[The latest in the diagnosis and treatment of obesity: Is still there a place for the conservative treatment of obesity?].

In Chile and other countries the actual prevalence of obesity is reaching 30% in selected populations (low income women). Nowadays bariatric surgery appears to be the treatment of choice. However, it is only indicated in selected patients and is not the first line treatment, since it does not prevent or reduce the appearance of this condition, a crucial challenge in its clinical management.

Rhenium(IV)-copper(II) heterobimetallic complexes with a bridge malonato ligand. Synthesis, crystal structure, and magnetic properties.

The Re(IV) complex [ReCl4(mal)]2-, in the form of two slightly different salts, (AsPh4)1.5(HNEt3)0.5[ReCl4(mal)] (1a) and (AsPh4)(HNEt3)[ReCl4(mal)] (1b), and the Re(IV)-Cu(II) bimetallic complexes [ReCl4(mu-mal)Cu(phen)2].

Image quality and dose evaluation in spiral chest CT examinations of patients with lung carcinoma.

A study was undertaken to assess the quality of general chest CT examinations for indication of lung carcinoma according to the criteria proposed in the European Commission (EC) Guidelines, and to investigate their usefulness in the optimization of this practice. The criteria were evaluated for a sample of 100 examinations from five radiology departments in the Madrid area featuring single slice helical CT scanners with special emphasis on radiation dose and image quality. To determine the degree of compliance with the image criteria considered, the examinations were independently evaluated twice by five radiologists from the participating centres.

Diet and endothelial function.

Endothelial dysfunction is one of the earliest events in atherogenesis. A consequence of endothelial damage is a lower availability of nitric oxide (NO), the most potent endogenous vasodilator. NO inhibits platelet aggregation, smooth muscle cell proliferation and adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells.

[Ultrasound assessment of endothelial function in Chilean children and adults].

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is an important pathogenetic mechanism in the development of atherosclerosis.

Aim: To evaluate endothelial function in Chilean children and adult subjects and to provide normal values of flow mediated dilatation (FMD) in the Chilean population.

Subjects And Methods: Flow mediated dilation of the brachial artery was measured by high resolution ultrasonography in healthy children (n=32) and adults (n=69) of both gender, in a group of 8 healthy women during 4 periods of pregnancy and late postpartum, and in 22 men and women with a history of stroke or coronary heart disease.

[Mechanisms of hypo and hyper alphalipoproteinemia in Chilean adults].

Background: High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is inversely associated to atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk. Disturbances in HDL cholesterol plasma levels are frequent in the Chilean population, however the pathophysiological mechanisms are unknown.

Aim: To evaluate the mechanisms involved in the hypo and hyper alfalipoproteinemias in Chilean subjects.

Diet as a risk factor for cholesterol gallstone disease.

Cholesterol gallstone disease is a common condition in western populations. The etiology is multifactorial with interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Obesity, aging, estrogen treatment, pregnancy and diabetes are consistently associated to a higher risk.

Isolated soy protein improves endothelial function in postmenopausal hypercholesterolemic women.

Background: Postmenopausia and hypercholesterolemia are related to endothelial dysfunction, a pathogenic event in atherosclerosis. Soy protein reduces plasma cholesterol, but there is scanty information about its effect on endothelial function.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of isolated soy protein compared to caseinate on plasma lipoproteins and endothelial function in postmenopausal hypercholesterolemic women.

Identification of two additional members of the membrane-bound dipeptidase family.

We have cloned two mouse cDNAs encoding previously unidentified membrane-bound dipeptidases [membrane-bound dipeptidase-2 (MBD-2) and membrane-bound dipeptidase-3 (MBD-3)] from membrane-bound dipeptidase-1 (MBD-1) deficient mice (Habib, G.M., Shi, Z-Z.

Mediterranean diet, but not red wine, is associated with beneficial changes in primary haemostasis.

Objective: (1) To compare the effect of an alcohol-free Mediterranean-type diet (MD) and a high-fat diet (HFD) on variables of primary haemostasis (bleeding time, plasma von Willebrand factor and platelet aggregation/secretion). (2) To test whether red wine supplementation modified these variables, independently of the diet.

Design, Subjects And Intervention: Controlled prospective intervention study.

[Nutrients intake in elderly people living in Providence, Santiago de Chile].

Background: The information available on food intake in the elderly in Chile is restricted to individuals of low socioeconomic groups, but there is no data available on food intake in elderly of higher income groups.

Aim: To assess food intake in a group of elderly people from Providencia County in Santiago, a middle income community.

Subjects And Methods: Forty one subjects (20 male), aged 60 to 73 years, were studied.

Wine, diet, antioxidant defenses, and oxidative damage.

Oxidative stress is a central mechanism for the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease and atherogenesis, for cancer and other chronic diseases in general, and it also plays a major role in the aging process. Dietary antioxidants constitute a large group of compounds that differ in mechanism of action, bioavailability and side effects. A systematic analysis of the role of the various antioxidants in chronic diseases is hampered by the difficulty of employing death or clinical events as end points in intervention studies.

Complementary effects of Mediterranean diet and moderate red wine intake on haemostatic cardiovascular risk factors.

