The study objective is to propose bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) ellipses for the population and investigate its use to assess nutritional status through the BMI/age ratio and the ...cardiovascular risk through waist circumference (WC).
Age, weight, height and WC were recorded, along with the values of resistance (R), reactance (Xc) and phase angle (PA) by impedance. Student's t test and ANOVA were applied to ascertain the significance between means and a specific programme was applied to investigate the significance between ellipses.
Fortaleza, Brazil.
A total of 467 students from public schools participated in the study: 120 children and 347 adolescents were evaluated, with respective means of age, weight and height of 8·2 years, 27·6 kg and 1·29 m and 12·7 years, 48·6 kg and 1·53 m, respectively.
The mean values of R/H, Xc/H and PA were 569·0 and 424·7 Ohm/m, 59·1 and 50·4 Ohm/m, and 5·9º and 6·8º for children and adolescents, respectively. The mean vectors for R/H and Xc/H show significant differences between for both age ranges and are inversely proportional to the BMI/A. As for WC, individuals without cardiovascular risk had higher R/H and lower Xc/H, but Xc and R in participants without cardiovascular risk were greater than with cardiovascular risk.
It was possible to propose confidence and tolerance BIVA ellipses for children and adolescent's clinical evaluation. The method was also suitable to identify cardiovascular risk ellipses in these age groups, but it was not possible to draw nutritional classifications ellipses by BMI/age data.
Selenium and thyroid cancer: a systematic review de Oliveira Maia, Mônica; Batista, Bruna Aparecida Melo; Sousa, Morgana Pinheiro ...
Nutrition and cancer,
11/2020, Letnik:
72, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The aim of the study was to investigate the association between blood and tissue levels of selenium and thyroid cancer through a systematic review. We searched for observational studies written in ...English, Spanish, and Portuguese indexed in PubMed, LILACS, and Scielo without date restriction, that evaluated the association between selenium levels in whole-blood, serum, or plasma and/or thyroid tissue and thyroid cancer, both in individuals with cancer of thyroid as in healthy individuals. Then data were extracted and analyzed. Of the 570 articles identified, five cross-sectional studies were included in the review. In one study, lower concentrations of selenium were found in whole-blood (0.543 μg/ml) and in the thyroid (0.88 μg/g) of thyroid cancer patients compared to controls. Another study showed a decrease in serum selenium concentrations in patients with follicular carcinoma and papillary types (0.077 ± 0.021 μg/ml and 0.080 ± 0.020 μg/ml, respectively). On the other hand, other studies showed no difference in plasma selenium content or glutathione peroxidase activity among patients and healthy volunteers. The available evidence on this issue is inconclusive. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the association between serum and/or tissue levels of selenium and the development of thyroid cancer.
This study aims at analyzing the association between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and the clinical condition of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.
It is a quantitative, cross-sectional ...analytical study that included 137 MS patients assisted at a reference center for MS treatment in the Brazilian northeast. Data was collated through a structured questionnaire and medical records consultation, also involving demographic, clinical, and nutritional variables. Clinical variables included the MS type, diagnosis and follow-up start dates, investigation of recent urinary tract symptoms, use of immunomodulatory, vitamin D supplementation, number of recent pulse therapies, relapse rate in the last 2 years, muscular strength assessment (MRC), disability degree (EDSS), and a gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in the central white matter (CWM). The DII was calculated according to the Shivappa et al. methodology.
There was no difference in any of the variables according to the DII (p > 0.05).
The Dietary Inflammatory Index did not affect the clinical condition of individuals with multiple sclerosis.
•We present a new approach for the methods used to calculate the Weibull parameters.•In this evaluation, power is as key issue, in spite of the wind velocity.•Wind speed and wind power data were ...collected in two coastal cities in Brazil.•The use of power as the main parameter indicates that methods can change the ranking.
