Correlação e associação de renda e escolaridade com condições de saúde e nutrição em obesos graves / Correlation and association of income and educational level with health and nutritional conditions among the morbidly obese

O objetivo deste artigo é investigar relações entre renda e escolaridade com condições de saúde e nutrição em obesos graves. Estudo transversal ambulatorial com 79 pacientes de primeira consulta, com Índice de Massa Corporal (IMC) ≥ 35 kg/m2 e idade ≥ 20 anos. Coletaram-se dados: sociodemográficos, antropométricos, estilo de vida, exames bioquímicos e consumo alimentar. O IMC médio foi 48,3 ± 6,9 kg/m2. Observou-se correlação negativa significante de escolaridade com variáveis peso (r = -0,234) e IMC (r = -0,364) e de renda familiar per capita com consumo diário de vegetal A (r = -0,263). Após análise multivariada maior renda familiar per capita se associou à ausência de cardiopatia (RP: 0,51, IC95%: 0,32-0,81), maior consumo diário de vegetal A (RP: 1,79, IC95%: 1,16-2,75) e doces (RP: 3,12, IC95%: 1,21-8,04). Em obesos graves a maior renda familiar per capita se associou à ausência de cardiopatia e maior consumo de vegetais folhosos e doces. Já a escolaridade não se manteve associada às condições de saúde e nutrição.

This article seeks to investigate the relationship between income and educational level and health and nutritional conditions among the morbidly obese. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 79 patients at first appointment, with Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 35 kg/m2 and age ≥ 20 years. The following data was collected: demographic, socioeconomic, anthropometric, lifestyle, biochemical and food intake data. Average BMI was 48.3 ± 6.9 kg/m2. There was a significant negative correlation between education level and the variables of weight (r = -0.234) and BMI (r = -0.364) and per capita family income with daily consumption of leafy vegetables (r = -0.263). After multivariate analysis, higher per capita family income was associated with the absence of heart disease (PR: 0.51, CI95%: 0.32-0.81), higher daily consumption of leafy vegetables (PR: 1.79, CI95%: 1.16-2.75) and candy (PR: 3.12, CI95%: 1.21-8.04). In the morbidly obese, per capita household income was associated with absence of heart disease and higher consumption of leafy vegetables and candy. On the other hand, education level was not associated with health and nutrition conditions.

Caracterização funcional do gene maBMY que codifica para uma `BETA´-amilase endereçada a plastídeos e expressa durante o amadurecimento da banana / Functional characterization of maBMY gene that encodes a `BETA´-amylase targeted to plastids and expressed during banana ripening

O amadurecimento dos frutos é um processo caracterizado pela ocorrência de diversas alterações bioquímicas que ocorrem em um curto intervalo de tempo e que são importantes para a qualidade desses alimentos. Na banana uma das características mais importantes é o adoçamento do fruto, que ocorre como resultado da degradação do amido e acúmulo de sacarose. Resultados do nosso grupo apontam a ´BETA` amilase como uma enzima importante no processo de mobilização do amido, o que também é visto em estudos recentes utilizando Arabidopsis thaliana como modelo, os quais mostram que a principal via de degradação do amido transitório presente nas folhas ocorre pela ação da ´BETA`-amilase. Entretanto, em bananas, faltam evidências quanto à funcionalidade de um gene de ´BETA`amilase, parcialmente isolado da polpa do fruto, e que é expresso durante o amadurecimento e que parece ser modulado por hormônios vegetais. Em vista disso, esse trabalho objetivou realizar a caracterização funcional desse gene, a qual permitiu constatar que esse gene codifica, de fato, para uma proteína capaz de ser endereçada aos cloroplastos. Também foi observado que o promotor desse gene contém motivos regulatórios para os mesmos hormônios previamente relacionados com a modulação da expressão desse gene em bananas. Essas novas evidências reforçam a idéia de que o produto desse gene de ´BETA`amilase tem um importante papel no processo de degradação do amido durante o amadurecimento da banana...

Identification of a root-specific glycosyltransferase from Arabidopsis and characterization of its promoter.

A set of Ds-element enhancer trap lines of Arabidopsis thaliana was generated and screened for expression patterns leading to the identification of a line that showed root-specific expression of the bacterial uidA reporter gene encoding beta-glucuronidase (GUS). The insertion of the Ds element was found to be immediately downstream to a glycosyltransferase gene At1g73160. Analysis of At1g73160 expression showed that it is highly root-specific. Isolation and characterization of the upstream region of the At1g73160 gene led to the definition of a 218 bp fragment that is sufficient to confer root-specific expression. Sequence analysis revealed that several regulatory elements were implicated in expression in root tissue. The promoter identified and characterized in this study has the potential to be applied in crop biotechnology for directing the root-specific expression of transgenes.

Cloning of an ovule specific promoter from Arabidopsis thaliana and expression of beta-glucuronidase.

