An Exploration of Dietary Strategies for Hypertension Management: A Narrative Review.

This review aims to clarify the influence of various nutritional approaches in the management of hypertension. An extensive search of databases, namely, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science, was performed, covering the period from January 2012 to October 2023. We used keywords, such as "hypertension," "nutrition," "nutritional management," "nutrient intake," "dietary strategies," "DASH diet," "Mediterranean diet," and related terms. Hypertension, a grave global health concern, affects more than one billion people worldwide. Lifestyle modifications, including nutritional strategies, are important in non-pharmacological interventions. Dietary patterns, such as the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) and Mediterranean diets, which emphasize fruit and vegetable consumption, have demonstrated efficacy in reducing blood pressure. Certain nutrients, such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium, have significant effects on blood pressure. The mechanisms underlying these dietary strategies include vasodilation, improvement in endothelial function, regulation of sodium balance, and mitigation of oxidative stress. However, successful implementation of these strategies can be hindered by various factors, such as adherence challenges, socioeconomic disparities, and cultural preferences. In conclusion, robust evidence supports the effectiveness of nutritional strategies in the management of hypertension. DASH and Mediterranean diets, along with an increased intake of specific nutrients, contribute to blood pressure reduction. Hence, comprehensive lifestyle modifications, with a focus on nutritional changes, are recommended as primary or complementary treatments for hypertension. Addressing the identified barriers could enhance the efficacy and use of these dietary approaches in clinical practice.

Absence of linkage to 8q24 in a European family with familial adult myoclonic epilepsy (FAME).

BACKGROUND: Familial adult myoclonic epilepsy (FAME) is defined by autosomal dominant inheritance, adult onset of myoclonus of the extremities, infrequent epileptic seizures, nonprogressive course, abnormality of polyspikes and waves on examination by EEG and photosensitivity, giant somatosensory evoked potentials, enhancement of C reflex, and premyoclonus spike detected by means of the jerk-locked averaging EEG method. These findings were also observed in patients with benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy (BAFME) and patients with familial cortical tremor. FAME and BAFME have been described only in Japan. The genes responsible for FAME and BAFME were mapped in the same genetic interval in 8q22.3-q24.1 OBJECTIVE: To study clinical and genetic characteristics of a European family with FAME. METHODS: A four-generation European kindred presenting with FAME, including 18 members, is described. Clinical analysis was performed on 15 living subjects and electrophysiologic study on 5 patients. Linkage analysis was performed with fluorescent microsatellites encompassing the FAME/BAFME locus (8q23.3-q24.1). RESULTS: Ten living and three deceased relatives had the clinical characteristics of FAME. Mean age at onset of the 10 living patients was 41 years (range, 30-60 years). Eight of the 13 affected subjects had generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Electrophysiologic studies confirmed the diagnosis of FAME in the five patients studied. The pattern of inheritance was consistent with an autosomal dominant inheritance. The locus responsible for FAME/BAFME was excluded. CONCLUSION: Observation of a European family extends the occurrence of familial adult myoclonic epilepsy to non-Japanese patients. Exclusion of linkage of this family to the locus for familial adult myoclonic epilepsy/benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy established the genetic heterogeneity of this disorder.

Evaluación del método petrifilm para ladeterminación del recuento de microorganismosaerobios mesofilos totales, en drogas vegetales / Evaluation of petrifilm method for total aerobic mesophyllic microorganisms count determination in vegetable drugs

Se compararon dos metodologías de cuantificación de mesófilos aerobios totales: el método estándar propuesto por la Food and Drug Administration (FDA) y el método de recuento en placas Petrifilm®.Fueron estudiadas 25 muestras de drogas vegetales en envases individuales. Se encontraron diferencias significativas con un p< 0,001 entre el método estándar y el método de placas Petrifilm® para el recuento de mesófilos aerobios, con un 95 por ciento de probabilidad.El análisis de regresión del log 10 de la media geométrica del recuento de mesófilos aerobios totales versus el log 10 del recuento por placas Petrifilm, para recuentos entre 104 y 106 ,indica una correlación de 0,964 entre ambos métodos. Las placas Petrifilm® podrían considerarse como método alternativo para el recuento de mesófilos aerobios totales en los controles microbiológicos en los procesos de industrialización de las drogas vegetales para su posterior comercialización (AU)

Impairment of the protein C anticoagulant pathway in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus, anticardiolipin antibodies and thrombosis.

