Depression and metabolic syndrome in participants of the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) cohort study

BACKGROUND

Depression is a major public health concern worldwide and its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains unclear. Thus, we prospectively examined the association between depression and the risk of MetS, according to different diagnosis criteria.

METHODS

This study included 9,237 participants of a Spanish dynamic prospective cohort of adult university graduates [mean (SD) age: 36.7 year (10.7)], initially free of any specific criterion of MetS, who were followed-up for a median of 8.3 years. The exposure variables were medical diagnosis of depression at baseline or in the first 2-year follow-up questionnaire. The outcome variable was the incidence of MetS, assessed according to each of three different criteria proposed by: International Diabetes Federation (IDF); National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III); IDF/NCEP-ATP III (updated harmonizing definition). Multivariable-adjusted Relative Risks (RR) of new-onset MetS and their 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) were estimated, using Poisson regression models.

RESULTS

The cumulative incidences of MetS were 475 cases (IDF definition), 288 cases (NCEP-ATP III definition) and 492 cases (update harmonized definition). No association was observed between baseline depression and incidence of MetS, but the presence of depression after 2-years of follow-up was significantly associated with a higher risk of new-onset MetS, according to NCEP-ATP III definition (multivariable-adjusted RR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.06-5.67).

LIMITATIONS

Diagnosis of depression and MetS were self-reported.

CONCLUSIONS

In this large prospective cohort of Spanish middle-aged adult university graduates, a direct association between depression and the risk of MetS according to NCEP-ATP III definition was found.

Total polyphenol intake, polyphenol subtypes and incidence of cardiovascular disease: The SUN cohort study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Polyphenol-rich diets have been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, few prospective epidemiological studies have examined the relationship between classes of ingested polyphenols and risk of CVD. Our aim was to evaluate the association between polyphenol intake and risk of major cardiovascular events in a prospective Spanish cohort.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We included 17,065 university graduates (60.7% women, mean age: 37.2 years, age range: 20-89) followed-up for a mean of 10.1 years. Polyphenol intake was assessed at baseline using a validated semi-quantitative 136-item food frequency questionnaire and matching food consumption data with the Phenol-Explorer database. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for incident cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, stroke or cardiovascular death). Cherries, chocolate, coffee, apples, and olives were the major sources of variability in polyphenol intake. Participants with higher flavonoids intake (fifth quintile) had a 47% lower incidence of cardiovascular events compared to those in the lowest quintile (HR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.29-0.98; P for trend = 0.09) after adjusting for potential confounders. The results were non-significant for other polyphenol types.

CONCLUSION

The intake of flavonoids showed an inverse association with risk of cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort of Spanish middle-aged adult university graduates.

REGISTRATION NUMBER FOR CLINICAL TRIALS

NCT02669602 in Clinical Trials.

Nut consumption and incidence of hypertension: the SUN prospective cohort

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The consumption of tree nuts could reduce the risk of hypertension, but scarce research has been done to evaluate this potential association. We assessed the association between nut consumption and the incidence of hypertension among 9919 Spanish university graduates followed-up biennially for a median of 4.3 years.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Food habits were assessed with a validated 136-item food-frequency questionnaire. Nut consumption was classified into four categories: rarely/never, 1-3/month, 1/week, and 2+/week. A participant was classified as an incident case of hypertension when, being free of hypertension at baseline, he/she subsequently reported a physician-made diagnosis of hypertension in at least one of the follow-up questionnaires. The incidence of hypertension was 12.4 per 1000 person-years. We found no association between nut consumption and incidence of hypertension after adjusting for sex, age and other dietary and non-dietary potential confounders (hazard ratio [HR] for those in the highest vs. lowest nut consumption category=0.77 [IC 95%: 0.46-1.30] p=0.795). Results were not modified when we stratified them analyses according to sex or to body mass index.

CONCLUSION

Our data do not provide evidence for an inverse association between nut consumption and incident hypertension in our cohort. Further results from cohorts and trials with a higher baseline risk of hypertension should be obtained to test this relationship.

