RESUMO
The current importance of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) in national food security has progressively encouraged research on this fruit. This is how pumpkin seeds constitute a potential raw material to obtain dehydrated products for direct consumption. In this research, we compared the drying kinetics, effective diffusivity (D ef ) and sensory perception in a non-trained panel of dehydrated pumpkin seeds through refractance window drying (RW) and convective air drying (CA). RW drying was carried out in a laboratory-scale hydro-dryer and CA drying was carried out in a dryer with hot air circulation; both at 80 ± 2 °C. Sensory acceptability (appearance, aroma, taste and texture) was evaluated by an affective test on a hedonic scale from 1 to 5 with 60 panelists. The drying curves (MR vs t) were fitted to four kinetic models: Newton, Logarithmic, Page and Midilli et al. D ef was determined by the second Fick's Law solution. The best model for RW drying was logarithmic, and D ef was 6.60 × 10-10 m2/s (R2 = 0.9927); while for CA, it was Midilli et al., with the D ef found through this method being 9.60 × 10-10 m2/s (R2 = 0.9928). Dry seeds by RW obtained a general acceptance of 3.82, compared to 3.63 by CA. Results allow us to conclude that among the drying methods evaluated, there is not statistically significant differences, in terms of dehydration characteristics and sensory acceptability, constituting RW drying as an alternative method for obtaining dehydrate pumpkins seeds for direct consumption.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Gastric Cancer is highly prevalent and deadly worldwide. In Colombia, it is the most lethal form of cancer. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms in IL-10, IL-4, and IL-4Rα genes have been associated with an anti-inflammatory environment and a Th2 profile in detriment of the antitumor Th1 response. This research sought to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms in promoter sequences, like - 1082 (G/A), - 592 (C/A), and - 819 (C/T), as well as - 590 (C/T) of the IL-10 and IL-4 genes, respectively; in addition to the IL-4Rα mutation variants, Ile50Val and Q576R, together with circulating levels of IL-4, TNF-α, IL-10, and IFN-γ in patients with gastric carcinoma in Cúcuta, Colombia. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 17 patients and 30 healthy individuals were genotyped for the six polymorphisms mentioned through PCR-RFLP of DNA obtained from peripheral blood cells and serum samples were analyzed by sandwich ELISA to quantify cytokines. Statistical difference between groups was determined along with the association between the presence of polymorphisms and the risk of gastric cancer, as well as the mortality in patients, using Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis, respectively. RESULTS: An association between the - 1082 (G/A) and the risk of gastric cancer was found (OR = 7.58, range 0.77-74.06, P = 0.08). Furthermore, patients had a significant increase in IL-4 serum levels (P < 0.01) compared to healthy individuals, both variables showed a higher estimated risk of mortality in patients, although without statistical association (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: We infer that two possible biomarkers (one immunological and one genetic) could be considered in association with gastric cancer in our population, which should be confirmed by subsequent studies involving a greater number of individuals.
