Urinary Calcium Is Associated with Serum Sclerostin among Stone Formers

Background: Sclerostin plays an important role in bone metabolism and adipose tissue. Animal studies suggest that sclerostin influences urinary calcium (UCa), but this relationship has not been evaluated in stone formers (SFs). We aimed to investigate the association of UCa with serum sclerostin, bone mineral density (BMD), and body composition among SFs.Methods: Clinical and laboratorial data were retrieved from medical records. Determinants of UCa were studied using linear regression.Results: A total of 107 SFs (35.8 ± 9.3 years, 54% male) with eGFR 99.8 ± 14.5 mL/min/1.73 were studied. Subjects were split by sex and grouped into tertiles of UCa levels. Men in the highest UCa tertile had higher body mass index (BMI) and serum sclerostin, lower lean mass, and a trend towards higher fat mass. Women in the highest tertile had higher BMI and a trend towards higher serum sclerostin. Hypertension and metabolic syndrome, but not lower BMD, were more prevalent in the highest UCa tertile for both sexes. Sclerostin was positively correlated with fat mass and inversely correlated with lean mass among men, but not among women. BMD corrected for BMI at lumbar spine was inversely associated with UCa in a univariate analysis, but only serum sclerostin, hypertension, and NaCl intake were independent determinants of UCa in the multivariate model.Conclusion: The present findings disclose that in addition to hypertension and salt intake, serum sclerostin is associated with urinary calcium in stone formers, suggesting that in addition to the hormones traditionally thought to alter calcium reabsorption in the kidney, sclerostin may play a significant additional role, warranting further investigation.</p

Urinary Calcium Is Associated with Serum Sclerostin among Stone Formers

Background: Sclerostin plays an important role in bone metabolism and adipose tissue. Animal studies suggest that sclerostin influences urinary calcium (UCa), but this relationship has not been evaluated in stone formers (SFs). We aimed to investigate the association of UCa with serum sclerostin, bone mineral density (BMD), and body composition among SFs.Methods: Clinical and laboratorial data were retrieved from medical records. Determinants of UCa were studied using linear regression.Results: A total of 107 SFs (35.8 ± 9.3 years, 54% male) with eGFR 99.8 ± 14.5 mL/min/1.73 were studied. Subjects were split by sex and grouped into tertiles of UCa levels. Men in the highest UCa tertile had higher body mass index (BMI) and serum sclerostin, lower lean mass, and a trend towards higher fat mass. Women in the highest tertile had higher BMI and a trend towards higher serum sclerostin. Hypertension and metabolic syndrome, but not lower BMD, were more prevalent in the highest UCa tertile for both sexes. Sclerostin was positively correlated with fat mass and inversely correlated with lean mass among men, but not among women. BMD corrected for BMI at lumbar spine was inversely associated with UCa in a univariate analysis, but only serum sclerostin, hypertension, and NaCl intake were independent determinants of UCa in the multivariate model.Conclusion: The present findings disclose that in addition to hypertension and salt intake, serum sclerostin is associated with urinary calcium in stone formers, suggesting that in addition to the hormones traditionally thought to alter calcium reabsorption in the kidney, sclerostin may play a significant additional role, warranting further investigation.</p

Urinary Calcium Is Associated with Serum Sclerostin among Stone Formers

Background: Sclerostin plays an important role in bone metabolism and adipose tissue. Animal studies suggest that sclerostin influences urinary calcium (UCa), but this relationship has not been evaluated in stone formers (SFs). We aimed to investigate the association of UCa with serum sclerostin, bone mineral density (BMD), and body composition among SFs.Methods: Clinical and laboratorial data were retrieved from medical records. Determinants of UCa were studied using linear regression.Results: A total of 107 SFs (35.8 ± 9.3 years, 54% male) with eGFR 99.8 ± 14.5 mL/min/1.73 were studied. Subjects were split by sex and grouped into tertiles of UCa levels. Men in the highest UCa tertile had higher body mass index (BMI) and serum sclerostin, lower lean mass, and a trend towards higher fat mass. Women in the highest tertile had higher BMI and a trend towards higher serum sclerostin. Hypertension and metabolic syndrome, but not lower BMD, were more prevalent in the highest UCa tertile for both sexes. Sclerostin was positively correlated with fat mass and inversely correlated with lean mass among men, but not among women. BMD corrected for BMI at lumbar spine was inversely associated with UCa in a univariate analysis, but only serum sclerostin, hypertension, and NaCl intake were independent determinants of UCa in the multivariate model.Conclusion: The present findings disclose that in addition to hypertension and salt intake, serum sclerostin is associated with urinary calcium in stone formers, suggesting that in addition to the hormones traditionally thought to alter calcium reabsorption in the kidney, sclerostin may play a significant additional role, warranting further investigation.</p

