P3358Cardiovascular risk, aortic valve microcalcification and vascular microcalcification: is there a link?

18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) has been used to evaluate aortic stenosis. It is know that its uptake is related with microcalcification. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between 18F-NaF uptake by the aortic valve and by the main arterial vessels and cardiovascular risk.

Twenty-five hypertensive patients without known cardiovascular disease or aortic stenosis underwent PET-CT with 18F-NaF. Cardiovascular risk was assessed through the ASCVD risk calculator. The patients had a mean age of 64.0±8.6 years and 56% were males. The mean ASCVD risk was of 28.8±19.0 (IQR: 10–48.5). The uptake of 18F-NaF assessed through the corrected uptake per lesion (CUL = max SUV – mean blood-pool SUV) was of 0.49±0.14 (IQR: 0.44–0.57) and the mean uptake in the aortic, coronary and carotid territories was of 0.66±0.21 (IQR: 0.53 - 0.76).The patients were classified according to the ASCVD: Group A: patients with a risk above the 50thpercentile of the ASCVD risk distribution (50thpercentile=25), 12 patients) and Group B: patients with a risk under or equal to the 50thpercentile of the ASCVD risk distribution, 13 patients.

The uptake of 18F-NaF in the aortic valve (AoV)and in the main vascular territories (VT) were evaluated in both groups: A vs B: AoV CUL = 0.57±0.09 vs 0. 42±0.14, p=0.005; VT= 0.78±0.16 vs 0.54±0.20, p=0.003. We also evaluate the relation between AoV uptake and VT uptake and they were significantly related (r=0.69, p=0.0001).

In conclusion on this study microcalcification of the aortic valve and in the main vessels, evaluated through 18F-NaF uptake, were related between them and with cardiovascular risk reinforcing the importance of cardiovascular risk prevention in aortic valve degeneration and vascular atherosclerosis.

Cuidadores formais de idosos institucionalizados: perceções e satisfação profissional

Introdução: Resultante do crescente envelhecimento demográfico e do aumento da esperança média de vida, a institucionalização do idoso representa nos dias de hoje uma problemática emergente. Consideramos por isso pertinente estudar o perfil do cuidador formal de idosos institucionalizados e a sua satisfação profissional no intuito de melhorar a qualidade dos cuidados prestados. Objetivo: Delineou-se como objetivo principal identificar as representações que os cuidadores formais têm acerca do cuidado prestado ao idoso institucionalizado. Metodologia: Estudo qualitativo através da análise de conteúdo das unidades de registo. O instrumento de recolha de dados utilizado foi a entrevista semiestruturada. A amostra foi constituída por doze cuidadoras formais de uma instituição de idosos da zona centro do país. Resultados: Os significados atribuídos pelas cuidadoras do que é ser idoso foram: uma pessoa merecedora de respeito, com sabedoria, que precisa de afeto e cuidados, que voltar a ser criança e pessoa com limitações físicas. Por cuidar, entendem dar carinho/apoio, transmitir confiança, um bem essencial, cuidar do corpo, mente e coração e ainda, saber escutar. A relação das cuidadoras com os idosos pauta-se pela alegria e boa disposição, uma relação de respeito pela individualidade/vontade da pessoa idosa, tentar adaptar-se à personalidade de cada um. Executam frequentemente os cuidados de higiene (fazer a barba); vestir/despir; levantar/deitar; posicionar; cuidados da alimentação/hidratação; atividades lúdicas e apoio na deambulação dos idosos. É no transporte e posicionamento dos idosos que sentem maiores dificuldades. Na maioria dos casos, as entrevistadas referem que o seu trabalho é apreciado por todos (idosos, família e direção). Para algumas cuidadoras o que lhes dá maior satisfação é sentirem que os idosos estão contentes/confortáveis. Conclusão: Todas as entrevistadas relataram que a atividade de cuidadora lhes traz satisfação profissional e identificaram necessidades formativas em algumas áreas do conhecimento. Os resultados resultantes desta investigação levam-nos à reflexão sobre a importância da criação e monitorização de programas de ação no domínio formativo em áreas especificas adaptado à realidade de cada instituição.