Assuntos
Citocinas/sangue , Interleucina-10/genética , Subunidade alfa de Receptor de Interleucina-4/genética , Interleucina-4/genética , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único , Neoplasias Gástricas/sangue , Neoplasias Gástricas/genética , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Biomarcadores Tumorais/sangue , Biomarcadores Tumorais/genética , Colômbia , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Interferon-alfa/sangue , Interferon-alfa/genética , Interleucina-10/sangue , Interleucina-4/sangue , Subunidade alfa de Receptor de Interleucina-4/sangue , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas , Fator de Necrose Tumoral alfa/sangue , Fator de Necrose Tumoral alfa/genéticaRESUMO
The incidence and prevalence of intestinal parasites in children is most likely due to lack of natural or acquired resistance and differences in behavior and habits closely related to environmental and socioeconomic determinants. The most important protozoa that parasitize humans are Giardia, Entamoeba, Blastocystis, and Cryptosporidium. These parasites present wide intraspecific genetic diversity and subsequently classified into assemblages and subtypes. The Amazon basin is the largest in the world and is the fifth freshwater reserve on the planet. Contradictorily, people living in these areas (Indigenous populations) have poor quality of life, which favors the infection of diseases of fecal-oral transmission. The aim of this work was to unravel the molecular epidemiology of Giardia, Blastocystis and Cryptosporidium across four communities (Puerto Nariño, San Juan del Soco, Villa Andrea and Nuevo Paraíso). We obtained 284 fecal samples from children under 15 years old that were analyzed by direct microscopy (261 samples) and Real Time PCR (qPCR) (284 samples). The positive samples for these protozoa were further characterized by several molecular markers to depict assemblages and subtypes. We observed a frequency of Giardia infection by microscopy of 23.7% (62 samples) and by qPCR of 64.8% (184 samples); for Blastocystis by microscopy of 35.2% (92 samples) and by qPCR of 88.7% (252 samples) and for Cryptosporidium only 1.9% (5 samples) were positive by microscopy and qPCR 1.8% (5 samples). Regarding the Giardia assemblages, using the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) marker we observed AI, BIII and BIV assemblages and when using triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) we observed assemblages AI, AII, BIII and BIV. In contrast, Blastocystis STs detected were 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Lastly, the species C. viatorum, C. hominis (with the subtypes IdA19 and IaA12R8) and C. parvum (with the subtype IIcA5G3c) were identified. We observed a high profile of zoonotic transmission regarding the Giardia assemblages and Blastocystis STs/alleles. Also, we highlight the elevated frequency of infection by these two protozoans suggesting an active transmission in the area. Our findings reinforces the need to deploy better epidemiological surveillance systems for enteric pathogens in the area.
RESUMO
Blastocystis is a cosmopolitan enteric protist colonizing probably more than 1 billion people. This protozoan exhibits genetic diversity and is subdivided into subtypes (STs). The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of Blastocystis STs in symptomatic and asymptomatic human samples from different countries of South America. A total of 346 fecal samples were genotyped by SSU rDNA showing ST1 (28.3%), ST2 (22.2%), ST3 (36.7%), ST4 (2%), ST5 (2.3%), ST6 (2%), ST7 (2.3%), ST8 (0.6%), ST12 (0.9%) and a novel ST (2.7%). These findings update the epidemiology of Blastocystis in South America and expand our knowledge of the phylogeographic differences exhibited by this stramenopile.
Assuntos
Infecções por Blastocystis/epidemiologia , Blastocystis/genética , DNA de Protozoário/genética , Filogenia , Doenças Assintomáticas , Blastocystis/classificação , Blastocystis/isolamento & purificação , Infecções por Blastocystis/parasitologia , Infecções por Blastocystis/transmissão , Fezes/parasitologia , Feminino , Genótipo , Humanos , Masculino , Epidemiologia Molecular , Filogeografia , Índice de Gravidade de Doença , América do Sul/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Blastocystis is a human common enteric protist that may colonize a large variety of non-human hosts linked to symptoms and diseases such as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, urticaria, flatulence and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Blastocystis exhibits remarkable genetic diversity and multiple subtypes (STs) within the genus with no absolute associations with clinical symptomatology. Here we analyzed fecal samples from Argentinean patients (n=270) belonging to symptomatic (urticaria and non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms, n=39) and asymptomatic control (n=28). Those patients infected with Blastocystis (n=67) were submitted for morphological analysis, DNA extraction, 18S PCR, sequencing and STs identification according to DNA barcoding. Blastocystis vacuolar forms were the predominant morphotype (75%), ameboid-like forms were evidenced in 1.5% of samples. Blastocystis ST3 was detected in 71.6% (n=48), of which 71.4%, (n=35) and 28.6% (n=14) belonged to symptomatic and asymptomatic respectively. Other subtypes identified were ST1 (14.9%), ST6 (7.5%) and ST2 (5.9%). Blastocystis 18S barcoding evidenced in non-urticaria symptomatic patients and asymptomatic control group the presence of allele 134 (ST3) (p<0.0001), while allele 34 (ST3) was detected in 85.7% (18/21) of symptomatic uricaria as compared with control group (1/21) (p<0.0001). The presence of a particular allele (a34) significantly associated with urticaria patients was detected and the clinical implications of these findings are herein discussed.