Dietary fat may modulate adipose tissue homeostasis through the processes of autophagy and apoptosis.

PURPOSE: Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cancer development. Autophagy and apoptosis are critical processes for development and homeostasis in multicellular organisms and have been linked to a variety of disorders. We aimed to investigate whether the quantity and quality of dietary fat can influence these processes in the adipose tissue of obese people. METHODS: A randomized, controlled trial within the LIPGENE study assigned 39 obese people with metabolic syndrome to 1 of 4 diets: (a) a high-saturated fatty acid diet, (b) a high-monounsaturated fatty acid (HMUFA) diet, and (c, d) two low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diets supplemented with long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LFHCC n-3) or placebo (LFHCC), for 12 weeks each. RESULTS: We found an increase in the expression of autophagy-related BECN1 and ATG7 genes after the long-term consumption of the HMUFA diet (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively) and an increase in the expression of the apoptosis-related CASP3 gene after the long-term consumption of the LFHCC and LFHCC n-3 diets (p = 0.001 and p = 0.029, respectively). CASP3 and CASP7 gene expression changes correlated with HOMA index. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the processes of autophagy and apoptosis in adipose tissue may be modified by diet and that the consumption of a diet rich in monounsaturated fat may contribute to adipose tissue homeostasis by increasing autophagy. They also reinforce the notion that apoptosis in adipose tissue is linked to insulin resistance. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00429195.

Additive effects of cannabinoid CB1 receptors blockade and cholecystokinin on feeding inhibition.

Cannabinoid CB1 receptor and cholecystokinin-1 (CCK(1)) receptors are located in peripheral nerve terminals of the gut, where they mediate satiety signals. Here we describe a detailed analysis of the interaction of both receptors in the control of feeding of food-deprived rats. Male Wistar rats were deprived for food 24h before testing. Rats were pre-treated with SR141716A (Rimonabant) or WIN 55,212-2 before CCK-8 sulphated administration and tested for food intake 60, 120 and 240 min after last drug injection. In parallel, the effect of Lorglumide--a CCK(1) receptor antagonist--pre-treatment was evaluated on feeding behaviour after SR141716A administration. Results show that SR141716A activates c-Fos expression in brainstem areas receiving vagal inputs. Blockade of CB1 receptors with SR141716A (1 mg/kg) reduces feeding and display additive satiety induction with the CCK(1) receptor agonist CCK-8 sulphated (5, 10, 25 µg/kg). The effect of SR141716A is not blocked by Lorglumide (10 mg/kg), indicating independent sites of action. Conversely, the administration of the CB1 agonist WIN 55,212-2 (2 mg/kg) reduced satiety induced by CCK-8. In conclusion, these results report additive anorectic actions for CCK1 activation and peripheral CB1 receptor blockade providing a framework for combined therapies in the treatment of eating disorders.

Nicotine in alcohol deprivation increases alcohol operant self-administration during reinstatement.

Tobacco and alcohol are highly co-abused by humans. Most experimental studies have evaluated ethanol consumption in animals exposed concomitantly to nicotine. However, little is known regarding the effects of nicotine administered during periods of alcohol deprivation. In the present study, adult male Wistar rats with an extended background of operant self-administration of ethanol were alcohol-deprived and treated with nicotine (0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg) or saline during five consecutive days in one chamber of a place conditioning apparatus. Nicotine-induced changes in locomotion were monitored daily, whereas the expression of place conditioning was studied the day after the last nicotine injection. Forty-eight hours after testing for conditioning, the animals resumed operant self-administration of ethanol and their alcohol intake was evaluated during the next 14 days. We observed that alcohol consumption was increased in animals treated with nicotine at doses of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg but not in animals treated with the dose of 0.1 mg/kg or saline. Additionally, the dose of 0.8 mg/kg of nicotine not only induced persistent changes in alcohol self-administration but also produced conditioned place aversion and depressed locomotor activity. These results indicate that nicotine administration during the ethanol deprivation period can exacerbate the maintenance of alcohol consumption.

