OBJETIVO: Identificar a prevalência e os fatores de risco para sobrepeso e obesidade nas mulheres de São Leopoldo, RS, Brasil. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com base populacional incluindo 981 mulheres de 20 a 60 anos de idade. O sobrepeso foi definido pelo índice de massa corporal entre 25 a 29,9 Kg/m² e a obesidade foi considerada como IMC > 30 Kg/m². As medidas de efeito brutas e ajustadas foram calculadas pela Regressão de Poisson. RESULTADOS: A prevalência de sobrepeso foi de 31,7% (IC95% 28,9 - 34,7) e 18% (IC95% 15,8 - 20,6) das mulheres estavam obesas. Após o ajuste no modelo multivariado, o risco de obesidade foi maior nas mulheres de 50 a 60 anos, inseridas nas classes econômicas mais baixas (D e E), com 5 ou mais filhos, com história familiar de obesidade e que relataram fazer as refeições de forma rápida. A idade da menarca mostrou-se inversamente associada com obesidade. O risco de sobrepeso aumentou com a idade, o número de filhos, estado civil e história familiar de obesidade. A única variável socioeconômica associada com sobrepeso foi escolaridade. DISCUSSÃO: Foram percebidos diferenciais entre a determinação de obesidade e de sobrepeso. O estudo comprovou que o direcionamento das ações no sentido do aumento da escolaridade pode influir positivamente nos indicadores de sobrepeso e, consequentemente, de obesidade.

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Most probiotic strains commercially available today are lactic acid bacteria. Within this functional group, Streptococcus thermophilus is a thermophilic species widely used as starter culture for a huge number of dairy products. Besides being rapid acidifiers, many S. thermophilus strains are able to produce and release folate during growth but, unfortunately, they are seriously impaired during passage through the human gastrointestinal tract. In this work, we studied eight S. thermophilus strains isolated from dairy environments in Italy, which already had shown good technological properties, to evaluate their possible probiotic potential and cytotoxicity against cancer cells in vitro. All strains were also evaluated for some health-related properties such as susceptibility to most common antibiotics, hemolytic activity, resistance to simulated gastrointestinal conditions, bile salts hydrolytic activity, production of folate, adhesion to HT-29 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells and cytotoxic activity against cancer cells and production of biogenic amines. Results revealed that two fast acidifying S. thermophilus strains were found to possess in vitro probiotic properties along with anticancer activity and production of folate. These properties resulted similar and, in some cases, superior to those of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, a well-known commercial probiotic strain. These findings encourage further in vivo studies to evaluate the actual health benefits of these strains on the human host.

This work presents bibliographic data on the role and function of microbial diversity. The increasing use of probiotics and prebiotics foods has led to the studies on their actual functions in the human body. It is known that in the environment, microorganisms are extremely important in recycling of nutrients, balance of trophic chains, vital physiological activities in the plants and animals, as well as the conservation of natural habitats. In human food, these microscopic organisms contribute from flavoring products to the synthesis of antimicrobial substances and vitamins essential to living beings.

Plant expression of the entomopathogenic bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis cry gene has reduced the damage created by insect pests in several economically important cultures. For this study, we have conducted genetic transformation of the indica rice "IRGA 424", via Agrobacterium tumefaciens, using the B. thuringiensis cry1Aa and cry1B genes, with the objective of obtaining rice plants resistant to the insect pests from this culture. The gene constructions harbor the promoters maize proteinase inhibitor and ubiquitin. The results showed that high concentration of the hormone 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and agarose as the gelling agent helped the production of embryogenic calli for the analyzed cultivar. More than 80% of the obtained transformed plants revealed the integration, using polymerase chain reaction, of the cry1Aa and cry1B genes. Analysis of the expression of the heterologous protein by Western blotting revealed the expression of the Cry1B delta-endotoxin in IRGA 424 plants transformed with the ubiquitin promoter. Data showed the production and dissemination of a high number of embryogenic calli in addition to obtaining plants transformed with the cry1Aa and cry1B genes until the reproductive phase. The feed bioassays with the transformed plants and Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) larvae indicated high rates of mortality to the insect target. The highest corrected mortality rate achieved under laboratory conditions with Bt-rice plants transformed with the cry1B and cry1Aa genes was 94 and 84%, respectively. Thus, our results demonstrated the great potential of transformed Bt-rice plants in controlling the damage caused by these insect pests in rice paddy fields.

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