Avaliação do risco cardiovascular em pacientes obesos hipertensos com síndrome metabólica: estudo ARCOS

Weight loss improves metabolic abnormalities and reduces cardiovascular risk in obese hypertensive patients. To evaluate the impact of a sustained weight loss on coronary risk, 181 hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome underwent to orlistat therapy, 120 mg, t.i.d., plus diet for 36 weeks. During therapy, Framingham risk scores (FRS) were calculated for determination of coronary heart disease risk in ten years. Body mass index decreased from 35.0 ± 4.2 to 32.6 ± 4.5 kg/m² (p 5% occurred in 64.6% of all patients, associated with improvement in glucose metabolism. Among those with abnormal glucose metabolism, 38 out 53 patients (71.7%) improved their glucose tolerance (p 5% em 64,6% de todos os pacientes, associada com melhora no metabolismo da glicose. Entre os 53 pacientes com metabolismo de glicose anormal, 38 (71,7%) melhoraram sua tolerância à glicose (p< 0,0005). Em conclusão, terapia de longa duração com orlistat auxilia a reduzir e manter mais baixo o peso corpóreo, reduzindo o risco de doença coronária e melhorando o metabolismo da glicose e protegendo, dessa maneira, contra o diabetes tipo 2.Federal University of São Paulo Divisions of EndocrinologyFederal University of São Paulo Division of NephrologyInstituto Dante Pazzaneze de Cardiologia Service of CardiologyRoche LaboratoriesUNIFESP, Divisions of EndocrinologyUNIFESP, Division of NephrologySciEL

Ocorrência de Anabaena spiroides (cianobactéria) no estuário da Lagoa dos Patos (RS, Brasil) no verão-outono de 1998

The present work intended o register the presence and seasonality of Anabaena spiroides in the Patos Lagoon, and its relations with some environmental factors. During 15 months, in situ temperature, salinity, pH and water current were measured at five sites in the Patos Lagoon estuary. Water and microphytoplankton samples were also collected for further analysis. The presence of Anabaena spiroides was confirmed from January to May 1998 reaching 16,250 filaments per liter. Low salinity and high temperature were the main factors associated with the occurrence of the organism in the Patos Lagoon estuary. Anabaena spiroides, a potentially toxic cyanobacteria, did not accumulate as harmful blooms in the estuary, but as the Summer and Fall periods favour the growth of the species, the water at the region may become a risk for recreational and domestic use.O presente trabalho visou o estudo de Anabaena spiroides na Lagoa dos Patos e dos fatores ambientais favoráveis ao seu aparecimento. Durante 15 meses e em cinco pontos de amostragem ao longo do estuário, foram medidos temperaura, salinidade, pH, velocidade da água e tomadas amostras de água para a quanificação e qualificação do microfitoplâncton. Anabaena spiroides ocorreu entre janeiro e maio de 1998, atingindo 16.250 filamentos por litro. Baixa salinidade e altas temperaturas foram os principais fatores associados à ocorrência do organismo no estuário da Lagoa dos Patos. Anabaena spiroides, uma cianobactéria potencialmente tóxica, não formou florações nocivas no local mas, como períodos de verão e outono favorecem o seu aparecimento, a água destes locais pode tornar-se um risco à recreação, e ao abastecimento público

Implementation of the asparaginase activity assessment technique for clinical use : experience of a Brazilian Center

Acute lymphoid leukemia is a childhood cancer that in high‑income countries has event‑free survival rates of 80% and global survival rates of 90%. In Brazil these rates are under 70%. This difference may be due to the implementation of supportive care, including the assessment of asparaginase (ASNase) activity. ASNase may cause hypersensitivity reactions and silent drug inactivation. For this reason, ASNase activity monitoring is an essential tool to ensure an effective treatment. Our aim was to implement an ASNase activity measurement technique at a hospital setting. samples from children who were given Escherichia coli‑derived ASNase were collected. The results of the analyses conducted in our laboratory Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre were compared to those of two institutions: Centro Infantil Boldrini and University of Munster. 262 samples were assessed. The results of the first analyses were compared with those obtained at Centro Infantil Boldrini and showed an ICC of 0.954. Thirty samples were sent to the University of Munster and presented an ICC was 0.960. Our results, when compared to those of national and international centers, showed an excellent agreement. The study was able to implement an ASNase activity test to monitor the treatment