Tissue specific expression of transgenes in plant species has several advantages over constitutive expression. Identification of ovule specific promoters would be useful in genetic engineering of plants with a variety of desirable traits such as genetically engineered parthenocarpy, female sterile plants or seedless fruits. Relative inaccessibility and difficulty in harvesting adequate amounts of tissue at known developmental stages has impeded the progress in cloning of promoters involved in ovule development. In the present study an ovule specific promoter was cloned from Arabidopsis AGL11 gene and used to express GUS (beta-glucuronidase) gene in transgenic Arabidopsis. Histochemical staining of GUS appeared in the center of young ovary (ovules), but no detectable GUS activity was observed in vegetative plant tissues, sepals, petals and androecium. AGL11 gene promoter can be useful to modify the developmental path of plants by expressing either plant hormones or lethal genes for agronomic purpose.

Expression of delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase gene during drought in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

The 45-days-old seedlings of drought resistant (N-22, CR143-2-2) and susceptible rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes (Panidhan, Pusa-169) were subjected to osmotic stress in PEG-6000 solution of -10 and -16 bar and the relative water content (RWC), proline content, and pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) activity and its P5CS expression were studied. A gradual decrease in RWC was observed in tolerant genotypes, whereas the decrease was drastic in susceptible ones. Proline content and P5CS activity increased both in susceptible and tolerant genotypes; the increase was higher in tolerant genotypes. Higher proline levels in tolerant genotypes were due to increased P5CS activity. The EcoRI, BamHI and XbaI restricted DNA of N-22 and Panidhan genotypes were hybridized with Arabidopsis P5CS sequence and a single band (approx 2.4 kb) was observed, however, P5CS expression was more in N-22 as compared to Panidhan.

Metabolite and light regulation of metabolism in plants: lessons from the study of a single biochemical pathway

We are using molecular, biochemical, and genetic approaches to study the structural and regulatory genes controlling the assimilation of inorganic nitrogen into the amino acids glutamine, glutamate, aspartate and asparagine. These amino acids serve as the principal nitrogen-transport amino acids in most crop and higher plants including Arabidopsis thaliana. We have begun to investigate the regulatory mechanisms controlling nitrogen assimilation into these amino acids in plants using molecular and genetic approaches in Arabidopsis. The synthesis of the amide amino acids glutamine and asparagine is subject to tight regulation in response to environmental factors such as light and to metabolic factors such as sucrose and amino acids. For instance, light induces the expression of glutamine synthetase (GLN2) and represses expression of asparagine synthetase (ASN1) genes. This reciprocal regulation of GLN2 and ASN1 genes by light is reflected at the level of transcription and at the level of glutamine and asparagine biosynthesis. Moreover, we have shown that the regulation of these genes is also reciprocally controlled by both organic nitrogen and carbon metabolites. We have recently used a reverse genetic approach to study putative components of such metabolic sensing mechanisms in plants that may be conserved in evolution. These components include an Arabidopsis homolog for a glutamate receptor gene originally found in animal systems and a plant PII gene, which is a homolog of a component of the bacterial Ntr system. Based on our observations on the biology of both structural and regulatory genes of the nitrogen assimilatory pathway, we have developed a model for metabolic control of the genes involved in the nitrogen assimilatory pathway in plants

Enhanced expression of a calcium-dependent protein kinase from the moss Funaria hygrometrica under nutritional starvation.

Among the downstream targets of calcium in plants, calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) form an interesting class of kinases which are activated by calcium binding. They have been implicated in a diverse array of responses to hormonal and environmental stimuli. In order to dissect the role of CDPKs in the moss Funaria hygrometrica, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based approach was adopted to clone the gene. Using degenerate PCR primers against conserved regions of CDPKs, a 900 bp amplicon was obtained from the genomic DNA of Funaria. Southern hybridization under low stringency conditions indicated the presence of several CDPK related sequences in the Funaria genome. This observation is consistent with reports of multigene families of CDPKs in other plants. The 900 bp fragment was subsequently used to isolate a 2.2 kb partial genomic clone of the CDPK gene from Funaria. The genomic clone encodes an open reading frame (ORF) of 518 amino acids. Interestingly, unlike other CDPK genes from plants, the entire 1.5 kb ORF is not interrupted by introns. The deduced amino acid sequence of the Funaria gene shows extensive homology with CDPKs from higher plants, 73% identity with the Fragaria CDPK and 71% identity with CDPK isoform 7 of Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Funaria CDPK is closer to the CDPKs from higher plants like strawberry and Arabidopsis as compared to those from lower plants such as the liverwort Marchantia, the green alga Chlamydomonas or another moss Tortula. Northern analysis shows enhanced expression of the CDPK transcript within 24-48 h of starvation for nitrogen, phosphorus or sulphur. So far the only other kinase which is known to be induced by nutrient starvation in plants is the wpk 4 which is a snf-1 related kinase (SnRKs). To our knowledge this is the first report that implicates a CDPK in the starvation response.