This study aimed to present a literature review about the characteristics, applications, and potential of avocado (Persea americana). Avocado is considered one of the main tropical fruits, as it ...contains fat-soluble vitamins which are less common in other fruits, besides high levels of protein, potassium and unsaturated fatty acids. Avocado pulp contains variable oil content, and is widely used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, and in the production of commercial oils similar to olive oil. This fruit has been recognized for its health benefits, especially due to the compounds present in the lipidic fraction, such as omega fatty acids, phytosterols, tocopherols and squalene. Studies have shown the benefits of avocado associated to a balanced diet, especially in reducing cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular diseases. The processed avocado pulp is an alternative to utilize fruits, which can be used in various value-added food products. Fluid extract of the avocado leaves is widely used in pharmaceutical products, mainly due to the diuretic characteristic of the present compounds in plant leaves. With the increasing research supporting the nutritional characteristics and benefits of avocado, the tendency is to increase the production and exploitation of this raw material in Brazil, as also observed in other countries.
RESUMO: Objetivou-se com este trabalho apresentar uma revisão da literatura sobre as características, aplicações e potencialidades do abacate (Persea americana). O abacate é considerado um dos principais frutos tropicais, pois possui as vitaminas lipossolúveis que, em geral, são deficientes nas outras frutas. Além destas, contém proteínas e elevados teores de potássio e ácidos graxos insaturados. Apresenta quantidade variável de óleo na polpa, sendo esta vastamente utilizada nas indústrias farmacêutica e de cosméticos, e na obtenção de óleos comerciais similares ao azeite de oliva. Esse fruto tem sido reconhecido por seus benefícios à saúde, especialmente em função dos compostos presentes na fração lipídica, como ácidos graxos ômega, fitoesterois, tocoferois e esqualeno. Estudos têm demonstrado os benefícios do abacate associado a uma dieta balanceada, principalmente, na redução do colesterol e na prevenção de doenças cardiovasculares. A polpa do abacate na forma processada é uma alternativa para aproveitar os frutos, passível de ser utilizada em diversos produtos alimentícios de maior valor agregado. O extrato fluido das folhas do abacateiro é muito utilizado em produtos farmacêuticos, principalmente, pelo caráter diurético de compostos presentes nas folhas da planta. Com o aumento das pesquisas que comprovam as características nutricionais e os benefícios do abacate, a tendência é aumentar a produção e exploração dessa matéria-prima no Brasil, como já acontece em outros países.
Purpose
This research aimed to assess the impact of nutritional status and frailty in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with bladder or kidney cancer.
Methods
This was a ...cross-sectional study with individuals aged 20 years or older. Frailty phenotype was defined using the criteria of Fried et al. (2001). Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) classified nutritional status. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of life questionnaire Core-30 third version (EORTC QLQ-C30) assessed HRQoL.
Results
Forty-four patients with bladder and 44 with kidney cancer, mostly male, with a mean age of 65.9 and 58.6 years, respectively, were evaluated. Presence of frailty was not different between young and older adults. More than 80% of the robust subjects were well-nourished, while there was a predominance of frail with some degree of malnutrition (
p
< 0.05). The summary score of HRQoL was worse among the frails than pre-frails and robusts, both in bladder (68.5 vs 86.8 vs 89.5;
p
= 0.002) and in kidney cancer (54.9 vs 82.9 vs 91.4;
p
< 0.001), as well as in malnourished compared to well-nourished with bladder (72.9 vs 90.3;
p
= 0.003) and kidney cancer (69.4 vs 88.3;
p
= 0.001). After adjusted, frailty and malnutrition continued associated with poor summary score (
p
< 0.05).
Conclusion
These findings indicate that frailty and malnutrition negatively affect HRQoL of patients with bladder or kidney cancer in several aspects.
The inadequate management of solid waste impacts populations' health and quality of life, and disproportionately affects developing countries. This study aims to describe a protocol for ...epidemiological diagnosis, the purpose being to estimate the prevalence of chronic and communicable and non communicable diseases in waste pickers, and the occupational and environmental risk factors to which these are exposed.
This is a cross-sectional study, based on survey design in an area of extreme social vulnerability - the largest garbage dump in Latin America. Using a multidimensional research protocol, divided in three stages: 1- The identification of the subjects, and the scheduling of tests; 2- Situational diagnosis through interviews, anthropometric evaluation, measuring blood pressure, collecting hair and nail samples to detect exposure to heavy metals and undertaking laboratory tests; 3- The return of the waste pickers to receive the test results, followed by referral to the health team and to report occupational accidents.
