"Comfort-foods" chronic intake has different behavioral and neurobiological effects in male rats exposed or not to early-life stress.

The ability of "comfort-food" (CF) diet to revert long-term effects of early-life stress (ELS) is less well known. The objective of this study was to verify if the chronic exposure to CF diet in animals submitted to ELS could relief the stress response at behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neurobiochemical levels, via differences in glucocorticoid receptors expression in brain areas involved in the stress response. From the second day of life, litters of Wistar rats and their mothers were submitted to the reduced nesting material protocol (ELS). In adult life, ELS and a control group were exposed chronically to two diet schemes: standard rat chow only or both "CF" diet, containing fat (34%) and sugar (20%) and a diet similar to the standard diet. Anxiety-like behavior, neuroendocrine response stress, leptin, GR, SOCS-3, pSTAT3, and the abdominal fat were evaluated. The anxiety-like behavior results showed that ELS group when exposed to comfort food were not different from the others groups. Chronic exposure to CF diet induced an anxiety-like behavior in the control group. Groups chronically exposed to CF diet had lower levels of corticosterone over time independent of the neonatal group. The ELS group exposed to the "CF" diet had higher levels of hippocampal GR, lower levels of hypothalamic SOCS-3 and greater accumulation of abdominal fat. Chronic CF diet consumption is able to reduce corticosterone levels independent of the neonatal history, but is associated with anxiety-like behavior in animals without previous history of trauma. Metabolic disturbances like increased adiposity and altered SOCS-3 seem to be a result of multiple insults (neonatal trauma followed by chronic CF diet). We highlight that the Control-chow and ELS-chow data were previously published, and are included in this study for comparative analysis.

Genetic profile of Brazilian patients with dystrophinopathies.

Different types of mutations in the DMD gene underlie Duchenne muscular dystrophies (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophies (BMD). Large deletions and duplications are the most frequent causative genetic alterations worldwide, but little is known about DMD/BMD genetic profile in Brazil. Hence, we recruited patients with DMD and BMD from 8 neuromuscular reference centers along the country, and performed a comprehensive molecular investigation that included Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification and Next generation sequencing (NGS) analyses. We evaluated 199 patients from 177 unrelated families: 166 with DMD, 32 with BMD and 1 1.5 years old asymptomatic patient with persistent hiperCKemia. Overall, large deletions (58.2%) followed by nonsense mutations (12.4%) and large duplications (11.3%) were the most frequent variants in Brazilian families. Large deletions were less frequent in BMD than in DMD (44.8% vs 60.8%). We identified 19 new DMD variants. Nonsense mutations were significantly more frequent in patients from northeastern region than from southern/southeastern regions of Brazil (27.7% vs 8.5%, P < .05). Genetic profile of Brazilian patients with DMD/BMD is similar to previously reported cohorts, but it is not uniform across the country. This information is important to plan rational clinical care for patients in face of the new coming mutation-specific therapies.

Genomic analysis of Brazilian patients with Fabry disease

Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal disorder due to a-galactosidase A deficiency that causes storage of globotriaosylceramide. The gene coding for this lysosomal enzyme is located on the long arm of the X chromosome, in region Xq21.33-Xq22. Disease progression leads to vascular disease secondary to involvement of kidney, heart and the central nervous system. Detection of female carriers based solely on enzyme assays is often inconclusive. Therefore, mutation analysis is a valuable tool for diagnosis and genetic counseling. Many mutations of the a-galactosidase A gene have been reported with high genetic heterogeneity, being most mutations private found in only one family. The disease is panethnic, and estimates of incidence range from about 1 in 40,000 to 60,000 males. Our objective was to describe the analysis of 6 male and 7 female individuals belonging to 4 different Fabry disease families by automated sequencing of the seven exons of the a-galactosidase gene. Sequencing was performed using PCR fragments for each exon amplified from DNA extracted from peripheral blood. Three known mutations and one previously described in another Brazilian family were detected. Of 7 female relatives studied, 4 were carriers. Although the present study confirms the heterogeneity of mutations in Fabry disease, the finding of the same mutation previously detected in another Fabry family from our region raises the possibility of some founder effect, or genetic drift. Finally, the present study highlights the importance of molecular analysis for carrier detection and genetic counseling.

