Carotid Intima-Media Thickness at Age 30, Birth Weight,Accelerated Growth during Infancy and Breastfeeding: A Birth Cohort Study in Southern Brazil

Objective

To examine the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) at age 30 and birth characteristics, growth during infancy, and breastfeeding duration, among subjects who have been prospectively followed since birth.

Methods and Results

In 1982, all births in the city of Pelotas, southern Brazil, were identified and those children (n = 5,914) whose families lived in the urban area of the city have been followed and evaluated at several time points. The cohort participants were evaluated in 2012–13, and IMT was measured at the posterior wall of the right and left common carotid arteries in longitudinal planes using ultrasound imaging. We obtained valid IMT measurements for 3,188 individuals. Weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) at age 2 years, weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) at age 4, height-for-age z-score (HAZ) at 4 years, WAZ at age 4 and relative conditional weight at 4 years were positively associated with IMT, even after controlling for confounding variables. The beta-coefficient associated with ≥1 s.d. WAZ at age 2 (compared to those with a <–1 s.d.) was 3.62 μm (95% CI 0.86 to 6.38). The beta-coefficient associated with ≥1 s.d. WHZ at 4 (in relation to <–1 s.d) was 3.83 μm (95% CI 0.24 to 7.42). For HAZ at 4, the beta-coefficient for ≥1 s.d. in relation to <–1 s.d. was 4.19 μm (95% CI 1.14 to 7.25). For WAZ at 4, the beta-coefficient associated with ≥1 s.d. in relation to <–1 s.d. was 4.28 μm (95% CI 1.59 to 6.97). The beta-coefficient associated with conditional weight gain at age 2–4 was 1.26 μm (95% CI 0.49 to 2.02).

Conclusion

IMT at age 30 was positively associated with WAZ at age 2 years, WHZ at age 4, HAZ at age 4, WAZ at age 4 and conditional weight gain at age 4 years.     

Flow cytometric kinetic measurements of neutrophil phospholipase A activation.

The interrelationships between activation of phospholipases and neutrophil stimulus-induced Ca2+ responses remain unclear. We report here that immune complexes activate a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase A in a neutrophil only after the cytoplasmic Ca2+ transient has been initiated in the same cell, while chemotactic peptide activation does not proceed via such a phospholipase A-mediated mechanism. Measurements of [Ca2+] changes and of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase A activity were made by flow cytometry, using Indo-1 for Ca2+ indication, and a new fluorescent probe, bis-BODIPY-phosphatidylcholine, localized in the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, to measure phospholipase A activation. Both 100 nM formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (with or without cytochalasin B) and 60 micrograms/ml insoluble immune complexes elicited cytoplasmic Ca2+ transients, but only insoluble immune complexes stimulated phospholipase A activation in a subpopulation of cells exhibiting an elevation of [Ca2+]in. Phospholipase A activation followed the Ca2+ transient, starting, in each cell, after [Ca2+]in had begun to decrease as Ca2+ redistributed in the activated cell. The products of this phospholipase activation were confirmed by thin layer chromatography. We conclude that neutrophils respond to immune complexes with an elevated cytoplasmic Ca(2+)-requiring phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase A activation and to chemotactic peptides by a different mechanism.     

Preliminary compositional nutrient diagnosis norms for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) grown on desert calcareous soil

This study calculated the compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND) norms of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), as well as identified significant nutrient interactions of this crop growing in an irrigated calcareous desert soil. Three genotypes were distributed in rows in a 2-ha field. The soil showed high heterogeneity in its chemical properties. For statistical analysis, 86 foliar composite samples from healthy plants were used. Preliminary CND norms were developed using a cumulative variance ratio function and the ² distribution function. Means and standard deviations of row-centered log ratios V_X of five nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) and a filling value R, which included all nutrients not chemically analyzed. Preliminary CND norms are: V_N^*=0.174±0.095, V_P^*=–2.172±0.234, V_K^*=–0.007±0.267, V_Ca^*=–0.022±0.146, V_Mg^*=–1.710±0.132, and V_R5^*=3.728±0.084. These CND norms are associated with dry bean yields higher than 1.88 t ha^–1, and are associated with the following foliar concentrations: 26.2 g N kg^–1, 2.5 g P kg^–1, 22.9 g K kg^–1, 21.6 g Ca kg^–1, and 4 g Mg kg^–1. Cowpea plants growing in desert calcareous soils took up lower amounts of N, P, and K than those considered as optimum in a previous report. Six interactions were strongly indicated for cowpea through principal component analyses: positive for Ca–Mg, and negative for N–Ca, N–Mg, Ca–P, Mg–P, and K–P. Furthermore, two interactions were identified using simple correlations, negative N–P and positive K–Ca.     

A meta-analysis on pyrogenic organic matter induced priming effect

Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) is considered an important soil carbon (C) sink. However, there are evidences that its addition to soil may induce a priming effect (PE) thus influencing its C abatement potential. The direction, the size and the mechanisms responsible for PyOM induced PE are far from being understood. We collected approximately 650 data points from 18 studies to analyse the characteristics of the PE induced by PyOM. The database was divided between the PE induced on the native soil organic matter and on fresh organic matter. Most of the studies were short-term incubation therefore the projections of findings on the long term may be critical. Our findings indicate that over 1 year PyOM induces an average positive PE of 0.3 mg C g⁻¹ soil on native soil organic matter and a PE of approximately the same size but opposite direction on fresh organic matter. We studied the correlation of PE with several properties of soil, of the added PyOM, and time after PyOM addition. We found that PyOM primes positively the native soil organic matter in the first 20 days while negative PE appears in a later stage. Negative PE was correlated with the soil C content. PyOM characterized by a low C content induced a higher positive PE on native soil organic carbon. No correlation was found between the factors record in our database and the PE induced on the fresh organic matter. We reviewed the mechanisms proposed in literature to explain PE and discussed them based on findings from our meta-analysis. We believe that the presence of a labile fraction in PyOM may trigger the activity of soil microorganisms on the short term and therefore induce a positive PE, while on the long term PyOM may induce a negative PE by promoting physical protection mechanisms.     

