Association between cognitive performance and self-reported glaucoma in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of ELSA-Brasil.

Recent evidence suggests that glaucoma and Alzheimer's disease are neurodegenerative diseases sharing common pathophysiological and etiological features, although findings are inconclusive. We sought to investigate whether self-reported glaucoma patients without dementia present poorer cognitive performance, an issue that has been less investigated. We employed cross-sectional data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) and included participants ≥50 years of age without a known diagnosis of dementia and a self-reported glaucoma diagnosis. We excluded those with previous stroke, other eye conditions, and using drugs that could impair cognition. We evaluated cognition using delayed word recall, phonemic verbal fluency, and trail making (version B) tests. We used multinomial linear regression models to investigate associations between self-reported glaucoma with cognition, adjusted by several sociodemographic and clinical variables. Out of 4,331 participants, 139 reported glaucoma. Fully-adjusted models showed that self-reported glaucoma patients presented poorer performance in the verbal fluency test (ß=-0.39, 95%CI=-0.64 to -0.14, P=0.002), but not in the other cognitive assessments. Thus, our results support the hypothesis that self-reported glaucoma is associated with poor cognitive performance; however, longitudinal data are necessary to corroborate our findings.

Biopsychosocial factors associated with a current depressive episode in diabetes: the ELSA-Brasil study.

AIMS: Depression is more prevalent in people with diabetes, and is associated with worse diabetes outcomes. Depression in diabetes is more treatment resistant, and as underlying mechanisms are unknown, development of more effective treatment strategies is complicated. A biopsychosocial model may improve our understanding of the pathophysiology, and therewith help improving treatment options. METHODS: Diabetes was diagnosed according to American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria and a current depressive episode according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), based on the Clinical Interview Schedule Revised (CIS-R). From the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), we included 455 participants without diabetes with a current depressive episode and 10 900 without either diabetes or a current depressive episode. Furthermore, 2183 participants had diabetes alone and 106 had both diabetes and a current depressive episode. Variable selection was based on their relationship with depression and/or diabetes. Multinomial multivariate logistic regression was used to determine how the models differed between participants with and without diabetes. RESULTS: A current depressive episode in diabetes was related to being older and female, having poorer education, financial problems, experiencing discrimination at work, home and school, higher waist circumference, albumin to creatinine ratio and insulin resistance, and the presence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In non-diabetes, a current depressive disorder was related to being female, not being black, low income, psychological and social factors, non-current alcohol use, lower HDL cholesterol, higher insulin resistance and the presence of cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: A current depressive episode in the presence compared with the absence of diabetes was related more to biological than to psychosocial factors.

Association between cognitive performance and self-reported glaucoma in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of ELSA-Brasil

Recent evidence suggests that glaucoma and Alzheimer's disease are neurodegenerative diseases sharing common pathophysiological and etiological features, although findings are inconclusive. We sought to investigate whether self-reported glaucoma patients without dementia present poorer cognitive performance, an issue that has been less investigated. We employed cross-sectional data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) and included participants ≥50 years of age without a known diagnosis of dementia and a self-reported glaucoma diagnosis. We excluded those with previous stroke, other eye conditions, and using drugs that could impair cognition. We evaluated cognition using delayed word recall, phonemic verbal fluency, and trail making (version B) tests. We used multinomial linear regression models to investigate associations between self-reported glaucoma with cognition, adjusted by several sociodemographic and clinical variables. Out of 4,331 participants, 139 reported glaucoma. Fully-adjusted models showed that self-reported glaucoma patients presented poorer performance in the verbal fluency test (β=-0.39, 95%CI=-0.64 to -0.14, P=0.002), but not in the other cognitive assessments. Thus, our results support the hypothesis that self-reported glaucoma is associated with poor cognitive performance; however, longitudinal data are necessary to corroborate our findings.

