Avaliação da relação Triglicerídeo/HDL-C e da razão Neutrófilos/Linfócitos em idosos com e sem dislipidemia / Evaluation of Triglyceride/HDL-C and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio in the elderly with and without dyslipidemia

RESUMO: Introdução: As doenças cardiovasculares(DCV)estão entre as principais causas de mortalidade entre idosos, sendo a dislipidemia um importante fator de risco. Além disso, a relação Triglicerídeo/HDL-C e a razão Neutrófilos/Linfócitos apresentam estreita relação com os fatores de riscos para DCV. Objetivo: Comparar as relações Triglicerídeo/HDL-C e Neutrófilos/Linfócitos na população idosa sem e com dislipidemia. Métodos: Estudo documental, transversal, retrospectivo, com abordagem quantitativa e comparativa. A amostra foi de conveniência e incluiu os 110 idosos residentes em uma Instituição de Longa Permanência de Idosos. Foram coletados dados do perfil lipídico, hemograma, idade e sexo. Os idosos foram divididos em dois grupos: Com Dislipidemia e Sem Dislipidemia. As relações Triglicerídeo/HDL-C e Neutrófilos/Linfócitos foram calculadas e comparadas. Os resultados foram apresentados como mediana e intervalo interquartil e analisados pelo teste de Mann-Whitney. As variáveis categóricas foram representadas como frequência absoluta (n) e relativa (%) e avaliadas pelo teste de Qui-Quadrado (X2). Utilizou-se o programa estatístico SPSS 20.0®e nível de significância < 0,05. Resultados: Foram selecionados 84 idosos com resultados do perfil lipídico e hemograma, sendo 56 (67%) idosos do sexo feminino e 28 (33%) do sexo masculino, com idade mediana de 75 (69-81) anos. O grupo Com Dislipidemia apresentou valores superiores para Triglicerídeo/HDL-C e para a relação Neutrófilos/Linfócitos não houve diferença estatística. Conclusão: A relação Triglicerídeo/HDL-C pode ser utilizada como uma medida preventiva de doenças cardiovasculares nos idosos participantes do estudo. Porém, a relação Neutrófilos/Linfócitos deve ser interpretada com cautela nos idosos que apresentam características particulares quanto ao desenvolvimento das DCV. (AU)

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading causes of mortality among the elderly, and dyslipidemia is an important risk factor. Moreover, the Triglyceride/HDL-C and Neutrophils/Lymphocytes ratios are closely related to CVD risk factors. Objective: Comparing the Triglyceride/HDL-C and Neutrophils/Lymphocytes ratios in elderlies' groups, with and without dyslipidemia. Methods: Documentary, cross-sectional, and retrospective study with a quantitative and comparative approach. The sample was of convenience and included 110 elderlies' residents in a Long-Term Care for Elderlies. Data on lipid profile, full blood count, age, and sex were obtained and the residents divided into two groups, With Dyslipidemia and Without Dyslipidemia. The Triglyceride/HDL-C and Neutrophils/Lymphocytes ratios for both groups were measured and compared. Results were presented as median and interquartile range and analyzed by the Mann-Whitney test. Categorical variables were represented as absolute (n) and relative (%) frequencies and evaluated by the Chi-square (X2). The statistical program SPSS 20.0® was used with a significance level p < 0,05. Results: Eighty-four elderlies with results of lipid profile and blood count were selected, 56 (67%) were female and 28 (33%) male, with a median age of 75 (69-81) years. The group With Dyslipidemia showed higher values for Triglyceride/HDL-C and Neutrophils/Lymphocytes ratios, there was no statistical difference between the groups studied. Conclusion: The Triglyceride/HDL-C ratio can be used as a preventive measure of cardiovascular diseases in the elderlies' participants of the study. However, the Neutrophils/Lymphocytes ratio should be interpreted with caution in the elderly, who have particular characteristics regarding the development of cardiovascular diseases. (AU)

Growth and microcystin production of a Brazilian Microcystis aeruginosa strain (LTPNA 02) under different nutrient conditions

Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic and photosynthetic organisms, which can produce a wide range of bioactive compounds with different properties; including a variety of toxic compounds, also known as cyanotoxins. In this work, we describe the isolation of seven cyanobacterial strains from two reservoirs in São Paulo State, Brazil. Seven different chemical variants of microcystins (MC-RR, MC-LR, MC-YR, MC-LF, MC-LW, and two demethylated variants, dm-MC-RR and dm-MC-LR) were detected in three of the ten isolated strains. One particular Microcystis aeruginosa strain (LTPNA 02) was chosen to evaluate its growth by cell count, and its toxin production under seven different nutritional regimes. We observed different growth behaviors in the logarithmic growth period for only three experiments (p < 0.05). The total growth analysis identified four experiments as different from the control (p < 0.01). Three microcystin variants (MC-RR, MC-LR and MC-YR) were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. At the experimental end, the toxin content was unchanged when comparing cell growth in ASM-1 (N:P = 1), MLA and BG-11 (N:P = 10) medium. In all other experiments, the lowest microcystin production was observed from cells grown in Bold 3N medium during the exponential growth phase. The highest microcystin content was observed in cultures using BG-11(N:P = 100) medium.

Account: characterization and identification of microcystins by mass spectrometry.

In this brief overview, the authors describe mass spectral techniques for the detection and identification of microcystin toxins. Microcystins are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria. Determination of these toxic compounds and discovery of new variants is very important as they pose a great danger to the human food chain. Cyanobacterial blooms frequently occur in many areas worldwide and have the potential to contaminate the water via cyanotoxin release, especially microcystins. Among the various analytical techniques used for analysis, mass spectrometry has become the most important method as it allows simultaneous quantification and structural characterization of multiple microcystin variants. This brief overview article focuses on mass spectrometry techniques for identification of microcystins, including ionization methods, mass spectral fragmentation routes, profiling techniques, tandem and high-resolution mass spectrometry as well as typing of cyanobacterial strains.

Detailed study of cyanobacterial microcystins using high performance tandem mass spectrometry.

Microcystins (MC) are a large group of toxic cyclic peptides, produced by cyanobacteria in eutrophic water systems. Identification of MC variants mostly relies on liquid chromatography (LC) combined with collision-induced dissociation (CID) mass spectrometry. Deviations from the essential amino acid complement are a common feature of these natural products, which makes the CID analysis more difficult and not always successful. Here, both CID and electron capture dissociation (ECD) were applied in combination with ultra-high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to study a cyanobacteria strain isolated from the Salto Grande Reservoir in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, without prior LC separation. CID was shown to be an effective dissociation technique for quickly identifying the MC variants, even those that have previously been difficult to characterize by CID. Moreover, ECD provided even more detailed and complementary information, which enabled us to precisely locate metal binding sites of MCs for the first time. This additional information will be important for environmental chemists to study MC accumulation and production in ecosystems.

Co-occurrence of microcystin and microginin congeners in Brazilian strains of Microcystis sp.

Species of Microcystis are the most common bloom-forming cyanobacteria in several countries. Despite extensive studies regarding the production of bioactive cyanopeptides in this genus, there are limited data on isolated strains from Brazil. Three Microcystis sp. strains were isolated from the Salto Grande Reservoir (LTPNA01, 08 and 09) and investigated for the presence of mcy genes, microcystins and other cyanopeptides. Microcystin and microginin production was confirmed in two isolates using high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry after electrospray ionization (ESI-Q-TOF), and the structures of two new microginin congeners were proposed (MG756 Ahda-Val-Leu-Hty-Tyr and MG770 MeAhda-Val-Leu-Hty-Tyr). The biosynthesis profile of the identified cyanopeptides was evaluated at different growth phases via a newly developed HPLC-UV method. Results demonstrated no substantial differences in the production of microcystins and microginins after data normalization to cell quota, suggesting a constitutive biosynthesis. This study represents the first confirmed co-production of microginins and microcystins in Brazilian strains of Microcystis sp. and highlights the potential of Brazilian cyanobacteria as a source of natural compounds with pharmaceutical interest.

