Association between ACVR2A and early-onset preeclampsia: replication study in a Northeastern Brazilian population.

INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia is a complex and heterogeneous disease with increased risk of maternal mortality, especially for earlier gestational onset. There is a great inconsistency regarding the genetics of preeclampsia across the literature. The gene Activin A receptor, type IIA (ACVR2A), was reported as associated to preeclampsia in Australian/New Zealand and Norwegian populations. The goal of this study was to validate this genetic association in a Brazilian population. METHODS: We performed a case-control study using 693 controls and 613 cases (443 preeclampsia, 64 eclampsia and 106 HELLP syndrome), from a Northeastern Brazilian population. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ACVR2A were tested for association through multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: There was no statistical association with preeclampsia (per se), eclampsia or HELLP. However, by grouping preeclampsia in accordance to the gestational age at delivery, SNPs rs1424954 (OR = 1.86; 95% CI, 1.25-2.78; p = 0.002) and rs1014064 (OR = 1.77; 95% CI, 1.21-2.60; p = 0.004) were significantly associated with early onset preeclampsia (gestational age ≤ 34 weeks). The risk haplotype had a frequency of 0.468 in early preeclampsia compared to 0.316 in controls (p = 0.0008 and permuted p = 0.002). DISCUSSION: Activin A receptors are important in decidualization, trophoblast invasion and placentation processes during pregnancy. The gene ACVR2A was associated with the more severe early onset preeclampsia. This finding supports the hypothesis of different pathogenic mechanisms contributing to the early- and late-onset preeclampsia.

Systematization, distribuiton and Territory of the rostral cerebral artery on the brain surface in chinchilla

The present study has analyzed thirty chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) brains, injected with latex, aiming tosystematize and describe the distribution and the vascularization territories of the rostral cerebral artery. Therostral cerebral artery was the terminal branch of the terminal branch, right and left, of the basilar artery,projected from the emittion of the middle cerebral artery, rostromedially, crossing dorsally the optic nerve untilit reaches the cerebral longitudinal fissure, ventrally. Its branches were distributed mostly on the paleopallium,supplying the olfactory trigone, the medial olfactory tract, the olfactory peduncle and the olfactory bulb.The branches to the neopallium vascularized the entire medial surface, except for the tenctorial part of it, thefrontal pole and a zone that was extended from the frontal to the occipital poles, medially to the vallecula,on the convex surface of the cerebral hemisphere. The first collateral branch of the rostral cerebral artery wasthe medial branch, which entered into the longitudinal fissure of the brain and continued as rostral interhemisphericartery. The rostral cerebral artery continued rostrally emitting central branches and the medialand lateral arteries of the olfactory bulb, to the paleopallial region of the chinchilla brain. After the emittion ofthe medial artery of the olfactory bulb, the rostral cerebral artery continued to follow the cerebral longitudinalfissure, as internal ethmoidal artery, its terminal branch.

Systematization, distribution and territory of the middle cerebral artery on the brain surface in chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera).

The aim of the present study was to analyse thirty chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) brains, injected with latex, and to systematize and describe the distribution and the vascularization territories of the middle cerebral artery. This long vessel, after it has originated from the terminal branch of the basilar artery, formed the following collateral branches: rostral, caudal and striated (perforating) central branches. After crossing the lateral rhinal sulcus, the middle cerebral artery emitted a sequence of rostral and caudal convex hemispheric cortical collateral branches on the convex surface of the cerebral hemisphere to the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. Among the rostral convex hemispheric branches, a trunk was observed, which reached the frontal and parietal lobes and, in a few cases, the occipital lobe. The vascular territory of the chinchilla's middle cerebral artery included, in the cerebral hemisphere basis, the lateral cerebral fossa, the caudal third of the olfactory trigone, the rostral two-thirds of the piriform lobe, the lateral olfactory tract, and most of the convex surface of the cerebral hemisphere, except for a strip between the cerebral longitudinal fissure and the vallecula, which extended from the rostral to the caudal poles bordering the cerebral transverse fissure.

Pesticide monitoring programme of the Ministry of Health of Brazil.

The structure of the recently introduced Brazilian government programme for monitoring pesticide residues in six major agricultural products is described. Residues found from the analysis of samples of tomatoes and strawberries are discussed in detail. The much greater frequency of detection of pesticide residues, many of which are not approved for use in Brazil, in produce being sold on the domestic market, as opposed to that produced for export, is of major concern. It is perceived that this new monitoring programme will become permanent and be used to underpin enforcement actions that will need to be taken to reduce the numbers of incidents of illegal residues occurring, particularly in fresh fruits and vegetables.