Determinants of the mean growth rate of children under the age of six months: a cohort study

This study aimed to investigate some factors that contributed to higher or lower growth rate of children up to the sixth month of life. This is a cohort study with 240 children evaluated in four stages. Variables of birth, eating habits of the child, mothers’ breast-feeding difficulty and pacifier use were investigated. Children’s weight gain rate (grams/day) and size gain (cm/month) were measured in all assessments and compared according to the variables of interest. In the first month, weight gain rate of children born by cesarean section was smaller. By the second month, the growth rate (weight and size gain) was higher among children who were exclusively or predominantly breastfed and lower among those who consumed infant formula. Children of mothers who reported difficulty to breastfeed showed a lower growth rate until the second month. Children age four months who consumed porridge had lower weight and size gain rate. Pacifier use was associated with lower weight gain rates up the first, second and fourth month

Trajetórias da Educomunicação nas Políticas Públicas e a Formação de seus Profissionais

Esta obra é composta com os trabalhos apresentados no primeiro subtema, TRAJETÓRIA – Educação para a Comunicação como Política pública, nas perspectivas da Educomunicação e da Mídia-Educação, do II Congresso Internacional de Comunicação e Educação. Os artigos pretendem propiciar trocas de informações e produzir reflexões com os leitores sobre os caminhos percorridos, e ainda a percorrer, tendo como meta a expansão e a legitimação das práticas educomunicativas e/ou mídia-educativas como política pública para o atendimento à formação de crianças, adolescentes, jovens e adultos, no Brasil e no mundo

Neurochemical correlates of the exploratory behaviour in limbics structures of rats submitted to single or repeated sessions on the elevated plus-maze test

O efeito ansiolítico dos benzodiazepínicos (BZDs) é reduzido depois da primeira exposição ao labirinto em cruz elevado (LCE). Várias hipóteses tem sido formuladas para explicar este fenômeno chamado one-trial tolerance (OTT), entretanto, nenhuma delas é conclusiva. No presente estudo, examinamos este fenômeno através da análise etofarmacológica de ratos submetidos ao LCE em duas sessões (T1 e T2), e do conteúdo de monoaminas presentes no córtex pré-frontal, amígdala, hipocampo e núcleo accumbens através da técnica de Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Pressão. Ratos machos Wistar foram tratados com salina ou midazolam (0,5 mg/Kg, i.p.) antes de T1 e T2 e imediatamente depois, seus encéfalos foram dissecados e as estruturas analisadas. Como controle à análise neuroquímica foram incluídos animais tratados com salina e não expostos ao LCE. A administração de midazolam antes de T1 promoveu efeito ansiolítico, aumentando a exploração dos braços abertos, porcentagem de entradas e tempo de permanência nos mesmos. Em T2 foi observado redução da exploração dos braços abertos em relação a T1. Esses resultados sugerem que há uma mudança no estado emocional do animal em T2, que é resistente a ação ansiolítica dos BZDs. Com relação aos resultados dos estudos neuroquímicos, foi observado redução dos conteúdos de serotonina (5- HT) e noradrenalina (NA) no córtex pré-frontal, na amígdala, no hipocampo e no núcleo accumbens depois de T1 e T2. Houve também, redução do conteúdo de dopamina (DA) na amígdala depois de ambas sessões. Não ocorreram mudanças nas taxas de renovação dessas monoaminas em nenhuma das estruturas analisadas. Através desses resultados, pode-se inferir que a estimulação aversiva do LCE causa alterações na neurotransmissão monoaminérgica da amígdala, como também das outras estruturas límbicas estudadas neste trabalho. Essas alterações neuroquímicas depois da primeira exposição ao LCE, devem representar alterações adaptativas na neurotransmissão do sistema límbico que podem estar associadas ao fenômeno da OTT.Numerous reports have demonstrated that a single exposure to a variety of stressful experiences enhances fearful reactions when behavior is subsequently tested in current animal models of anxiety. Until now, no study has examined the neurochemical changes during the test and retest sessions of freely-behaving rats in the elevated plus-maze (EPM), one of the most traditional tests of anxiety. This work is a new approach looking at the changes in dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) levels in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens during one-trial learning development. We used high pressure liquid chromatography to assess the concentrations of these neurotransmitters and their metabolites in animals injected with saline or midazolam upon single or double exposure to the EPM. For the biochemical analysis an extra control group treated with saline and not exposed to EPM was added. The data showed that stressful stimuli present in the maze were able to elicit one-trial learning to midazolam on re-exposure. Significant decreases in 5-HT and NA contents in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens occurred in saline and midazolam injected animals submitted to the first and second trials. Significant decreases in DA content were also observed in the amygdala after both trials. There was no change in the turnover of these monoamines in any structure studied. It is suggested that aversive stimuli inherent to the EPM cause primary changes in the neurochemical mechanisms of the amygdala and also influence the activity of monoaminergic neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens. The observed reduction in monoaminergic transmission in limbic structures after the first stressful experience in the EPM seems to represent adaptive changes and may be associated to the phenomenon of ?one-trial tolerance?