Correlation between lactose absorption and the C/T-13910 and G/A-22018 mutations of the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) gene in adult-type hypolactasia

The C/T-13910 mutation is the major factor responsible for the persistence of the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) gene expression. Mutation G/A-22018 appears to be only in co-segregation with C/T-13910. The objective of the present study was to assess the presence of these two mutations in Brazilian individuals with and without lactose malabsorption diagnosed by the hydrogen breath test (HBT). Ten milk-tolerant and 10 milk-intolerant individuals underwent the HBT after oral ingestion of 50 g lactose (equivalent to 1 L of milk). Analyses for C/T-13910 and G/A-22018 mutations were performed using a PCR-based method. Primers were designed for this study based on the GenBank sequence. The CT/GA, CT/AA, and TT/AA genotypes (lactase persistence) were found in 10 individuals with negative HBT. The CC/GG genotype (lactase non-persistence) was found in 10 individuals, 9 of them with positive HBT results. There was a significant agreement between the presence of mutations in the LCT gene promoter and HBT results (kappa = -0.9, P < 0.001). The CT/AA genotype has not been described previously and seems to be related to lactase persistence. The present study showed a significant agreement between the occurrence of mutations G/A-22018 and C/T-13910 and lactose absorption in Brazilian subjects, suggesting that the molecular test used here could be proposed for the laboratory diagnosis of adult-type primary hypolactasia.

Correlation between lactose absorption and the C/T-13910 and G/A-22018 mutations of the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) gene in adult-type hypolactasia.

The C/T-13910 mutation is the major factor responsible for the persistence of the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) gene expression. Mutation G/A-22018 appears to be only in co-segregation with C/T-13910. The objective of the present study was to assess the presence of these two mutations in Brazilian individuals with and without lactose malabsorption diagnosed by the hydrogen breath test (HBT). Ten milk-tolerant and 10 milk-intolerant individuals underwent the HBT after oral ingestion of 50 g lactose (equivalent to 1 L of milk). Analyses for C/T-13910 and G/A-22018 mutations were performed using a PCR-based method. Primers were designed for this study based on the GenBank sequence. The CT/GA, CT/AA, and TT/AA genotypes (lactase persistence) were found in 10 individuals with negative HBT. The CC/GG genotype (lactase non-persistence) was found in 10 individuals, 9 of them with positive HBT results. There was a significant agreement between the presence of mutations in the LCT gene promoter and HBT results (kappa = -0.9, P < 0.001). The CT/AA genotype has not been described previously and seems to be related to lactase persistence. The present study showed a significant agreement between the occurrence of mutations G/A-22018 and C/T-13910 and lactose absorption in Brazilian subjects, suggesting that the molecular test used here could be proposed for the laboratory diagnosis of adult-type primary hypolactasia.

Genomic analysis of Brazilian patients with Fabry disease.

Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal disorder due to a-galactosidase A deficiency that causes storage of globotriaosylceramide. The gene coding for this lysosomal enzyme is located on the long arm of the X chromosome, in region Xq21.33-Xq22. Disease progression leads to vascular disease secondary to involvement of kidney, heart and the central nervous system. Detection of female carriers based solely on enzyme assays is often inconclusive. Therefore, mutation analysis is a valuable tool for diagnosis and genetic counseling. Many mutations of the a-galactosidase A gene have been reported with high genetic heterogeneity, being most mutations private found in only one family. The disease is panethnic, and estimates of incidence range from about 1 in 40,000 to 60,000 males. Our objective was to describe the analysis of 6 male and 7 female individuals belonging to 4 different Fabry disease families by automated sequencing of the seven exons of the alpha-galactosidase gene. Sequencing was performed using PCR fragments for each exon amplified from DNA extracted from peripheral blood. Three known mutations and one previously described in another Brazilian family were detected. Of 7 female relatives studied, 4 were carriers. Although the present study confirms the heterogeneity of mutations in Fabry disease, the finding of the same mutation previously detected in another Fabry family from our region raises the possibility of some founder effect, or genetic drift. Finally, the present study highlights the importance of molecular analysis for carrier detection and genetic counseling.

Improvement of sympathetic skin responses under enzyme replacement therapy in Fabry disease.

AIM: To report the effect of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in sympathetic skin responses (SSR) of patients with Fabry disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seven male patients were included in an open-label protocol using agalsidase-alfa, continued at regular intervals. Five patients completed 24 months of ERT and two of them completed 18 months. Two main measurements were performed at baseline, as well as 1 and 2 years after ERT: (1) a standard neurological examination (NE), with a detailed evaluation of the sensory perception of light touch, pinprick, cold, hot, and vibratory stimuli; (2) the SSR amplitudes. RESULTS: Although there were no significant differences between NE in this time period, all patients reported general improvement in their subjective reports of acroparaesthesia and sweating. Before starting ERT, the SSR amplitudes were either too small (3/7 patients) or absent (4/7 patients): the average (range) amplitude of 122 microV (0 through 492) was statistically smaller than that found in a control group, i.e. 1453.6 microV (619.7-2754) (p<0.0001, t-test). Mean +/- SD SSR amplitude increased to 1088+/- 690 microV in the second year of ERT, reaching the range found in a normal control group (p=0.004). CONCLUSION: ERT improved SSR continuously in Fabry patients in 2 years of observation. Although the mechanism of the SSR improvement is unknown, this response to ERT can be clinically significant if it reflects a normalization in sweating.