Implementation of a Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program for improvement on quality of diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: A randomized, multicenter trial.

Background: Appropriate dietary recommendations represent a key part of secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of a nutritional program on quality of diet, cardiovascular events, and death in patients with established CVD.

Methods: In this open-label, multicenter trial conducted in 35 sites in Brazil, we randomly assigned (1:1) patients aged 45 years or older to receive either the BALANCE Program (experimental group) or conventional nutrition advice (control group).

Characterization of advanced glycation end products and their receptor (RAGE) in an animal model of myocardial infarction.

Circulating advanced glycation end products (AGE) and their receptor, RAGE, are increased after a myocardial infarction (MI) episode and seem to be associated with worse prognosis in patients. Despite the increasing importance of these molecules in the course of cardiac diseases, they have never been characterized in an animal model of MI. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize AGE formation and RAGE expression in plasma and cardiac tissue during cardiac remodeling after MI in rats.

Short-term Effects of High-Dose Caffeine on Cardiac Arrhythmias in Patients With Heart Failure: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The presumed proarrhythmic action of caffeine is controversial. Few studies have assessed the effect of high doses of caffeine in patients with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction at high risk for ventricular arrhythmias.

Objective: To compare the effect of high-dose caffeine or placebo on the frequency of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias, both at rest and during a symptom-limited exercise test.

The Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional Program to reduce events and risk factors in secondary prevention for cardiovascular disease: study protocol (The BALANCE Program Trial).

This article reports the rationale for the Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional Program (BALANCE Program) Trial. This pragmatic, multicenter, nationwide, randomized, concealed, controlled trial was designed to investigate the effects of the BALANCE Program in reducing cardiovascular events. The BALANCE Program consists of a prescribed diet guided by nutritional content recommendations from Brazilian national guidelines using a unique nutritional education strategy, which includes suggestions of affordable foods.

Non-classic androgen actions in Sertoli cell membrane in whole seminiferous tubules: effects of nandrolone decanoate and catechin.

Studies show a mechanism of action of testosterone, nandrolone and catechin as agonists of the membrane androgen receptor. The aim of this work is to investigate the non-classical effect of androgens and catechin in Sertoli cells from immature rats. The membrane potential of Sertoli cells in whole seminiferous tubules was recorded using a standard single microelectrode technique.