Hepatoencephalopathy syndrome due to Cassia occidentalis (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae) seed ingestion in horses

Cassia occidentalis is a bush from the Leguminosae family, subfamily Caesalpinoideae, and is a toxic plant of veterinary interest due to the occasional contamination of animal rations. This report describes the clinical and histopathological findings of an outbreak of C.occidentalis poisoning in horses. Twenty mares were poisoned after consuming ground corn contaminated with 8% of C.occidentalis seeds. Of the 20 animals affected, 12 died: 8 mares were found dead, 2 died 6h after the onset of clinical signs compatible with hepatic encephalopathy and the 2 other animals were subjected to euthanasia 12h after the onset of the clinical signs. The remaining 8 mares presented with mild depression and decreased appetite, but improved with treatment and no clinical sequelae were observed. In 6 animals that underwent a necropsy, an enhanced hepatic lobular pattern was noted and within the large intestine, a large number of seeds were consistently observed. Hepatocellular pericentrolobular necrosis and cerebral oedema were the main histological findings. In one mare, there was mild multifocal semimembranosus rhabdomyocytic necrosis and haemorrhage. Seeds collected from intestinal contents and sifted from the culpable feedstuff were planted. Examination of the leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of the resultant plants identified C.occidentalis. Horses poisoned by C.occidentalis seeds demonstrate clinical signs associated with hepatoencephalopathy and frequently die suddenly. Lesions primarily involve the liver and secondarily, the central nervous system. Cassia occidentalis poisoning should be considered a differential diagnosis in horses with hepatoencephalopathy and special caution should be taken with horse rations to avoid contamination with seeds of this toxic plant. © 2012 EVJ Ltd.

Risk of metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors

The aim of this study was to assess the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors as compared with postmenopausal women without breast cancer. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 104 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors were compared with 208 postmenopausal women (controls) attending a university hospital. Eligibility criteria included the following: amenorrhea longer than 12 months and aged 45 years or older, treated for breast cancer, and metastasis-free for at least 5 years. The control group consisted of women with amenorrhea longer than 12 months and aged 45 years or older and without breast cancer, matched by age and menopause status (in a proportion of 1:2 as sample calculation). Clinical and anthropometric data were collected. Biochemical parameters, including total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and C-reactive protein, were measured. Women showing three or more diagnostic criteria were diagnosed as having MetS: waist circumference of 88 cm or larger, blood pressure of 130/85 mm Hg or higher, triglycerides level of 150 mg/dL or higher, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level lower than 50 mg/dL, and glucose level of 100 mg/dL or higher. For statistical analysis, Student's t test, χ2 test, and logistic regression (odds ratio [OR]) were used. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of breast cancer survivors was 60.6 (8.6) years, with a mean (SD) follow-up of 9.4 (4.4) years. A higher percentage of breast cancer survivors (46.2%) were obese as compared with controls (32.7%; P < 0.05), and a smaller percentage showed optimal values for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose, and C-reactive protein versus controls (P < 0.05). MetS was diagnosed in 50% of breast cancer survivors and in 37.5% of control group women (P < 0.05). Among the MetS diagnostic criteria, the most prevalent was abdominal obesity (waist circumference >88 cm), affecting 62.5% and 67.8% of the participants, respectively. In the control group, breast cancer survivors had a higher risk for MetS (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.04-2.68), dysglycemia (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.09-3.03), and hypertension (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.02-2.89). CONCLUSIONS: Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors present a higher risk of developing MetS as compared with women without breast cancer. © 2012 by The North American Menopause Society.

Intra-abdominal fat is related to metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fat liver disease in obese youth

Background: Previous studies have shown an association between adiposity, especially intra-abdominal adipose tissue, and hemodynamic/metabolic comorbidities in adults, however it is not clear in pediatric population. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and components of metabolic syndrome (MS) with values of intra-abdominal (IAAT) and subcutaneous (SCAT) adipose tissue in obese children and adolescents.Methods: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: 182 obese sedentary children and adolescents (aged 6 to 16 y), identified by the body mass index (BMI). Measurements: Body composition and trunk fat by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry- DXA; lipid profile, blood pressure and pubertal stage were also assessed. NAFLD was classified as absent (0), mild (1), moderate (2) and severe (3), and intra-abdominal and subcutaneous abdominal fat thickness were identified by ultrasound. The MS was identified according to the cut offs proposed by World Health Organization adapted for children and adolescents. The chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables, and the binary logistic regression indicated the magnitude of the associations adjusted by potential cofounders (sex, age, maturation, NAFLD and HOMA-IR).Results: Higher quartile of SCAT was associated with elevated blood pressure (p = 0.015), but not associated with NAFLD (p = 0.665). Higher IAAT was positively associated with increased dyslipidemia (p = 0.001), MS (p = 0.013) and NAFLD (p = 0.005). Intermediate (p = 0.007) and highest (p = 0.001) quartile of IAAT were also associated with dyslipidemia, independently of age, sex, maturation, NAFLD and HOMA-IR (homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance).Conclusion: Obese children and adolescents, with higher IAAT are more prone to develop MS and NAFLD than those with higher values of SCAT, independent of possible confounding variables. © 2013 Silveira et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Avaliação do emprego de um novo método de triagem molecular da síndrome do cromossomo X frágil em indivíduos brasileiros

