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Introduction: A aldosterone is a component of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, classically known for its role in sodium and water retention. Besides its effects, has been shown that the aldosterone is associated with the pathogenesis and progression of metabolic syndrome components. A better understanding of this system and interfering factors could help develop pharmacotherapeutic alternatives for several disorders. Objectives: Investigate the relationship between diet and aldosterone, and its influence on cardiometabolic risk factors. Results and Discussion: Diet can affect plasma aldosterone levels; high fructose and fat intake can lead to increased aldosterone levels, whereas the effect of sodium intake remains controversial. Adipose tissue, particularly visceral tissue, appears to produce a lipid-soluble factor that increases aldosterone production. Patients with metabolic syndrome have higher aldosterone levels; moreover, an increased cardiometabolic risk associated with insulin resistance could be partially mediated by the action of aldosterone via mineralocorticoid receptors. Even a subtle activation of this hormonal system may have deleterious effects on the glucose and lipid metabolism related to metabolic syndrome. Nevertheless, additional studies are required to better understand the interactions among adipose tissue, aldosterone, and cardiovascular risk as well as the possible role of diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Stature is an important variable in several indices of nutritional status that are applicable to elderly persons. However, stature is difficult or impossible to measure in elderly because they are often unable to maintain the standing position. A alternative is the use of estimated height from measurements of knee height measure. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the formula proposed by Chumlea et al. (1985) based on the knee of a Caucasian population to estimate the height and its application in calculation of body mass index in community-dwelling older people residents in Vinosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Methods: The sample included 621 elderly aged 60 years old and older, living in the community. Measures of weight, height and knee height (KH) were taken and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated with the measured weight and estimated. The Student's t-test was used for comparison of measurements of height between the genders. For the comparison of estimated and measured values it was used paired t-test and also the methodology proposed by Bland and Altman to compare the difference between measurements. To evaluate the agreement between the classifications for BMI was used Cohen's Kappa. Results: The average values obtained from KH were higher than those measured in the whole sample and women. There underestimation of BMI in females and also in the whole. Conclusions: The present results suggest that the equation Chumlea was not adequate to estimate the height of the sample in question, especially for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Objective: to identify cytokines and to associate them with several indexes of total and central adiposity in young female undergraduate students. Methods: 58 young female sophomore students, aged 18 to 25 years, from a Brazilian public university were evaluated. Both anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference) and body composition were assessed through DXA, and the values of android, gynoid and truncal fat mass were obtained. Cytokines (IL-8, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 e TNF-α) were analyzed, and Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Adiposity Index (BAI), Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), Conicity Index (CCI), Waist-Hip Index (WHR), Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), Fat Mass Distribution Index 1 (FMI1) and Fat Mass Distribution Index 2 (FMI2) were calculated. Eventually, a linear regression was carried out to determine the regression coefficient and confidence interval (CI), having the predictor variables (cytokines) adjusted according to age and family history of obesity. The statistical significance of α = 5% was applied. Results: a correlation between adiposity indexes and cytokines (CCI, WHR and IL-12; CCI, WHR, FMI1, FMI2 and TNF-α) was identified. When it comes to the regression models, cytokines increase was related to CCI, WHR, FMI1 and FMI2 increase. Conclusion: pro-inflammatory cytokines were associated with an increase in adipose indexes. Therefore, these indexes became a feasible strategy for clinical practice in order to identify propensity to inflammatory disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: changes in lifestyle are related to early exposure of adolescents to comorbidities associated with cardiovascular disease. These conditions may have consequences in adulthood.Objective: to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk and its associated factors in the three phases of adolescence.Methods: a cross-sectional study involving adolescents 10-19 years old in the city of Viçosa distributed in three stages. We evaluated laboratory tests, body mass index classified into Z-score according to gender and age, and the percentage of body fat classified by gender. We used the chi-square test, chi-square partition with Bonferroni correction and Poisson regression. The significance level was α < 0.05. The project was approved by the UFV Committee of Ethics and Research with Humans.Results: overweight, excess body fat, lipid profile, sedentary behavior, and history of CVD in family were the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors among adolescents. The adolescents had higher rates of overweight and excess fat. As for the stages, the first one showed a higher percentage of individuals with sedentary behavior, overweight, total cholesterol and LDL in comparison with other stages. Individuals with changes in nutritional status were more likely to develop hypertension, changes in total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, insulin, HOMA and low HDL when compared to healthy individuals.Conclusions: the cardiovascular risk factors have been observed in younger and younger individuals and are important factors to identify a population at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The evaluation of inflammatory markers during adolescence can monitor different stages and manifestation of chronic diseases in adulthood. The control of the subclinical inflammation process through changes in lifestyle, especially in the practice of physical activity and dietary education can mitigate the effects of risk factors that trigger the process of atherosclerosis. Objective: To do a critical review regarding inflammatory markers as a risk factor of cardiovascular disease in relation to body composition, physical activity and