This work introduces a new approach for the evaluation of numerical methods used in calculating the Weibull parameters for the prediction of wind resource. In this evaluation, power is a key issue since it proves to be quite relevant in predicting the feasibility of a given site for efficient use of wind energy. Previous knowledge of such information is important for the decision process on the technical feasibility of installing industrial wind farms. The paper performed a statistical analysis of seven mathematical methods to estimate the shape parameter k and the scaling parameter c of the Weibull distribution. Wind speed and wind power data collected in two coastal cities (Icapuí and Camocim), State of Ceará, in the northeast region of Brazil were used. The methods used in the development of this research are the graphical method, maximum likelihood method, modified maximum likelihood method, empirical method, moment method, energy pattern factor method and the equivalent energy method. Comparative analysis of efficiency and accuracy involves the application of the following statistical tests: analysis of variance (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and chi-square (X2). The use of power as a parameter to be evaluated in this study by analyzing the Weibull distribution, is something different from what has been discussed in the literature, and indicates that methods which are well evaluated when the wind speed is used as a comparison factor can change position when ranked by power. It is important to emphasize that the values of k and c were calculated directly from the values of wind power (not the wind speed, as usual), and subsequently it was statistically tested the adequacy of the values in the prediction of wind speed and wind power. The presented results indicate that the values generated for the shape and scale parameters provided differences considering the databases formed by wind speed and wind power, namely the graphical method. The wind power data produced accurate results when submitted to statistical tests.
Past research has shown the importance of zinc in several metabolic processes, such as the glucidic metabolism. The present systematic review aims to discuss zinc’s participation in the glycemic ...control of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients. In order to accomplish that, a systematic search was performed in the Pubmed database using the following indexed and theme-related descriptors: “zinc” AND “type 2 diabetes mellitus”, AND MeSH terms related to glycemic control combined with the boolean operator OR. In total, 1078 articles were retrieved from the research, of which 15 articles of original studies conducted with DM2 patients were included, with three being about the effect of mineral supplementation and 12 reporting observational studies. The main findings of these studies consisted of low body contents of zinc and high excretion of zinc in urine. Hyperglycemia was one of the mechanisms that caused these alterations owing to its interference in zinc reabsorption via renal cells. Another evidence was the negative correlation between the glycated hemoglobin percentage (%HbA1c) and the plasma zinc levels. Additionally, it has been observed that zinc supplementation in DM2 patients has improved glycemic control, since the %HbA1c significantly reduced in these individuals. This present review shows the positive effect of adequate zinc levels on glycemic control, whether it is through dietetic ingestion or supplementation, since its role in insulin homeostasis is clear.
Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus represents a significant obstacle to animal productivity in tropical and subtropical areas, leading to considerable economic losses for the dairy and meat ...production industries. Essential oils (EO) extracted from Ageratum conyzoides are known to cause death and induce morphogenetic abnormalities in several insect species. This plant, however, presents morphological flower variations, which range from white to purple, associated to different chemotypes. In this context, this study aimed to conduct a novel assessment on the effects of EO extracted from two A. conyzoides chemotypes in the control of the bovine tick R. microplus. The primary constituents of the oil obtained from white flower samples (WFs) were precocene I (80.4 %) and (E)-caryophyllene (14.8 %), while purple flower oil samples (PFs) contained predominantly β-acoradiene (12.9 %), γ-amorphene (12.3 %), α-pinene (9.9 %), bicyclogermacrene (8.9 %), α-santalene (8.7 %), and andro encecalinol (5.6 %). Interestingly, only the EO chemotype from A. conyzoides PFs displayed acaricidal activity towards R. microplus larvae, with an LC50 of 1.49 mg/mL.
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•The essential oil of Ageratum conyzoides shows acaricidal activity.•Ageratum conyzoides chemotypes show different results in the antiparasitic action.•No tick control action has been observed in the EO of the chemotype rich in precocene I.
This study evaluated the effect of the iron chelator deferiprone (DFP) on antimicrobial susceptibility and biofilm formation and maintenance by Burkholderia pseudomallei. Planktonic susceptibility to ...DFP alone and in combination with antibiotics was evaluated by broth microdilution and biofilm metabolic activity was determined with resazurin. DFP minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range was 4-64 µg/mL and in combination reduced the MIC for amoxicillin/clavulanate and meropenem. DFP reduced the biomass of biofilms by 21 and 12% at MIC and MIC/2, respectively. As for mature biofilms, DFP reduced the biomass by 47%, 59%, 52% and 30% at 512, 256, 128 and 64 µg/mL, respectively, but did not affect B. pseudomallei biofilm viability nor increased biofilm susceptibility to amoxicillin/clavulanate, meropenem and doxycycline. DFP inhibits planktonic growth and potentiates the effect of β-lactams against B. pseudomallei in the planktonic state and reduces biofilm formation and the biomass of B. pseudomallei biofilms.
