Neck circumference and the burden of metabolic syndrome disease: a population-based sample.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to verify the association between neck circumference (NC) and metabolic syndrome and establish NC cut-off points to predict metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Weight, height, NC, waist circumference, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure were measured in a cross-sectional and population-based study with 966 adults. The association between NC and the burden of metabolic syndrome disease was evaluated by multinomial logistic regression. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to acquire gender-specific cut-off values and predict metabolic syndrome. The NC is a simple anthropometric measurement, has low evaluation costs, can estimate the subcutaneous fat in the upper body and is related to cardiometabolic risks. RESULTS: NC is an independent predictor of metabolic syndrome burden with high association to women. The syndrome components stratification indicated that the NC of individuals with one component was lower than those with three or more (P = 0.001). Metabolic syndrome prediction cut-off point was a NC of 39.5 cm for men and 33.3 cm for women. CONCLUSIONS: Increased NC was associated with higher metabolic syndrome risks. This anthropometric parameter can be used as an additional marker for screening cardiovascular risk diseases.

Enterococcus Spp. Survival Through the Use of Standard Protocol for Clostridium Sp. Isolation

The genera Clostridium and Enterococcus are very different from each other, both morphologically and physiologically. Due to the high resistance by the sporulation capacity of Clostridium species, the thermal shock is a characteristic tool used for the isolation and identification of these microorganisms, this way, it would eliminate any other bacteria that did not present spores. The objective of this work is to show that Enterococcus sp. resist the temperature treatment and grow in culture media used for the isolation of Clostridium sp. For this, the present study initially attempted to identify reducing sulfite clostridia in poultry products, through the use of specific culture media and heat shock treatment. However, the PCR did not detect the presence of Clostridium sp. Then, sequencing of the 16S rDNA region was performed, which showed that the reducing sulfite colonies that were being isolated were, actually, Enterococcus spp. With this, some tests were carried out using different temperature and time combinations in the thermal shock, as well as the use of five different selective and differential culture media, in an attempt to eliminate any contaminants, but all without success, because these bacteria resisted to all modification. Therefore, the standard protocol for the isolation of bacteria of the genus Clostridium does not eliminate Enterococcus, which can lead to failures in the quantification and qualification of sulfite reducing microorganisms, a fact that can significantly affect food safety and animal health.(AU)

Enterococcus Spp. Survival Through the Use of Standard Protocol for Clostridium Sp. Isolation

The genera Clostridium and Enterococcus are very different from each other, both morphologically and physiologically. Due to the high resistance by the sporulation capacity of Clostridium species, the thermal shock is a characteristic tool used for the isolation and identification of these microorganisms, this way, it would eliminate any other bacteria that did not present spores. The objective of this work is to show that Enterococcus sp. resist the temperature treatment and grow in culture media used for the isolation of Clostridium sp. For this, the present study initially attempted to identify reducing sulfite clostridia in poultry products, through the use of specific culture media and heat shock treatment. However, the PCR did not detect the presence of Clostridium sp. Then, sequencing of the 16S rDNA region was performed, which showed that the reducing sulfite colonies that were being isolated were, actually, Enterococcus spp. With this, some tests were carried out using different temperature and time combinations in the thermal shock, as well as the use of five different selective and differential culture media, in an attempt to eliminate any contaminants, but all without success, because these bacteria resisted to all modification. Therefore, the standard protocol for the isolation of bacteria of the genus Clostridium does not eliminate Enterococcus, which can lead to failures in the quantification and qualification of sulfite reducing microorganisms, a fact that can significantly affect food safety and animal health.