In¯ammatory bowel disease is a chronic disease of the digestive tract, and usually refers to two related conditions, namely ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The aetiology of in¯ammatory bowel disease remains unknown, although it is believed that an alteration in the intestinal immune system contributes to the in¯ammation that occurs. As in other in¯am-matory processes, in¯ammatory bowel disease is characterized by an up-regulation in the synthesis and release of different pro-in¯ammatory mediators, including reactive oxygen and nitrogen metabolites, eicosanoids, platelet-activating factor and cytokines. 1 All of these mediators contribute to the pathogenic cascade that initiates and perpetuates the in¯ammatory response of the gut. As a consequence, and until its aetiology has been completely elucidated, the best strategy to effectively down-regulate intestinal in¯ammation is to interfere with multiple stages of the in¯ammatory cascade, preferably with a single drug treatment. In fact, the SUMMARY Background: Morin, a bio¯avonoid with antioxidant properties, shows intestinal anti-in¯ammatory activity in the acute phase of the trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid model of rat colitis. Aim: To assess the anti-in¯ammatory activity of morin in the chronic stages of trinitrobenzenesulphonic acidinduced rat colitis. Methods: Rats were rendered colitic by a single colonic instillation of 30 mg of the hapten trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid dissolved in 0.25 mL of 50% ethanol. A group of colitic animals was given morin orally at doses of 25 mg/kg daily. Animals were sacri®ced every week for 4 weeks. Colonic damage was evaluated macroscopically and microscopically. Different biochemical markers of colonic in¯ammation were also assayed, including myeloperoxidase activity, leukotriene B 4 and

BackgroundRecent studies have reported the clinical importance of CYP2C19 and ABCB1 polymorphisms in an individualized approach to clopidogrel treatment. The aims of this study were to evaluate the frequencies of CYP2C19 and ABCB1 polymorphisms and to identify the clopidogrel-predicted metabolic phenotypes according to ethnic groups in a sample of individuals representative of a highly admixtured population.MethodsOne hundred and eighty-three Amerindians and 1,029 subjects of the general population of 4 regions of the country were included. Genotypes for the ABCB1c.C3435T (rs1045642), CYP2C19*2 (rs4244285), CYP2C19*3 (rs4986893), CYP2C19*4 (rs28399504), CYP2C19*5 (rs56337013), and CYP2C19*17 (rs12248560) polymorphisms were detected by polymerase chain reaction followed by high resolution melting analysis. The CYP2C19*3, CYP2C19*4 and CYP2C19*5 variants were genotyped in a subsample of subjects (300 samples randomly selected).ResultsThe CYP2C19*3 and CYP2C19*5 variant alleles were not detected and the CYP2C19*4 variant allele presented a frequency of 0.3%. The allelic frequencies for the ABCB1c.C3435T, CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*17 polymorphisms were differently distributed according to ethnicity: Amerindian (51.4%, 10.4%, 15.8%); Caucasian descent (43.2%, 16.9%, 18.0%); Mulatto (35.9%, 16.5%, 21.3%); and African descent (32.8%, 20.2%, 26.3%) individuals, respectively. As a result, self-referred ethnicity was able to predict significantly different clopidogrel-predicted metabolic phenotypes prevalence even for a highly admixtured population.ConclusionOur findings indicate the existence of inter-ethnic differences in the ABCB1 and CYP2C19 variant allele frequencies in the Brazilian general population plus Amerindians. This information could help in stratifying individuals from this population regarding clopidogrel-predicted metabolic phenotypes and design more cost-effective programs towards individualization of clopidogrel therapy.

Background & Aim Psychological disorders are an important health problem worldwide. A healthy diet is recommended as one of the measures to prevent and control mental disorders. Epidemiological studies have shown important associations between the consumption of diets rich in nutrients and a lower risk of developing anxiety and depression. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms and food consumption, according to degree of processing, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods An epidemiological household survey was conducted in two cities in Brazil. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed using validated scales (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item/Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and food consumption was assessed using a qualitative food frequency questionnaire referring to consumption within the last 3 months. The foods were categorized according to the NOVA classification for fresh/minimally processed food and ultra-processed food, using the average weekly consumption as the cutoff. For data analysis, adjusted Poisson regression with robust variance was utilized to estimate the prevalence ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results : The consumption of fresh/minimally processed foods above the weekly average frequency was associated with a lower prevalence of symptoms of depression (PR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3; 0.7). Consumption above the weekly average of ultra-processed foods was associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety (PR: 1.5 and 95% CI: 1,03; 2,3) and depression symptoms (PR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0; 2.1, p = 0.034). Conclusion Increased consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with a higher occurrence of depression symptoms; therefore, we recommend an increase in the consumption of fresh/minimally processed foods, as endorsed by the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population.

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Foi realizada pesquisa de anticorpos anti-Toxoplasma gondii em 183 amostras de sangue dessecado em papel de filtro utilizando as reações de imunofluorescência indireta ELISA e dot-ELISA, tomando como referência os resultados obtidos nos soros. A análise dos resultados demonstrou que papéis com sangue dessecado podem ser conservados por um período mínimo de 45 dias à temperatura ambiente e por seis meses a 4°C, desde que mantidos livres de umidade pela utilização de agentes dessecantes como a sílica-gel. A reprodutibilidade das reações, avaliada por meio da curva dos títulos de anticorpos no decorrer do tempo após a coleta do sangue em papéis de filtro, demonstrou uma concordância de 97 a 100% entre os resultados obtidos nos soros e eluatos. Os títulos de anticorpos permaneceram estáveis durante o período observado. Os resultados obtidos com eluato de sangue dessecado foram semelhantes na RIFI, ELISA e dot-ELISA, indicando que qualquer uma das três reações pode ser utilizada em eluatos de sangue dessecado para o diagnóstico da toxoplasmose caprina.

Some mechanisms have been proposed to explain the role of bradykinin on glucose homeostasis and some studies reported that the BDKRB2 +9/−9 polymorphism was associated to the transcriptional activity of the receptor. In this scenario, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the association of the BDKRB2 +9/−9 polymorphism with diabetes mellitus risk in the Brazilian general population. This study included 1,032 subjects of the general urban population. Anthropometrical, blood pressure, biochemical, and genotype analyses for the BDKRB2 +9/−9 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism were performed. Individuals carrying +9/+9 or +9/−9 genotypes had higher glucose values (84.5 mg/dL versus 80.6 mg/dL, resp.) and higher frequency of diabetes mellitus (7.6% versus 3.6%, resp.) compared to individuals carrying −9/−9, adjusting for age and gender. In addition, higher diabetes mellitus risk was associated to presence of the +9/+9 or +9/−9 genotypes (OR = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.09–4.19; P = 0.03). Our data suggest that the BDKRB2 +9/-9 polymorphism may act as a genetic modulator of glucose homeostasis. It was previously associated to insulin sensitivity, glucose uptake, and insulin secretion, and, in this study, data suggest that the polymorphism may increase susceptibility to chronic metabolic conditions such as diabetes in the Brazilian population.

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