Assessment of vitamin D status in common variable immunodeficiency or ataxia-telangiectasia patients

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Vitamin D plays a role in the immune system, however studies regarding this are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of vitamin D in patients with Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) or Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T) and to relate it to body composition, inflammatory and bone metabolism markers.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a cross-sectional and controlled study involving 24 patients of both sexes (59.3% male), aged 8-56 years, with CVID (n=15) or A-T (n=9). The following variables were evaluated: body mass index (BMI), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D), hepatic profile, parathormone, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, interleukin 6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

RESULTS

The median age was 26.0 years. A deficiency of 25 (OH) D was found in four A-T patients (44%) and two CVID patients (13%). Nine patients with CVI (60%) and six with A-T (66.7%) were overweight and underweight, respectively. There was a negative correlation between vitamin D and fat mass in the CVID group, and vitamin D and BMI in the A-T group. Vitamin D was negatively associated with the percentage of total fat among the patients (β - 0.842, 95% CI: -1.5-0.17, p=0.015), R²=0.21, after adjusting for sex and age.

CONCLUSION

Vitamin D deficiency occurred in a quarter of the patients although there was no difference between the patient and the control group; without association with bone and inflammation biomarkers. The percentage of fat and BMI were negatively associated with the concentrations of 25 (OH) D.

Pathological Findings in Lowland Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) Killed by Motor Vehicle Collision in the Brazilian Cerrado

The lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is the largest land mammal in South America. The species faces steady population decline due to poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation, road-kill, pesticide pollution, competition with domestic livestock and fires, among other threats. The lowland tapir is currently listed as vulnerable to extinction. Little information is available about natural disease processes for the species. This study aimed to report the pathological findings recorded in a cohort of 35 lowland tapirs killed by motor vehicle collision (MVC) on highways of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, between 2015 and 2018. The main gross pathological findings were those associated with MVC, primarily involving skeletal fractures and internal multiorgan damage with extensive bleeding and/or severe central nervous system injury. The most prevalent concurrent histopathological findings, unrelated to the cause of death, were: adrenal gland degeneration, necrosis and loss of fascicular and reticular cells with replacement fibrosis and cortical atrophy (9/15; 60%); interstitial pneumonia (20/34; 59%); glossitis (9/24; 38%); pulmonary anthracosis (12/34; 35%); colitis (9/28; 32%); and cholangitis/pericholangitis (9/35; 26%). The aetiopathogeneses and clinicopathological significance of some of these findings are unclear; however, parasitic infections appear to be common. Our results highlight the importance of wildlife health information obtained through the study of carcasses of roadkills.

Analysis of human DNA through power-law statistics

We report an analysis of Homo sapiens DNA through the formalism of κ statistics, which encompasses power-law correlations and provides an optimization principle that permits us to model distinct physical systems; i.e., the power-law distribution of the length of DNA bases is calculated from a general model which follows arguments similar to those proposed in Maxwell's deduction of statistical distributions. The viability of the model is tested using a data set from a catalog of proteins collected from the Ensembl Project. The results indicate that the short-range correlations, always present in coding DNA sequences, are appropriately captured through the Kaniadakis power-law distribution, adequately describing the cumulative length distribution of DNA bases, in contrast with the case of the traditional exponential statistical model.

Evaluation of the biocompatibility and skin hydration potential of vitamin E-loaded lipid nanosystems formulations: In vitro and human in vivo studies

Lipid-based nanosystems, such as nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and nanoemulsions (NE) have been described as promising alternatives to conventional formulations for increase skin hydration. Besides, these systems have been used as efficient vehicles for lipophilic molecules that improve skin properties (e.g. vitamin E). In this study, we performed comparative investigations between hydrogels formulations containing vitamin E-loaded NLC (HG-NLC_VE) and vitamin E-loaded nanoemulsion (HG-NE_VE). The experiments started with particle size measurements, which showed no significant differences between nanoparticles/nanodroplets sizes after incorporation in the hydrogel net (386 nm vs. 397 nm for HG-NLC_VE and 402 nm vs. 514 nm for HG-NE_VE). Afterwards, in vitro biocompatibility studies in human keratinocytes were carried out, being observed that the lipid-based nanosystems were more cytotoxic for the cells before incorporation in the hydrogel. Finally, the formulations hydration potential and sensory attributes for skin application were evaluated by in vitro occlusion tests and in vivo human experiments. The results showed that the HG-NLC_VE exhibited the best occlusive properties, whereas the HG-NE_VE performed a faster skin hydration effect. Furthermore, the latter was selected as the most attractive for skin application, although the HG-NLC_VE was described as more suitable to obtain a long-lasting effect. This study demonstrated the in vitro and in vivo safety and hydration potential of hydrogels containing vitamin E-loaded lipid-based nanosystems. These results establish a basis to assess the cutaneous use of these systems, despite more in vivo experiments, for longer periods and in more volunteers, are required before commercialization.

