Th17 / Treg ratio: A prospective study in a group of pregnant women with preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction.

INTRODUCTION: During pregnancy, the maternal immune system is challenged to tolerate a semi-allogenic fetus. A proinflammatory profile has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes and poor placental development. In this study, the authors evaluated the number of circulating Tregs and Th17 cells in a group of patients diagnosed with preeclampsia(PE) and fetal growth restriction(FGR). METHODS: Prospective longitudinal observational study where peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were analyzed in a cohort of pregnant patients with PE, FGR, and a control group of healthy pregnant women. RESULTS: The diagnosis of PE was associated with a significative higher number of circulating Th17 cells and a significative relative reduction in the Treg cell count. This proinflammatory profile was also expressed in the evolution of the Th17/ CD4+CD25highFOXP3+ Treg ratio. In the FGR group, the Th17 cell count was significantly higher during the third trimester of pregnancy. This proinflammatory profile was also expressed in the evolution of the Th17/ CD4+CD25highFOXP3+ Treg ratio. When we compare the immunological profiles of patients with PE and FGR we observed a higher number of proinflammatory Th17 cells and a significative lower number of Treg cells in PE patients. This is particularly expressed in the differences found between the Th17/ CD4+CD25highFOXP3+ Treg ratios of these two groups. Discussion/Conclusion Our data showed a that a proinflammatory profile and a relative excess of Th17 cells was associated with the diagnosis of PE and FGR. A more exuberant systemic proinflammatory profile present in the PE patients is absent in patients with FGR without preeclampsia.

The dynamics of Th17 / Treg ratio in SLE patients during pregnancy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic autoimmune disorder that affects women at childbearing age. During pregnancy, maternal immune system is challenged to tolerate a semi-allogenic fetus and a shift toward a tolerogenic profile is essential. Failure to develop this tolerogenic profile seems to be associated with the development of adverse obstetric outcomes. We conducted a prospective longitudinal observational study where peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were analyzed during pregnancy in a group of SLE patients and compared with healthy gestations. We observed a reduction in peripheric Treg cell count throughout all pregnancy in control patients, which was not observed in SLE patients. In contrast, the Th17 cell count remained stable in both groups. In the control group, the Treg/Th17 ratio decreased throughout pregnancy to the postpartum, which was not observed in the study group. These changes may be justified by the migration of the immunotolerant Treg cells to the maternal decidua and may lead to the establishment of a pro-inflammatory profile by the end of pregnancy in healthy pregnancies, which was not observed in the SLE pregnant patients. This pro-inflammatory state at the end of a healthy pregnancy may be necessary for the spontaneous beginning of labor and help to explain why systemic syndromes like preeclampsia develop during the second half of pregnancy. The lack of these findings in SLE patients may express a pro-inflammatory state from the beginning of pregnancy, the influence of immunomodulatory medication or an intrinsic deregulation of immune function, which is a characteristic of these patients.

Inclusion of Sunflower Oil in the Bovine Diet Improves Milk Nutritional Profile.

