Prevention of Risky drinking among students at a Brazilian University

Aim: The aim of this paper was to compare the quantity and frequency of alcohol use and its associated negative consequences between two groups of college students who were identified as being risky drinkers. Subjects were randomly allocated in a clinical trial to intervention or control groups. Methods: Risky drinking use was defined as Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) >= 8 and/or Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) >= 5 problems in the previous year. Students who had undergone the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) (N = 145 at baseline; 142 at 12 months, and 103 at 24 months, loss of 29.7%) were compared with a control group (N = 121 at baseline; 121 at 12 months and 113 at 24 months, loss of 9.3%), the nonintervention group. Variables included drinking frequency, quantity and peak consumption, dependence assessment, and family and friends' abuse assessment. Results: Treated students at a 24-month follow-up decreased quantity of alcohol use per occasion and lowered AUDIT and RAPI scores. Conclusions: This is the first brief intervention work on risky drinking with college students in Brazil and the results are encouraging. However, it is difficult to conduct individual prevention strategies in a country where culture fosters heavy drinking through poor public policy on alcohol and lack of law enforcement.

Ethyl Carbamate Analysis in German Fruit Spirits and Brazilian Sugarcane Spirits (Cachaca): Improved Sample Cleanup with Automated Parallel Evaporation

The analysis of alcoholic beverages for the important carcinogenic contaminant ethyl carbamate is very time-consuming and expensive. Due to possible matrix interferences, sample cleanup using diatomaceous earth (Extrelut) column is required prior to gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric measurement. A limiting step in this process is the rotary evaporation of the eluate containing the analyte in organic solvents, which is currently conducted manually and requires approximately 20-30 min per sample. This paper introduces the use of a parallel evaporation device for ethyl carbamate analysis, which allows for the simultaneous evaporation of 12 samples to a specified residual volume without manual intervention. A more efficient and, less expensive analysis is therefore possible. The method validation showed no differences between the fully-automated parallel evaporation and the manual operation. The applicability was proven by analyzing authentic spirit samples from Germany, Canada and Brazil. It is interesting to note that Brazilian cachacas had a relatively high incidence for ethyl carbamate contamination (55% of all samples were above 0.15 mg/l), which may be of public health relevance and requires further evaluation.

Depressive symptoms among elderly inpatients of a Brazilian university hospital: prevalence and associated factors

Background: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors among elderly hospital inpatients.Methods: A cross-sectional study evaluated 189 participants using the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Mini-mental State Examination and the Katz and Lawton Index, to assess dependence regarding activities of daily living (ADL).Results: Most of the participants were women, aged between 60 and 92 years, with low levels of educational attainment and personal income, and non-qualified occupations. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 56%, but only 3% had a psychiatric diagnosis registered in their medical records. Univariate analysis showed significant associations between depressive symptoms and low educational level and income, marital status, number of hospitalizations in the previous year, cognitive decline, dependence regarding basic and instrumental ADL, and death. After logistic regression, the only variables that remained significantly associated with depression were low educational level, dependence regarding basic ADL, and death.Conclusions: Depressive symptoms were independently associated with low educational level and dependence regarding basic ADL. Hospitalized elderly people with depressive symptoms were more likely to die. It is essential to diagnose and treat depression properly in this population to minimize its negative impacts.

Prevalence of Refractive Errors in a Brazilian Population: The Botucatu Eye Study

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in a Brazilian population: The Botucatu Eye Study

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Schilbach-Rott/blepharofacioskeletal syndrome in a Brazilian patient

We report on a 4-year-old girl with blepharophimosis, a typical facial gestalt and skeletal abnormalities seen in the blepharofacioskeletal syndrome (BFSS). A comparative review with previous cases provides further evidence that BFSS and Schilbach-Rott syndrome (SRS) are the same condition. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Lack of papillomavirus (HPV) in pterygia of a Brazilian sample

OBJETIVO: Existem controvérsias a respeito da influência do papilomavirus (HPV) no desenvolvimento do pterígio. Assim, este estudo foi elaborado com o objetivo de verificar se o papilomavirus está presente na lesão. MÉTODOS: Trinta e seis portadores de pterígio unilateral foram operados, preparando-se o tecido removido e uma amostra de conjuntiva normal para exame de reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR) para detecção de DNA. RESULTADOS: em todas as amostras do pterígio e da conjuntiva normal a pesquisa do DNA-papilomavirus por PCR resultou negativa. CONCLUSÃO: Segundo nossos resultados, o papilomavirus não é importante para o desenvolvimento do pterígio.