To evaluate whether ultrasound abdominal fat measurements in the first and second trimesters can predict adverse gestational outcomes, particularly gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and identify ...early patients at higher risk for complications.
A prospective cohort study of 126 pregnant women at 11-14 and 20-24 weeks of gestation with normal fasting glucose levels during early pregnancy. From 126 participants with complete data, 13.5% were diagnosed with GDM, based on the cutoffs established for the peripherical blood glucose. Subcutaneous, visceral, and maximum preperitoneal abdominal fat were measured using ultrasound techniques. GDM status was determined by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with 75 g glucose overload, and the following values were considered abnormal: fasting glucose ≥92 mg/dl and/or 1 h after overload ≥180 mg/dl and/or 2 h after overload ≥153 mg/dl. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the optimal threshold to predict GDM.
Maximum preperitoneal fat measurement was predictive of GDM, and subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat measurements did not show significant differences in the prediction of GDM. According to the ROC curve, a threshold of 45.25 mm of preperitoneal fat was identified as the optimal cutoff point, with 87% sensitivity and 41% specificity to predict GDM. The raw and adjusted odds ratios for age and pre-pregnancy body mass index were 0.730 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.561-0.900) and 0.777 (95% CI, 0.623-0.931), respectively.
The use of a 45.25 mm threshold for maximum preperitoneal fat, measured by ultrasound to predict the risk of GDM, appears to be a feasible, inexpensive, and practical alternative to incorporate into clinical practice during the first trimester of pregnancy.
The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi causes Chagas disease, which remains a serious public health concern and continues to victimize thousands of people, primarily in the poorest regions of Latin America. ...In the search for new therapeutic drugs against T. cruzi, here we have evaluated both the in vitro and the in vivo activity of 5-hydroxy-3-methyl-5-phenyl-pyrazoline-1-(S-benzyl dithiocarbazate) (H2bdtc) as a free compound or encapsulated into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN); we compared the results with those achieved by using the currently employed drug, benznidazole. H2bdtc encapsulated into solid lipid nanoparticles (a) effectively reduced parasitemia in mice at concentrations 100 times lower than that normally employed for benznidazole (clinically applied at a concentration of 400 µmol kg(-1) day(-1)); (b) diminished inflammation and lesions of the liver and heart; and (c) resulted in 100% survival of mice infected with T. cruzi. Therefore, H2bdtc is a potent trypanocidal agent.
The administration of stem cells holds promise as a potential therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI). Mesenchymal stem cells have advantages for clinical applications, since they can be easily ...obtained, are suitable for autologous transplantation and have been previously shown to induce regeneration of the spinal cord in experimental settings. Here we evaluated the feasibility, safety and potential efficacy of autologous transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells in subjects with chronic complete SCI.
We conducted a phase I, non-controlled study in 14 subjects of both genders aging between 18 to 65 years, with chronic traumatic SCI (>6 months), at thoracic or lumbar levels, classified as American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) A - complete injury. Baseline somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP), spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and urodynamics were assessed before and after treatment. Pain rating was performed using the McGill Pain Questionnaire and a visual analogue score scale. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were cultured and characterized by flow cytometry, cell differentiation assays and G-band karyotyping. Mesenchymal stem cells were injected directly into the lesion following laminectomy and durotomy.
Cell transplantation was an overall safe and well-tolerated procedure. All subjects displayed variable improvements in tactile sensitivity and eight subjects developed lower limbs motor functional gains, principally in the hip flexors. Seven subjects presented sacral sparing and improved American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale (AIS) grades to B or C - incomplete injury. Nine subjects had improvements in urologic function. One subject presented changes in SSEP 3 and 6 months after mesenchymal stem cells transplantation. Statistically significant correlations between the improvements in neurological function and both injury size and level were found.
Intralesional transplantation of autologous mesenchymal stem cells in subjects with chronic, complete spinal cord injury is safe, feasible, and may promote neurological improvements.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01325103 - Registered 28 March 2011.
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