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Background: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons and promotes progressive muscle atrophy. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) plays multiple roles in the central nervous systems (CNS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) VEGF-A rs28357093 and ALS., Methods and Results: This case-control study was conducted in 101 ALS patients and 119 healthy individuals. Genotyping was performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction - Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The statistical analysis was carried out using the RStudio® and SNPStats© software's. Analysis of genetic inheritance models was performed by logistic regression. Our findings demonstrated a strong association between VEGF- A rs28357093 and ALS in all genetic inheritance models, with a 9-fold increased risk for A/C - C/C genotypes (95%CI = 3.70-21.88; p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The mutant allele was more frequent in ALS patients (p < 0.001) and this finding could be associated with ALS risk. This first study from the Brazilian central population was conducted to provide new insight into the pathogenesis of ALS., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Although of unknown etiology, some mechanisms associated with the metabolic cycle of folate are speculated to be related to the genesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Thus, the aim of the study was to analyze the role of genetic polymorphisms rs1051266 in SLC19A1 gene and rs1805087 in MTR gene and their associations with ALS development. A case-control study was conducted with 101 individuals with ALS and 119 individuals without diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, from the Brazilian central population. The polymorphisms were determined using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. The results showed no statistically significant differences, even when genotypes were analyzed by the dominant, recessive, codominant, and overdominant inheritance models. It was observed a statistical significance relating alcohol consumption with individuals in the case group (p = 0.01). Therefore, the need for more studies to evaluate the influence of genetic variants is highlighted, seeking to provide information on the etiopathogenesis of ALS., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Glutathione S-transferase Pi (GSTP1) enzyme has a major antioxidant effect on the central nervous system (CNS), where it acts against oxidative damage, an established risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate a possible relationship between GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism and the survival rate of male ALS patients, which is the gender more affected by the disease., Methods and Results: A case-control study was performed with 56 male ALS patients and 70 healthy male individuals from Midwestern Brazil, which were age-adjusted. GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism molecular analysis was carried out with restriction fragment length polymorphism. The relationship between ALS patients and GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism was analyzed using cumulative survival rate as the major outcome, where differences in survival were evaluated through the log-rank test. Our results revealed that mutant genotype (G/G) did not influence the cumulative survival rate of male ALS patients regarding the age of diagnosis (p = 0.5) and time from symptom to diagnosis (p = 0.3). On the other hand, mutant carriers exhibited a significant survival of fewer than 25 months compared to A/A and A/G genotypes that survive more than 100 months (p = 7-E10) in comparison with symptom onset to outcome (p = 0.00006)., Conclusions: In summary, our findings revealed that mutant genotype carriers' male patients had a reduced lifetime, which probably may be resulted from oxidative stress exposure in CNS., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Diabetic patients often develop Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) despite severe long-lasting hyperglycemia, while others develop DN even under intensive insulin therapy. This indicates that factors other than chronic hyperglycemia may also contribute to the susceptibility to the development of DN. The purpose of this case-control study was to investigate the possible role of GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletion polymorphisms, and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP), GSTP1 313 A > G (Ile105Val), in DN susceptibility. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the occurrence of GST polymorphisms in the Central Brazilian population was not associated with increased risk of DN. However, the presence GSTT1 null genotype suggest an increase trend in systolic blood pressure and opposite inference was observed for the GSTP1 genotype (Ile⁄Val or Val⁄Val). On the order hand, other studies may clarify the relationship of these polymorphisms with DN and help in the prevention of this disease., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This article describes data set of the profile of patients diagnosed with Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) undergoing hemodialysis and followed-up by Hemodialysis Service in medical centers in Goiânia, Go, Brazil. These data describe specifically the demographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables of 101 patients. In addition, these data provide detailed clinical associations about the profile of patients diagnosed with DN and which are made publicly available to enable critical or extended analyzes. For further interpretation of the data presented in this article, see the research article: Do GST polymorphisms influence in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy? (Lima et al., 2018).