Application of sequential injection analysis to pharmaceutical analysis

Sequential injection analysis is a well established tool for automation of pharmaceutical analysis. A short historical background of this technique is given as well as a brief discussion on the basic principles and potentials. The current applications of SIA in the pharmaceutical analysis are also described and discussed. The manifolds developed offer good analytical characteristics and are suitable for analysis of drug formulations, process analysis, drug-dissolution, drug-release testing and functional assays for screening potential drugs. The results obtained are in good agreement with those furnished by the application of the reference methods presented in the pharmacopoeias.

Clavulanate-selective electrodes--application to pharmaceutical formulations

The construction and assessment of a clavulanate anion-selective electrode and its application to the analysis of pharmaceutical formulations by direct potentiometry are described. The electrode, prepared without inner reference solution, was fabricated by use of a PVC membrane, with bis(triphenyl-phosphoranylidene)ammonium clavulanate as ion-exchanger dissolved in 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether as intermediate solvent and p-t-octylphenol as additive. The response of the electrode was linearly dependent on concentration within the range 2.4 x 10(-3)-1 x 10(-1) mol dm(-3) (ionic strength adjusted to 0.1 mol dm(-3)); the slope of the calibration plot was -59.4+/-0.9 mV decade(-1) and the reproducibility +/-0.6 mV day(-1). The response time was less than 20 s. Relative errors were <3.5% when results from analysis by direct potentiometry were compared with those from the reference method.

Purification, amino-acid sequence and partial characterization of two toxins with anti-insect activity from the venom of the South American scorpion Tityus bahiensis (Buthidae)

We report here the isolation by a two-step chromatographic procedure of two new toxins from the South American scorpion Tityus bahiensis. Their amino-acid sequences and some of their biological features were established. The two toxins have different biological properties. Toxin TbIT-I had almost no activity or pharmacological effects in vertebrate tissues whereas it was lethal to house flies (LD50 80.0 ng/house fly). In contrast, Tb2-II was active against both mammals (intracerebroventricular injection of 100 ng/mouse was lethal) and insects (LD50 40.0 ng/house fly). The amino-acid sequences of these toxins were established and found to be similar (60-95%) to previously described beta-toxins from the Tityus genus. Based on the available comparative information, this study attempts identify possible structure-function relationships that may be responsible for the differences in bioactivity displayed by these toxins.

Moving pieces in a proteomic puzzle: mass fingerprinting of toxic fractions from the venom of Tityus serrulatus (Scorpiones, Buthidae)

Scorpion venoms are very complex mixtures of molecules, most of which are peptides that display different kinds of biological activity. These venoms have been studied in the light of their pharmacological targets and their constituents are able to bind specifically to a variety of ionic channels located in prey tissues, resulting in neurotoxic effects. Toxins that modulate Na(+), K(+), Ca(++) and Cl(-) currents have been described in scorpion venoms. Mass spectrometry was employed to analyze toxic fractions from the venom of the Brazilian scorpion Tityus serrulatus in order to shed light on the molecular composition of this venom and to facilitate the search for novel pharmacologically active compounds. T. serrulatus venom was first subjected to gel filtration to separate its constituents according to their molecular size. The resultant fractions II and III, which account for 90 and 10% respectively of the whole venom toxic effect, were further analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS), on-line liquid chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry (LC/ESMS) and off-line LC/MALDI-TOFMS in order to establish their mass fingerprints. The molecular masses in fraction II were predominantly between 6500 and 7500 Da. This corresponds to long-chain toxins that mainly act on voltage-gated Na(+) channels. Fraction III is more complex and predominantly contained molecules with masses between 2500 and 5000 Da. This corresponds to the short-chain toxin family, most of which act on K(+) channels, and other unknown peptides. Finally, we were able to measure the molecular masses of 380 different compounds present in the two fractions investigated. To our knowledge, this is the largest number of components ever detected in the venom of a single animal species. Some of the toxins described previously from T. serrulatus venom could be detected by virtue of their molecular masses. The interpretation of this large set of data has provided us with useful proteomic information on the venom, and the implications of these findings are discussed.