Efficiency of fixed-dose combinations of statin and ezetimibe in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

Objective: To estimate the clinical and economic benefits derived from increasing the use of fixed-dose combinations of high-intensity statins and ezetimibe in patients at high/very high cardiovascular risk, from the perspective of the Spanish National Health System (SNS).

Methods: A baseline scenario (current market shares) was compared with scenarios that increased the use of fixed-dose combinations (alternative: 30% increase; optimized: 69% increase). The potential annual increase in the number of controlled patients, cardiovascular events avoided and the associated savings in direct medical costs were estimated, including the cost of pharmacological treatment, follow-up, and managing cardiovascular events over a three-year time horizon.

Aβ40 Aggregation under Changeable Conditions.

Homeostasis is crucial for cell function, and disturbances in homeostasis can lead to health disorders. Under normal conditions, intracellular pH is maintained between 7.35 and 7.

A multi-country survey on the impact of COVID-19 on dental practice and dentists' feelings in Latin America.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced the routine of healthcare workers. This study investigated the impact of the pandemic on dental practice and dentists' feelings in Latin America.

Methods: A survey was conducted with dentists from 11 Spanish-speaking Latin American countries in September-December 2020.

First national registry on the effectiveness and safety of evolocumab in clinical practice in patients attended in cardiology in Spain. The RETOSS-CARDIO study.

Objective: To present the first registry used to analyse the clinical profile of patients treated with evolocumab in Spain, including the effectiveness on the lipid profile and safety in the «real world» setting.

Methods: Multicentre, retrospective, and observational study of patients starting treatment with evolocumab from February 2016 to May 2017 in clinical practice in Spanish cardiology units.

Results: A total of 186 patients (mean age 60.

Prion-based nanomaterials and their emerging applications.

Protein misfolding and aggregation into highly ordered fibrillar structures have been traditionally associated with pathological processes. Nevertheless, nature has taken advantage of the particular properties of amyloids for functional purposes, like in the protection of organisms against environmental changing conditions. Over the last decades, these fibrillar structures have inspired the design of new nanomaterials with intriguing applications in biomedicine and nanotechnology such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, adhesive materials, biodegradable nanocomposites, nanowires or biosensors.

Global Protein Stabilization Does Not Suffice to Prevent Amyloid Fibril Formation.

Mutations or cellular conditions that destabilize the native protein conformation promote the population of partially unfolded conformations, which in many cases assemble into insoluble amyloid fibrils, a process associated with multiple human pathologies. Therefore, stabilization of protein structures is seen as an efficient way to prevent misfolding and subsequent aggregation. This has been suggested to be the underlying reason why proteins living in harsh environments, such as the extracellular space, have evolved disulfide bonds.

A single cysteine post-translational oxidation suffices to compromise globular proteins kinetic stability and promote amyloid formation.

Oxidatively modified forms of proteins accumulate during aging. Oxidized protein conformers might act as intermediates in the formation of amyloids in age-related disorders. However, it is not known whether this amyloidogenic conversion requires an extensive protein oxidative damage or it can be promoted just by a discrete, localized post-translational modification of certain residues.

Is obesity associated to dental caries in Brazilian schoolchildren?

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the association between dental caries and weight status, and between dental caries and physical activity in Brazilian schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years. A multi-stage sample of children enrolled in 20 private and public schools in 2010 in Pelotas, Southern Brazil, were invited to participate in the study. Socioeconomic data were collected from parents, and data regarding children characteristics were collected from children using a questionnaire and anthropometric measures.

Perfecting prediction of mutational impact on the aggregation propensity of the ALS-associated hnRNPA2 prion-like protein.

An increasing number of human proteins are being found to bear a prion-like domain (PrLD) driving the formation of membraneless compartments through liquid-liquid phase separation. Point mutations in these PrLDs promote the transition to an amyloid-like state. There has been much debate on whether this aberrant aggregation is caused by compositional or sequential changes.

Amyloid cores in prion domains: Key regulators for prion conformational conversion.

Despite the significant efforts devoted to decipher the particular protein features that encode for a prion or prion-like behavior, they are still poorly understood. The well-characterized yeast prions constitute an ideal model system to address this question, because, in these proteins, the prion activity can be univocally assigned to a specific region of their sequence, known as the prion forming domain (PFD). These PFDs are intrinsically disordered, relatively long and, in many cases, of low complexity, being enriched in glutamine/asparagine residues.

Characterization of Amyloid Cores in Prion Domains.

Amyloids consist of repetitions of a specific polypeptide chain in a regular cross-β-sheet conformation. Amyloid propensity is largely determined by the protein sequence, the aggregation process being nucleated by specific and short segments. Prions are special amyloids that become self-perpetuating after aggregation.