[Bourneville's tuberous sclerosis associated with double uterus and vagina (didelphic uterus)]. / Esclerosis tuberosa de Bourneville asociada a duplicidad uterovaginal (útero didelfo).

INTRODUCTION: We describe a case that fulfill the diagnostic criteria for the tuberous sclerosis (Bourneville disease), and presents a double uterus and double vagina (didelphic uterus). We have not found any reference ti this association in the literature (MEDLINE search from July 1986 to December 1996). CLINICAL CASE: A 38-year-old woman with mental retardation and seizures who has been with carbamazepine since age 14. In 1979 a double vagina was diagnosed and a resection of a vaginal thin wall was performed. Laparoscopy showed a double uterus and multiple granulations of mesothelial proliferation in the Douglas sac. She has a remarkable behavior disorder with conjugal and familiar problems as well as a chronic renal insufficiency. The examination show a patient with a mental retardation, cutaneous hypopigmentation, facial adenomas sebaceums of Pringle, and ataxia, the rest of exploration was normal. The cranial CT show multiples calcified subependymal nodules. An abdominopelvic CT revealed several lesions in the liver parenchymal, and the pancreas head, compatible with hamartomas or lipomas, big kidneys with bilateral cysts and angiomyolipomas, and didelphic uterus. The cytogenetic study showed a normal karyotype (46,XX) and the molecular cytogenetic study (Fluorescence in situ hybridization, FISH) of chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12 and 16 showed no chromosomal reangement. CONCLUSIONS: Eventhough both Bourneville disease and didelphic uterus have individually been associated with chromosomal abnormalities, our cytogenetic studies show no chromosomal reangement or abnormality despite the coexistence of both disease in our patient. In the bibliographic search that we have performed we have not found any report of a case like the one we describe here.

[Cleidocranial dysostosis. Presentation of a case]. / Disostosis cleidocraneal. Presentación de un caso.

INTRODUCTION: Cleidocranial dysostosis is a syndrome defined by three characteristic findings: clavicular aplasia, retarded cranial ossification, and autosomic dominant hereditary transmission, with completed penetrance and full expression. However, the diagnosis cannot only be made based on those finding, because the polymorphism and extension of the lesions of this disease is important. Therefore, in this disease we can see upset in the second teething, short stature or dwarf, persistence of the biconvex appearance of vertebral body, bone hypoplastic iliac, retarded pubis branch ossification, wedge shape distal phalanges or with brachymesophalangia of the forefinger and fifth finger. CLINICAL CASE: We describe a 20 years old man, with cleidocranial dysostosis, without familiar antecedent (probable mutation), that come to our center for treatment of denture pathology with disabled eating, because anomalous distribution and eruption. He had clavicle agenesis, cranial ossification upset with wormian bones, vertebral bodies biconvex, superior maxillary hypoplastic, and dental packed in the superior maxillary and jawbone. CONCLUSIONS: Cleidocranial dysostosis is a hereditary disease, which can be of spontaneous apparition (mutation), has a grand polymorphism, affect the osseous development, predominate in the middle line membranous bone and is an entity of radiologic diagnosis.

[Trans-ethmoid meningocele diagnosed in adults. Description of one case]. / Meningocele transetmoidal. Diagnóstico en edad adulta: presentación de un caso.

The meningocele and encephalocele are extracranial herniation of single meninges or meninges with brain tissue, through cranial defect. This pathology can be classificated according to contain or localization. The trans-etmoidal encephalocele is the 5% of meningoencephaloceles, and they are the 8-19% of all neural tube dysraphism. We report a 54 year-old woman with a spontaneous rhinorrhea due to an trans-ethmoidal meningocele associate with a recurrent meningitis. The computed tomographic (CT) revealed a trans-ethmoidal meningocele and she was treated with surgery. In presence of a patient with recurrent meningitis is necessary value the possibility of rhinorrhea, and an exhausted radiology study will be fulfill for identify the opening in the skull through leak CSF, and offer the best treatment. The transetmoidal can be a cause of rhinorrhea. The CT scan study of anterior fosa is a good method for diagnostic of this pathology, however, the IRM is the election method.

Serum osteocalcin in normal menstrual cycle.

