For human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, the 1990s were marked by the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) representing a new perspective of life for these patients. The use of HAART was shown to effectively suppress the replication of HIV-1 and dramatically reduce mortality and morbidity, which led to a better and longer quality of life for HIV-1-infected patients. Apart from the substantial benefits that result from the use of various HAART regimens, laboratory and clinical experience has shown that HAART can induce severe and considerable adverse effects related to metabolic complications of lipid metabolism, characterized by signs of lipodystrophy, insulin resistance, central adiposity, dyslipidemia, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and even an increased risk of atherosclerosis. New drugs are being studied, new therapeutic strategies are being implemented, and the use of statins, fibrates, and inhibitors of intestinal cholesterol absorption have been effective alternatives. Changes in diet and lifestyle have also shown satisfactory results.

The population of Brazil, formed by extensive admixture between Amerindians, Europeans and Africans, is one of the most variable in the world. We have recently published a study that used ancestry-informative markers to conclude that in Brazil, at an individual level, color, as determined by physical evaluation, was a poor predictor of genomic ancestry, estimated by molecular markers. To corroborate these findings we undertook the present investigation based on data from 12 commercially available forensic microsatellites that were utilized to estimate the personal genomic origin for each of 752 individuals from the city of São Paulo, belonging to different Brazilian color categories (275 Whites, 192 Intermediates and 285 Blacks). The genotypes permitted the calculation of a personal likelihood-ratio estimator of African or European ancestry. Although the 12 marker set proved capable of discriminating between European and African individuals, we observed very significant overlaps among the three color categories of Brazilians. This was confirmed quantitatively using a Bayesian analysis of population structure that did not demonstrate significant genetic differentiation between the three color groups. These results corroborate and validate our previous conclusions using ancestry-informative markers that in Brazil at the individual level there is significant dissociation of color and genomic ancestry.

Células-tronco são células indiferenciadas. Como tal, apresentam uma série de características que as tornam candidatas à utilização terapêutica. As principais características das células-tronco são a capacidade de autorrenovação e de se diferenciarem em diversos tipos celulares. Desta forma, acredita-se que células-tronco presentes nos diferentes tecidos tenham papel regenerativo quando estes sofrem uma lesão ou injúria. Entre os tecidos conhecidos por apresentarem células-tronco após a vida pós-natal, a medula óssea foi a mais estudada, por muitos anos, como fonte tanto de células-tronco hematopoéticas quanto de células-tronco mesenquimais, também denominadas de células mesenquimais estromais da medula óssea ou células estromais mesenquimais multipotentes. Estas células são um grupo de células clonogênicas, presentes no estroma da medula óssea, que, quando submetidas a diferentes estímulos apropriados, são capazes de se diferenciarem em várias linhagens de células, como a osteogênica, a condrogênica e a adipogênica e, possivelmente, em outros tipos celulares não mesodérmicos, como células neurais ou hepatócitos. Nesta revisão, as principais características das células-tronco mesenquimais serão abordadas, incluindo os marcadores moleculares e de membrana, as características de divisão e de diferenciação, a heterogeneidade e as aplicações clínicas potenciais. Rev.

Iron is an essential metal for cell survival that is regulated by the peptide hormone hepcidin. However, its influence on certain diseases is directly related to iron metabolism or secondary to underlying diseases. Genetic alterations influence the serum hepcidin concentration, which can lead to an iron overload in tissues, as observed in haemochromatosis, in which serum hepcidin or defective hepcidin synthesis is observed. Another genetic imbalance of iron is iron-refractory anaemia, in which serum concentrations of hepcidin are increased, precluding the flow and efflux of extra- and intracellular iron. During the pathogenesis of certain diseases, the resulting oxidative stress, as well as the increase in inflammatory cytokines, influences the transcription of the HAMP gene to generate a secondary anaemia due to the increase in the serum concentration of hepcidin. To date, there is no available drug to inhibit or enhance hepcidin transcription, mostly due to the cytotoxicity described in the in vitro models. The proposed therapeutic targets are still in the early stages of clinical trials. Some candidates are promising, such as heparin derivatives and minihepcidins. This review describes the main pathways of systemic and genetic regulation of hepcidin, as well as its influence on the disorders related to iron metabolism.