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Espectros de raios-x em MEV indicam associação entre Al e Si em plantas acumuladoras de Al do Cerrado

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Role of the reactive atmosphere during the sol-gel synthesis on the enhancing of the emission quantum yield of urea cross-linked tripodal siloxane-based hybrids

Transparent monoliths and films of urea cross-linked tripodal siloxane-based hybrids (named tri-ureasils) were prepared by the sol-gel process, under controlled atmosphere (inside a glove box) and ambient conditions and their structure and optical features were compared. X-ray diffraction data point out that all the materials are essentially amorphous and Si-29 NMR reveal an increase in the condensation degree (0.97) for the hybrids prepared under controlled atmosphere relatively to that found for those prepared under ambient conditions (0.84-0.91). The tri-ureasils are white light emitters under UV/Visible excitation (from 250 to 453 nm) being observed for the composites prepared inside the glove box a significant enhancement (60-80 %) of the absorption coefficient and higher emission quantum yield values (similar to 0.27 and similar to 0.20 for monoliths and films, respectively) relatively to those synthesized under ambient condition.

Easily handling penicillin G acylase magnetic cross-linked enzymes aggregates: Catalytic and morphological studies

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

Metabolic syndrome reduces bone mineral density in overweight adolescents

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

Resistance to impact of cross-linked denture base biopolymer materials: Effect of relining, glass flakes reinforcement and cyclic loading

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Analysis of criteria for metabolic syndrome in a population-based study of Japanese-Brazilians

Objective: Criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS) differ particularly regarding the definition of central obesity and consequently, there could be differences in the assessment of cardiovascular risk. We estimated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, compared the agreement of the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria with the standard and a modified National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criterion and investigated whether additional factors were associated with the diagnosis of the syndrome in a Japanese descendant population.Methods: In this cross-sectional, population-based survey, 1166 Japanese-Brazilians (533 men, 633 women) aged 57.4 +/- 12.4 years with mean body mass index (BMI) and waist of 25.2 +/- 4.0 kg/m(2) and 84.5 +/- 10.6 cm, respectively, were included. McNemar and kappa statistics were used to assess the concordance between WHO criteria with the standard and a modified NCEP criteria (waist of 90 and 80 cm, for men and women, respectively). in logistic regression analysis, a number of metabolic variables and albumin-to-creatinine ratio were included to test independent associations with metabolic syndrome defined by the modified NCEP criteria.Results: According to WHO, 55.4% (95% Cl 52.5-58.2%) of the subjects had MS and to NCEP 47.4% (95% Cl 44.6-50.0%). WHO criterion detected 48.3% of central obese subjects while NCEP only 14.0%. Kappa statistics showed a good strength of agreement (k = 0.67, p < 0.01) between WHO and NCEP standard definitions of MS. Using the modified NCEP criterion for Asians, more subjects with metabolic syndrome were identified (58%) and agreement with WHO was improved (k = 0.72, p < 0.001). However, similar Framingham risk scores were attributed to the subsets of subjects classified by any of the three criteria. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves, obtained for the modified waist values to diagnose metabolic syndrome according to WHO, were > 0.80 and corresponded, respectively, to sensitivity and specificity of 63 and 83% for men and 77 and 72% for women. In final logistic regression model, age, male sex, BMI and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance but not with albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) were independently associated with the syndrome.Conclusions: High prevalence of MS, independent of the criterion considered, was found in this Japanese-Brazilian population. The replacement of waist cutoff by those proposed by WHO for Asians lead to this diagnosis in a higher number of subjects with elevated cardiovascular risk. Our data did not support that ACR should be included in the classical definition of MS in Japanese descendants as previously suggested by WHO.

