (rho = -0,50), el número de pasos de dicho test (rho = –0,45), el VO2máx (rho = –0,49) y la fracción de eyección del ventrículo izquierdo (rho = –0,32). Conclusiones Este estudio sugiere que los valores mayores de índice de masa corporal «paradoja de la obesidad», no se relacionan con un mejor nivel cardiorrespiratorio por VO2máx.Background Although body mass index (BMI) is associated with improved outcomes in established heart failure (HF), the impact of cardiorespiratory fitness on the obesity paradox is less clear. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness in terms of VO2 max in patients with HF. Material and methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 40 patients with HF (age 66.8 ± 11.4 years, BMI 27.4 ± 4.8 kg·m–1, LVEF 40.5 ± 8.3%). BMI was measured as an indicator of obesity and the risk was classified according to international benchmarks. Cardiorespiratory fitness, measured using the 6-min walk test (6’WT), oxygen consumption by VO(2)max, the distance and the number of steps, were grouped and compared with the body mass index reference values. Results In subjects with BMI ? 25 kg·m–1, negative correlations were observed in the distance by 6’WT (rho = –0.50), number of steps (rho = –0.45), VO(2)max (rho = –0.49), and LVEF (rho = –0.32). Conclusion This study suggests that higher body mass index values, “obesity paradox”, are not associated with a higher cardiorespiratory level using VO(2)max

Las áreas académicas más relevantes en las revistas especializadas del campo educativo: análisis comparativo de la escala de Scimago

Scimago es una de las instituciones encargadas de clasificar las revistas científicas más relevantes en la determinación del impacto académico en sus respectivos campos de estudio. Este trabajo busca realizar un análisis comparativo sobre las áreas académicas de las primeras 15 revistas especializadas clasificadas en Scimago para el año 2014 en educación. Este acercamiento comparativo se ubica en la necesidad de ahondar tanto en el conjunto de disciplinas dominantes sobre las cuales se inscriben estos documentos como en la pregunta: ¿Sobre qué se está investigando y publicando en educación?; haciendo indispensable ubicar, comparativamente, también tres revistas de nacionalidad colombiana en el mismo campo educativo. Para el cumplimiento de este propósito se seleccionaron unas variables determinadas (nacionalidad, idioma, área académica por revista y por índice, entre otras). Teniendo estas variables en cuenta se pueden hallar las relaciones y realizar las comparaciones entre los indicadores bibliométricos del campo especificado

Independent mutations in a single locus, the transcriptional factor MYB10, control natural variation in fruit color among Fragaria species

External and internal fruit color are important traits in strawberry (Fragaria spp.) breeding programs, where different preferences are sought depending on whether the fruits are produced for fresh consumption or processing. Therefore, there is a great interest in the development of predictive markers that effectively speed the development of new cultivars with increased consumer acceptance and/or which address processed fruit industry´s preferences. In order to identify loci controlling fruit color variation, two mapping populations were generated: one crossing diploid F. vesca parentals and another interspecific population between two octoploid species: the cultivated and the Chilean strawberry, F. x ananassa and F. chiloensis. Both populations allowed the detection of a QTL spanning a region of the F. vesca linkage group 1 (LG I) that includes the MYB10 gene, a known key regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Mapping by sequencing in the F. vesca population revealed an LTR retrotransposon inserted in the third exon of FvMYB10, which produces a premature stop codon, and co-segregates with white fruits in the entire population. Genotyping by Sanger sequencing of additional white-fruited F. vesca accessions resulted in the identification of another three independent mutations in MYB10, two of them not previously described1. In octoploid strawberry, a mayor QTL on LG I-3 controls about 55% variation in internal flesh color and is associated with an insertion in the promoter region of FcMYB10. Similar insertions have been detected in other F. chiloensis accessions bearing white fruits. In all cases, transient over-expression of FvMYB10 restored anthocyanin biosynthesis and red color in fruit flesh and skin, indicating that lack of function of MYB10 was the underlying cause of white fruits in all analyzed cases

Exome sequencing study in patients with multiple sclerosis reveals variants associated with disease course

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether disease course in multiple sclerosis (MS) is influenced by genetic polymorphisms. Here, we aimed to identify genetic variants associated with benign and aggressive disease courses in MS patients. METHODS: MS patients were classified into benign and aggressive phenotypes according to clinical criteria. We performed exome sequencing in a discovery cohort, which included 20 MS patients, 10 with benign and 10 with aggressive disease course, and genotyping in 2 independent validation cohorts. The first validation cohort encompassed 194 MS patients, 107 with benign and 87 with aggressive phenotypes. The second validation cohort comprised 257 patients, of whom 224 patients had benign phenotypes and 33 aggressive disease courses. Brain immunohistochemistries were performed using disease course associated genes antibodies. RESULTS: By means of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection and comparison of allele frequencies between patients with benign and aggressive phenotypes, a total of 16 SNPs were selected for validation from the exome sequencing data in the discovery cohort. Meta-analysis of genotyping results in two validation cohorts revealed two polymorphisms, rs28469012 and rs10894768, significantly associated with disease course. SNP rs28469012 is located in CPXM2 (carboxypeptidase X, M14 family, member 2) and was associated with aggressive disease course (uncorrected p value < 0.05). SNP rs10894768, which is positioned in IGSF9B (immunoglobulin superfamily member 9B) was associated with benign phenotype (uncorrected p value < 0.05). In addition, a trend for association with benign phenotype was observed for a third SNP, rs10423927, in NLRP9 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 9). Brain immunohistochemistries in chronic active lesions from MS patients revealed expression of IGSF9B in astrocytes and macrophages/microglial cells, and expression of CPXM2 and NLRP9 restricted to brain macrophages/microglia. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variants located in CPXM2, IGSF9B, and NLRP9 have the potential to modulate disease course in MS patients and may be used as disease activity biomarkers to identify patients with divergent disease courses. Altogether, the reported results from this study support the influence of genetic factors in MS disease course and may help to better understand the complex molecular mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis

Allelic Variation of MYB10 is the Major Force Controlling Natural Variation of Skin and Flesh Color in Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) fruit

Anthocyanins are the principal color-producing compounds synthesized in developing fruits of strawberry (Fragaria spp.). Substantial natural variation in color have been observed in fruits of diploid and octoploid accessions, resulting from distinct accumulation and distribution of anthocyanins in fruits. Anthocyanin biosynthesis is controlled by a clade of R2R3 MYB transcription factors, among which MYB10 has been shown as the main activator in strawberry fruit. Here, we show that MYB10 mutations cause most of the anthocyanin variation observed in diploid woodland strawberry (F. vesca) and octoploid cultivated strawberry (F. ×ananassa). Using a mapping-by-sequencing approach, we identified a gypsytransposon insertion in MYB10 that truncates the protein and knocks out anthocyanin biosynthesis in a white-fruited F. vesca ecotype. Two additional lossof-function MYB10 mutations were identified among geographically diverse whitefruited F. vesca ecotypes. Genetic and transcriptomic analyses in octoploid Fragaria spp. revealed that FaMYB10-2, one of three MYB10 homoeologs identified, residing in the F. iinumae-derived subgenome, regulates the biosynthesis of anthocyanins in developing fruit. Furthermore, independent mutations in MYB10-2 are the underlying cause of natural variation in fruit skin and flesh color in octoploid strawberry. We identified a CACTA-like transposon (FaEnSpm-2) insertion in the MYB10-2 promoter of red-fleshed accessions that was associated with enhanced expression and anthocyanin accumulation. Our findings suggest that putative cis regulatory elements provided by FaEnSpm-2 are required for high and ectopic MYB10-2 expression and induction of anthocyanin biosynthesis in fruit flesh. We developed MYB10-2 (sub-genome) specific DNA markers for marker-assisted selection that accurately predicted anthocyanin phenotypes in octoploid segregating populations

Quantitative global studies of reactomes and metabolomes using a vectorial representation of reactions and chemical compounds

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Global studies of the protein repertories of organisms are providing important information on the characteristics of the protein space. Many of these studies entail classification of the protein repertory on the basis of structure and/or sequence similarities. The situation is different for metabolism. Because there is no good way of measuring similarities between chemical reactions, there is a barrier to the development of global classifications of "metabolic space" and subsequent studies comparable to those done for protein sequences and structures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we propose a vectorial representation of chemical reactions, which allows them to be compared and classified. In this representation, chemical compounds, reactions and pathways may be represented in the same vectorial space. We show that the representation of chemical compounds reflects their physicochemical properties and can be used for predictive purposes. We use the vectorial representations of reactions to perform a global classification of the reactome of the model organism <it>E. coli</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We show that this unsupervised clustering results in groups of enzymes more coherent in biological terms than equivalent groupings obtained from the EC hierarchy. This hierarchical clustering produces an optimal set of 21 groups which we analyzed for their biological meaning.</p

La paradoja de la obesidad y su relación con la aptitud cardiorrespiratoria en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca

Antecedentes: A pesar de que el índice de masa corporal se asocia con mejores resultados en la insuficiencia cardiaca establecida, el impacto de la aptitud cardiorrespiratoria sobre la paradoja de la obesidad es menos claro. Objetivo: Evaluar la relación entre el estado nutricional por el índice de masa corporal y los niveles de aptitud cardiorrespiratoria en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca. Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un estudio transversal y descriptivo en 40 sujetos con insuficiencia cardiaca (edad 66,8±11,4 años; índice de masa corporal 27,4±4,8 kg·m–1; fracción de eyección del ventrículo izquierdo 40,5±8,3%). Se evaluó el índice de ·masa corporal como indicador de obesidad y el riesgo se clasificó según valores de referencia internacionales. La aptitud cardiorrespiratoria medida con el test de caminata de seis minutos y los valores del consumo de oxigeno por VO2max, la distancia y el numero de pasos alcanzados se agruparon y compararon por los valores de referencia del indice de masa corporal. Resultados: En los sujetos con índice de masa corporal ≥ 25 kg·m–1, se observaron correlaciones negativas en la distancia alcanzada en el test de caminata de 6 min (rho = -0,50), el número de pasos de dicho test (rho = –0,45), el VO2máx (rho = –0,49) y la fracción de eyección del ventrículo izquierdo (rho = –0,32). Conclusiones: Este estudio sugiere que los valores mayores de índice de masa corporal «paradoja de la obesidad», no se relacionan con un mejor nivel cardiorrespiratorio por VO2máx