Objectives: To compare the effect of alcohol-free Mediterranean-type diet (MD) and high-fat diet (HFD) on plasma concentration of emergent haemostatic cardiovascular risk factors (HCVRF). Also, to test if red wine supplementation modifies HCVRF, independent of diet.

Design, Subjects And Intervention: Controlled prospective intervention study.

[Differences in plasma antioxidants according to socioeconomic level in Chilean women].

Background: Free radical-mediated oxidative damage is a known initial event in atherogenesis. Cardiovascular disease is frequent in the Chilean population showing differences in the prevalence of risk factors of the disease according to socioeconomic level (SEL).

Aim: To determine levels of antioxidants and lipid peroxides in Chilean women from different SEL.

Cardiovascular risk factors in vegetarians. Normalization of hyperhomocysteinemia with vitamin B(12) and reduction of platelet aggregation with n-3 fatty acids.

Hyperhomocysteinemia in association with vitamin B(12) deficiency, and increased platelet aggregation, probably due to dietary lack of n-3 fatty acids, constitute cardiovascular risk factors frequently observed in vegetarians. We tested if administration of vitamin B(12) normalizes the concentration of total plasma homocysteine, and if intake of eicosapentaenoic (20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic (22:6n-3) fatty acids modulates platelet function in a population of lactoovovegetarians. One week after a single intramuscular injection of cyanocobalamin (10000 microg) in 18 individuals, serum vitamin B(12) increased from 149+/-63 pg/mL to 532+/-204 pg/mL (p<0.

[Endothelial dysfunction as a primary disorder in vascular diseases].

Endothelium controls vascular smooth muscle tone by secreting relaxing and contracting factors. There is a constant release of endothelium derived relaxing factors, mainly nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator, inhibitor of platelet aggregation, monocyte adhesion and smooth muscle proliferation. In addition, the endothelium may increase the release of NO in response to humoral stimulation by vasoactive substances such as acetylcholine, bradykinin or substance P.

A high-fat diet induces and red wine counteracts endothelial dysfunction in human volunteers.

Endothelial dysfunction is associated with atherogenesis and oxidative stress in humans. In rat and rabbit blood vessels, wine polyphenol antioxidants induce vascular relaxation in vitro through the NO-cGMP pathway. To assess the effect of a regular high-fat diet (HFD) and moderate red wine consumption on endothelial function (EF), a study was performed in healthy male volunteers.

Vegetarians and cardiovascular risk factors: hemostasis, inflammatory markers and plasma homocysteine.

We studied hemostatic and inflammatory cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), and total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) in 26 vegetarians (23 lacto- or ovolactovegetarians and 3 vegans), matched by age, sex and socioeconomic status with omnivorous controls. Vegetarians had significantly lower proportion of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids in plasma lipids, significantly shortened bleeding time, and increased blood platelet count and in vitro platelet function (aggregation and secretion). Plasma levels of all coagulation or fibrinolytic factors and natural inhibitors synthesized in the liver were lower in vegetarians than in controls.

Mouse leukotriene A4 hydrolase is expressed at high levels in intestinal crypt cells and splenic lymphocytes.

LTA4 hydrolase (EC 3.3.2.

Plasma polyphenols and antioxidants, oxidative DNA damage and endothelial function in a diet and wine intervention study in humans.

An intervention study was performed to evaluate the influence of a Mediterranean diet, a high fat diet, and their supplementation with red wine in moderate amounts, on biochemical, physiological, and clinical parameters related to atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases. For 3 months two groups of 21 male volunteers each, received either a Mediterranean diet or a high fat diet; during the second month, red wine was added isocalorically, 240 ml/day. Participants were kept under close medical and nutritional surveillance.

[Dyslipidemias in renal diseases: pathogenesis and treatment].

Patients with renal diseases like nephrotic syndrome, chronic renal failure (uremia) and renal transplantation frequently present disturbances of lipid metabolisms, however their pathogenesis is partially understood. Moreover, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for many deaths in these patients. Although the effect of the dyslipidemias in the development of atherosclerosis in renal diseases is not clear, they probably play a role.

Leukotriene D4 and cystinyl-bis-glycine metabolism in membrane-bound dipeptidase-deficient mice.

We have developed mice deficient in membrane-bound dipeptidase (MBD, EC 3.4.13.

Melanins and lens pigments: a comparative study.

Based on previous findings that lens pigments and melanins share many physicochemical properties, human lens pigments and natural (hair) and synthetic melanins were submitted to oxidation with permanganate under strong acidic conditions. This procedure has been utilized for the characterization of melanins and results in the well defined products, thiazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid (TDCA) and pyrrole-2,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (PTCA), which can be quantitated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). PTCA is regarded as a marker of black eumelanins and was therefore a main component of synthetic DOPA-eumelanin and dark hair.

International cooperation in analytical chemistry: experience of antidoping control at the XI Pan American Games.

We describe the experience of the international cooperation carried out for antidoping control at the XI Pan American Games. A temporary accreditation was granted by the International Olympic Committee to the accredited laboratory of Barcelona (Spain) to set up a Doping Control Laboratory in Havana. Two other laboratories from Mexico and Cuba contributed personnel, materials, and instrumentation.