Peripheral telomere length and hippocampal volume in adolescents with major depressive disorder.

Several studies have reported that adults with major depressive disorder have shorter telomere length and reduced hippocampal volumes. Moreover, studies of adult populations without major depressive disorder suggest a relationship between peripheral telomere length and hippocampal volume. However, the relationship of these findings in adolescents with major depressive disorder has yet to be explored. We examined whether adolescent major depressive disorder is associated with altered peripheral telomere length and hippocampal volume, and whether these measures relate to one another. In 54 unmedicated adolescents (13-18 years) with major depressive disorder and 63 well-matched healthy controls, telomere length was assessed from saliva using quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods, and bilateral hippocampal volumes were measured with magnetic resonance imaging. After adjusting for age and sex (and total brain volume in the hippocampal analysis), adolescents with major depressive disorder exhibited significantly shorter telomere length and significantly smaller right, but not left hippocampal volume. When corrected for age, sex, diagnostic group and total brain volume, telomere length was not significantly associated with left or right hippocampal volume, suggesting that these cellular and neural processes may be mechanistically distinct during adolescence. Our findings suggest that shortening of telomere length and reduction of hippocampal volume are already present in early-onset major depressive disorder and thus unlikely to be only a result of accumulated years of exposure to major depressive disorder.

Craniofacial catch-up growth in intrauterine growth retarded rats following postnatal nutritional rehabilitation.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of postnatal nutritional rehabilitation on the craniofacial growth in rats with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wistar rats were assigned to one of the following groups: control, Sham-operated, and IUGR. The IUGR was produced by uterine vessels bending (day 14 of pregnancy). At days 1, 21, 42, 63, and 84 of postnatal life, each animal was X-rayed, and neural and facial length, width and height were measured. Volumetric and morphometric indices were calculated. RESULTS: The decreased maternal-fetal blood flow during the last-third of the gestation period modified cranial size and shape of both sexes at birth. DISCUSSION: Postnatal nutritional rehabilitation is not fully sufficient to reverse the prenatal growth retardation. There are specific responses depending on the sex and the age of the IUGR pups. Regardless of the changes in size, the shape is not modified during all the postnatal period.

[Comparative analysis of growth and sexual maturation in girls of Santa Rosa (La Pampa) and La Plata (Buenos Aires), Argentina]. / Análisis comparativo del crecimiento y la maduración sexual entre niñas de Santa Rosa (La Pampa) y La Plata (Buenos Aires), Argentina.

The aim of this study was to analyze growth in relation to menarche in girls from two Argentinean urban populations. We performed a comparative-descriptive cross sectional study in 2474 schoolchildren between 8.0 and 16.9 years old from Santa Rosa (SR) and La Plata (LP) cities. We registered the presence of menarche and anthropometrics variables of body weight, total and sitting heights, arm circumference, triceps and subscapular skinfolds. Body mass index, subscapular/triceps index and muscle and fat arm areas were calculated. The study group was divided into 4 groups according to the city and menarche. The socio-environmental structured survey indicated significant differences between cities with these variables: tenure status, building materials and services, health care coverage, cash assistance, educational level and parents' occupation, therefore establishing a higher welfare in youngsters of SR. Menarche at a mean age of 12.7 years old was more prevalent in SR (40.6%) than in LP (33.7%) (c2 = 12.9; p < 0.01). The ANOVA indicated significant differences between cities in total and sitting heights and muscle area (p < 0.01), body weight and arm circumference (p < 0.05) which were generally held in the post hoc comparison by age in pre-menarche and post-menarche groups. The presence of a small body size at the expense of lowering in: total height, muscle area and leg length in LP youngsters, associated with a lower prevalence of menarche in this city, it would represents the adaptive cost of a lower welfare environment.

Central adiposity in Brazilian schoolchildren aged 7-10 years.