The Role of School Social Environment on Dental Caries Experience in 8- to 12-Year-Old Brazilian Children: A Multilevel Analysis.

Aim: Although children spend most of their time involved in activities related to school, few studies have focused on the association between school social environment and oral health. This cross-sectional study assessed individual and school-related social environment correlates of dental caries in Brazilian schoolchildren aged 8-12 years.

Methods: A sample of children from 20 private and public schools (n=1,211) was selected.

The yeast ζ-crystallin/NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase (Zta1p) is under nutritional control by the target of rapamycin pathway and is involved in the regulation of argininosuccinate lyase mRNA half-life.

The yeast ζ-crystallin (Zta1p) is a quinone oxidoreductase belonging to the ζ-crystallin family, with activity in the reduction of alkenal/alkenone compounds. Various biological functions have been ascribed to the members of this protein family, such as their ability to interact specifically with AU-rich sequences in mRNA, and thus they have been proposed to act as AU-rich element-binding proteins (AREBPs). In this study, we evaluated the specificity of Zta1p for RNA versus DNA by means of a novel nonisotopic method for the in vitro quantitative detection of protein · RNA complexes.

Preferences on vital and nonvital tooth bleaching: a survey among dentists from a city of southern Brazil.

This study evaluated the preferences of general dentists regarding vital and nonvital tooth bleaching therapies and investigated whether the time of clinical practice and post-graduate training influence these options. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire with closed questions applied to dentists (n=276) of a mid-sized city of the southern Brazil (Pelotas, RS). Information was collected regarding sociodemographic variables, level of specialization and time since graduation.

1,3-Diethyl-2-thiobarbituric acid as an alternative coinitiator for acidic photopolymerizable dental materials.

The ethyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EDAB) is widely used as a coinitiator of the camphorquinone (CQ), but in acidic circumstances it might present some instability, reducing the polymerization efficiency of the material. Considering this, new coinitiators are being evaluated. Hence, this study evaluated the kinetic of polymerization (KP), the degree of conversion (DC), and the rate of polymerization (RP ) of experimental resin adhesives containing 1,3-diethyl-2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) as a coinitiator of the CQ.

Tetrahydrofuran as solvent in dental adhesives: cytotoxicity and dentin bond stability.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxicity and 1-year dentin bond stability of solvated etch-and-rinse dental adhesives based on tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetone, or ethanol, containing water or not.

Materials And Methods: Seven primers were prepared using the following solvents: THF, acetone, ethanol, water, THF/water, acetone/water, and ethanol/water. Bovine dentin was used, and specimens for microtensile bond strength (μTBS) test were prepared.

Color stability of a nanofill composite: effect of different immersion media.

Objective: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the color stability of a nanofill composite resin (Filtek Z350) in different immersion media.

Materials And Methods: Twelve resin-based composite specimens were prepared using a silicon cylindrical mold measuring congruent with 1mm of thickness and congruent with 10mm of diameter. Specimens were light-cured for 40 s from both sides using a LED Radii at 1400 mW/cm(2) and were randomized into 4 groups (n= 3) according to immersion media: coffee, yerba mate, grape juice or water (control solution).

Reversal of coenzyme specificity of 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase from Saccharomyces cerevisae and in vivo functional analysis.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae NAD(H)-dependent 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase (Bdh1), a medium chain dehydrogenase/reductase is the main enzyme catalyzing the reduction of acetoin to 2,3-butanediol. In this work we focused on altering the coenzyme specificity of Bdh1 from NAD(H) to NADP(H). Based on homology studies and the crystal structure of the NADP(H)-dependent yeast alcohol dehydrogenase Adh6, three adjacent residues (Glu(221), Ile(222), and Ala(223)) were predicted to be involved in the coenzyme specificity of Bdh1 and were altered by site-directed mutagenesis.

Engineering of 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase to reduce acetoin formation by glycerol-overproducing, low-alcohol Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains overexpressing GPD1, which codes for glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and lacking the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase Ald6 display large-scale diversion of the carbon flux from ethanol toward glycerol without accumulating acetate. Although GPD1 ald6 strains have great potential for reducing the ethanol contents in wines, one major side effect is the accumulation of acetoin, having a negative sensory impact on wine. Acetoin is reduced to 2,3-butanediol by the NADH-dependent 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase Bdh1.

Chronic zinc deficiency induces an antioxidant adaptive response in rat lung.

Few studies are available about the role of dietary zinc (Zn) in respiratory diseases. Adult male rats were divided into 2 groups and fed respectively a moderate Zn-deficient diet and a Zn-adequate control diet. In lung tissue at 2 months, thiobarbituric acid-reactive species (TBARS), total glutathione, glutathione disulfide, protein carbonyls, metallothionein, and the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase, CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) were increased, but protein thiols decreased.