Background: Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that causes periodontium and hepatic alterations. Liver disease is related to the intake of foods rich in fat and sugars (high-fat). The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a high-fat diet can aggravate the liver disease caused by ligature-induced periodontitis in rats.Methods: Twenty-one female rats were divided into three groups (n = 7 in each group): control; periodontitis (periodontitis induced with ligature) and high-fat + periodontitis (received hypercaloric diet and induction of periodontitis). The rats were submitted to the analyses of the following periodontal parameters: gingival bleeding index (GBI), probing pocket depth (PPD), tooth mobility (TM), and alveolar bone height. In the hepatic tissue, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), total cholesterol, and myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) were measured. Liver samples were also histopathologically evaluated. Finally, blood levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose, total cholesterol, cholesterol high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and uric acid were measured. Results:The high-fat + periodontitis group presented an increase in the steatosis score (P < 0.05) for the histopathologic evaluation, when compared with the periodontitis group. MDA, uric acid and ALT levels also increased, whereas GSH and HDL levels showed lower values. Conclusion:A high-fat diet aggravates the liver disease caused by ligature-induced periodontitis in rats.

Biochemistry is a basic subject present in the curriculum of the various health and natural sciences courses. However, the literature indicates a great difficulty for undergraduates facing the learning of this subject. This ResumoA Bioquímica é uma das disciplinas básicas mais presentes na grade curricular dos diversos cursos da área da saúde e das ciências da natureza. Contudo, a literatura aponta para uma grande dificuldade dos alunos de graduação frente ao aprendizado desta disciplina. Esse trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar, por meio de um questionário, o grau de dificuldade de aprendizado em Bioquímica apresentado pelos discentes, a fim de levantar discussões sobre estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem para tentar minimizar o problema. Constatamos que 86,5% dos alunos pesquisados apresentaram um grau de dificuldade de aprendizado em Bioquímica de médio a alto. Além disso, 62,8% dos alunos relataram ter dificuldades de aprendizado em outras disciplinas em seus cursos de graduação. Associado a esses dados, 81,03% dos estudantes reconheceram ter passado por dificuldades de aprendizado no ensino médio, sendo que as disciplinas mais mencionadas foram matemática (44,73%) e química (38,98%). Como consequência desse problema, 21,4% do total dos discentes pesquisados eram repetentes na disciplina de Bioquí-mica, o que representa um grupo significativo de alunos com grandes dificuldades de aprendizado. Verificamos que as dificuldades de aprendizado em Bioquímica possuem múltiplas causas, sendo que provavelmente a mais importante é a deficiência na formação dos alunos vindos dos ensinos fundamental e médio.Palavras-chave: dificuldades de aprendizado; bioquímica; estudantes.

Background The pathophysiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is related to unhealthy lifestyles that combine sedentary lifestyle, hypercaloric diets, excessive saturated fats, refined carbohydrates, and high intake of fructose as a food additive to various processed products. Both the broader recognition of the disease and the additional efforts to elucidate the NAFLD pathogenesis have led to an increase in animal models in recent years. Objective. This review was performed to provide better understanding of the association between the NAFLD and animal models. Methods The search in the literature occurred before May of 2018 in the PUBMED database. Results Most studies investigating the influence of diet on liver fat content have been performed using a high-calorie diet that leads to a significant increase in fat content in the liver. Conclusion The findings of this review show that diet is one of the factors that predisposes to the appearance of NAFLD and that the studies presented a wide variety of designs.

Background: Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory and multifactorial disease that affects the periodontal structures and can cause alterations in the hepatic tissue. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether a diet with food restriction can decrease oral and liver alterations associated with ligature-induced periodontitis.Methods: Twenty-four female Wistar rats were used in this study, randomized into three groups (n = 8 for each group): control (regular food); periodontitis (regular food + periodontitis induced with ligatures); and food restriction (diet with food restriction and periodontitis induction). The following periodontium parameters were analyzed tooth mobility (TM), probing pocket depth (PPD), gingival bleeding index (GBI), and alveolar bone height (ABH). In the liver, the levels of oxidative stress markers-malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), total cholesterol, and levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were measured. Liver samples were analyzed for histopathological score. In the blood tissue, the levels of enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose, total cholesterol, and the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were also evaluated. Results:The animals that received a diet with food restriction + periodontitis showed a decrease in hepatic histopathological score (P < 0.05) when compared with the periodontitis group, the same for glucose, total cholesterol, ALT, AST, and ABH data. The group with food restriction + periodontitis showed a decrease in the histopathological liver score (P < 0.05) compared with the group with periodontitis.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a liver disease, which has common characteristics, as hepatic steatosis (lipid accumulation in hepatocytes) and fibrosis of the tissue. From these characteristics, the gold standard for diagnosis of the disease is the histopathological evaluation after liver biopsy. For this evaluation, some scores are available, and the SAF score (Steatosis, Activity, Fibrosis) has recently been described for a more complete assessment of the hepatic status. The purpose of this mini-review is to report the NAFLD using this new score.