Fasting glucose: a cardiometabolic indicator for subclinical atherosclerosis on excess weight adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To build a model based on cardiometabolic indicators that allow the identification of overweight adolescents at higher risk of subclinical atherosclerotic disease (SAD). METHODS: Cross-sectional study involving 161 adolescents with a body mass index ≥ +1 z-Score, aged 10 to 19 years. Carotid intima-media complex thickness (IMT) was evaluated using ultrasound to assess subclinical atherosclerotic disease. Cardiometabolic indicators evaluated included nutritional status, central adiposity, blood pressure, lipidic profile, glycemic profile, as well as age and sex. Data was presented using measures of central tendency and dispersion, as well as absolute and relative frequency. The relationship between IMT measurement (outcome variable) and other variables (independent variables) was assessed using Pearson or Spearman correlation, followed by multiple regression modeling with Gamma distribution to analyze predictors of IMT. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and R software, considering a significance level of 5 %. RESULTS: It was observed that 23.7 % had Carotid thickening, and the prevalence of abnormal fasting glucose was the lowest. Age and fasting glucose were identified as predictors of IMT increase, with IMT decreasing with age by approximately 1 % per year and increasing with glucose by around 0.24 % per mg/dL. CONCLUSION: The adolescent at higher risk is younger with higher fasting glycemia levels.

Dynamics of IgM and IgG responses to the next generation of engineered Duffy binding protein II immunogen: Strain-specific and strain-transcending immune responses over a nine-year period.

BACKGROUND: A low proportion of P. vivax-exposed individuals acquire protective strain-transcending neutralizing IgG antibodies that are able to block the interaction between the Duffy binding protein II (DBPII) and its erythrocyte-specific invasion receptor. In a recent study, a novel surface-engineered DBPII-based vaccine termed DEKnull-2, whose antibody response target conserved DBPII epitopes, was able to induce broadly binding-inhibitory IgG antibodies (BIAbs) that inhibit P. vivax reticulocyte invasion. Toward the development of DEKnull-2 as an effective P. vivax blood-stage vaccine, we investigate the relationship between naturally acquired DBPII-specific IgM response and the profile of IgG antibodies/BIAbs activity over time. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A nine-year follow-up study was carried-out among long-term P. vivax-exposed Amazonian individuals and included six cross-sectional surveys at periods of high and low malaria transmission. DBPII immune responses associated with either strain-specific (Sal1, natural DBPII variant circulating in the study area) or conserved epitopes (DEKnull-2) were monitored by conventional serology (ELISA-detected IgM and IgG antibodies), with IgG BIAbs activity evaluated by functional assays (in vitro inhibition of DBPII-erythrocyte binding). The results showed a tendency of IgM antibodies toward Sal1-specific response; the profile of Sal1 over DEKnull-2 was not associated with acute malaria and sustained throughout the observation period. The low malaria incidence in two consecutive years allowed us to demonstrate that variant-specific IgG (but not IgM) antibodies waned over time, which resulted in IgG skewed to the DEKnull-2 response. A persistent DBPII-specific IgM response was not associated with the presence (or absence) of broadly neutralizing IgG antibody response. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The current study demonstrates that long-term exposure to low and unstable levels of P. vivax transmission led to a sustained DBPII-specific IgM response against variant-specific epitopes, while sustained IgG responses are skewed to conserved epitopes. Further studies should investigate on the role of a stable and persistent IgM antibody response in the immune response mediated by DBPII.