Health risk factors among adult individuals with and without diabetes in Brazil: Vigitel (2020-2023).

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the risk factors associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) among Brazilian adults. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Data of 75,860 Brazilian adults (≥18 years) were collected using the Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel) (2020-2023). Variables assessed included self-reported medical diagnosis of DM, sociodemographic factors (sex, age, schooling, marital status) and DM risk factors (regular consumption of sweetened beverages (≥5 times/week), infrequent consumption of fruits and vegetables, and beans (<5 times/week), insufficient physical activity, prolonged screen time on cell phones, computers, tablets (CCT), and television (TV), smoking, heavy episodic drinking, excess weight, and obesity). Logistic regression models estimated crude and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) (adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics) for the association between the risk factors and the presence of DM. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of self-reported DM in the population was 9.2%. There was a lower chance of regular consumption of sweetened beverages (aOR 0.79; 95% CI: 0.65-0.97) and heavy episodic drinking (aOR 0.77; 95% CI: 0.65-0.93) and a greater chance of insufficient physical activity (aOR 1.40; 95% CI: 1.25-1.55), prolonged TV screen time (aOR 1.22; 95% CI: 1.09-1.36), excess weight (aOR 1.62; 95% CI: 1.44-1.82) and obesity (aOR 1.87; 95% CI: 1.67-2.10) among individuals with DM. CONCLUSION: There was a lower chance of regular consumption of sweetened beverages and heavy episodic drinking among individuals with DM and a greater chance of insufficient physical activity, prolonged TV screen time, excess weight, and obesity, among that.

The phenomenon of degeneration of industrial Trichoderma reesei strains.

BACKGROUND: Even if the loss of production capacity of a microorganism is said to be a serious problem in various biotechnology industries, reports in literature are rather rare. Strains of the genera Trichoderma reesei are used for large-scale production of cellulases, which are needed in food and feed, textile, paper industries and biofuel production. RESULTS: Here, we describe the phenomenon of spontaneous degeneration of T. reesei strains during large-scale cultivation. The phenotype of the degenerated population is characterized most importantly by a loss of any cellulase formation. Interestingly, promoter regions of relevant genes had a more compact chromatin in the (cel -) strains compared to productive strains. For a systematic investigation of the phenomenon a protocol for artificially induced and lab-scaled strain degeneration was developed. This workflow allows to determine the degeneration rate and thus, to compare the occurrence of a degenerated population in differently productive strains on the one hand, and to monitor the success of any strategies to prevent or decrease the degeneration on the other hand. While highly productive strains have higher degeneration rates compared to moderate producers, the degeneration can hardly be triggered in moderate producers. The observed (cel -) phenotype is not caused by a mutation in the gene encoding the essential transactivator Xyr1. The development of a non-producing population is also not triggered by any compounds released by either producing or non-producing cells. CONCLUSIONS: The extent of the occurrence of a degenerated strain population relates to the production capacity of the strain and goes along with chromatin condensation in relevant promoter regions.

Cell cycle, DNA replication, repair, and recombination in the dimorphic human pathogenic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

DNA replication, together with repair mechanisms and cell cycle control, are the most important cellular processes necessary to maintain correct transfer of genetic information to the progeny. These processes are well conserved throughout the Eukarya, and the genes that are involved provide essential information for understanding the life cycle of an organism. We used computational tools for data mining of genes involved in these processes in the pathogenic fungus Paracoccidiodes brasiliensis. Data derived from transcriptome analysis revealed that the cell cycle of this fungus, as well as DNA replication and repair, and the recombination machineries, are highly similar to those of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Among orthologs detected in both species, there are genes related to cytoskeleton structure and assembly, chromosome segregation, and cell cycle control genes. We identified at least one representative gene from each step of the initiation of DNA replication. Major players in the process of DNA damage and repair were also identified.

Renal toxicity of Bothrops moojeni snake venom and its main myotoxins.

Acute renal failure is one the most common systemic complications after snakebite, however, its pathogenesis remains obscure. In this study we evaluated the renal effects of Bothrops moojeni venom and its myotoxins (Bmtx-I and BmtxII) in rat isolated perfused kidneys. The myotoxins were purified by ion-exchange chromatography and reverse phase HPLC. The whole venom (10 microg/ml) and myotoxins (5 microg/ml) were added to the perfusion system 30 min after the beginning of each perfusion. The renal effects were compared to a control group perfused with modified Krebs-Henseleit solution alone. B. moojeni venom decreased the perfusion pressure (PP), renal vascular resistance (RVR), and the percent sodium, potassium and chloride tubular transport (%TNa(+), %TK(+), %TCl(-)). In contrast, the venom increased the urinary flow (UF), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and the sodium, potassium and chloride excretion (ENa(+), EK(+), ECl(-)). The renal effects of myotoxin I was very similar to those of the whole venom, but there was an increase rather than a decrease in the PP and RVR. Myotoxin II had no effect on renal physiology, except for a transient decrease in %TK(+). In conclusion, B. moojeni venom caused intense alterations in renal physiology, including a drop in vascular resistance associated with diuresis, natriuresis and kaliuresis. Bmtx-I had an opposite effect when compared to whole venom, showed in the parameters of PP and RVR. Bmtx-II had a mild effect in %TK(+). The apparent inability of Bmtx-II to induce the renal effect similarly to Bmtx-I should be explained by the absence in the Bmtx-II of the C-terminal lysine rich region.