Serum osteocalcin (OC) was serially measured along an ovulatory menstrual cycle in 4 healthy unmedicated volunteers (age 33-38 years). During the study the women maintained their normal diet and daily physical activity. Starting at days 4-5 of the cycle, blood samples were taken between 09-11 AM every 2 or 3 days for OC, FSH, LH, E2 and P determinations. Daily ultrasound assessment of ovulation was performed in all subjects between days 7-18 of the cycle. Hormone determinations and OC were performed by RIA. While blood levels of FSH, LH, E2 and P changed during the cycle, according to the expected ovulatory pattern, serum OC concentrations remained stable during the cycle in each subject. In conclusion, serum OC is independent of the gonadotropin and ovarian steroid variations during the normal menstrual cycle.

Serum osteocalcin in normal menstrual cycle

La concentración de Osteocalcina (OC) es un buen marcador del remodelamiento óseo. La influencia del estradiol sobre la OC ha sido descrita en el embarazo, lactancia y postmenopausia. No existe acuerdo si los cambios en la concentración plasmática de estradiol del ciclo menstrual normal se relacionan con modificaciones de la OC. En este estudio la OC sérica fue medida seriadamente a lo largo de un ciclo mesntrual normal en 4 voluntarias sanas, libres de toda medicación (edad 33-38 años). Durante el estudio las mujeres mantuvieron su dieta y actividad física habitual. A partir del día 4 ó 5 del ciclo, se tomaron muestras de sangre entre las 09 y 11 am, cada 2 ó 3 días, para determinación de OC, FSH, LH, E2 y P. Se realizó seguimiento folicular ecográfico día por medio entre los días 7 y 18 del ciclo. Las determinaciones hormonales fueron realizadas por RIA utilizando reactivos aportados por la OMS. La OC fue determinada por RIA (incstar OC 125 I Kit, Incstar, Stillwater, MN) con límite de sensibilidad de 0,78 ng/ml y coeficiente de variación intraensayo de 4,6%. Todas las muestras fueron corridas en el mismo ensayo. El análisis estadístico incluyó la prueba de Kolmogorow-Smirnow (KS) y el coeficiente de correlación temporal de Sperman (S). Las concentraciones sanguíneas de FSH, LH, E2 y P cambiaron durante el estudio de acuerdo al caráter ovulatorio del ciclo. Como se muestra en la Tabla 1, las concentraciones de OC permanecieron estables a lo largo del ciclo en cada una de las 4 mujeres. Los valores de OC se expresan como promedio ñ ES de todas las muestras tomadas a lo largo del ciclo de cada mujer. d*: diferencia absoluta máxima entre el valor observado y la distribución teórica normal según la prueba de Kolmogorov. r**:, coeficiente de correlación temporal para los valores de OC. En conclusión, aparece como independiente de las variaciones de las gonadotrofinas y esteroides ováricos del ciclo menstrual normal. De este modo, la evaluación de la formación ósea no debería ser influenciada por el día o la fase del ciclo menstrual en el cual la muestra es obtenida

Direct non-invasive techniques for assessing coronary bypass graft patency.

Venous digital subtraction angiography (vDSA) and computed tomography (CT) are two non-invasive techniques that allow direct imaging of coronary grafts. Neither of them is 100% accurate when compared to selective angiography. We studied 52 patients with 107 coronary grafts (101 saphenous and 6 mammary artery grafts) by CT and vDSA. Fifty patients had control selective angiography and 2 had control digital arterial aortography. CT correctly diagnosed 88 of the 95 patent grafts and 8 out of the 12 occluded grafts (in 1 patient 3 patent grafts could not be well analyzed owing to artifacts from pacemaker wires). vDSA correctly identified 93 patent grafts and the 12 occluded grafts, allowing the correct diagnosis of the 11 non/or misdiagnosed CT grafts. CT allowed the correct identification of the 2 misdiagnosed vDSA grafts. These results show that when there was agreement between CT and vDSA there were no diagnostic errors and that the combination of these two non-invasive techniques may avoid selective angiography for studying coronary bypass graft patency.