Association Between Adherence to the MIND Diet and Cognitive Performance is Affected by Income: The ELSA-Brasil Study.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet and cognition has not been widely investigated in low- to middle-income countries. We investigated the relationship between MIND diet and cognition in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) baseline data. METHODS: We included 11,788 participants. MIND diet adherence was based on the intake of 15 components according to a food frequency questionnaire. We analyzed the association between MIND diet adherence and global cognition, memory, and executive function using adjusted linear regression. We examined the interaction between income and MIND diet adherence on cognition and presented income stratified analyses. RESULTS: MIND diet adherence was not associated with cognition in the whole sample. Income was an effect modifier of MIND adherence on global cognition (P=0.03) and executive function (P<0.001). For participants with high income, greater adherence was associated with better executive function [ß=0.015, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.002; 0.028, P=0.025]; while for participants with low income, greater adherence was associated with lower global cognition (ß=-0.020, 95% CI=-0.036; -0.005, P=0.010) and executive function (ß=-0.023, 95% CI=-0.039; -0.007, P=0.004). Adherence to the MIND diet was higher among participants with high income (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: For high-income participants, greater adherence was associated with better cognitive performance; for low-income participants, greater adherence was associated with lower cognitive performance.

Profiling plasma-extracellular vesicle proteins and microRNAs in diabetes onset in middle-aged male participants in the ELSA-Brasil study.

We measured plasma-derived extracellular vesicle (EV) proteins and their microRNA (miRNA) cargos in normoglycemic (NG), glucose intolerant (GI), and newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) in middle-aged male participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brazil). Mass spectrometry revealed decreased IGHG-1 and increased ITIH2 protein levels in the GI group compared with that in the NG group and higher serotransferrin in EVs in the DM group than in those in the NG and GI groups. The GI group also showed increased serum ferritin levels, as evaluated by biochemical analysis, compared with those in both groups. Seventeen miRNAs were differentially expressed (DEMiRs) in the plasma EVs of the three groups. DM patients showed upregulation of miR-141-3p and downregulation of miR-324-5p and -376c-3p compared with the NG and GI groups. The DM and GI groups showed increased miR-26b-5p expression compared with that in the NG group. The DM group showed decreased miR-374b-5p levels compared with those in the GI group and higher concentrations than those in the NG group. Thus, three EV proteins and five DEMiR cargos have potential prognostic importance for diabetic complications mainly associated with the immune function and iron status of GI and DM patients.

Job Stress and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease: Cross-Sectional Results of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the relationship between job stress and subclinical cardiovascular disease at ELSA-Brasil. METHODS: We considered job stress domains (demand, skill discretion, decision authority, and social support) as independent variables and coronary artery calcium (CAC more than 0) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT more than P75% as a continuous variable) as dependent ones. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were presented crude, with further adjustments for sociodemographic, cardiovascular risk factors, and lifestyle variables. Linear regression models were built for CIMT using the same covariates. RESULTS: Although significant associations were observed in the crude models, after multivariate adjustment CAC and CIMT were not significantly associated with demand, skill discretion, decision authority, and social support. CONCLUSIONS: Our results did not support an association between job stress and subclinical cardiovascular disease measured by CAC or CIMT.

Work-related stress and cognitive performance among middle-aged adults: The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

Assessing risk factors exposure, such as stress in the workplace during adulthood, may contribute to detecting early signs of cognitive impairment in order to implement effective actions to improve brain health and consequently to decrease cognitive disorders later in life. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to investigate whether work-related stress is associated with low cognitive performance in middle-aged adults from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) and whether social support mediates this relationship. Work-related stress was evaluated in 9,969 workers using the Demand-Control-Support Questionnaire. Cognitive function was assessed using the verbal fluency, trail-making version B, and delayed recall word tests. Work-related stress was associated with lower performance on the delayed recall, verbal fluency, and executive function tests in middle-aged adults. Social support may mediate the association between work demands and cognitive performance. These findings support that work-related stress is associated with cognitive performance during adulthood.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease presence and severity are associated with aortic stiffness beyond abdominal obesity: The ELSA-Brasil.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: It is uncertain whether non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with aortic stiffness in a racial/ethnically diverse and admixed society. We addressed whether NAFLD presence and severity were associated with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) in individuals free of cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In 7196 individuals free of cardiovascular disease at the baseline Brazilian longitudinal study of adult health, we classified NAFLD presence and severity (mild, moderate and severe) by ultrasound hepatic attenuation. We measured cf-PWV using a non-invasive validated device (Complior SP, Artech Medicale France). We compared cf-PWV of NAFLD individuals to those without by analysis of covariance adjusted for demographics, life style, waist circumference, and arterial pressure. We also analyzed the cf-PWV trend from no-NAFLD to severe NAFLD. RESULTS: In unadjusted analysis, from no-NAFLD to severe NAFLD, there were slightly older individuals, lower frequency of smokers, more prevalent diabetes and hypertension. In adjusted analysis, there was slightly higher cf-PWV (m/s) (95%CI) in NAFLD vs. no-NAFLD, respectively 9.32 (9.22, 9.41) and 9.24 (9.15, 9.33) (p = 0.037). Across NAFLD severity spectrum, adjusted cf-PWV increased from 9.24 (9.15, 9.33) in no-NAFLD to 9.69 (9.46, 9.93) in severe NAFLD (p for trend association = 0.001). In sensitivity analysis, diabetes adjustment nullified the association of binary NAFLD with cf-PWV, but not that of increasingly severe NAFLD. CONCLUSIONS: In racial/ethnically diverse individuals free of cardiovascular disease, NAFLD is associated with aortic stiffness beyond abdominal obesity. The specific NAFLD impact on CVD worldwide is potentially relevant.