Association of the germline TP53 R337H mutation with breast cancer in southern Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The germline <it>TP53</it>-R337H mutation is strongly associated with pediatric adrenocortical tumors (ACT) in southern Brazil; it has low penetrance and limited tissue specificity in most families and therefore is not associated with Li-Fraumeni syndrome. However, other tumor types, mainly breast cancer, have been observed in carriers of several unrelated kindreds, raising the possibility that the R337H mutation may also contribute to breast tumorigenesis in a genetic background-specific context.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a case-control study to determine the prevalence of the R337H mutation by sequencing <it>TP</it>53 exon 10 in 123 women with breast cancer and 223 age- and sex-matched control subjects from southern Brazil. Fisher's test was used to compare the prevalence of the R337H.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The R337H mutation was found in three patients but in none of the controls (p = 0.0442). Among the carriers, two had familial history of cancer meeting the Li-Fraumeni-like criteria. Remarkably, tumors in each of these three cases underwent loss of heterozygosity by eliminating the mutant <it>TP53 </it>allele rather than the wild-type allele. Polymorphisms were identified within the <it>TP53 </it>(R72P and Ins16) and <it>MDM2 </it>(SNP309) genes that may further diminish <it>TP53 </it>tumor suppressor activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results demonstrate that the R337H mutation can significantly increase the risk of breast cancer in carriers, which likely depends on additional cooperating genetic factors. These findings are also important for understanding how low-penetrant mutant <it>TP53 </it>alleles can differentially influence tumor susceptibility.</p

A nontoxic polypeptide oligomer with a fungicide potency under agricultural conditions which is equal or greater than that of their chemical counterparts

Research ArticleThere are literally hundreds of polypeptides described in the literature which exhibit fungicide activity. Tens of them have had attempted protection by patent applications but none, as far as we are aware, have found application under real agricultural conditions. The reasons behind may be multiple where the sensitivity to the Sun UV radiation can come in first place. Here we describe a multifunctional glyco-oligomer with 210 kDa which is mainly composed by a 20 kDa polypeptide termed Blad that has been previously shown to be a stable intermediary product of β-conglutin catabolism. This oligomer accumulates exclusively in the cotyledons of Lupinus species, between days 4 and 12 after the onset of germination. Blad-oligomer reveals a plethora of biochemical properties, like lectin and catalytic activities, which are not unusual per si, but are remarkable when found to coexist in the same protein molecule. With this vast range of chemical characteristics, antifungal activity arises almost as a natural consequence. The biological significance and potential technological applications of Blad-oligomer as a plant fungicide to agriculture, its uniqueness stems from being of polypeptidic in nature, and with efficacies which are either equal or greater than the top fungicides currently in the market are addressedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CASZ1 upregulates PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling and promotes T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

CASZ1 is a conserved transcription factor involved in neural development, blood vessel assembly and heart morphogenesis. CASZ1 has been implicated in cancer, either suppressing or promoting tumor development depending on the tissue. However, the impact of CASZ1 on hematological tumors remains unknown. Here, we show that the T-cell oncogenic transcription factor TAL1 is a direct positive regulator of CASZ1, that T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) samples at diagnosis overexpress CASZ1b isoform, and that CASZ1b expression in patient samples correlates with PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway activation. In agreement, overexpression of CASZ1b in both Ba/F3 and T-ALL cells leads to the activation of PI3K signaling pathway, which is required for CASZ1b-mediated transformation of Ba/F3 cells in vitro and malignant expansion in vivo. We further demonstrate that CASZ1b cooperates with activated NOTCH1 to promote T-ALL development in zebrafish, and that CASZ1b protects human T-ALL cells from serum deprivation and treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs. Taken together, our studies indicate that CASZ1b is a TAL1-regulated gene that promotes T-ALL development and resistance to chemotherapy