Investigação da biossíntese de toxinas produzidas por cepas de cianobactérias / Investigation on the cyanobacterial strains toxins biossinthesys

A demanda crescente de água doce de boa qualidade são problemas atuais e mundiais, além do descaso com os dejetos lançados nos ambientes aquáticos que comprometem a qualidade dos recursos hídricos. Um dos parâmetros que atesta a potabilidade da água é a presença de cianobactérias e cianotoxinas. Cianobactérias são microrganismos procariontes aeróbicos fotoautróficos que sintetizam as cianotoxinas. Estes compostos podem ser classificados de acordo com seus mecanismos de ação em hepatotóxicos, neurotóxicos e dermatotóxicos. Por sua diversidade, representam diferentes riscos não só ao ecossistema e a outros organismos dos ambientes aquáticos, como também aos seres humanos. Esse projeto visou o isolamento e cultivo de cepas de cianobactérias produtoras de toxinas para a investigação da biossíntese desses compostos. Com este intuito, foram realizadas coletas de água em três reservatórios no estado de São Paulo e um no Paraná. Cepas de cianobactérais foram isoladas, identificadas e analisadas quanto à produção de toxinas. Uma cepa de Microcystis aeruginosa (LTPNA 02) produtora de microcistinas (MC-LR, MC-RR, MC-YR, MC-LF, MC-LW e desm-MC-LR e desm- MC-RR) foi escolhida para ser estudada frente diferentes condições de cultivo e ter o seu crescimento, produção de toxinas e expressão gênica estudados. Foram utilizados os meios de cultura já referidos na literatura: ASM-1 (N:P=1, 10 e 20), MLA (N:P=10), Bold 3N (N:P=16) e BG-11 (N:P=10 e 100). Para acompanhar o crescimento, dois métodos foram utilizados: contagem de células e espectrofotometria. As toxinas foram quantificadas por LC-MS - QTrap. A análise da expressão gênica foi realizada por reação de PCR em tempo real pelo método de quantificação relativa ΔΔCt. Foi observada diferença no crescimento da cepa estudada nos diferentes meios de cultivo empregados. A contagem das células permitiu a identificação das fases logarítmica e total de crescimento. Durante a fase logarítmica, três experimentos demonstraram...

There is a great concern these days about potable and good quality water due to the increase of the population needs and also to the arising problems with contamination caused by anthropogenic sources. The presence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins are some parameters that attest water potability. Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic aerobic photoautotrophic microorganisms that may synthesize cyanotoxins. These compounds can be classified as hepatotoxic, neurotoxic and dermatotoxic according to their action mechanisms. Because of their diversity, they may represent different risks, not only to their ecosystem and other aquatic living organisms, but also to human beings. The aim of this project was the isolation and cultivation of cyanotoxin-producing cyanobacteria for further investigation on the biosynthesis of these compounds. Water samples from three different reservoirs in São Paulo state and one in Paraná state were collected in order to isolate cyanobacteria strains and accomplish their identification and to evaluate the toxin production. The Microcystis aeruginosa (LTPNA 02) microcystin producer strain (MCLR, MC-RR, MC-YR, MC-LF, MC-LW, desm-MC-LR and desm-MC-RR) was chosen to be grown in different cultivation conditions and later analyzed for its growth rate, toxin production and gene expression. All culture media used in this research were chosen according to the literature: ASM-1 (N:P=1, 10 and 20), MLA (N:P=10), Bold 3N (N:P=16) and BG-11 (N:P=10 and 100). To evaluate growth rate, two techniques were used: cell counting and absorbance determination in two different wavelengths (680 nm and 750 nm). Toxins were quantified by LC-MS in a hybrid triple-quadrupole instrument (Qtrap). Gene expression was assessed by real time PCR, using the ΔΔCt relative quantification method. Cell counting allowed total growth and logarithmic phase identification. During the last, three experiments showed statistical difference from control group (p<0,05). Four experiments...