Cognitive Stimulation in Older Adults: An Innovative Good Practice Supporting Successful Aging and Self-Care

The project Cognitive Stimulation in Older Adults: Intervention on Cognitive Frailty and Promotion of Self-Care (in brief the ECOG project) arises in a context of worldwide demographic aging, and is fostered by the need to provide a sustainable solution to the progressive increase in the prevalence of age-related cognitive impairment. The main goal of the ECOG project is to promote active citizenship in old age through the empowerment for autonomy and self-care. Namely, the ECOG team is working on the development of evidence-based programs and tools that promote gains in health in cognitively frail and cognitively impaired older adults from the community. It is also working on the transfer of ECOG products to the practice of health and social care, promoting active involvement of geriatric care institutions in the implementation of the ECOG programs and tools, and ensuring appropriate training of professionals. Finally, the ECOG team is deploying a digital platform to reach out to the broadest audience possible and support the remote access and scaling up of the ECOG products. The impacts expected at an individual level include improvements in cognition, functionality, and autonomy of older adults, with simultaneous reduction of depressive symptomatology, and increase in quality of life of both person cared and his/her caregiver. Regarding societal gains, we anticipate an increase in life expectancy and significant postponement of institutionalization associated with geriatric problems. We also believe that the wide implementation of the ECOG products will reduce the costs of interventions for cognitively impaired citizens, contributing to sustainability and efficiency of health systems.

Generation of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell lines from one patient with Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome, one with type 1 long QT syndrome and two healthy relatives

Four human iPSC cell lines (one Jervell and Lange-Nielsen Syndrome, one Long QT Syndrome-type 1 and two healthy controls) were generated from peripheral blood obtained from donors belonging to the same family. CytoTune™-iPS 2.0 Sendai Reprogramming Kit (containing OCT3/4, KLF4, SOX2 and cMYC as reprogramming factors) was used to generate all cell lines. The four iPSCs have normal karyotype, express pluripotency markers as determined by RT-PCR and flow cytometry and differentiated spontaneously in vitro into cells of the three germ layers, confirming their pluripotent capacity.

Involvement of microRNA miR-2b-3p in regulation of metabolic resistance to insecticides in Plutella xylostella

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, has developed extremely high levels of resistance to chlorantraniliprole and other classes of insecticides in the field. As microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in various biological processes through gene regulation, we examined the miRNA profile of P. xylostella in response to chlorantraniliprole exposure. RNA sequencing analysis showed that insecticide treatment caused significant changes in the abundance of some miRNAs. Increasing exposure time and insecticide concentration induced more dysregulated miRNAs in P. xylostella larvae. We also screened potential target genes for some of the differentially expressed miRNAs (such as miR-2b-3p, miR-14b-5p and let-7-5p), which may play important roles in insecticide resistance development. Exposure of P. xylostella larvae to chlorantraniliprole caused considerable overexpression in the transcript levels of potential target genes cytochrome P450 9f2 (CYP9F2) and 307a1 (CYP307a1). Application of miR-2b-3p and miR-14b-5p mimics significantly suppressed the relative transcript levels of CYP9F2 and CYP307a1, respectively, in a P. xylostella cell line. Furthermore, enrichment of P. xylostella diet with miR-2b-3p mimics significantly increased mortality in deltamethrin-resistant larvae when exposed to deltamethrin. The results suggest that miR-2b-3p may suppress CYP9F2 transcript levels in P. xylostella and consequently inhibit larval detoxification pathways. The findings provide an insight into possible role of miRNAs in regulation of metabolic resistance of insects to insecticides.

Bilateral Cnv Associated with Optic Nerve Drusen Treated with Photodynamic Therapy with Verteporfin

Purpose

To report a case of bilateral choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with optic nerve drusen (OND) treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin.

Methods

A 10-year-old girl with juxtapapillary CNV in the right eye and juxtapapillary and juxtafoveal CNV in the left eye associated with OND underwent PDT with verteporfin in both eyes.

Results

Visual acuity increased from 20/160 to 20/25 in the right eye and from 20/1000 to 20/25 in the left eye after two sessions of PDT and 2 years of follow-up. CNV showed no leakage after two PDT sessions in both eyes and no recurrence was observed.

Conclusions

Subfoveal CNV is an uncommon complication of OND and excellent anatomic and functional results can be obtained with PDT.