Hormones and pathogenesis of uterine fibroids Reis, Fernando M., MD, PhD; Bloise, Enrrico, DVM, PhD; Ortiga-Carvalho, Tânia M., PhD
Best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology,
07/2016, Volume:
34
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The role of ovarian steroid hormones in the pathogenesis of uterine fibroids is supported by epidemiological, clinical, and experimental evidence. Estradiol and progesterone induce mature leiomyoma ...cells to release mitogenic stimuli to adjacent immature cells, thereby providing uterine leiomyoma with undifferentiated cells that are likely to support tumor growth. Progesterone action is required for the complete development and proliferation of leiomyoma cells, while estradiol predominantly increases tissue sensitivity to progesterone by increasing the availability of progesterone receptors (PRs). The selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) raloxifene and the selective PR modulators (SPRMs) mifepristone, asoprisnil, and ulipristal acetate have been shown in clinical trials to inhibit fibroid growth. The role of sex steroids is critical for leiomyoma development and maintenance, but a number of autocrine and paracrine messengers are involved in this process; hence, numerous pathways remain to be explored in therapeutic innovations for treating this common disease.
The scientific literature about presenteeism among farm workers is scarce. This study estimated the prevalence of and factors associated with presenteeism among paid fruit farm workers. A ...cross-sectional study investigated 340 paid employees of both sexes, aged 18 years or above, who worked during the 2019 irrigated fruit harvest in the municipality of Petrolina, Northeast Brazil. Information about sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, general health status, occupational characteristics, interpersonal work aspects, and the work environment’s structural characteristics was collected in a structured questionnaire. Presenteeism was established when participants reported working one or more days during the previous season despite feeling ill or when injured. Cox regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios adjusted by sex, area of residence (urban or rural), employment contract (permanent or seasonal), satisfaction with management, participation in workplace decision-making, availability of on-site healthcare facilities, and on-site availability of sunscreen. The prevalence of presenteeism during the previous season was high: 58.2%. In the final multivariate model, the adjusted prevalence ratio was higher (≥1.20) among female workers (1.42), workers dissatisfied with management (1.28), and those for whom sunscreen was not available on site (1.61). The prevalence of presenteeism was high and associated with personal, work organizational, and workplace resources characteristics.
This paper addresses the challenges of explaining the behavior of porous carbons in cutting-edge applications related to energy storage, catalysis, photocatalysis, and advanced separation based on ...reactive adsorption. It is a summary of the outcomes of the extensive discussion which took place during the workshop “Beyond Adsorption-II: new perspectives and challenges for nanoporous carbons,” organized as a satellite event to the International Carbon Conference on July 20th , 2019 in New York. It is not our intention to provide a tutorial on the applications, characterization or performance testing of porous carbons; we would rather like to focus on the controversy of the results and phenomena, on the explanation of findings, and on raising concerns to the growing carbon-researching scientific community about the importance of understanding the features of nanoporous carbons by choosing an appropriate characterization technique that will bring meaningful information. We want to emphasize that nanoporous carbons have unique features ensuring them making a marked advance in science and technology. Even though recent studies have shown their potential in various emerging applications, the origin of such performance is not yet well understood. Thus, scientists are encouraged to focus on a precise characterization of porous carbons using a set of complementary techniques for triggering future technological developments.
Display omitted
The aim of this work was to explore the potential risk of vector-borne Chagas disease in urban districts in northeastern Brazil, by analyzing the spatiotemporal distributions and natural infection ...rates with Trypanosoma cruzi of triatomine species captured in recent years. The main motivation of this work was an acute human case of Chagas disease reported in 2008 in the municipality of Sobral.
We analyzed data from community-based entomological surveillance carried out from 2010 to 2014. Triatomine natural T. cruzi infection was assessed by examination of insect feces by optical microscopy. Sites of triatomine capture were georeferenced through Google Earth and analyzed with ArcGIS. A total of 191 triatomines were collected, consisting of 82.2% Triatoma pseudomaculata, 7.9% Rhodnius nasutus, 5.8% T. brasiliensis, 3.7% Panstrongylus lutzi, and 0.5% P. megistus, with an overall natural infection index of 17.8%. Most infestations were reported in the districts of Dom José (36.2%), Padre Palhano (24.7%), and Alto do Cristo (10.6%). The overwhelming majority of insects (185/96.9%) were captured inside houses, and most insects tended to be collected in intermittent peaks. Moreover, captured triatomines tended to constitute colonies. The acute case reported in 2008 was found to be situated within a T. pseudomaculata hotspot.