Displasia ectodérmica hipohidrótica: un síndrome de interés para la odontología

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a rare disease of genetic etiology. The most frequent form is of recessive linked to X-chromosome inheritance with affected male and female carriers. It can occur through autosomal mutations, of the gene EDA1 gene being responsible for the majority of the cases. It is characterized by the triad: hypohidrosis, oligodontia and hypotrichosis. We present two cases of patients with HED in which we observed characteristic signs of this syndrome: delicate skin, sparce hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, periorbital wrinkles, perioral and periorbital hyperpigmentation, prominent lips, in addition the patient in case 2 also present the depressed nasal bridge. We also found decreased salivary and lacrimal secretion and maxillary hypoplasia in both cases. At the oral examination in case 1 the upper right and left deciduous canines and lower right deciduous canine were present, and in case 2 the upper and lower (right and left) deciduous canines and two upper (one right and other left) permanent incisors were present with altered morphology, all of these dental elements were healthy. The early dental treatment of patients with HED, especially in the presence of oligodontia, as observed in our cases, is important not only to provide a better quality of life for these patients in the short term, but also an attempt to minimize the changes in facial growth to which these patients are subject.

Dental anomalies in patients with down syndrome

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the incidence of dental anomalies in Brazilian patients with Down syndrome. A sample with 49 panoramic x-rays of syndromic patients aged 3 to 33 years (22 male and 27 female) was used. The characteristics of dental anomalies were observed in the panoramic radiographs in both the primary and permanent dentition, according to the ICD (International Classification of Diseases). The corresponding tables and percentile analysis were elaborated. There was a high incidence of syndromic patients with different types of anomalies, such as taurodontism (50%), proven anodontia (20.2%), suspected anodontia (10.7%), conic teeth (8.3%) and impacted teeth (5.9%). In conclusion, patients with Down syndrome presented a high incidence of dental anomalies and, in most cases, the same individual presented more than one dental anomaly.

Anthropometric indicators predict metabolic syndrome diagnosis in maintenance hemodialysis patients

Obesity has been considered the key in metabolic syndrome (MetS) development, and fat accumulation may be responsible for the occurrence of metabolic abnormalities in hemodialysis patients. The use of gold-standard methods to evaluate obesity is limited, and anthropometric measures may be the simplest methods. However, no study has investigated the association between anthropometric indexes and MetS in these patients. Therefore, the aim was to determine which anthropometric indexes had the best association and prediction for MetS in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Cross-sectional study that included patients older than 18 years, undergoing hemodialysis for at least 3 months. Patients with liver disease and cancer or those receiving corticosteroids or antiretroviral therapy were excluded. Diagnostic criteria from Harmonizing Metabolic Syndrome were used for the diagnosis of MetS. Anthropometric indexes evaluated were body mass index (BMI); percent standard of triceps skinfold thickness and of middle arm muscle circumference; waist circumference (WC); sagittal abdominal diameter; neck circumference; waist-to-hip, waist-to-thigh, and waist-to-height ratios; sagittal index; conicity index; and body fat percentage. Ninety-eight patients were included, 54.1% male, and mean age was 57.8 ± 12.9 years. The prevalence of MetS was 74.5%. Individuals with MetS had increased accumulation of abdominal fat and general obesity. Waist-to-height ratio was the variable independently associated with MetS diagnosis (odds ratio, 1.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.34; P < .01) and that better predicts MetS, followed by WC and BMI (area under the curve of 0.840, 0.836, and 0.798, respectively, P < .01). Waist-to-height ratio was the best anthropometric predictor of MetS in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Production of autoantibodies associated with polyclonal activation in Yersinia enterocolitica 0:8-infected mice

Polyclonal lymphocyte stimulation is one of the immunomodulatory mechanisms induced by arthritogenic pathogens. In this study we examined the polyclonal activation potential of a virulent strain of Y. enterocolitica serotype O:8 (WA 2707+) and its plasmidless isogenic pair (WA 2707-). SPF Swiss mice were infected intragastrically and spleen cells were obtained on days 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 after infection. The number of cells secreting nonspecific immunoglobulins of IgG, IgM and IgA isotypes was determined by the ELISPOT technique. The presence of serum-specific antibodies was investigated by ELISA and the presence of autoantibodies by dot-blot assay. Although the patterns of infection of the two bacterial strains were almost the same, only the animals infected with the virulent strain presented clinical anomalies. Neither arthritic nor inflammatory signs were observed in the joints of the infected animals. The greatest activation observed was that of the nonspecific IgM-secreting cells, and their peak of secretion occurred between the 28th and the 42nd day after infection, for both strains of Y. enterocolitica O:8. Only the animals infected with the virulent strain (WA 2707+) produced IgG-specific antibodies in the serum, from the 28th day after infection. The serum of animals infected with either strain showed reactivity to all the autologous constituents tested, mainly on the 28th and 42nd day after infection. It was concluded that infection of mice with either the virulent strain of Y. enterocolitica O:8 or with its plasmidless isogenic pair resulted in the polyclonal activation of the splenic B lymphocytes including some autoreactive clones.