assessment of nutritional status of adolescents. Methods: A literature review was performed in the following electronic databases: PUBMED, SCIELO and CONCHRANE COLLECTION. The following associated terms were used “inflammation AND cardiovascular diseases AND nutritional status OR body composition OR physical activity". There were topics created for the discussion of subjects: obesity and risk factors for cardiovascular disease during adolescence; expression of inflammatory markers in adolescence; development of cardiovascular disease with inflammatory markers, and finally, inflammatory markers, physical activity and nutritional evaluation. Results: It was observed that the inflammatory markers may manifest in adolescence and be related to risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Physical activity and nutritional evaluation featured as non-pharmacological measures to control the incidence of inflammatory markers and cardiovascular risk factor. Conclusions: Intervention studies may clarify how the adoption of a more proper lifestyle can influence the inflammatory process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: An accurate estimate of body composition is important in assessing and monitoring the nutritional status of adolescents.Objectives: To compare the accuracy of 2 electrical bioimpedance devices with that of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to predict body fat in Brazilian adolescents.Methods: We evaluated 500 adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years, stratified by sex and divided into overweight and non-overweight groups. The percentage of body fat (%BF) was estimated using 2 types of electrical bioimpedance devices: BIA1 (horizontal tetrapolar bioimpedance equipment) and BIA2 (vertical 8-electrode bioimpedance equipment), as well as by DXA. A Bland- Altman plot was used to calculate the total errors and standard errors of estimate.Results: Considering BMI for age, 19.4% were overweight and 47.4% as assessed by %BF of DXA were overweight. The %BF estimated by BIA2 correlated well (p < 0.05) with the %BF predicted by DXA, and only the total errors for BIA2 in the overweight group were acceptable (≤2.5%). The standard errors of estimate was <3.5%, with the lowest values observed for BIA2. Both BIA1 and BIA2 underestimated the %BF in overweight adolescents, while overestimating the %BF in male adolescents of normal weight.Conclusions: The BIA2 was found to be more effective in the evaluation of body fat. Regardless of the method used, the results should be carefully interpreted when assessing the body composition of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: An accurate estimate of body composition is important in assessing and monitoring the nutritional status of adolescents. Objectives: To compare the accuracy of 2 electrical bioimpedance devices with that of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to predict body fat in Brazilian adolescents. Methods: We evaluated 500 adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years, stratified by sex and divided into overweight and non-overweight groups. The percentage of body fat (%BF) was estimated using 2 types of electrical bioimpedance devices: BIA1 (horizontal tetrapolar bioimpedance equipment) and BIA2 (vertical 8-electrode bioimpedance equipment), as well as by DXA. A Bland- Altman plot was used to calculate the total errors and standard errors of estimate. Results: Considering BMI for age, 19.4% were overweight and 47.4% as assessed by %BF of DXA were overweight. The %BF estimated by BIA2 correlated well (p < 0.05) with the %BF predicted by DXA, and only the total errors for BIA2 in the overweight group were acceptable (<2.5%). The standard errors of estimate was <3.5%, with the lowest values observed for BIA2. Both BIA1 and BIA2 underestimated the %BF in overweight adolescents, while overestimating the %BF in male adolescents of normal weight. Conclusions: The BIA2 was found to be more effective in the evaluation of body fat. Regardless of the method used, the results should be carefully interpreted when assessing the body composition of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Obesity has been considered a chronic subclinical inflammation. High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and fibrinogen are increasingly associated with cardiovascular risk. Objectives: To evaluate the ability of anthropometric and body composition indicators in discriminating higher levels of hs-CRP and fibrinogen. Methods: 130 men (20-59 years) were assessed, having measurement of weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip and thigh circumferences, sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), coronal diameter (CD) and body composition. Conicity index, waist/height ratio, body mass index, waist/hip ratio, waist/thigh ratio and sagittal index were calculated. It was considered as the cutoff point for hs-CRP values ⩾ 0.12 mg/dL and for fibrinogen the 50th percentile of the evaluated sample. Results: Sagittal index (r = 0.280), waist/thigh ratio (r = 0.233) and waist/height ratio (r = 0.233) showed the best correlation with hs-CRP (p < 0.01). Conicity index (r = 0.305) and waist/height ratio (r = 0.279) showed the best correlation with fibrinogen (p < 0.01). In ROC analysis, the SAD (0.698 ± 0.049) and the conicity index (0.658 ± 0.048) had greater ability to discriminate cardiovascular risk through higher levels of hs-CRP and fibrinogen, respectively (p < 0.01). The cutoff points of 30 cm, 89.9 cm and 20.5 cm were the ones that reached largest sum between sensitivity and specificity values for the CD, WC and SAD, respectively. Conclusions: The SAD and the conicity index demonstrated a greater ability to detect higher levels of hs-CRP and fibrinogen, respectively, in apparently healthy adult men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the per capita availability of energy and macronutrients in the home and frequency of food consumption by adolescents and to relate them with anthropometric and biochemical variables, as well as verify if the eating habits of parents are associated to the children. Methods: We evaluated the weight, height, body fat (%BF), glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC) and fractions of 120 adolescents. We evaluated also the eating habits of adolescents and their parents. Results: Adolescents with more than 35 % of available lipids had 9.1-fold higher chances of presenting alterations in TC. Those who replaced the main meals for snacks had 3.66, 4.66 and 2.82 higher chances of presenting alterationsin %BF, insulin and triglycerides, respectively. The daily consumption of fruit was considered as a protective factor in relation to hyperinsulinemia. There was a similar feeding behavior among adolescents and their mothers. Conclusion: The results suggest the importance of specific attention to adolescent health, focused on family education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]