Development and Evaluation of a Low-cost Dairy Food Supplement with Mauritia Flexuosa (Buriti) to Combat Malnutrition: Translational Study in Mice and Institutionalized Elderly Woman.

AIMS: The present study aimed to develop and evaluate a new dairy by-product nutritional supplement with Buriti fruit to improve malnutrition in mice and elderly woman. BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a prevalent problem in the elderly; therefore, oral dietary supplementation is an important strategy to reduce this health problem incidence. OBJECTIVE: The present study evaluated the effects of a low-cost food supplement, made from byproducts of the dairy and fruit industry in the Brazilian Cerrado (Buriti), on the nutritional status and on the recovery of the metabolic profile of malnourished animals and elderly women. METHODS: In the pre-clinical phase, Swiss mice were divided into six groups and subjected to malnutrition and renutrition. The clinical phase was carried out with 25 elderly women residing in a long-term institution, aged ≥ 65 years and with malnutrition or risk of malnutrition. RESULTS: The main results showed improvements in anthropometric parameters and an increase in serum albumin levels, in addition to lipid profile improvement in the preclinical phase and an increase in the red blood cells and hemoglobin in the clinical phase. CONCLUSION: The supplement based on Buriti was able to reverse malnutrition promoting improvements in anthropometric and biochemical parameters.

Liver Damage Produced by Malnutrition is Improved by Dietary Supplementation in Mice: Assessment of a Supplement Based on Buriti (A Cerrado Fruit) and Dairy By-products.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition induced by dietary restriction produces several metabolic changes that affect body weight, the digestive system, and annex organs, including the liver. Malnutrition generates an inflammatory state and increases oxidative stress. The liver is one of the body vital organs, becoming necessary to analyze the impact of food supplementation on the repair of possible changes that may occur in this organ due to malnutrition. AIMS: To evaluate the effects of a low-cost supplementation derived from Buriti and dairy byproducts on liver recovery in malnourished mice, focusing on the expression of oxidative stressrelated genes, as well as biochemical and histological parameters. METHODS: Swiss mice were divided into six groups and submitted to two treatment phases: food restriction, for malnutrition onset; and renutrition, with mice being fed with different diets. RESULTS: Our results indicate that dietary supplementation was successful in recovering liver damage caused by malnutrition in animal models. The new supplement has been shown to recover liver damage with similar or superior results compared to the commercial reference supplement on the market. CONCLUSION: Our work presents a new composition of low cost food supplement based on buriti and dairy by-products, proven to be effective in the malnutrition treatment of malnutrition. The improvements were proven through the recovery of body weight, reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Contextual and individual determinants of tooth loss in adults: a multilevel study.

BACKGROUND: Tooth loss represents a known marker of health inequality. The association between tooth loss and unfavorable socioeconomic conditions is evident when analyzed at an individual level. However, the effects of contextual characteristics on tooth loss need to be better investigated and understood. The objective of this study was to analyze tooth loss among Brazilian adults (35-44 years of age), in accordance with individual and contextual social characteristics. METHODS: This was a multilevel cross-sectional study with data from 9564 adult participants from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey - SBBrasil 2010. The dependent variable was the number of lost teeth and the independent variables were grouped into structural (socioeconomic & political context) and intermediary (socioeconomic position, behavioral & biological factors, and health services) determinants. Multilevel Hierarchical Negative Binomial Regression was conducted and the Mean Ratio (MR) was estimated. RESULTS: Brazilian adults lost a mean of 7.57 (95% CI 7.1-8.1) teeth. Among the contextual variables, the number of teeth lost was higher among residents of municipalities with high and medium/low Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) and in municipalities that did not have public water fluoridation. Among the individual variables, dental loss was higher among those who declared themselves yellow/black/brown/indigenous, were older, who had lower income, who had never visited a dentist, who had used dental services for more than a year and those whose most recent visit to the dentist was due to oral health problems. On the other hand, dental loss was lower among adults with higher education levels and males. CONCLUSIONS: The number of missing teeth was associated with unfavorable contextual and individual conditions, which reinforces the need to reduce social inequality and guarantee regular, lifetime access to dental services.

Resveratrol increases brown adipose tissue thermogenesis markers by increasing SIRT1 and energy expenditure and decreasing fat accumulation in adipose tissue of mice fed a standard diet.

PURPOSE: Adipose tissue is central to the regulation of energy balance. Two functionally different fat pads are present in mammals: white adipose tissue, the primary site of triglyceride storage, and brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is specialized in heat production. In this context, new strategies capable of modulating the development and function of white and BAT become relevant. In the present study, we analyzed the influence of resveratrol (sirtuin activator) on energy balance and the expression of thermogenesis markers. METHODS: Mice were divided into two groups: standard diet (ST) and standard diet plus resveratrol (ST + RSV). RESULTS: After 2 months of treatment, ST + RSV mice presented significantly decreased fat accumulation in adipose tissue, with diminished total cholesterol and glucose plasma levels. Additionally, increased oxygen consumption was observed in ST + RSV group. Analyses of mRNA of thermogenesis-related genes showed significant increase in UCP1, SIRT1, PTEN and BMP-7 expression in BAT. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that improved metabolism produced by oral administration of resveratrol is, at least in part, associated with increased thermogenesis followed by high expression of UCP1 and SIRT1, which can mediate higher energy expenditure and decreased fat accumulation in adipose tissue.