Background/aims: Trichilia catigua A. Juss., known as "catuaba" in Brazil, has been popularly used as a tonic for fatigue, impotence and memory deficits. Previously, our group demonstrated that the ethyl-acetate fraction (EAF) of T. catigua has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The present study evaluated the anti-diabetic activity of EAF in type 1 diabetic rats., Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups (N: non-diabetic group, D: type 1 diabetic group, NC: non-diabetic + EAF group and DC: type 1 diabetic + EAF group). The latter two groups were treated with 200 mg/kg EAF. Type 1 diabetes was induced by intravenous streptozotocin (STZ) injection (35 mg/kg). Starting two days after STZ injection, EAF was administered daily by gavage for 8 weeks., Results: EAF attenuated body mass loss and reduced food and water intake. EAF improved hyperglycaemia and other biochemical parameters, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Furthermore, the number of pancreatic β-cells and the size of the islets had increased by β-cell proliferation in the DC group. EAF promoted reduction in kidney tissue damage in STZ-induced diabetic rats by reduction of renal fibrosis., Conclusion: The present study showed that EAF improves glucose homeostasis and endocrine pancreas morphology and inhibits the development of diabetic nephropathy in STZ-induced diabetic rats., (© 2017 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Intrathecal injection of bombesin (BBS) promoted hypertensive and sympathoexcitatory effects in normotensive (NT) rats. However, the involvement of rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) in these responses is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated: (1) the effects of BBS injected bilaterally into RVLM on cardiorespiratory and sympathetic activity in NT and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR); (2) the contribution of RVLM BBS type 1 receptors (BB1) to the maintenance of hypertension in SHR. Urethane-anesthetized rats (1.2 g · kg(-1), i.v.) were instrumented to record mean arterial pressure (MAP), diaphragm (DIA) motor, and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). In NT rats and SHR, BBS (0.3 mM) nanoinjected into RVLM increased MAP (33.9 ± 6.6 and 37.1 ± 4.5 mmHg, respectively; p < 0.05) and RSNA (97.8 ± 12.9 and 84.5 ± 18.1%, respectively; p < 0.05). In SHR, BBS also increased DIA burst amplitude (115.3 ± 22.7%; p < 0.05). BB1 receptors antagonist (BIM-23127; 3 mM) reduced MAP (-19.9 ± 4.4 mmHg; p < 0.05) and RSNA (-17.7 ± 3.8%; p < 0.05) in SHR, but not in NT rats (-2.5 ± 2.8 mmHg; -2.7 ± 5.6%, respectively). These results show that BBS can evoke sympathoexcitatory and pressor responses by activating RVLM BB1 receptors. This pathway might be involved in the maintenance of high levels of arterial blood pressure in SHR.

This study evaluated the variability of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms in individuals occupationally exposed to pesticides in ten Goias municipalities that present intense agricultural activity. We evaluated blood samples of 235 individuals, which 120 were rural workers occupationally exposed to pesticides and 115 formed the control group, analyzing GST polymorphisms by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).The exposed group consisted of 111 men and nine women only getting an average of 39 ± 9 years. These workers were from ten rural municipalities situated at Goias state. It was found that 18 % of the exposed individuals had the GSTT1 null genotype and 49 % had the GSTM1 null genotype, and 10 % had both null genotypes. Data as intoxication (42 %), use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE; 52 %) and if the worker prepared the pesticide (7 %), or if just applied the pesticide (22 %) or if the worker prepared and applied (71 %) have all been correlated with genetic polymorphisms. There were no statistically significant differences between the GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms between control and exposed groups. Finally, we could not associate a null GSTT1 or null GSTM1 polymorphisms or both to intoxication events caused by pesticides, but instead we presented the importance to use PPE to prevent such harm, once we found a statistically significant association between the use of PPE and events of intoxication (p ≤ 0.001).