Meta-Analysis of the Association Between the rs228570 Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphism and Arterial Hypertension Risk.

The association between FokI polymorphism in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and susceptibility to arterial hypertension (HT) is controversial. Thus, we evaluated the relation between FokI and HT according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines using MEDLINE® (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online)/PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library CENTRAL databases. Data from case-control studies, including the number of participants, age, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, systolic and diastolic blood pressure values, FokI allele, and genotype frequency were extracted by 2 independent authors and OR was calculated with the 95% CI to assess the strength of the association between the FokI variant and odds of HT. In general and subgroup analyses, we used allelic (f compared with F), common (ff compared with FF + Ff), risk (ff + Ff compared with FF), and additive (ff compared with FF) models. Six case-control studies including 3140 cases and 3882 controls were reviewed in the meta-analysis. Global assessment revealed a correlation between FokI and reduced odds of HT in the additive/homozygote model (ff compared with FF; OR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.45-0.94) and common/recessive model (ff compared with FF + Ff; OR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.57-0.99). In Asian subjects, there was a significant reduction in the odds of HT in additive (ff compared with FF; OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.73-0.98) and risk models (ff + Ff compared with FF; OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.78-0.97), in particular, for Indians (South). In Africans, the statistically significant association occurred in the additive and common models. Allele f in the FokI polymorphism of the VDR gene was associated with reduced odds of HT in the general population based on the risk model. Thus, nutritional genomics can help understand the influence of nutrition on metabolic homeostasis pathways and the clinical consequences of hypertension. This study shows the need for healthy, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant compounds to prevent or treat chronic complications.

Adipose stem cells in reparative goat mastitis mammary gland.

Mesenchymal stem cells have been widely used in the treatment of various chronic diseases. The objective of this survey was to evaluate the therapeutic and regenerative potential of stem cells from adipose tissue (ASCs) in the milk production recovery repair of tissue injury in mastitis goats treated with antimicrobial agents prior to cell therapy. After the diagnosis of mastitis and treatment with gentamicin, eight lactating goats were selected for cellular and subsequent therapy, physical-chemical analysis of milk, ultrasonographic and histopathological examinations. The ASCs were taken from the subcutaneous fat of a young goat cultivated in vitro, marked with Qdots-655 and injected in the left mammary gland, being the right mammary gland used as the control. After 30 days the ultrasonographic and histopathological analyzes were repeated and, in the first lactation period, the physical-chemical analysis of the milk was reapeated. Before the cellular therapy, the physical-chemical quality of the milk was compromised and the ultrasonographic and histopathological analysis revealed a chronic inflammatory process and fibrous tissue. The marking of the ASCs with Qdots enabled the tracking, by fluorescence microscopy (BX41-OLYMPUS), in the mammary tissue. In the ASCs therapy, cultures showed high cellularity and characteristics favorable to preclinical studies; with the therapy the physical-chemical parameters of the milk, fat, protein, temperature and pH showed significant differences among the groups; five animals treated with ASCs reconstituted the functionality of the gland and the connective tissue reduced in quantity and inflammatory infiltrate cells. ASCs have potential for the possible regeneration of fibrous mastitis lesions in the mammary gland, however, it would be necessary to increase injection time for the histopathological analysis, since the reconstitution of the glandular acini within the assessed period was not finalized. ASCs can be used to reestablish milk production in goat with chronic mastitis repair mammary lesions, with potential to be a promising clinical alternative for animal rehabilitation for productivity.