Does celiac disease occur in Afro-derived Brazilian populations?

BACKGROUND: Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that occurs in genetically susceptible individuals in whom the ingestion of dietary gluten induces intestinal mucosa inflammation. Previous studies suggest that celiac disease may either be very rare or underdiagnosed in African and/or African-derived population. AIM: Determine the prevalence of celiac disease in Sub-Saharan African-derived Brazilian communities using serological screening. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Inhabitants from 10 African-derived communities from Northeastern of Brazil were screened for celiac disease. All sera were tested for endomysial class IgA antibody using indirect immunofluorescence. RESULTS: No positive test for IgA-endomysial was observed in the 860 individuals tested. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests a low prevalence of celiac disease in African-derived Brazilian populations.

Interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-6 gene polymorphism associations with angiographically assessed coronary artery disease in Brazilians.

The inflammatory process has been considered an important mediator for the development of atherosclerosis. Interleukin-1 beta (IL1B) is a precursor of interleukin-6 (IL6) in the acute phase of inflammatory response and their levels are elevated in patients with coronary artery disease. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the association of IL-1B and IL-6 gene polymorphisms and angiographically assessed coronary artery disease (CAD) in African- and Caucasian-Brazilians. This report analyzed the IL-1B-511C>T and IL-6-174G>C polymorphisms in 667 patients (253 African-Brazilians and 414 Caucasian-Brazilians) who underwent coronary angiography. Patients with a coronary obstructive lesion 50% presented a higher frequency of the IL-1B-511CC genotype (30.4%) compared to lesion-free individuals (16.5%, p=0.032) in African- but not in Caucasian-Brazilians. No significant genotype frequency difference was identified for the IL-6-174G>C polymorphism in either ethnic groups. However, after correction for other CAD risk factors using multivariate logistic regression, both the IL-1B-511CC [Odds ratio (OR)=2.3; p=0.019] and the IL-6-174GG (OR=2.0; p=0.028) genotypes were considered independent CAD risk predictors in African-Brazilians. This report shows that the IL-1B-511C>T and IL-6-174G>C polymorphisms were associated with CAD risk in African-Brazilians and no association was detected among Caucasian-Brazilians.

Daily sodium intake influences the relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism and hypertension in older adults.

The angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (I/D) gene polymorphism has been widely reported as being associated with hypertension; however, most studies do not consider environmental/behavioral factors. This study aimed to investigate the relationship among angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion gene polymorphism, environmental/behavioral factors, and hypertension in community-dwelling elderly individuals. All community-dwelling older adults from Aiquara, Bahia, Brazil, were invited to take part in this study. After exclusions, 234 elderly participants were submitted to a data collection, which included sociodemographics, lifestyle and health status questionnaires, clinical assessment, and blood withdrawal. From the blood samples, the gene polymorphism was identified through polymerase chain reaction and patients grouped as II or D allele carriers (ID and DD genotypes). Hypertension was defined by self-report of the condition and confirmed by antihypertensive drug treatment. Chi-square test was used to identify differences in the proportions distributed between groups of each dependent variable (ie, genotype, diagnosis of hypertension, and blood pressure state from medicated patients with hypertension). The prevalence of hypertension was 59.3% and was associated with diabetes mellitus and obesity, but not with angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion gene polymorphism. However, carriers of the II genotype, a salt-sensitivity genotype, exhibited a significantly greater estimated sodium intake. In addition, among medicated elderly patients with hypertension, II genotype carriers exhibited poor blood pressure control, despite similar antihypertensive drug treatment in D allele carriers, while exhibiting a greater estimated sodium intake. Our results provide new evidence regarding the interaction of genetic and environmental/behavioral factors in the genesis of hypertension among elderly patients, as well as in blood pressure control in medicated elderly patients with hypertension.

The D allele of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene is associated with greater hemodynamic response to resistance exercises.

HYPOTHESIS/INTRODUCTION: The association of ACE I/D polymorphism and hemodynamic response to exercise have been limited to primarily aerobic exercises. We hypothesized that D allele carriers would show greater hemodynamic response to resistance exercise, as has been observed with aerobic. This study aimed to investigate the association of ACE I/D polymorphism and hemodynamic (blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and rate-pressure product (RPP)) response to resistance exercise in young healthy subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ACE I/D polymorphisms were studied by PCR analysis from 75 healthy men. Subjects completed a resistance exercise session of three sets of 10 knee extension repetitions with loads of 50, 75 and 100% of 10RM and two-minute rest intervals. Hemodynamic measures were recorded before and immediately after each set. Analysis of variance was used to identify significant differences among ACE genotypes. RESULTS: ACE I/D polymorphism is associated with hemodynamic response to resistance exercise, as healthy subjects with ACE D allele were prone to higher responses. In addition, this phenotypic difference seems to be a load-dependent trend. CONCLUSION: ACE DD carriers exhibit greater heart work during resistance exercise. Future studies should focus on the influence of resistance training period with different workloads on the hemodynamic response in healthy individuals with different ACE genotypes.

Family names and the length of the y chromosome in Brazilian blacks

A variabilidade das regiöes heterocromática e eucromática do cromossomo Y humano foi estudada, pelo emprego de uma metodologia da análise quantitativa e através de medidas densitométricas, em 60 negros normais e näo aparentados (30 com sobrenomes de conotaçäo religiosa e 30 sem sobrenome de conotaçäo religiosa) de Salvador, Bahia. Trinta indivíduos caucasóides de origem européia, normais e näo aparentados, de Curitiba, Paraná, constituíram o grupo controle. A regiäo heterocromática e o tamanho total do cromossomo Y foram, em média, maiores nos caucasóides do que nos negros com e sem sobrenomes de conotaçäo religiosa, sendo as médias observadas nestes últimos intermediárias entre as dos caucasóides e dos negros com sobrenome de conotaçäo religiosa. Estes dados estäo de acordo com os de publicaçöes anteriores, que demostram que nos negros com sobrenomes de conotaçäo religiosa há mais ancestrais negros do que naqueles sem sobrenomes de conotaçäo religiosa.