The triatomine collection events carried out by dwellers were aggregated in time and space into distinct foci, suggesting that insects are intermittently and artificially introduced into the city, possibly via accidental migration from their natural reservoirs. The relatively high T. cruzi infection rate indicates considerable circulation of the parasite in these areas, increasing the risk of vector-borne Chagas disease infection. These data suggest a need to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and integrate appropriate control actions targeting triatomines, T. cruzi reservoirs, and human populations. Our data also identify Chagas disease transmission as a hazard in urban areas of Sobral.
Hashimoto thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease characterized by hypothyroidism and a high level of anti-thyroid autoantibodies. It has shown to negatively impact female fertility; however, the ...mechanisms are unclear. Ovarian follicular fluid appears to be the key to understanding how Hashimoto thyroiditis affecst fertility. Thus, we aimed to evaluated the metabolic profile of follicular fluid and antithyroid autoantibody levels in the context of Hashimoto thyroiditis. We collected follicular fluid from 61 patients, namely 38 women with thyroid autoantibody positivity and 23 women as negative controls, undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment. Follicular fluid samples were analyzed using metabolomics, and thyroid autoantibodies were measured. Fifteen metabolites with higher concentrations in the follicular fluid samples from Hashimoto thyroiditis were identified, comprising five possible affected pathways: the glycerophospholipid, arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and sphingolipid metabolism pathways. These pathways are known to regulate ovarian functions. In addition, antithyroglobulin antibody concentrations in both serum and follicular fluid were more than tenfold higher in women with Hashimoto thyroiditis than in controls. Our data showed that the metabolic profile of follicular fluid is altered in women with Hashimoto thyroiditis, suggesting a potential mechanistic explanation for the association of this disease with female infertility.
The Cerrado biome in Brazil is a tropical savanna and an important global biodiversity hot spot. Today, only a fraction of its original area remains undisturbed, and this habitat is at risk of ...conversion to agriculture, especially to soybeans. Here, we present the first quantitative analysis of expanding the Soy Moratorium (SoyM) from the Brazilian Amazon to the Cerrado biome. The SoyM expansion to the Cerrado would prevent the direct conversion of 3.6 million ha of native vegetation to soybeans by 2050. Nationally, this would require a reduction in soybean area of approximately 2%. Relative risk of future native vegetation conversion for soybeans would be driven by the Brazilian domestic market, China, and the European Union. We conclude that, to preserve the Cerrado's biodiversity and ecosystem services, urgent action is required, including a zero native vegetation conversion agreement such as the SoyM.
This study aimed to describe teacher work ability in relation to violence against teachers and certain sociodemographic and occupational features. A cross-sectional study investigated 525 ...kindergarten and elementary grade school teachers from Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Northeast Brazil. Information from each teacher was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The main outcome was teacher reports about their current and future (in 2 years’ time) physical and emotional work ability. The teachers were predominantly female, young, with heavy workloads and on low incomes. Teachers reported being victimized in the school by physical violence (22.9%), verbal violence (42.9%), theft or robbery (36.4%), aggression or threats with a firearm or a non-firearm weapon (knife, glass, etc.; 7.0%), or by some form of violence (58.4%). Teachers reported low physical (56.0%) and emotional (40.6%) current work ability. Low physical work ability was significantly associated with physical and verbal violence, theft and robbery, and some form of violence; low emotional work ability was associated with physical and verbal violence, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. Expectation of low work ability in the future was reported by 42.9% of the teachers and was associated with higher education level, and physical violence, verbal violence, theft or robbery, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. The association between violence and work ability was modified by education level. Subsequent control of confounding in the strata of education confirmed the associations between violence and low work ability. The physical, emotional, and future work ability of teachers was low and associated with school violence, indicating the need to promote a safer work environment inside the school and in society as a whole.