Milk and its derivatives are important foods that contribute to daily nutrient requirements and improve consumers' health. This study evaluated the effects of supplementing the diet of lactating dairy cows with sunflower oil (SFO), selenium, and vitamin E on the milk's fatty acid profile and fat oxidative stability as well as the acceptability of the milk by consumers. For this purpose, 32 Jersey dairy cows were allocated to four treatment groups for 60 days, as follows: C (control diet); A (3.5 mg/kg DM (dry matter) organic selenium + 2000 IU vitamin E/cow per day); O (4% SFO DM); OA (equal doses of A and O treatments). The inclusion of SFO decreased the contents of 10:0, 10:1, 11:0, 12:0, 12:1, 14:0, and 9c-14:1 fatty acids as well as odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (13:0, iso 13:0, anteiso 13:0, 15:0, iso 15:0, and 17:0). There was also a tendency for 8:0 and 16:0 fatty acid concentrations to decrease when SFO was included in the cows´ diet. SFO decreased the concentration of 10:0 to 15:0 fatty acids in milk. The sum of the conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), conjugated alpha-linolenic acid intermediates (CLnAs; 18:3 ω6 + 18:3 ω3), and 22:0 fatty acids in milk tended to increase, and there were significant increases in 18:0 and 9c11t-18:2 with SFO. In terms of the effects of SFO on the health-related lipid indices, the atherogenicity index tended to decrease and h/H tended to increase. When cows were supplemented with antioxidants, the concentration of 20:2 fatty acids decreased, the 6 + 7 + 8 + 9t-18:1, 16t-18:1, 20:0, 22:2, and 24:0 fatty acid concentrations increased, and there was a trend for the 22:1 ω9 fatty acid concentration to increase with antioxidants plus oil. There was a tendency for ω6 fatty acids and ω6/ω3 to increase with milk treated with antioxidants plus oil. The oxidative stability of milk was not influenced by the presence of SFO or antioxidants in the diet of dairy cows. Consumers desired the color and mouthfeel of the milk that was treated with SFO. Cows fed with 4% sunflower oil produced milk with an improved fatty acid profile for human nutrition, containing a higher CLA content and an improved ratio of hypocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic fatty acids, without increasing the milk's susceptibility to oxidation. The milk was also rated as being more acceptable by consumers.

Partial replacement of meat and fat with hydrated wheat fiber in beef burgers decreases caloric value without reducing the feeling of satiety after consumption.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of hydrated wheat fiber replacing meat and fat in beef burgers on technological characteristics, sensory acceptance and hunger satisfaction. The different levels of hydrated wheat fiber (1 g fiber: 6 g water) were 0, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75 and 5.0 g of fiber/80 g burger portion. Results showed that the greater the addition of hydrated wheat fiber, the lower the protein (P < .0001) and lipid (P = .0006) content and consequently the greater the reduction in caloric value. Burgers with up to 3.75 g fiber/80 g portion showed the same (P > .05) sensory acceptance as the Control burgers (those without added fiber). Sandwiches comprised of burgers with 2.5 and 5.0 g fiber/80 g portion caused the same (P > .05) hunger satisfaction (satiety feeling) as those comprised of Control burgers for up to 3 h after consumption. Burgers containing 3.75 g fiber/80 g burger may represent an interesting alternative for people who want to reduce caloric intake and/or increase the proportion of insoluble fiber in their diet.

Vitamin D supplementation effects on FoxP3 expression in T cells and FoxP3+/IL-17A ratio and clinical course in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: a study in a Portuguese cohort.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease with multi-organ inflammation, linked to loss of immune tolerance to self-antigens and the production of a diversity of autoantibodies, with a negative impact on the patients' quality of life. Regulatory T cells have been reported as deficient in number and function in SLE patients. However, some authors also described an enrichment of this cell type. The hypothesis that certain forms of autoimmunity may result from a conversion of Treg cells into a Th17 cell phenotype has been suggested by some studies. In fact, in SLE patients' sera, the IL-17 levels were observed as abnormally high when compared with healthy individuals. Environmental factors, such as vitamin D, that is considered a potential anti-inflammatory agent, combined with genetic and hormonal characteristics have been associated with SLE phenotype and with disease progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on FoxP3 expression and IL-17A-producing T cells, through FoxP3+/IL-17A ratio. Additionally, disease evolution, serum vitamin D levels, serum autoantibodies levels and calcium metabolism (to assure safety) were also studied. We assessed 24 phenotypically well-characterized SLE patients. All patients were screened before vitamin D supplementation and 3 and 6 months after the beginning of this treatment. Peripheral blood lymphocyte's subsets were analysed by flow cytometry. Serum 25(OH)D levels significantly increased under vitamin D supplementation (p = 0.001). The FoxP3+/IL-17A ratio in SLE patients after 6 months of vitamin D supplementation was higher than that in the baseline (p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation provided favourable, immunological and clinical impact on SLE.

Effects of acupuncture on leucopenia, neutropenia, NK, and B cells in cancer patients: a randomized pilot study.

