No abstract

Eight weeks of taurine supplementation associated with nutritional counseling is able to increase adiponectin levels and to decrease markers of inflammation (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) and lipid peroxidation (TBARS) in obese women.

ObjectiveTo confirm the adequacy of the formula suggested in the literature and/or to develop appropriate equations for the Brazilian population of immobilized patients based on simple anthropometric measurements. MethodsHospitalized patients were submitted to anthropometry and methods to estimate weight and height of bedridden patients were developed by multiple linear regression. ResultsThree hundred sixty eight persons were evaluated at two hospital centers and five weight-pre-dicting and two height-predicting equations were developed from the measurements ob-tained. Among the new equations developed, the simplest one for weight estimate was: Weight (kg) = 0.5759 x (arm circumference, cm) + 0.5263 x (abdominal circumference, cm) + 1.2452 x (calf circumference, cm) -4.8689 x (Sex, male = 1 and female = 2) -32.9241 (r = 0.94); and the one for height estimate was: Height (cm) = 58.6940 -2.9740 x (Sex) -0.0736 x (age, years) + 0.4958 x (arm length, cm) + 1.1320 x (half-span, cm) (r = 0.88). The estimates thus calculated did not differ significantly from actual measurements, with p = 0.94 and 0.89 and a mean error of 6.0 and 2.1% for weight and height, respectively.

Seven hypertriglyceridemic patients with type-2 diabetes were treated with atorvastatin (40 mg/day) for 2 months. Kinetics of apolipoprotein B100 (apoB100)-containing lipoproteins were determined before and after atorvastatin treatment and compared with data obtained in five normolipidemic volunteers. ApoB100 metabolism was studied using stable isotopes and multicompartmental modeling. Compared with normolipidemic obese subjects, type-2 diabetic patients had a higher apoB100 concentration in very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL), and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) (P Ͻ 0.005). Kinetic analysis showed an increase in the total apoB100 production rate (P Ͻ 0.005) related to VLDL apoB100 overproduction (P Ͻ 0.005). Patients were also characterized by a lower fractional catabolic rate (FCR) in VLDL (not significant) or IDL (P Ͻ 0.005) mainly related to a decrease in VLDL and IDL delipidation rate (P Ͻ 0.005). Catabolism of LDL was also lower in diabetic patients (P Ͻ 0.05). Atorvastatin treatment significantly decreased plasma triglycerides (P Ͻ 0.05), total and LDL cholesterol (P Ͻ 0.05), apoB100 in LDL, IDL, and VLDL (P Ͻ 0.05). Treatment significantly decreased total apoB100 production rate (P Ͻ 0.05), but only for VLDL (P Ͻ 0.05). Treatment normalized FCR in IDL and LDL (P Ͻ 0.05). We concluded that atorvastatin improved lipid abnormalities in type-2 diabetic patients not only by increasing the clearance of apoB100-containing lipoproteins but also by decreasing VLDL production.Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in type-2 diabetic patients. Hypertriglyceridemia is an important lipid disorder associated with type-2 diabetes and may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis (Goldberg, 2001). Results of studies showing possible disturbances in LDL metabolism are inconsistent (Howard, 1987). Previous studies have underlined that the insulin resistance observed in type-2 diabetes is associated with an overproduction of apoB100 containing lipoproteins and reduced LDL and VLDL catabolism .Atorvastatin is a strong competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG)-CoA reductase. In patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and combined hyperlipidemia, the cholesterol-lowering effects are related to reduction of LDL cholesterol and are explained either by an increase in LDL receptor activity or by reduction of LDL apoB100 production with atorvastatin, as observed with other statins (Aguilar-Salinas et al., 1998). In addition to its cholesterollowering effect, atorvastatin also shows significant triglyceride-lowering properties in hypertriglyceridemic subjects (Lea and McTavish, 1997), but conflicting results were reported concerning its effect on VLDL metabolism. Various effect have been already reported on VLDL production with atorvastatin: inhibiting effect in animal or cell models , stimulating effect (Forster et al., 1996) or no effect (Forster et al., 2002) in combined hyperlipidemic subjects, and no effect in insulin resista...

A prospective and double-blind study was conducted on 35 women with weight excess who consumed 25 grams of quinoa flakes (QF) or corn flakes (CF) daily during a period of four consecutive weeks. At the beginning (T1) and at the end (T2) of the intervention, total calorie intake was evaluated, anthropometric assessment was performed, blood was collected for the determination of glucose, total cholesterol and fractions, oxidative stress markers, vitamin E and enterolignans. Significant reductions were detected in serum triglyceride (CF group = 133.9 ± 89.4 to 113.7 ± 57 mg/dl and QF group = 112.3 ± 35 to 107.9 ± 33.1 mg/dl), TBARS (CF group = 3.2 ± 0.8 to 2.9 ± 0.5 µmol/l and QF group = 3.06 ± 0.6 to 2.89 ± 0.5 µmol/l) and vitamin E concentrations (CF group = 19.5 ± 5 to 17.9 ± 4 µM and QF group = 17.9 ± 4 to 16.9 ± 3 µM) and an increase in urinary excretion of enterolignans (CF group = 2.05 ± 1.3 to 2.24 ± 1.4 nm/ml and QF group = 2.9 ± 1.6 to 3.2 ± 2.7 nm/l), in both study groups. The reduction of total cholesterol (191 ± 35 to 181 ± 28 mg/dl) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-c) (129 ± 35 to 121 ± 26 mg/dl), and the increase in GSH (1.78 ± 0.4 to 1.91 ± 0.4 µmol/l) occurred only in the QF group, showing a possible beneficial effect of QF intake.