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Medical records of > or = 40 years old female seen at University Hospital from June/93 to July/95 were submitted to a cross-sectional study. According to Chagas' disease tests, patients were divided into chagasic (n = 362) and controls (n = 285). Diabetes mellitus was defined on the basis of two fasting blood glucose levels > or = 140 mg/dl and hyperglycemia as fasting blood glucose > 110 mg/dl. Chagasic patients were divided into groups with the cardiac form of the disease (n = 179), with megas (n = 58), and asymptomatic (n = 125). Groups were compared by the chi 2 test, analysis of variance, Student's "t" test, and Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. A significant difference was assumed when p < 0.05. Chagasic and control groups were matched for age, white color and body mass index. Diabetes mellitus was more prevalent in patients with the cardiac form of Chagas' disease than in controls, or patients with the megas or the asymptomatic form (15.1%, 7.4%, 7.4%, and 5.6%, respectively); the same was observed for hyperglycemia (37.4%, 26.7%, 25.9%, 27.2%), in agreement with the hypothesis that the reduced parasympathetic activity caused by Trypanosoma cruzi leads to relative sympathetic hyperactivity.

RESUMO: Espécies reativas de oxigênio são formadas durante o metabolismo aeróbico e podem danificar lipídios, proteínas, carboidratos e o DNA. Essas reações, potencialmente deletérias, são controladas por um sistema de antioxidantes enzimáticos e não enzimáticos, que eliminam os próoxidantes e "varrem" os radicais livres. Esta revisão mostra o papel de alguns nutrientes na peroxidação lipídica e no sistema de defesa antioxidante. Enfatizam-se os mecanismos que levam ao dano oxidativo e sua proteção, assim como as implicações na saúde humana.

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Hospitalized alcoholics with papillary atrophy of the tongue had lower BMI and fat body stores than controls, without associated hypovitaminosis.

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Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a risk factor for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, is related to an inadequate food intake pattern. Its incidence is increasing among Brazilian adults, including those living in rural areas. Our aim was not only to describe the frequency of MetS in adults with or without MetS but also to compare their food intake pattern as assessed by the healthy eating index (HEI) and serum albumin and C reactive protein (CRP) levels. Methods: Men and women (n = 246) living in a small village in Brazil were included. MetS was characterized according to the adult treatment panel (ATP III) criteria. Groups were compared by chi-square, student t or Mann-Whitney tests. Results: MetS was diagnosed in 15.4% of the cases. The MetS group showed higher CRP (1.8±1.2 vs. 1.0±0.9 mg/dl) and lower albumin (4.3±0.3 vs. 4.4±0.3 g/dl) serum levels compared to the control group. Additionally, the MetS group showed lower scores (median[range]) in the HEI compared to the control group (53.5[31.2-78.1] vs 58[29.7-89.5], respectively). The MetS group also had decreased scores for total fat and daily variety of food intake. Conclusions: The results suggest that adults with MetS displayed chronic mild inflammation and a poorer food intake pattern than the control group.

Objective -To compare the heart weight and the heart weight/body weight coefficient of adults with and without chronic malnutrition. Chronic malnutrition results from the inadequate intake of nutrients, with the predominance of catabolic processes over the anabolic ones, and the progressive wasting of fat and muscle protein body reserves. In adult individuals, chronic protein-calorie malnutrition manifests as progressive weight loss with hypofunction and hypotrophy of organs, such as the spleen, intestines, and kidneys 1 . Experiments with animals 2 and autopsies of malnourished children show that the heart undergoes hypotrophy proportional to the degree of weight loss 3,4 . Even though studies on heart morphometry and function of malnourished adults are rare 5 , experiments with animals suggest that the myocardium undergoes a milder wasting than striated skeletal muscles do, possibly due to the relative increase in vascularization and oxygenation of the myocardiocytes 6 . However, patients quite frequently develop tachycardia, hydric retention, and cardiac decompensation during nutritional therapy, and this phenomenon has been attributed to myocardial dysfunction associated with cardiac hypotrophy secondary to malnutrition 7 . The heart weight/body weight (HW/BW) coefficient, whose normal value is around 0.5±0.02, has been used for characterizing myocardial hypertrophy 8 and could be used for assessing myocardial hypotrophy. A study carried out by our group 8 , even though with other objectives, showed that individuals dying with cachexia had a HW/BW coefficient greater than normal. However, the relations between the HW/BW coefficient and other parameters of nutritional assessment, such as body weight, height, and body mass index, have not yet been established. Methods -In an initial case series of 210 autopsies performed in adults, we recorded body and heart weights and calculated the heart weight/body weight coefficients (HW/BW x 100Our hypothesis was that, due to the relative preservation of cardiac weight in relation to body mass index, malnourished adults would have a greater HW/BW coefficient than that of non-malnourished control individuals. The objective of our study was to compare heart weight and the HW/BW coefficient of adults with and without chronic malnutrition.