Effect of a cholesterol-rich diet on the metabolism of the free and esterified cholesterol components of a nanoemulsion that resembles LDL in rabbits

We have shown that the free cholesterol (FC) and the cholesteryl ester (CE) moieties of a nanoemulsion with lipidic structure resembling low-density lipoproteins show distinct metabolic fate in subjects and that this may be related to the presence of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. The question was raised whether induction of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in rabbits would affect the metabolic behavior of the two cholesterol forms. Male New Zealand rabbits aged 4-5 months were allocated to a control group (N = 17) fed regular chow and to a 1 percent cholesterol-fed group (N = 13) during a 2-month period. Subsequently, the nanoemulsion labeled with ³H-FC and 14C-CE was injected intravenously for the determination of plasma kinetics and tissue uptake of the radioactive labels. In controls, FC and CE had similar plasma kinetics (fractional clearance rate, FCR = 0.234 ± 0.056 and 0.170 ± 0.038 h-1, respectively; P = 0.065). In cholesterol-fed rabbits, the clearance of both labels was delayed and, as a remarkable feature, FC-FCR (0.089 ± 0.033 h-1) was considerably greater than CE-FCR (0.046 ± 0.010 h-1; P = 0.026). In the liver, the major nanoemulsion uptake site, uptake of the labels was similar in control animals (FC = 0.2256 ± 0.1475 and CE = 0.2135 ± 0.1580 percent/g) but in cholesterol-fed animals FC uptake (0.0890 ± 0.0319 percent/g) was greater than CE uptake (0.0595 ± 0.0207 percent/g; P < 0.05). Therefore, whereas in controls, FC and CE have similar metabolism, the induction of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis resulted in dissociation of the two forms of cholesterol.

Clinical, radiological and cerebrospinal fluid presentation of neurocysticercosis: a prospective study

O amplo espectro clínico da neurocisticercose deu espaço a muitas tentativas de classificaçöes clínicas, radiológicas e de LCR, entre outras. Baseados em revisäo objetiva da literatura relevante e em estudo prospectivo de 42 casos de doença ativa, nova classificaçäo é proposta com base em evidências clínicas, tomográficas, de ressonância magnética ou LCR indicando viabilidade de cistos. O primeiro passo é establelecer se a doença é ou näo ativa. Doença ativa pode ser intra ou extraparenquimatosa, ou mista. Análise estatística de 42 casos com doença ativa demonstra que doença intraparenquimatosa ocorre em um grupo mais jovem, talvez mais no sexo feminino, e tem melhor prognóstico que doença extraparenquimatosa ou mista. Doença mista parece ter o pior prognóstico. Implicaçöes terapêuticas säo que somente doença ativa deve receber tratamento etiológico. Permanecem dúvidas sobre a melhor conduta em algumas formas infreqüentes de doença extraparenquimatosa ou mista