OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the relationship between rs17576 (MMP-9) polymorphism and increased cancer risk in a Brazilian breast cancer cohort. METHODS: This study included 141 women (71 breast cancer patients and 70 controls without breast cancer) who donated 3 mL of their peripheral blood for genomic DNA extraction. This DNA was then genotyped using a real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The AG (rs17576) genotype was identified in 26 (18.43%) participants in the case group and in 22 (15.60%) participants in the control group (p=0.274), while the GG genotype was identified in ten (7.09%) participants in the case group and in one (0.70%) participant in the control group (p<0.003 - OR (95% CI) 13.13 (1.73, 593.08). No significant difference in the incidence rates was observed for AG or GG rs17576 genotypes in premenopausal women, p=0.813 and p=0.556, respectively. However, in postmenopausal women, the AG genotype was shown to occur in 14 (22.5%) participants in the case group and in 4 (6.45%) participants in the control (p<0.043), while GG genotype occurred in eight (12.90%) of the individuals in the case group and in none of the individuals in the control group (p<0.006). CONCLUSION: In this study, the MMP-9 rs17576 GG polymorphic variant was shown to be significantly associated with breast cancer risk in premenopausal women, while the AG and GG genotypes were associated with increased cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Abstract Ovulation synchronization protocols are well established in beef and dairy cows. However, the protocol response rate is around 70-90%. In beef cows, factors such as inadequate nutrition and calf presence negatively impact the response of progesterone (P4)/estradiol-based ovulation synchronization protocols by interfering with GnRH release and consequently reducing LH pulsatility and final follicular development. In dairy cows, protocols based on GnRH and prostaglandin (Ovsynch) are the most widely used in the world. However, the efficiency of Ovsynch is dependent on the presence of a large follicle at the time of administration of the first GnRH. In these ovulation synchronization protocols, pre-synchronization protocols (Prostaglandins, Double Ovsynch and P4synch) are usually attempted in an effort to increase responses. Thus, the objective of this review was to discuss pre-ovulation synchronization strategies (administration of injectable P4 or energetic/protein supplementation or pre-synchronization with intra-vaginal progesterone devices) aiming to increase the LH pulsatility in beef cows or induce the formation of a GnRH-responsive follicle at the beginning of the Ovsynch protocol in dairy cows.

A polipose nasossinusal é um processo inflamatório crônico da mucosa nasal, caracterizado pela presença de pólipos nasais múltiplos e bilaterais. Vários tipos de medicações têm sido usados no seu tratamento. Para estudar o resultado de diferentes formas de tratamento, é preciso alguma forma de estadiamento. OBJETIVOS: Apresentar um novo método endoscópico de estadiamento, baseado na endoscopia nasal e na avaliação tridimensional dos pólipos, comparar sua reprodutibilidade entre outros dois métodos já difundidos. FORMA DE ESTUDO: Estudo de coorte histórica com corte transversal. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Três examinadores avaliaram exames de 20 pacientes portadores de polipose nasossinusal em diferentes momentos, antes e 15 e 30 dias após o início de um tratamento com prednisona, na dose de 1 mg/kg/dia por 7 dias. Foi avaliado o grau de concordância entre os examinadores para cada método, utilizando-se o Kappa múltiplo para análise estatística. RESULTADOS: Os três métodos mostraram-se reprodutíveis, sendo que o método proposto apresentou menor concordância entre os examinadores. CONCLUSÃO: O estadiamento proposto mostrou-se reprodutível, apesar de apresentar menor concordância do que os outros dois estadiamentos.

Nasal Polyposis is a chronic inflammatory process of the nasal mucosa, characterized by multiple and bilateral nasal polyps. Different drugs have been used in its treatment. In order to study the results of different treatment modalities it is necessary to have some kind of staging. AIM: to present a new endoscopic staging method, based on nasal endoscopy and on the three-dimensional nasal polyp assessment; and compare its reproducibility with that from two other systems already established in the literature. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three experts assessed the exams of 20 patients with nasal polyposis at different times, before, at 15 and at 30 days after the start of oral prednisone, 1 mg/kg/day, during 7 days. We assessed the agreement rate among the experts, using Kappa for statistic analysis. RESULTS: The three methods were reproducible, and the method hereby proposed had the least agreement among the examiners. CONCLUSIONS: the three-dimensional staging system proposed proved reproducible, despite showing less agreement among the examiners than the other as the other two methods.