Abstract Obesity and depression, disorders associated with inflammation, have high incidences in women. Understanding the derangements present in the initial phase of obesity may point to factors that could help avoiding disease aggravation. The present study aimed at investigating the effects of a 6-months interdisciplinary therapy for weight loss in women with grade I obesity. Before and after the therapy, 37 middle-aged women donated blood and responded to questionnaires for depression and anxiety symptoms. Inflammatory parameters were evaluated in serum and a preliminary screening of the plasma proteome was performed. The therapy decreased anthropometric, psychological scores, and serum levels of inflammatory parameters. Depression and anxiety scores correlated positively with some inflammatory parameters. The proteomic analysis showed changes in proteins related to cholesterol metabolism and inflammatory response. Interdisciplinary therapy improves anthropometric and inflammatory statuses and ameliorating psychological symptoms. The decrease of MCP-1 levels after interdisciplinary therapy has not been reported so far, at the best of our knowledge. The present demonstration of positive associations of inflammatory markers and psychological scores indicate that these mediators may be useful to monitor psychological status in obesity. The present proteome data, although preliminary, pointed to plasma alterations indicative of improvement of inflammation after interdisciplinary therapy.

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is one of the enzymes used to evaluate the effects caused by environmental contaminants. The aim of this work was to study the effects of four pyrethroid compounds (allethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fenpropathrin) on the catalytic activity of GST and to estimate the potential for environmental contamination in silico of these insecticides. Spectrophotometric analyses showed that the activity of the GST enzyme was inhibited by the four pesticides, with the values for the inhibition constant (Ki) varying from 0.12 to 20 µmol L-1, with the following order of inhibition from the highest to the lowest Ki value: deltamethrin > cypermethrin > allethrin > fenpropathrin. They presented a competitive and non-competitive inhibition mechanism depending on the compound. The IC50 values (concentration that inhibits 50% of the enzyme activity) showed the insecticide deltamethrin with greater inhibitory capacity, since it reduced the activity of the GST enzyme by half, even though it was in a lower concentration in relation to the other analyzed compounds. The in silico evaluation indicated the possibility of most of the insecticides contaminating the surface waters (rivers and lakes) adhered to the suspended sediment, but did not show any potential for contamination of groundwater through leaching.

Aproximadamente 40% do total de energia consumida pela população ocidental é representada pelos lipídios, a maioria dela sendo ingerida na forma de triglicerídeos e fosfolipídios. O foco desta revisão foi analisar o efeito dos tipos de gordura da dieta sobre o metabolismo e função secretora do tecido adiposo branco, principalmente, sobre a secreção de haptoglobina, TNF-α, inibidor do ativador de plasminogênio-1 e adiponectina. Estudos prévios demonstraram que durante a exposição de dietas hiperlipídicas, a quantidade e o tipo de ácidos graxos presentes na dieta podem ou não ter um efeito significante sobre o metabolismo do tecido adiposo. Entretanto, o tratamento a curto ou longo prazo com dieta hiperlipídica, especialmente rica em ácidos graxos saturados, provavelmente por ativar receptores toll-like, estimula a expressão de adipocinas pró-inflamatórias e inibe a expressão de adiponectina. Estudos adicionais são necessários para investigar os mecanismos celulares pelos quais os ácidos graxos da dieta afetam a função secretória e metabólica do tecido adiposo branco.

Approximately 40% of the total energy consumed by western populations is represented by lipids, most of them being ingested as triacylglycerols and phospholipids. The focus of this review is to analyze the effect of the type of dietary fat on white adipose tissue metabolism and secretory function, particularly on haptoglobin, TNF-α, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and adiponectin secretion. Previous studies have demonstrated that the duration of the exposure to the high-fat feeding, amount of fatty acid present in the diet and the type of fatty acid may or may not have a significant effect on adipose tissue metabolism. However, the long-term or short-term high fat diets, especially rich in saturated fatty acids, probably by activation of toll-like receptors, stimulated the expression of proinflammatory adipokines and inhibited adiponectin expression. Further studies are needed to investigate the cellular mechanisms by which dietary fatty acids affect white adipose tissue metabolism and secretory functions.