BackgroundObesity has been associated with a variety of disease such as type II diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and atherosclerosis. Evidences have shown that exercise training promotes beneficial effects on these disorders, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether physical preconditioning prevents the deleterious effect of high caloric diet in vascular reactivity of rat aortic and mesenteric rings.MethodsMale Wistar rats were divided into sedentary (SD); trained (TR); sedentary diet (SDD) and trained diet (TRD) groups. Run training (RT) was performed in sessions of 60 min, 5 days/week for 12 weeks (70–80% VO2max). Triglycerides, glucose, insulin and nitrite/nitrate concentrations (NOx-) were measured. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were obtained. Expression of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD-1) was assessed by Western blotting.ResultsHigh caloric diet increased triglycerides concentration (SDD: 216 ± 25 mg/dl) and exercise training restored to the baseline value (TRD: 89 ± 9 mg/dl). Physical preconditioning significantly reduced insulin levels in both groups (TR: 0.54 ± 0.1 and TRD: 1.24 ± 0.3 ng/ml) as compared to sedentary animals (SD: 0.87 ± 0.1 and SDD: 2.57 ± 0.3 ng/ml). On the other hand, glucose concentration was slightly increased by high caloric diet, and RT did not modify this parameter (SD: 126 ± 6; TR: 140 ± 8; SDD: 156 ± 8 and TRD 153 ± 9 mg/dl). Neither high caloric diet nor RT modified NOx- levels (SD: 27 ± 4; TR: 28 ± 6; SDD: 27 ± 3 and TRD: 30 ± 2 μM). Functional assays showed that high caloric diet impaired the relaxing response to ACh in mesenteric (about 13%), but not in aortic rings. RT improved the relaxing responses to ACh either in aortic (28%, for TR and 16%, to TRD groups) or mesenteric rings (10%, for TR and 17%, to TRD groups) that was accompanied by up-regulation of SOD-1 expression and reduction in triglycerides levels.ConclusionThe improvement in endothelial function by physical preconditioning in mesenteric and aortic arteries from high caloric fed-rats was directly related to an increase in NO bioavailability to the smooth muscle mostly due to SOD-1 up regulation.

The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) has been widely used as a screening instrument for cognitive disorders. Age, schooling and many other sociodemographic and health variables may be associated with a worse performance on the MMSE. The objectives of this study were to investigate the distribution of MMSE percentiles in a large Brazilian community-based elderly sample, divided according to age and schooling, and to evaluate the impact of sociodemographic and health variables on groups of elderly people with lower cognitive performance. The MMSE was applied to a sample of 2,708 adults, aged 60 years and older. Of this population, 1,563 individuals were living in the city of São Paulo, while 1,145 were living in the city of Ribeirão Preto. The subjects were divided into six groups according to the amount of schooling that they had received (no formal education, 1-4 and ≥5 years) and age (<75 and ≥75 years old). To each one of the subgroups a stepwise logistic regression was applied, considering the following dependent variable: subjects who scored under or above the 15th percentile on MMSE. High scores on a depression scale, high scores on a memory complaints scale and low socio-economic levels were associated with poorer performance on the MMSE. Being currently employed and being married were related to higher scores on the test. Many sociodemographic and health variables can influence MMSE performance, with impacts depending on age and schooling. Clinicians and primary care physicians should pay attention to variables that may be associated with worse cognitive performance.

Background: Evidences have showed that the incidence of arterial hypertension is greater in postmenopausal women as compared to premenopausal. Physical inactivity has been implicated as a major contributor to weight gain and abdominal obesity in postmenopausal women and the incidence of cardiovascular disease increases dramatically after menopause. Additionally, more women than men die each year of coronary heart disease and are twice as likely as men to die within the first year after a heart attack. A healthy lifestyle has been strongly associated with the regular physical activity and evidences have shown that physically active subjects have more longevity with reduction of morbidity and mortality. Nitric oxide (NO) produced by endothelial cells has been implicated in this beneficial effect with improvement of vascular relaxing and reduction in blood pressure in both laboratory animals and human. Although the effect of exercise training in the human cardiovascular system has been largely studied, the majority of these studies were predominantly conducted in men or young volunteers. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the effects of 6 months of dynamic exercise training (ET) on blood pressure and plasma nitrate/nitrite concentration (NOx -) in hypertensive postmenopausal women.