Association between ideal cardiovascular health and depression incidence: a longitudinal analysis of ELSA-Brasil.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether ideal cardiovascular health (ICH), a metric proposed by the American Heart Association, predicts depression development. METHODS: Cohort analysis from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Adults with no current depression and other common mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and antidepressant drug use at baseline had their ICH (composite score of smoking, dietary habits, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting glucose, cholesterol, and physical activity) assessed and classified into poor, intermediate, and optimal. Depression was assessed using the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised (CIS-R). Poisson regression models, adjusted for sociodemographic factors and alcohol consumption, were employed. Stratified analyses were performed for age and sex. RESULTS: We included 9214 participants (mean age 52 ± 9 years, 48.6% women). Overall depression incidence at 3.8-year follow-up was 1.5%. Intermediate and poor ICH significantly increased the risk rate (RR) of developing depression (2.48 [95%CI 1.06-5.78] and 3 [1.28-7.03], respectively) at a 3.8-year follow-up. Higher ICH scores decreased the rate of depression development (RR = 0.84 [0.73-0.96] per metric). Stratified analyses were significant for women and adults < 55 years old. CONCLUSIONS: Poor cardiovascular health tripled depression risk at follow-up in otherwise healthy adults. Ameliorating cardiovascular health might decrease depression risk development.

Incubation and rearing-effort partitioning of wing-banded hornero Furnarius figulus (Passeriformes: Furnariidae).

We studied incubation and feeding rates in two of five broods in two oven nests of Furnarius figulus at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. During incubation, the number of visits and time spent in the nest did not differ between the adults. The number of feeding visits was significantly different between members of the breeding pair of the first but not of the second nest. Nestlings received arthropods, fishes, and larvae in the first nest and, in the second, arthropods, larvae, and fruits. The nestlings stayed about 23 days in the nests.

Incubation and rearing-effort partitioning of wing-banded hornero Furnarius figulus (Passeriformes: Furnariidae)

Estudamos a incubação e a alimentação de ninhegos de duas ninhadas em dois ninhos de forno ocupados por Furnarius figulus na Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Durante a incubação, o número de visitas e o tempo gasto no ninho não diferiram entre os adultos. No primeiro ninho houve diferença significativa entre os membros do par reprodutor quanto ao número de visitas alimentares aos ninhegos, mas no segundo, essa diferença não ocorreu. No primeiro ninho, os ninhegos receberam artrópodes, peixes e larvas e no segundo, artrópodes, larvas e frutas. A permanência dos ninhegos nos dois ninhos foi de cerca de 23 dias.

Use of flow cytometry and confocal microscopy techniques to investigate early CdCl(2)-induced nephrotoxicity in vitro.

CdCl(2) is a well-known toxic compound for the kidney in vivo and in vitro. We report here part of the results of an ECVAM (European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods) contract study, aimed at establishing and assessing several flow cytometric and confocal microscopic endpoints for use in an in vitro nephrotoxicity model. Three renal tubule cell lines, OK (opossum, proximal tubule origin), LLC-PK1 (pig, proximal tubule origin) and MDCK (dog, distal tubule origin) were exposed for 1, 5 and 24 h to 25 microM and 100 microM CdCl(2). The results obtained for mitochondrial membrane potential showed a decrease in all the cell lines after 5 h of treatment with both CdCl(2) concentrations. In some cases, this decrease was detected by flow cytometry after a 1-h exposure. On the contrary, intracellular Ca(2+) increased in a time-dependent and concentration-dependent fashion. This increase was especially high in the MDCK cell line after a 24-h exposure to 100 microM CdCl(2). However, cell viability was not affected by 25 microM CdCl(2). Our results demonstrate early changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and cytoplasmic Ca(2+) levels in renal tubular epithelial cell lines treated with CdCl(2).

Eating behavior in junior high school females.

Female junior high school students (N = 175) were surveyed in an effort to ascertain present eating behavior as well as attitudes regarding dieting and concern about body weight. It was found that many subjects appear to have concerns as early as elementary school. Limitations of these findings are discussed as well as implications for further research.