Cardiolipin, a lipid found in mitochondria, hydrogenosomes and bacteria was not detected in Giardia lamblia

Giardia lamblia is a protozoan parasite with many characteristics common among eukaryotic cells, but lacking other features found in most eukaryotes. Cardiolipin is a phospholipid located exclusively in energy transducing membranes and it was identified in mitochondria, bacteria, hydrogenosomes and chloroplasts. In eukaryotes, cardiolipin is the only lipid that is synthesized in the mitochondria. Biochemical procedures (TLC, HPLC) and fluorescent tools (NAO) were applied in order to search for cardiolipin in G. lamblia. In addition, BLAST searches were used to find homologs of enzymes that participate in the cardiolipin synthesis. Cardiolipin synthase was searched in the Giardia genome, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Mycoplasma penetrans sequences as bait. However, a good match to G. lamblia related proteins was not found. Here we show that mitosomes of G. lamblia apparently do not contain cardiolipin, which raises the discussion for its endosymbiotic origin and for the previous proposal that Giardia mitosomes are modified mitochondria.     

Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the paper wasp genus Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): implications for the overwintering hypothesis of social evolution

The phylogeny of the paper wasp genus Polistes is investigated using morphological and behavioural characters, as well as molecular data from six genes (COI, 12S, 16S, 28S, H3, and EF1‐α). The results are used to investigate the following evolutionary hypotheses about the genus: (i) that Polistes first evolved in Southeast Asia, (ii) that dispersal to the New World occurred only once, and (iii) that long‐term monogyny evolved as an adaptation to overwintering in a temperate climate. Optimization of distribution records on the recovered tree does not allow unambiguous reconstruction of the ancestral area of Polistes. While the results indicate that Polistes dispersed into the New World from Asia, South America is recovered as the ancestral area for all New World Polistes: Nearctic species groups evolved multiple times from this South American stock. The final tree topology suggests strongly that the genus first arose in a tropical environment, refuting the idea of monogyny as an overwintering adaptation.     

Genetic Susceptibility to Cardiac and Digestive Clinical Forms of Chronic Chagas Disease: Involvement of the CCR5 59029 A/G Polymorphism

The clinical manifestations of chronic Chagas disease include the cardiac form of the disease and the digestive form. Not all the factors that act in the variable clinical course of this disease are known. This study investigated whether the CCR5Δ32 (rs333) and CCR5 59029 A/G (promoter region—rs1799987) polymorphisms of the CCR5 gene are associated with different clinical forms of chronic Chagas disease and with the severity of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with chronic Chagas heart disease (CCHD). The antibodies anti-T. cruzi were identified by ELISA. PCR and PCR-RFLP were used to identify the CCR5Δ32 and CCR5 59029 A/G polymorphisms. The chi-square test was used to compare variables between groups. There was a higher frequency of the AA genotype in patients with CCHD compared with patients with the digestive form of the disease and the control group. The results also showed a high frequency of the AG genotype in patients with the digestive form of the disease compared to the other groups. The results of this study show that the CCR5Δ32 polymorphism does not seem to influence the different clinical manifestations of Chagas disease but there is involvement of the CCR5 59029 A/G polymorphism in susceptibility to the different forms of chronic Chagas disease. Besides, these polymorphisms do not influence left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with CCHD.     

Arginine deprivation in KB cells: I. Effect on cell cycle progress

When exponentially growing KB cells were deprived of arginine, cell multiplication ceased after 12 h but viability was maintained throughout the experimental period (42-48 h). Although tritiated thymidine ([(3)H]TdR) incorporation into acid-insoluble material declined to 5 percent of the initial rate, the fraction of cells engaged in DNA synthesis, determined by autoradiography, remained constant throughout the starvation period and approximately equal to the synthesizing fraction in exponentially growing controls (40 percent). Continous [(3)H]TdR-labeling indicated that 80 percent of the arginine-starved cells incorporated (3)H at some time during a 48-h deprivation period. Thus, some cells ceased DNA synthesis, whereas some initially nonsynthesizing cells initiated DNA synthesis during starvation. Flow microfluorometric profiles of distribution of cellular DNA contents at the end of the starvation period indicated that essentially no cells had a 4c or G2 complement. If arginine was restored after 30 h of starvation, cultures resumed active, largely asynchronous division after a 16-h lag. Autoradiographs of metaphase figures from cultures continuously labeled with [(3)H]TdR after restoration indicated that all cells in the culture underwent DNA synthesis before dividing. It was concluded that the majority of cells in arginine-starved cultures are arrested in neither a normal G1 nor G2. It is proposed that for an exponential culture, i.e. from most positions in the cell cycle, inhibition of cell growth after arginine with withdrawal centers on the ability of cells to complete replication of their DNA.