Inconsistent Correlation Between Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness and Peripheral Arterial Tonometry: Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

To estimate the association between 2 markers for atherosclerosis, measurements of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and of peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT), and to evaluate the role of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in this association.We applied the 2 diagnostic tests to 588 participants from the ELSA-Brazil longitudinal study cohort. The PAT measurements, obtained with the EndoPAT2000, were the reactive hyperemia index (RHI), the Framingham RHI (F-RHI), and the mean basal pulse amplitude (BPA). We used the mean of the mean scores of carotid IMT of the distal layers of the left and right common carotids obtained by ultrasonography after 3 cardiac cycles. We used linear regression and the Spearman correlation coefficient to test the relationship between the 2 markers, and multiple linear regressions to exam the relationship between the RHI/F-RHI scores and the mean BPA and IMT scores after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors.In the multivariate analysis, RHI (but not F-RHI) was positively correlated with the mean of the means of the IMT values after adjusting for sex and risk factors connected with both measures (ß = 0.05, P = 0.02). Mean BPA did not remain significantly associated with IMT after adjusting for common risk factors.We found that the higher the IMT (or the worse the IMT), the higher the RHI (or the better the endothelial function). F-RHI was not associated with IMT. These 2 results are against the direction that one would expect and may imply that digital endothelial function (RHI and F-RHI) and IMT correspond to distinct and independent stages of the complex atherosclerosis process and represent different pathways in the disease's progression. Therefore, IMT and PAT measures may be considered complementary and not interchangeable.

Validaçäo de questionário para diagnóstico de cefaléia em ambulatório de hospital universitário / Validation of a headache questionnarie in an outpatient clinic of an university hospital

A cefaléia é sintoma de alta prevalência na populaçäo, sendo queixa frequente na prática clínica. Cursa geralmente com exame físico geral e neurológico normais. A triagem de pacientes com cefaléia facilitaria o atendimento em centros médicos näo especializados. No presente estudo utilizou-se um questionário baseado nos critérios da Sociedade Internacional de Cefaléias modificado pelos autores em 204 pacientes de ambulatório do Hospital das Clínicas da FMUSP. Metade destes pacientes foi submetida a conculta clínica. Os resultados do questionário foram entäo comparados com os resultados da consulta clínica (padräo-ouro). As cefaléias encontradas eram primárias (89,6 por cento) na sua maioria. O questionário demonstrou sensibilidade de 90,2 por cento para detecçäo das enxaquecas e especificidade de 57,9 por cento, com coeficiente de comparaçäo (kappa) de 0,47, e valor preditivo positivo (VPP) de 65,7 por cento e um valor preditivo negativo (VPN) de 86,8. A sensibilidade para detecçäo de cefaléia do tipo-tensional foi 60,8 por cento e a especificidade foi 87,1 por cento com kappa de 0,49, e VPP de 77,8 por cento e VPN de 75,9. Concluíram que esse questionário pode ser utilizado como um método de triagem para o diagnóstico de cefaléias, podendo ser aplicado por pessoal nao médico. Futuramente, ele poderá ser utilizado em estudos populacionais.

Anemia megaloblástica: importância diagnóstico da hipersegmentaçäo de neutrófilos quando da associaçäo com a deficiência de ferro

Este trabalho teve como objetivo apontar método simples e rápido que permita o diagnóstico de anemia megaloblástica. Foram estudados 31 pacientes internados nas enfermarias gerais do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina e do Hospital Geral Universitário do Universidade de Säo Paulo, com diagnóstico inicial de "anemia a esclarecer". Destacou-se como de fundamental importância o aumento da segmentaçäo de neutrófilos positiva em 100% de nossos pacientes, até mesmo nos portadores de anemia mista por carência de ferro e folato com valores de volume corpuscular médio e desidrogenase láctica dentro dos limites da normalidade. Cabe ressaltar a grande incidência de complicaçöes cardiovasculares, septicemias e hemorragias decorrentes da anemia megaloblástica em nosso meio, mostrando que, apesar de ser doença de rápido diagnóstico e fácil tratamento, ainda é responsavel por uma taxa de mortalidade de 7% nos pacientes incluídos neste estudo. Cumpre ainda destacar que na investigaçäo de uma pancitopenia deve sempre ser levantada a hipótese diagnóstica de anemia megaloblástica, visto que em 80% dos nossos doentes esta foi a apresentaçäo encontrada no sangue periférico, e, por outro lado, das pancitopenias internadas em nossas enfermarias, no período de estudo, 65% foram diagnosticadas como anemia megaloblástica