Chemotherapy is one of most significant therapeutic approaches to cancer. Immune system functional state is considered a major prognostic and predictive impact on the success of chemotherapy and it has an important role on patients' psychoemotional state and quality of life. In Chinese medicine, chemotherapy is understood as "toxic cold" that may induce a progressive hypofunctional state of immune system, thus compromising the fast recovery of immunity during chemotherapy. In this study, we performed a standardized acupuncture and moxibustion protocol to enhance immunity in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and to assess if the improvement of immunity status correlates with a better psychoemotional state and quality of life.

Effect of processing on amine formation and the lipid profile of cod (Gadus morhua) roe.

The processing of fish roe leads to changes in its chemical composition, the extent of which depends on the techniques and additives employed. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ripening temperature and the use of sodium benzoate and citric acid on the quality of ripened cod roe, with respect to the contents of volatile base nitrogen (VBN), trimethylamine (TMA), biogenic amines (BA) and on the lipid composition. In comparison with fresh roes, ripened roes presented higher contents of VBN, TMA, BA and the proportion of free fatty acids regardless of the temperature and additives used during the ripening process. The greatest increases were observed in the samples ripened at 17°C without additives, in which histamine was detected at 8.8mg/100g. A low ripening temperature was the main factor responsible for minimising changes in the cod roe composition. The addition of sodium benzoate as a preservative or citric acid to decrease the pH value had a significant effect in maintaining the quality of the cod roes, mainly at high ripening temperature.

Desenvolvimento e aceitação de embutido emulsionado tipo mortadela elaborado com tilápia (Oreochromis niloticus L. ) / Development and acceptance of embedded emulsioned type Mortadella prepared with tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L. )

Foram desenvolvidos produtos embutidos emulsionados tipo mortadela utilizando-se tilápia (Oreochromis niloticus L.), com e sem adição de gordura vegetal (GV). Os produtos submetidos à avaliação de aceitação por meio da escala hedônica de categoria verbal de sete pontos para os atributos aparência , cor, sabor, aroma e textura e o teste de intenção de compra foi realizado com um escala de categoria mista com cinco pontos. A análise instrumental da cor foi realizada em espectrofotômetro e a textura em texturômetro. Os dados foram analisados através da análise de variância e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey, ao nível de 5 por cento de significância...

New solvent systems for thin-layer chromatographic determination of nine biogenic amines in fish and squid.

Different solvent systems were evaluated for their ability to separate biogenic amines by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Dansyl derivatives of agmatine, putrescine, tryptamine, cadaverine, spermidine, histamine, spermine, tyramine and beta-phenylethylamine were separated using the solvent system chloroform-diethyl ether-triethylamine (6:4:1), followed by chloroform-triethylamine (6:1). After separation dansyl amines were quantified by fluorescence densitometry at 330 nm. Correlation coefficients of linear regressions were higher than 0.99 for all amines, except for agmatine (0.976). Detection limits were 10ng for tryptamine, tyramine, histamine and beta-phenylethylamine, and 5 ng for the other amines. The overall repeatability of the chromatography was 1.82% when including agmatine and barely 1.02% for the other amines. The accuracy ranged from 105.97% (agmatine) to 49.92% (tryptamine). This thin-layer chromatography method was found to be an effective and precise analytical procedure to separate and determine biogenic amines. Its main advantages compared to previous procedures are that it uses less harmful solvent (diethyl ether instead of benzene) and can separate a larger group of biogenic amines.

Reflexoes sobre as vicissitudes de uma turma em formacao em psicoterapia analitica de grupo: uma contribuicao

O presente trabalho consiste na reflexao sobre as vivencias de uma turma em formacao na SPAG-E.Rio. Essa reflexao foi elaborada em conjunto, abordando o percurso dos alunos desde o momento inicial, a escolha da Instituicao de Formacao, o processo seletivo - 'Rito de Passagem' - as expectativas, o agrupamento, os sentimentos despertados pela vivencia grupal e a participacao do aluno na direcao da Instituicao, durante o 1 ano de formacao. Este trabalho foi apresentado, sob a forma de Tema Livre, na Jornada Anual da ABPAG e 35 aniversario da SPAG-E.Rio em 19 de junho de 1993, no Rio de Janeiro, pelos membros da oitava Turma.