Brazilian natural dietary components (annatto, propolis and mushrooms) protecting against mutation and cancer

Considering the high number of new cancer cases in Brazil (approximately 470 000 cases in 2005) and the remarkable differences in the incidence of this disease around the world, the development of chemopreventive strategies using foods widely consumed would have a huge impact, both medically and economically. This review summarizes some of our studies conducted to verify the anti-mutagenic and anti-carcinogenic potential of some Brazilian natural dietary constituents (annatto, mushrooms, and propolis). Overall data have shown a clear role for these compounds in preventing mutation and specific preneoplastic lesions. Taken together, these agents indicate a favorable side-effect profile and may prove to be a promising alternative for cancer prevention strategies, although more investigation is needed to fully explore this issue.

EBNA-1 gene sequences in Brazilian and American patients with Hodgkin's disease

We examined the types of Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) gene carboxy (C)-terminal mutations occurring in Hodgkin's disease (HD) and reactive tissues from two different geographic regions. Previously reported EBNA-1 C-terminal region amino acid sequence variants, based on the amino acid at codon 487, include Prototype (P)-ala, which is found in the B95.8-derived prototype virus, P-thr, Variant (V)-leu, V-val, and V-pro. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify portions of the EBNA-1 gene, followed by DNA sequencing, we found a single EBNA-1 gene sequence variant in each tissue, whether reactive or neoplastic and whether from Brazil or the United States. Variant EBNA-1 gene sequences were more common in both neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissues from different geographic areas than the so-called prototype sequence. In the 17 Brazilian HD cases, 4 cases had P-thr variants and 13 had V-leu variants. In the six reactive tissues from Brazil, one had a P-ala variant, two had P-thr variants, and three had V-leu variants. In the 12 American HD cases, 2 had P-ala variants, 6 had P-thr variants, and 4 had V-leu variants. The 11 American reactive tissues included 2 P ala variants, 5 P-thr variants, and 4 V-leu variants. In both countries, there were similar variant EBNA-1 sequences present in normal tissues and HD cases. Compared with the P ala and P-thr cases, the V-leu cases were more likely to have the 30-bp latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) gene deletion (P = 0.0075). In addition, cases of HD with the V-leu were statistically associated with a substitution of asparagine for glutamine at codon 322 of the C-terminal portion of the LMP1 gene. Our results suggest that any variation in EBNA-1 gene sequence is caused by a polymorphism present in pre-existing viral strains in the underlying population, and not a mutation occurring during oncogenesis. (C) 1999 by the American Society of Hematology.

Relationship of IL-1 and TNF-alpha polymorphisms with Helicobacter pylori in gastric diseases in a Brazilian population

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

HLA-G polymorphism and transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in a Brazilian population

The morphologic appearance and clinical behavior of the human urinary bladder papillary transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) probably result from a complex interaction between carcinogenic insults and host resistance during the patient's life. While the main recognized risk factors are of environmental origin (e.g. smoking), relatively little information exists about the susceptibility to TCC development. The human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) molecule plays an important role in immune response regulation and has been implicated in the inhibition of the cytolytic function of natural killer and cytotoxic T cells. Several lines of evidence indicate that HLA-G polymorphisms influence the expression level and production of different HLA-G isoforms. The aim of this study was to explore a possible influence of the HLA-G polymorphism on the susceptibility to urinary bladder TCC development and progression in smokers and nonsmokers Brazilian subjects. The HLA-G locus was found to be associated with susceptibility to TCC development and progression. The G*0104 allelic group (specially the G*010404 allele) and the G*0103 allele were associated with a tobacco-dependent influence on TCC development. The G*0104 group was associated with progression to high-grade tumors, irrespective of smoking habit, while the G*0103 allele was associated to high-grade tumor only in smoking patients. Our results are an evidence that the HLA-G locus itself, or as part of an extended haplotype encompassing this chromosome region (particularly the HLA-A given the high linkage disequilibrium observed between them in this data series), may be associated with TCC susceptibility and tumor progression, suggesting a tobacco-dependent influence of these polymorphisms.

KSHV genotypes A and C are more frequent in Kaposi sarcoma lesions from Brazilian patients with and without HIV infection, respectively

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)