Waist circumference (WC) is a measure of central adiposity related to elevated risk factor levels in children and adolescents. The aim of the present study was to describe WC percentiles in 7- to 10-year-old Brazilian children and to compare frequencies of obesity and overweight as defined by BMI and frequencies of excess and at risk of abdominal adiposity as defined by WC to the corresponding age and sex data from British references. A representative sample of 2919 schoolchildren of the city of Florianopolis (southern Brazil) was examined. Smoothed WC percentiles were derived using the least mean square method. Frequencies of overweight and obesity and of excess and at risk of abdominal adiposity were assessed using the 91st and 98th centiles of the British references as cut-off points. WC increased with age in both boys and girls, with higher values for boys at every age and percentile level. Nutritional status categories of children assessed by the 91st and 98th British BMI and WC centiles showed moderate agreement (weighted kappa = 0.58). Overweight was more frequent in Brazilian than British children: 15.1 % of girls and 20.1 % of boys were above the 91st percentile of the 1990 BMI for age British references. About one-quarter (22.0 % of girls and 26.9 % of boys) exceeded the 91st percentile of WC British references. The present data could be used to compare WC in children in other populations and may serve as a baseline for future studies of temporal trends in WC in Brazil.

Obesity, overweight and thinness in schoolchildren of the city of Florianópolis, Southern Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of obesity, overweight (including obesity) and thinness in children of the city of Florianopolis (southern Brazil). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Representative sample of 7-10-y-old schoolchildren of the first four grades of elementary schools (1432 girls, 1504 boys). METHODS: Measurements of weight, height and triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) were taken following standard techniques. The body mass index (BMI) was computed as weight/height2. Nutritional status was defined using two references: (1) the Must et al reference for BMI and TSF to define thinness, overweight and obesity (5th, 85th and 95th percentiles, respectively); (2) the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) BMI cutoffs to define overweight and obesity. RESULTS: Using BMI, according to the Must et al, and IOTF references, the prevalence of obesity was 10.6 and 5.5%, respectively; overweight (including obesity) affected 26.2 and 22.1% of children, respectively. According to the Must et al reference, the prevalence of thinness was 3.2%. Using TSF rather than BMI, according to the Must et al references, fewer children were classified as obese (8.0%) or overweight (20.2%) and more children were classified as thin (4.9%). CONCLUSION: This study supports the previously reported high frequencies of childhood overweight and obesity in developing countries. The data allow comparisons with other studies carried out in Brazil and other parts of the world.

[Influence of the patient's gender in the management of anxiety/depressive profiles]. / Influencia del género del paciente en el manejo de cuadros ansioso/depresivos.

OBJECTIVES: To find whether the diagnosis-therapy approach of doctors to people with symptoms of anxiety-depression differs depending on whether the patient is a man or a woman. DESIGN: Crossover, descriptive study through a postal questionnaire, based on clinical cases. SETTING: Primary Care (PC) in Castilla-La Mancha. PARTICIPANTS: PC doctors working in the public domain. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We designed two models of questionnaire which only varied in the sex of the patient. Each model consisted of five clinical hypotheses, two on anxiety-depression and three others, whose aim was to mask the first two, on organic pathology. The sample was divided into two halves, with a different model of questionnaire placed in each half. We received back 273 (34.2%) of the 800 questionnaires sent out. Average age was 41, and 70.4% were men. In hypothesis 1, which analysed the therapeutic attitude to a patient with various episodes of atypical "knotting sensation" precordialgia, through ECG, normal examination and analysis, we found that in 77.2% of women, against 58.5% of men, treatment with anxiolytic drugs was prescribed (p < 0.01, chi 2 = 9.97). Psychological support at the consultation was opted for in 52.1% of women against 33.9% of men (p < 0.01, chi 2 = 7.89). However, doctors opted to refer to the cardiologist 9.5% of women against 24.5% of men (p < 0.01, chi 2 = 10.01). In hypothesis 2, doctors were asked about their first diagnosis of a smoking patient with asthenia, anorexia, difficulties in concentration and various months of non-specific sick feelings. 55.7% of women were diagnosed as having an anxiety-depression profile against 34.3% of men (p < 0.01, chi 2 = 13.67). The doctor's sex in hypothesis 2 led to no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: The approach of primary care doctors to patients with symptoms of anxiety and depression differs with the sex of the patient. We prescribe more anxiolytic drugs, give more psychological support and think more of functional causes when our patient is a woman.