One thousand twenty-five waste pickers undertook tests and interviews. The majority were women (67.0%), with 36-45 years old (45.7%), and 96.0% had children. In total, 27.3% of the participants did not attend to any school and 47.7% were educated only up to primary level. The majority of waste pickers (68.70%) reported accidents and most of them (89.69%) were related to sharp objects. The mean time working in this open dump was 15 years. According the anthropometric measure, 32.6% were overweight and 21.1% were obese. The most common reported diseases were: osteomuscular disorders (78.7%); arboviruses (28.6%); episodic diarrhea (24.9%); hypertension (24.2%); bronchitis (14.3%); intestinal worms (12.6%) and diabetes (10.1%). According to the blood tests, the values outside the reference limits were: Uric acid (23.89%); creatinine (54.06%); GGT range (16.04%); SGOT - Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (5.29%); SGPT - serum Glutamic-Pyruvic Transaminase (35.52%).
This study is the first to evaluate multiple risks and diseases in the majority of waste pickers working in the largest garbage dump of a continent. These findings highlight the importance to address urgently the environmental, social and health impacts related to the management of solid waste in developmental countries to protect these workers and their families.
Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) may cause several impacts to patients and the whole society. About 4% of the population has the sickle cell trait in Brazil, and 60,000 to 100,000 have SCD. ...However, despite recognizing the significant burden of disease, little is known about SCD costs. Objective To estimate SCD societal costs based on disease burden modelling, under Brazilian societal perspective. Methods A disease burden model was built considering the societal perspective and a one-year time horizon, including direct medical and indirect costs (morbidity and mortality). The sum of life lost and disability years was considered to estimate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Data from a public database (DATASUS) and the prevalence obtained from literature or medical experts were used to define complications prevalence and duration. Costs were defined using data from the Brazilian public healthcare system table of procedures and medications (SIGTAP) and the human capital method. Results Annual SCD cost was 413,639,180 USD. Indirect cost accounted for the majority of burden (70.1% of the total; 290,158,365 USD vs 123,480,816 USD). Standard of care and chronic complications were the main source of direct costs among adults, while acute conditions were the main source among children. Vaso-occlusive crisis represented the complication with the highest total cost per year in both populations, 11,400,410 USD among adults and 11,510,960 USD among children. Conclusions SCD management may impose an important economic burden on Brazilian society that may reach more than 400 million USD per year.
The synergy between dentistry and informatics has allowed the emergence of new technologies, specifically 3D printing, which has led to the development of new materials. The aim of this research was ...to compare the mechanical properties of dental base resins for 3D printing with conventional ones. This systematic review was developed using the PRISMA guidelines, and the electronic literature search was performed with the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science—MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, until 30 April 2022. Two researchers selected the studies independently, and thus eight articles were found eligible for analysis. A meta-analysis was developed to estimate flexural strength. The Cohen’s kappa corresponding to this review was 1.00, and the risk assessment was considered low for the included studies. The 3D printing resin presented lower values of flexural strength and hardness compared with the heat-cured resin. Regarding impact strength, a lower value was recorded for the heat-cured resin compared with the 3D printing resin. Three-dimensional printing resins are viable materials for making prosthetic bases but need further clinical research.
Cervical spine dysfunction is a condition with high personal, social, and economic impact worldwide. Although its etiology is described as multifactorial, there is a need for further clarification. ...The literature has demonstrated the anatomical, physiological, and pathophysiological relationship among the cervical spine, temporomandibular joint, and visceral system. To guide and contribute to the accuracy of the physical assessment performed by nurses, we will study the influence of the stomatognathic system and viscerosomatic reflexes on pain and joint stiffness of the cervical spine.
The aim of this study is to describe a pilot study protocol to investigate the influence of the stomatognathic system and viscerosomatic reflexes on cervical structures.
A pilot study with a quasi-experimental design was conducted with 50 volunteers from the university population of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa-Porto. We studied the influence of changes in the usual intercuspation, the occlusal deprogramming, and the pressure stimulus of the reflex skin region of the ilium/colon in the cervical spine. This study was divided into 2 phases. In the first phase, we performed the kinematic and pain analysis during the passive mobilization of the upper cervical spine using the Motion Capture System at the Motion Capture Laboratory at UCP-Porto and the Visual Analog Scale. In the second phase, we evaluated the pain threshold on palpation of the erector neck muscles and the structures of the stomatognathic system using algometry. The influence of viscerosomatic reflexes on the structures of the stomatognathic system was also analyzed.
Selection and preparation of the data collection site, acquisition of materials, constitution of the sample group and data collection were completed. The analysis of the results is being carried out.
The data from this study will allow for the detection of the possible influence of the stomatognathic system and viscerosomatic reflexes on pain and range of motion of the upper cervical spine, providing data for future randomized studies. We have also identified potential limitations of this study.
RR1-10.2196/31878.
Aims
Two unmet therapeutic strategies for diabetes treatment are prevention of beta‐cell death and stimulation of beta‐cell replication. Our aim was to characterize the role of neuropeptide Y ...receptors in the control of beta‐cell mass.
