clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00404534.

The results obtained suggest that copaiba oil has an interesting anti-inflammatory effect and important effect on the CNS.

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria which infects half the world population and is an important cause of gastric cancer. The eradication therapy is not always effective because resistance to antimicrobials may occur. The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility profile of H. pylori to amoxicillin, clarithromycin and ciprofloxacin in the population of Southern Brazil. Material and methods: Fifty four samples of H. pylori were evaluated. The antibiotics susceptibility was determined according to the guidelines of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and the Comité de l'Antibiogramme de la Société Française de Microbiologie. Results: Six (11.1%) H. pylori isolates were resistant to clarithromycin, one (1.9%) to amoxicillin and three (5.5%) to ciprofloxacin. These indices of resistance are considered satisfactory and show that all of these antibiotics can be used in the empirical therapy. Conclusion: The antibiotics amoxicillin and clarithromycin are still a good option for first line anti-H. pylori treatment in the population of Southern Brazil.

Consumption of low protein energy-rich (LPER) diets increases susceptibility to metabolic disease in mammals, such as hepatic damage, and can have an adverse effect on cognition. However, the effects of these diets on both physical and mental welfare have not been investigated in domestic meat chickens. Female chicks received a low protein energy-rich or a standard control diet from 21 to 51 days of age. The effects of these dietary manipulations on plasma hepatic markers for liver damage, liver necropsy, and learning a visual discrimination reversal task were assessed. Birds given access to LPER diets weighed less than chicks that had access to the control diets. All chicks had post-mortem signs of hepatic hemorrhage/increased liver color scores and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels above 230 U/L indicative of hepatic damage in birds. The LPER diet had no impact on the performance of female chicks when learning to distinguish colors in a reversal visual discrimination task. The present study suggests that liver damage does not become worse when feeding LPER or impact visual reversal learning in female meat-type chickens. However, the high incidence of liver cell damage/liver hemorrhage, and “abnormal” AST activities are of concern in female broiler chicks across both diets, and suggests that the health of modern meat-type genotypes needs to be improved.

-Background -Recently, a great variety of studies aimed to investigate and even suggest Helicobacter pylori as an important key factor in gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal events development. The well-established relationship between bacterial virulence and increased risk for peptic ulcer or gastric carcinoma is not so clear when comparing inflammation markers alterations, such C-reactive protein, with the pathogen. Objective -The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of H. pylori, bacterial virulence and C-reactive protein serum levels in individuals diagnosed with functional dyspepsia. Methods -Were prospectively included in this study 489 dyspeptic individuals. They fulfill Rome III clinical criteria for the diagnosis of functional dyspepsia with no organic disease at endoscopy. The bacterial infection was established by histology and urease rapid test. The levels of serum C-reactive protein were obtained by immunonefelometry and CagA status of H. pylori positive individuals was determined through an imunoenzimatic assay. Results -Prevalence rate of H. pylori was 66.3% and virulence factor CagA was detected in nearly 43% of positive samples. In addition, it has been noticed an association between Ilex paraguariensis (yerba maté) consumption and pathogen's prevalence. An important effect of bacterial infection on inflammation was only observed in gastric epithelium. Conclusion -No systemic response to the pathogen, measured through C-reactive protein levels, was observed, regardless of CagA status. Otherwise, the intake of yerba maté should be considered as a cultural factor possibly related to H. pylori's transmission. According to the recent reports, CagA positive strains can cause severe damage to the gastric epithelium, being related specially with increased levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8), gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric neoplasia occurrence (26,29,41) . In addition, this virulence factor has been associated with systemic inflammation, resulting in high serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and the bacteria presence being related to higher cardiovascular risks (21,37) . Some behaviors have been associated to the transmission of H. pylori. Studies have reported that several aspects can be related to incidence and prevalence rates like socioeconomic status, years of study, institutionalization practice or social habits (8,20) . In 2010, a Brazilian study has demonstrated an anti-H. pylori activity of plant extracts, like yerba maté tea (Ilex paraguariensis), but no association between bacteria prevalence and tea consumption has been previously described (6) . Andreolla HF, Bona LR, Sander GB, Mazzoleni LE, Tavares RG, Prolla JC. Lack of association between Helicobacter pylori's virulence and increased serum C-reactive protein levels in functional dyspeptic patients HEADINGS - 50Arq Gastroenterol v. 53 no. 1 -jan./mar. 2016All H. pylori's infected people present histological gastritis. Moreover, the bacteria, classified as type I carcinogen (32) , has been associated with the...

