Nutritional variation and cardiovascular risk factors in Tanzania — rural-urban difference

Objective. To assess the relationship between dietary factors and cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors in middle-aged men and women, in urban, rural and pastoral settings in Tanzania.Design. Cross-sectional epidemiological study designed according to the protocol of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Cardiovascular Diseases and Alimentary Comparison (CARDIAC) study.Setting. Three centres in Tanzania, namely Dar es Salaam (urban), Handeni (rural) and Monduli (pastoral population).                                                                                                                                                     Subjects. The subjects, aged 47 - 57 years, were recruited randomly from administrative lists available from each centre.Outcome measures. Blood pressure (BP) was measured using a centrally calibrated automatic BP machine (Khi machine). Dietary history of the participants was obtained using a standard questionnaire designed on the basis of a seven-day recall system. Height, weight, serum total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), haemoglobin A1c , sodium, potassium and magnesium were measured.Results. The prevalence of hypertension (BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg or antihypertensive drug use), obesity (body mass index (BMI)≥ 30 kg/m2) and hypercholesterolaemia (TC > 5.2 mmol/l) were lowest in the rural area. Consumption of green vegetables, milk, coconut milk, meat, and fish varied significantly between the three areas. Important determinants for BP among men were BMI (p < 0.001), and salt intake (p < 0.05). Among women, TC (p < 0.05), age (p < 0.05), BMI (p < 0.001) and coconut milk consumption (p < 0.001)were important BP determinants. Salt intake was positively associated with systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) in men but not among women (both SBP and DBP p < 0.05 respectively). Dietary determinants of serum TC were meat, fish and green vegetable consumption.Conclusion. Differences in dietary habits contributed significantly to the urban-rural-pastoral variations in CVD risk pattern in Tanzania

Physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk factors among young and middleaged men in urban Mwanza, Tanzania

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk factors are increasing at an unprecedented rate in developing countries. However, fewer studies have evaluated the role of physical activity in preventing CVD in these countries. We assessed level physical activity and its relationship with CVD risk factors among young and middle aged men in a fast growing city of Mwanza in Tanzania. Methods: Physical activity was assessed among 97 healthy men aged 20-50years using Sub-Saharan Africa Activity Questionnaire. An updated compendium of physical activity was used to code the metabolic equivalent. Energy expenditure was calculated using Harris Benedict equation. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure,  fasting blood glucose and serum lipids were also measured. Results: The mean energy expenditure in this population was 6,466 ± 252 kcal/week. More than half (53.6%) of the participants had energy expenditure of H4,000 kcal/week. Only three (3.1%) had energy expenditure below the recommended 1,000 kcal/week. Except for hypertension, prevalence of CVD risk factors was low in this population; hypertension 23.7%, low HDLcholesterol 10.3%, high LDL-cholesterol 9.3% and obesity 4.1%. Physical activity energy expenditure had an inversely relationship with waist to hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting blood glucose. Conclusion: Physical activity energy expenditure was high in this population and was inversely correlated with CVD risk factors. Physical activity may play an important role in the prevention of CVD in this urban population of young and middle aged men

Analysis of the Promoter of Emb5 from Zea mays Identifies a Region of 523 bp Responsible for Its Embryo-Specific Activity

The maize Emb5 is an abscisic acid–responsive gene which is specifically expressed in the late embryo during seed maturity. To further dissect and identify the elements specific for its embryo expression pattern, we investigated the activity of the − 1653 bp upstream of the “full-length” promoter region of this gene in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. We first confirmed that the “full-length” promoter could indeed drive the expression of β-glucuronidase reporter gene (GUS) in the transgenic Arabidopsis seed embryo. Subsequently, DNA fragments of ~ 500 bp in length were generated after a series of progressive deletions from positions − 1653 bp to − 1 bp relative to the transcriptional initiation site. These fragments were fused with GUS and introduced into Arabidopsis. Measurement of the GUS activity in the immature seeds isolated from the transgenic plants revealed that the region between positions − 523 bp and − 1 bp, namely ProEm-D, is absolutely required and sufficient for the temporal and embryo-specific expression of GUS with an activity comparable with the full-length Emb5 promoter in Arabidopsis. Therefore, our results clearly demonstrated that the 523 bp ProEm-D can replace the − 1653 bp Emb5 promoter to drive embryo-specific expression in Arabidopsis seed. Because of its small size and strong embryo-specific activity, it could become the promoter of choice in metabolic pathway engineering to transfer multiple genes for the production of valuable pharmaceutical products in seeds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish oils, or pro-vitamin A where at least three transgenes are required to assemble the entire metabolic pathways