Materials and Methods
We used endogenous and selective agonists of the NPY receptor system to explore its role in the prevention of beta‐cell apoptosis and proliferation in islets isolated from both mouse and human donors. We further explored the intra‐cellular signalling cascades involved, using chemical inhibitors of key signalling pathways. As proof of principle we designed a long‐acting analogue of Leu31Pro34‐NPY, an agonist of the islet‐expressed Y receptors, to determine if targeting this system could preserve beta‐cell mass in vivo.
Results
Our data reveal that NPY Y1, 4 and 5 receptor activation engages a generalized and powerful anti‐apoptotic pathway that protects mouse and human islets from damage. These anti‐apoptotic effects were dependent on stimulating a Gαi‐PLC‐PKC signalling cascade, which prevented cytokine‐induced NFkB signalling. NPY receptor activation functionally protected islets by restoring glucose responsiveness following chemically induced injury in both species. NPY receptor activation attenuated beta‐cell apoptosis, preserved functional beta‐cell mass and attenuated the hyperglycaemic phenotype in a low‐dose streptozotocin model of diabetes.
Conclusion
Taken together, our observations identify the islet Y receptors as promising targets for the preservation of beta‐cell mass. As such, targeting these receptors could help to maintain beta‐cell mass in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and may also be useful for improving islet transplantation outcomes.
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•Hydrodistillation and subcritical CO2 extraction influence the chemical composition.•Different extraction yields were obtained from the four hop varieties.•Hydrodistillation obtained ...sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons as the main constituents.•Subcritical CO2 extraction presents oxygenated and non-oxygenated sesquiterpenes.
Hop essential oil and hop extract using carbon dioxide (CO2) are products with high added value because they have bioactive and sensory properties. In this context, the objective of this study was to obtain and characterize essential oil and extracts from pelleted hops of El Dorado, Polaris, Hallertau Blanc and Callista varieties using hydrodistillation and subcritical CO2 extraction methods. Extraction yield ranged from 0.38 % to 1.97 % (m/m) for essential oils and from 8.76 % to 15.35 % (m/m) for extracts using subcritical CO2. The chemical compositions of the essential oils were mainly monoterpene (18.14 % to 29.91 %) and sesquiterpene (46.01 % to 59.03 %) hydrocarbons and for the extracts were sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (33.05 % to 71.90 %) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (14.80 % to 34.89 %). The extracts showed better antioxidant activity than essential oils due to the presence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. Hop extracts showed some antimicrobial activity, but essential oils did not demonstrate antimicrobial potential. Hop extracts obtained with subCO2 have the potential to be used in the brewing industry as a flavoring and as natural antioxidants.
Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) survey the gut luminal environment and coordinate hormonal, immune and neuronal responses to it. They exhibit well-characterised physiological roles ranging from the ...control of local gut function to whole body metabolism, but little is known regarding the regulatory networks controlling their differentiation, especially in the human gut. The small molecule isoxazole-9 (ISX-9) has been shown to stimulate neuronal and pancreatic beta-cell differentiation, both closely related to EEC differentiation. Our aim was to use ISX-9 as a tool to explore EEC differentiation.
We investigated the effects of ISX-9 on EEC differentiation in mouse and human intestinal organoids, using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), fluorescent-activated cell sorting, immunostaining and single-cell RNA sequencing.
ISX-9 increased the number of neurogenin3-RFP (Ngn3)-positive endocrine progenitor cells and upregulated NeuroD1 and Pax4, transcription factors that play roles in mouse EEC specification. Single-cell analysis showed induction of Pax4 expression in a developmentally late Ngn3+ population of cells and potentiation of genes associated with progenitors biased toward serotonin-producing enterochromaffin (EC) cells. Further, we observed enrichment of organoids with functional EC cells that was partly dependent on stimulation of calcium signalling in a population of cells residing outside the crypt base. Inducible Pax4 overexpression, in ileal organoids, uncovered its importance as a component of early human endocrine specification and highlighted the potential existence of two major endocrine lineages, the early appearing enterochromaffin lineage and the later developing peptidergic lineage which contains classical gut hormone cell types.
Our data provide proof-of-concept for the controlled manipulation of specific endocrine lineages with small molecules, whilst also shedding new light on human EEC differentiation and its similarity to the mouse. Given their diverse roles, understanding endocrine lineage plasticity and its control could have multiple therapeutic implications.
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•ISX-9 promotes flux through the Ngn3 lineage and enriches it with enterochromaffin cells.•ISX-9 engages an enterochromaffin biased transcriptional programme in endocrine fated cells.•Enterochromaffin bias is partly dependent on calcium signalling in progenitor cells.•ISX-9 reveals conserved gut endocrine specification between mouse and human.•Pax4 overexpression in human ileum organoids mimics the effects of ISX-9 on EC bias.
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