We have identified an inhibitor of the protein C anticoagulant pathway in the plasma of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and a history of recurrent deep vein thrombosis, fetal wastage, and seizures. The patient's plasma contained anticardiolipin antibodies as well as a weak lupus anticoagulant. Examination of this patient's plasma revealed normal levels of protein C and protein S antigen, normal levels of functional protein C, as well as essentially normal levels of every blood coagulation factor. In a modified prothrombin time assay, the activated protein C-mediated prolongation of the clotting time observed in normal plasma was not observed in this patient's plasma. Gel permeation chromatography of the patient's plasma revealed that the inhibitory material was a high molecular weight protein that coeluted with the IgM peak. The inhibitor did not appear to circulate as a complex with protein C, since the inhibitor could easily be separated from protein C during fractionation procedures, and did not interfere with the activation of protein C in plasma as assessed by a functional amidolytic assay. Our findings suggest that the recurrent thrombotic episodes observed in this patient may have occurred as a result of the patient's antiphospholipid antibody neutralizing specific phospholipids essential for the full expression of the anticoagulant activity of activated protein C.

[The first isolations of Salmonella Zaiman in humans]. / Primeros aislamientos de Salmonella Zaiman en humanos.

This paper describes the first three Salmonella Zaiman cases in children of more than one year old with acute infectious diarrhoea of less than seven days evolution, in the Pediatric Department of R. Madariaga Hospital in Posadas, Misiones. This sero-variety was isolated by hemoculture in an 11 year old girl with urinary infection and sepsis. This Salmonella is a new sero-variety isolated from Zaiman river which flows through suburbs of Posadas.

Primeros aislamientos de Salmonella Zaiman en humanos. / [The first isolations of Salmonella Zaiman in humans]

This paper describes the first three Salmonella Zaiman cases in children of more than one year old with acute infectious diarrhoea of less than seven days evolution, in the Pediatric Department of R. Madariaga Hospital in Posadas, Misiones. This sero-variety was isolated by hemoculture in an 11 year old girl with urinary infection and sepsis. This Salmonella is a new sero-variety isolated from Zaiman river which flows through suburbs of Posadas.

Reversion from deficiency of galactose-1-phosphate uridylytransferase (GALT) in an SV40-transformed human fibroblast line.

Control SV40-transformed human fibroblasts can be readily adapted to growth on medium containing galactose as sole hexose source (galactose-MEH). However, most cells from a line of SV40-transformed skin fibroblasts from a patient with galactosemia (galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (GALT) deficiency) died in galactose-MEM. Surviving cells of this line either grew in completely sugar-free media or had acquired significant amounts of GALT activity. Two presumptive revertant cell lines with GALT activity were characterized in detail. The expression of GALT in these two lines was stable in nonselective conditions. Each had different reaction maximum velocities with respect to uridine diphosphoglucose (UDPg) concentration as compared to residual activity in the parental cell strain or control cells. Both appeared to demonstrate heat-inactivation profiles for GALT than differed from the parental cells or controls. UDPG concentration was found to significantly alter the thermostability of GALT. A competitive radioimmunoassay for GALT showed that these two lines had amounts of the GALT protein comparable to that of the parental cell strain or control cells. The electrophoretic mobility of GALT from the two presumptive revertants was found to differ from control cells. It was concluded that structural gene changes were probably responsible for the apparent reversion in these lines.