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Physical exercise reduces the deleterious effects of cardiovascular and inflammatory disorders. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the beneficial effects of physical training on the inflammatory responses following lung ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) in rats.Male Wistar rats were divided into sham-operated animals and sedentary and trained animals submitted to lung IR. The run training programme consisted of 5 sessions?week , at 66% of maximal oxygen consumption for 8 weeks. The left pulmonary artery, bronchus and pulmonary vein were occluded for 90 min and reperfused for 2 h. Lung protein extravasation was measured as 125 I-human albumin accumulation, whereas lung neutrophil infiltration was measured as myeloperoxidase activity. Lung IR in sedentary rats resulted in marked increases in protein extravasation and neutrophil influx, and in significant elevations of serum tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a and interleukin (IL)-1b levels. Physical preconditioning attenuated the increased IR-induced protein leakage without affecting neutrophil influx. It also reduced serum TNF-a (and IL-1b) levels, but had no effect on IL-10 levels. Plasma superoxide dismutase activity was significantly increased in trained IR rats.The present data show that physical preconditioning protects the rat lung from ischaemiareperfusion injury by attenuating the pulmonary vascular permeability that may be a consequence of reduced levels of tumour necrosis factor-a and interleukin-1b and elevated superoxide dismutase activity.

-There is much controversy about the importance of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in assessing the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective of this study was to assess the use of EEG and quantitative EEG (qEEG) in ADHD children. Thirty ADHD children and 30 sex-and age-matched controls with no neurological or psychiatric problems were studied. The EEG was recorded from 15 electrode sites during an eyes-closed resting condition. Epileptiform activity was assessed, as were the absolute and relative powers in the classical bands after application of the Fast Fourier transform. Epileptiform activity was found in 3 (10%) ADHD children. As compared to the controls, the ADHD group showed significantly greater absolute delta and theta powers in a diffuse way, and also greater absolute beta power and smaller relative alpha 1 and beta powers at some electrodes. A logistic multiple regression model, allowed for 83.3% sensibility and specificity in diagnosing ADHD.KEy worDs: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, EEG, children. Atividade epileptiforme e eletrencefalograma quantitativo em crianças com transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividadeResumo -Há controvérsias sobre a importância do eletrencefalogama (EEG) na avaliação do transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade (TDAH). o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar, em crianças com TDAH, o EEG digital e quantitativo. Foram estudadas 30 crianças com TDAH e 30 sadias, sem evidências de problemas neurológicos ou psiquiátricos e pareadas por idade e gênero. Foi registrado o EEG em 15 posições de eletrodos, durante repouso e olhos fechados. Foi realizada pesquisa de atividade epileptiforme e feita análise de freqüências nas faixas clássicas, após aplicação da transformada rápida de Fourier. Foi encontrada atividade epileptiforme em 3 (10%) crianças com TDAH. o grupo TDAH teve, em relação ao grupo controle, significativamente, maior potência absoluta delta e teta, de modo difuso, assim como maior potência absoluta beta e menor potência relativa alfa 1 e beta, em alguns eletrodos. Um modelo de regressão múltipla logística possibilitou sensibilidade e especificidade de 83,3% no diagnóstico de TDAH.PAlAvrAs-cHAvE: transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade, EEG, infância. The attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the commonest behavioral disorders in childhood. Due to advancing knowledge with respect to the prevalence, natural history, genetics, biology and treatment of ADHD, a greater number of patients are now receiving adequate treatment. The diagnosis of ADHD is based on the DsM Iv 1 criteria of which the essential characteristic consists of a persistent pattern of lack of attention and/ or hyperactivity-impulsivity more frequent and serious than that typically observed in individuals with an equivalent developmental level. some symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity should be present up to 7 years of age. some compromise due to the symptoms should be present in at least two contexts (e.g. at home or at school ...

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Obesity has been significantly increasing worldwide, and environmental factors such as excessive food intake and sedentary lifestyle are the main factors related to the genesis of this disease. In laboratory animals, the genesis of obesity is related mostly to genetic mutations, but this model is far from that found in humans. The use of hypercaloric or hyperlipidemic diets has been used as a model of obesity induction in animals, because of its similarity to the genesis and metabolic responses caused by obesity in humans. The objective of this review is to show the different types of diets used to induce obesity in rodents, the induced metabolic alterations, and to identify some points that should be taken into account so that the model can be effective for the study of obesity-related complications. A search was performed in the PubMed database using the following keywords: 1- "hypercaloric diet" AND "rodent", 2- "hyperlipidic diet" AND "rodent", selecting those considered the most relevant according to the following criteria: date of publication (1995-2011); the use of wild-type animals; detailed description of the diet used and analysis of biochemical and vascular parameters of interest. References were included to introduce subjects such as the increased prevalence of obesity and questions related to the genesis of obesity in humans. The model of diet-induced obesity in rodents can be considered effective when the objective is the study of the physiopathology of metabolic and vascular complications associated with obesity.