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Functional dyspepsia and lactose intolerance (adult-type hypolactasia, ATH) are common conditions that may coexist or even be confounded. Their clinical presentation can be similar, however, lactose intolerance does not form part of the diagnostic investigation of functional dyspepsia. Studies on the association between functional dyspepsia and ATH are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate whether ATH is associated with symptoms of functional dyspepsia. Patients fulfilling the Rome III diagnostic criteria for functional dyspepsia underwent genetic testing for ATH. Dyspeptic symptoms were evaluated and scored according to a validated questionnaire. The diagnostic criteria for ATH was a CC genotype for the -13910C/T polymorphism, located upstream of the lactase gene. The mean scores for dyspeptic symptoms were compared between patients with ATH and those with lactase persistence. A total of 197 functional dyspeptic patients were included in the study. Mean age was 47.7 years and 82.7% patients were women. Eighty-eight patients (44.7%) had a diagnosis of ATH. Abdominal bloating scores were higher in ATH patients compared to the lactase persistent patients (P=0.014). The remaining dyspeptic symptom scores were not significantly different between the two groups. The study results demonstrate an association between ATH and bloating in patients with functional dyspepsia.

Table S1. Baseline features of the inflammatory satus in the gastric mucosa of 248 H. pylori-infected women patients with functional dyspepsia stratified by IL1B -31C/T genotypes. GenotypesP C allele dominance P T allele dominance P CC CT TT CC+CT TT CC CT+TT Corpus Chronic inflammation 0.639 0.377 0.508 Absent / Mild 42 (73.7) 74 (71.2) 58 (66.7) 116 (72.0) 58 (66.7) 42 (73.7) 132 (69.1) Moderate / Severe 15 (26.3) 30 (28.8) 29 (33.3) 45 (28.0) 29 (33.3) 15 (26.3) 59 (30.9) Inflammatory activity 0.201 0.126 0.143 Absent / Mild 50 (87.7) 85 (81.7) 66 (75.9) 135 (83.9) 66 (75.9) 50 (87.7) 151 (79.1) Moderate / Severe 7 (12.3) 19 (18.3) 21 (24.1) 26 (16.1) 21 (24.1) 7 (12.3) 40 (20.9) Incisura Chronic inflammation 0.988 0.885 0.999 Absent / Mild 20 (35.1) 37 (35.6) 30 (34.5) 57 (35.4) 30 (34.5) 20 (35.1) 67 (35.1) Moderate / Severe 37 (64.9) 67 (64.4) 57 (65.5) 104 (64.6) 57 (65.5) 37 (64.9) 124 (64.9) Inflammatory activity* 0.201 0.227 0.467 Absent / Mild 37 (64.9) 78 (75.0) 55 (64.0) 115 (71.4) 55 (64.0) 37 (64.9) 133 (70.0) Moderate / Severe 20 (35.1) 26 (25.0) 31 (36.0) 46 (28.6) 31 (36.0) 20 (35.1) 57 (30.0) Antrum Chronic inflammation 0.036 0.015 0.881 Absent / Mild 17 (29.8) 38 (36.5) 17 (19.5) 55 (34.2) 17 (19.5) 17 (29.8) 55 (28.8) Moderate / Severe 40 (70.2) 66 (63.5) 70 (80.5) 106 (65.8) 70 (80.5) 40 (70.2) 136 (71.2) Inflammatory activity 0.119 0.075 0.809 Absent / Mild 33 (57.9) 69 (66.3) 45 (51.7) 102 (63.4) 45 (51.7) 33 (57.9) 114 (59.7) Moderate / Severe 24 (42.1) 35 (33.7) 42 (48.3) 59 (36.6) 42 (48.3) 24 (42.1) 77 (40.3) * N = 247, data missing for one patient.