Neurochemical correlates of the exploratory behaviour in limbics structures of rats submitted to single or repeated sessions on the elevated plus-maze test

O efeito ansiolítico dos benzodiazepínicos (BZDs) é reduzido depois da primeira exposição ao labirinto em cruz elevado (LCE). Várias hipóteses tem sido formuladas para explicar este fenômeno chamado one-trial tolerance (OTT), entretanto, nenhuma delas é conclusiva. No presente estudo, examinamos este fenômeno através da análise etofarmacológica de ratos submetidos ao LCE em duas sessões (T1 e T2), e do conteúdo de monoaminas presentes no córtex pré-frontal, amígdala, hipocampo e núcleo accumbens através da técnica de Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Pressão. Ratos machos Wistar foram tratados com salina ou midazolam (0,5 mg/Kg, i.p.) antes de T1 e T2 e imediatamente depois, seus encéfalos foram dissecados e as estruturas analisadas. Como controle à análise neuroquímica foram incluídos animais tratados com salina e não expostos ao LCE. A administração de midazolam antes de T1 promoveu efeito ansiolítico, aumentando a exploração dos braços abertos, porcentagem de entradas e tempo de permanência nos mesmos. Em T2 foi observado redução da exploração dos braços abertos em relação a T1. Esses resultados sugerem que há uma mudança no estado emocional do animal em T2, que é resistente a ação ansiolítica dos BZDs. Com relação aos resultados dos estudos neuroquímicos, foi observado redução dos conteúdos de serotonina (5- HT) e noradrenalina (NA) no córtex pré-frontal, na amígdala, no hipocampo e no núcleo accumbens depois de T1 e T2. Houve também, redução do conteúdo de dopamina (DA) na amígdala depois de ambas sessões. Não ocorreram mudanças nas taxas de renovação dessas monoaminas em nenhuma das estruturas analisadas. Através desses resultados, pode-se inferir que a estimulação aversiva do LCE causa alterações na neurotransmissão monoaminérgica da amígdala, como também das outras estruturas límbicas estudadas neste trabalho. Essas alterações neuroquímicas depois da primeira exposição ao LCE, devem representar alterações adaptativas na neurotransmissão do sistema límbico que podem estar associadas ao fenômeno da OTT.Numerous reports have demonstrated that a single exposure to a variety of stressful experiences enhances fearful reactions when behavior is subsequently tested in current animal models of anxiety. Until now, no study has examined the neurochemical changes during the test and retest sessions of freely-behaving rats in the elevated plus-maze (EPM), one of the most traditional tests of anxiety. This work is a new approach looking at the changes in dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) levels in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens during one-trial learning development. We used high pressure liquid chromatography to assess the concentrations of these neurotransmitters and their metabolites in animals injected with saline or midazolam upon single or double exposure to the EPM. For the biochemical analysis an extra control group treated with saline and not exposed to EPM was added. The data showed that stressful stimuli present in the maze were able to elicit one-trial learning to midazolam on re-exposure. Significant decreases in 5-HT and NA contents in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens occurred in saline and midazolam injected animals submitted to the first and second trials. Significant decreases in DA content were also observed in the amygdala after both trials. There was no change in the turnover of these monoamines in any structure studied. It is suggested that aversive stimuli inherent to the EPM cause primary changes in the neurochemical mechanisms of the amygdala and also influence the activity of monoaminergic neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens. The observed reduction in monoaminergic transmission in limbic structures after the first stressful experience in the EPM seems to represent adaptive changes and may be associated to the phenomenon of ?one-trial tolerance?