Beneficial effect of Sparassis crispa on stroke through activation of Akt/eNOS pathway in brain of SHRSP

Sparassis crispa (S. crispa) is a mushroom used as a natural medicine that recently became cultivatable in Japan. In this study, we investigated not only the preventive effects of S. crispa against stroke and hypertension in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) but also the mechanism involved by using studies of the cerebral cortex at a young age. Six-week-old male SHRSP were divided into 2 groups, a control group and an S. crispa group administered 1.5% S. crispa in feed, and we then observed their survival. In addition, rats of the same age were treated with 1.5% S. crispa for 4 weeks and we measured body weight, blood pressure, blood flow from the tail, NOx production, and the levels of expression of several proteins in the cerebral cortex by western blot analysis. Our results showed that the S. crispa group had a delayed incidence of stroke and death and significantly decreased blood pressure and increased blood flow after the administration. Moreover, the quantity of urinary excretion and the nitrate/nitrite concentration in cerebral tissue were higher than those of control SHRSP rats. In the cerebral cortex, phosphor-eNOS (Ser1177) and phosphor-Akt (Ser473) in S. crispa-treated SHRSP were increased compared with those of control SHRSP rats. In conclusion, S. crispa could ameliorate cerebrovascular endothelial dysfunction by promoting recovery of Akt-dependent eNOS phosphorylation and increasing NO production in the cerebral cortex. S. crispa may be useful for preventing stroke and hypertension

Inhibition of proliferation and induction of differentiation of glioma cells with Datura stramonium agglutinin

We found that a lectin, Datura stramonium agglutinin, induced irreversible differentiation in C6 glioma cells. The differentiated cells had long processes, a low rate of proliferation and a high content of glial fibrillary acidic protein. When the medium was replaced with Datura stramonium agglutinin-free medium after 1 h, cell proliferation continued to be inhibited. Experiments with several other lectins indicated that both recognition of linear N-acetyllactosamine repeats and recognition of multiantennary units of cell-surface glycans were required for the inhibition of C6 proliferation. Proliferation of four human glial tumour cells was also inhibited by Datura stramonium agglutinin. Further, these differentiated human glial tumour cells had long processes and a high content of glial fibrillary acidic protein similar to differentiated C6 glioma cells. Taken together, these observations suggest that Datura stramonium agglutinin may be useful as a new therapy for treating glioma without side effects

Procyanidins are potent inhibitors of LOX-1: a new player in the French Paradox

Lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1) is an endothelial receptor for oxidized LDL (oxLDL) and plays multiple roles in the development of cardiovascular diseases. We screened more than 400 foodstuff extracts for identifying materials that inhibit oxLDL binding to LOX-1. Results showed that 52 extracts inhibited LOX-1 by more than 70% in cell-free assays. Subsequent cell-based assays revealed that a variety of foodstuffs known to be rich in procyanidins such as grape seed extracts and apple polyphenols, potently inhibited oxLDL uptake in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing LOX-1. Indeed, purified procyanidins significantly inhibited oxLDL binding to LOX-1 while other ingredients of apple polyphenols did not. Moreover, chronic administration of oligomeric procyanidins suppressed lipid accumulation in vascular wall in hypertensive rats fed with high fat diet. These results suggest that procyanidins are LOX-1 inhibitors and LOX-1 inhibition might be a possible underlying mechanism of the well-known vascular protective effects of red wine, the French Paradox