Background
Scorpion envenoming is relatively frequent in tropical and subtropical regions and potentially fatal. We aimed to identify risk factors for fatal scorpion envenoming among Brazilian ...children.
Methods
A case–control study investigated all fatal cases of scorpion envenoming among children up to 10 y old, reported to the Brazilian Diseases Surveillance System between 1 January 2007 and 18 July 2016. Controls were randomly sampled from children who survived the envenoming over this period. Data were analysed using logistic regression.
Results
Of the 254 cases and 1083 controls investigated, the identified risk factors were age ≤5 y, occurred in a rural area, time-to-treatment ≥3 h, treatment with scorpion antivenom (SAV) but either excessive or insufficient number of vials, treatment with antivenom that was neither SAV nor anti-spider and no antivenom administered compared with the standard recommended treatment. Treatment effectiveness at preventing fatal scorpion envenoming was 77.0% when time-to-treatment was <3 h and 75% in children 9–10 y of age. SAV was 63% effective at preventing death when administered early at the recommended dosage.
Conclusions
Fatal scorpion envenoming was associated with younger age, incident occurring in a rural area, late treatment and inadequate antivenom treatment. SAV was effective at preventing death when administered early.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by hyperandrogenism, amenorrhea, and polycystic ovaries. This endocrinopathy is associated with many metabolic disorders such as dyslipidemia and ...insulin resistance, with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular complications. Inflammation is likely to play an important role in the promoting these metabolic imbalances, while prothrombotic and pro-oxidative mechanisms further contribute to the cardiovascular risk of these patients. The etiology of PCOS is still not fully understood, but there is evidence of genetic and environmental components. This review aims to discuss some molecular pathways associated with PCOS that could contribute to the better understanding about this syndrome. Recent evidence suggests that intrauterine exposure of female mice to an excess of anti-Müllerian hormone may induce PCOS features in their post-natal life. High cytokine levels and cytokine gene polymorphisms also appear to be associated with the pathophysiology of PCOS. Furthermore, high levels of microparticles may contribute to the altered hemostasis and enhanced inflammation in PCOS. All these mechanisms may be relevant to clarify some aspects of PCOS pathogenesis and inspire new strategies to prevent the syndrome as well as treat its symptoms and mitigate the risk of long-term complications.
An integrated experimental-theoretical investigation was employed to determine rovibrational energies, spectroscopic constants, lifetime as a function of temperature in gas phase complexes of ...methanol with noble gas (NgHe, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and Rn). Beside that, a parallel effort has been addressed to theoretically characterize the nature of intermolecular interactions determining the dissociation energy and equilibrium distance of the formed adducts. Dynamics and lifetime results reveal that, except for the CH3OH-He aggregate, all other methanol-Ng compounds are sufficiently stable under thermal conditions. Their lifetimes are larger than 1 ps for the temperature of the bulk in the range between 200 and 500 K. In addition, the current lifetime results suggest that the aggregates formed by methanol and Ng are globally more stable than corresponding complexes formed by water with Ng. From the point of view of the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level calculation, in all compounds, the electron densities of Ng partners are weakly polarized in the presence of CH3OH molecule. The charge-displacement curves and NBO analysis indicate that the charge transfer from Ng to methanol molecule, in general, plays a minor role, being appreciable only in the aggregate involving Ar. Finally, it was verified from the SAPT2 + (CCD)-δMP2/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations and NCI analysis that the dispersion is the essential long-range attractive contribution to the interaction energy for all studied complexes. This feature strongly suggests that these compounds are held bonded substantially by van der Waals forces. Then non-covalent intermolecular bonds are effectively formed in the gas phase, which is disturbed by small stabilizing charge-transfer contributions.
Display omitted
•An experimental-theoretical investigation was employed to study methanol-Ng systems.•Except for the He, the CH3OH-Ng are sufficiently stable under thermal conditions.•Lifetime study suggests that CH3OH-Ng are globally more stable than H2O-Ng systems.•Dispersion is the most important contribution to the CH3OH-Ng interaction energy.
PDF
