TLR4 polymorphism and haplotype are associated with obesity and lipid profile in young population: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The single nucleotide polymorphisms in the TLR4 gene can decrease or increase the response to lipopolysaccharide, increasing the susceptibility to inflammatory diseases, affecting the expression or receptor function by inducing a low-grade chronic inflammatory response. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of SNPs - 2570 A > G (rs2737190), - 2081 G > A (rs10983755), 896 A > G (rs 4986790), and 1196 C > T (rs4986791) of the TLR4 gene with obesity and metabolic alterations in the young population. RESULTS: In this study, it was found that the carriers of the heterozygous genotype of the SNPs - 2081 G > A, 896 A > G, and 1196 C > T confer a higher risk of developing obesity (OR = 3.73, p = 0.018; OR = 5.66, p = 0.014, and OR = 8.95, p = 0.014, respectively). Also, with the lipid profile, the SNP - 2081 G > A was associated with total cholesterol (TC) ≥ 200 mg/dL (OR = 3.91, p = 0.020) and Kannel index > 3% (OR = 4.00, p = 0.008). The SNP 896 A > G was associated with LDL-c ≥ 100 mg/dL (OR = 3.64, p = 0.040) and Kannel index > 3% (OR = 4.33, p = 0.016), and the SNP 1196 C > T was associated with TC ≥ 200 mg/dL (OR = 4.37, p = 0.048), Castelli index > 4.5/> 5% (OR = 5.33, p = 0.016), and Kannel index > 3% (OR = 16.00, p = 0.001). Finally, the AGGT haplotype was associated with Castelli index > 4.5/> 5% (OR = 5.40, p = 0.015) and Kannel index > 3% (OR = 10.46, p < 0.001), and the AAAC haplotype was associated with obesity (OR = 3.56, p = 0.020), TC ≥ 200 mg/dL (OR = 4.04, p = 0.007), LDL-c ≥ 100 mg/dL (OR = 2.98, p = 0.030) and Kannel index > 3% (OR = 4.20, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The heterozygous genotype of the SNPs - 2081 G > A, 896 A > G and 1196 C > T of the TLR4 gene was associated with altered lipid profile and development of obesity in young university students of Guerrero State, Mexico.

Effect of pepper extracts on the viability kinetics, topography and Quantitative NanoMechanics (QNM) of Campylobacter jejuni evaluated with AFM.

Campylobacter jejuni is a pathogen bacterium that causes foodborne gastroenteritis in humans. However, phenolic compounds extracted from natural sources such as capsicum pepper plant (Capsicum annuum L. var. aviculare) could inhibit the growth of C. jejuni. Therefore, different extracts were prepared using ultrasonic extraction (USE), conventional extraction (CE) and thermosonic extraction (TSE). C. jejuni was then exposed to chili extracts to examine the antimicrobial effect and their growth/death bacterial kinetics were studied using different mathematical models. Atomic force microscopy was applied to investigate the microstructural and nanomechanical changes in the bacteria. Extracts obtained by TSE had the highest phenolic content (4.59 ± 0.03 mg/g of chili fresh weight [FW]) in comparison to USE (4.12 ± 0.05 mg/g of chili FW) and CE (4.28 ± 0.07 mg/g of chili FW). The inactivation of C. jejuni was more efficient when thermosonic extract was used. The Gompertz model was the most suitable mathematical model to describe the inactivation kinetics of C. jejuni. Roughness and nanomechanical analysis performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) provided evidence that the chili extracts had significant effects on morphology, surface, and the reduced Young's modulus of C. jejuni. The novelty of this work was integrating growth/death bacterial kinetics of C. jejuni using different mathematical models and chili extracts, and its relationship with the morphological, topographic and nanomechanical changes estimated by AFM.