Frequency of food intake by adolescent schoolchildren in Cantabria, Spain. Comparison with the consensus document: Food Guidelines for the Spanish Population

OBJECTIVE: To analyze food consumption patterns among schoolchildren in Cantabria and to compare results obtained with Spanish food guidelines for this population group. METHODS: A food frequency questionnaire was the chosen method, with some 53 food types divided into 15 groups. A total of 1,205 teenagers of both sexes aged between 14 and 18 attending 18 secondary schools in Cantabria completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: Milk, bread, fruit, greens and vegetables are the foodstuffs mostly consumed at the recommended frequencies. On the other hand, fish, meat, eggs, dairy products and pulse make up the least adequately consumed categories. Alcoholic drinks are imbibed to a high degree, with beer being the alcoholic most frequently drunk. Spirits are also drunk in larger quantities than wine. Alcohol consumption (beer, wines and spirits) increases significantly with age, being higher among males than females. CONCLUSIONS: Cantabrian schoolchildren follow a food consumption pattern which, generally speaking, does not tally with Spanish food recommendations for their age group. Educational and interventional strategies need to be developed with the aim of modifying such inappropriate food consumption.     

Suppressor mutations derived from the most severe protein folding mutation known

This brief report describes the isolation and initial characterization of revertants to the most severe temperature sensitive folding mutant known. The revertants or suppressors may describe amino acid interactions that occur during the folding of the P22 tailspike polypeptide chain. Results indicate that several different types of suppressors may have been obtained.     

Differential effects of dietary Oenothera, Zizyphus mistol, and corn oils, and essential fatty acid deficiency on the progression of a murine mammary gland adenocarcinoma

The modulating effect of dietary enrichment in mistol seed oil (MO) containing 25% of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), evening primrose oil (EPO) enriched in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and corn oil (CO) as sources of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids on the growth parameters of one transplantable mammary tumor were compared. Mice fed on different lipid formulae were inoculated with a mammary gland adenocarcinoma and different growth development tumor parameters were recorded. Results showed that corn oil feeding slowed down most of the tumor growth parameters, as did the EPO diet. MO also showed antitumor activity. Olein feeding, which induces an essential fatty acid deficiency (EFAD), increased the incidence and the multiplicity of metastases when compared with the controls. It may be concluded that a diet enriched in omega-6 fatty acids did not behave as a tumor promoter in this mammary gland tumor model. The antitumor activities of EPO and MO are corroborated in present experiments, suggesting that both oils may be of value in nutritional approaches of mammary gland tumor therapies. In addition, present data add further experimental proof about the proposed protumorigenic proneness induced by the EFAD state.     

Inhibition of rat corneal angiogenesis by 16-kDa prolactin and by endogenous prolactin-like molecules.

PURPOSE: The cornea is an avascular organ, where induction of new blood vessels involves the turn-on of proangiogenic factors and/or the turn-off of antiangiogenic regulators. Prolactin (PRL) fragments of 14 kDa and 16 kDa bind to endothelial cell receptors and inhibit angiogenesis. This study was designed to determine whether antiangiogenic PRL-like molecules are involved in cornea avascularity. METHODS: Sixteen-kDa PRL and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or anti-PRL antibodies were placed into rat cornea micropockets and neovascularization evaluated by the optical density associated with capillaries stained by the peroxidase reaction and by the number of vessels growing into the implants. Prolactin receptors in corneal epithelium were investigated by immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: bFGF induced a dose-dependent stimulation of corneal neovascularization. This effect was inhibited by coadministration of 16-kDa PRL, as indicated by a 65% reduction in vessel density and a 50% decrement in the incidence of angiogenic responses. Corneal angiogenic reactions of different intensities were induced by implantation of polyclonal and monoclonal anti-PRL antibodies. Corneal epithelial cells were labeled by several anti-PRL receptor monoclonal antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that exogenous 16-kDa PRL inhibits bFGF-induced corneal neovascularization and suggest that PRL-like molecules with antiangiogenic actions function in the cornea. PRL receptors in the corneal epithelium may imply that PRL in the cornea derives from lacrimal PRL internalized through an intracellular pathway. These observations are consistent with the notion that members of the PRL family are potential regulators of corneal angiogenesis.     

A stereological analysis of the lateral geniculate nucleus in adult Macaca nemestrina monkeys

The Cavalieri method and the optical fractionator were employed to estimate the volume and neuron numbers, respectively, of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) in seven adult male pigtail monkeys (Macaca nemestrina). Unbiased estimates were selectively obtained for the parvocellular (P), magnocellular (M), and interlaminar plus superficial (I + S) layers of the nucleus. The dLGN had a mean volume of 56.5 mm3, and contained on average 1.79 million neurons. The P layers contributed 64% of the volume and 83% of the neurons in the dLGN; the corresponding proportions for the other layers were 13% and 9% (M), and 23% and 8% (I + S). Interindividual variability was large for neuron counts, which varied within a two-fold range, and lower for volume estimates. Since no published data are available for the pigtail dLGN, the present results are compared with quantitative studies of the dLGN in other macaque species, placing special emphasis in the discussion of the methodologies used.     

Redox state and energy metabolism during liver regeneration: alterations produced by acute ethanol administration

Ethanol metabolism can induce modifications in liver metabolic pathways that are tightly regulated through the availability of cellular energy and through the redox state. Since partial hepatectomy (PH)-induced liver proliferation requires an oversupply of energy for enhanced syntheses of DNA and proteins, the present study was aimed at evaluating the effect of acute ethanol administration on the PH-induced changes in cellular redox and energy potentials. Ethanol (5 g/kg body weight) was administered to control rats and to two-thirds hepatectomized rats. Quantitation of the liver content of lactate, pyruvate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, and adenine nucleotides led us to estimate the cytosolic and mitochondrial redox potentials and energy parameters. Specific activities in the liver of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes also were measured in these animals. Liver regeneration had no effect on cellular energy availability, but induced a more reduced cytosolic redox state accompanied by an oxidized mitochondrial redox state during the first 48 hr of treatment; the redox state normalized thereafter. Administration of ethanol did not modify energy parameters in PH rats, but this hepatotoxin readily blocked the PH-induced changes in the cellular redox state. In addition, proliferating liver promoted decreases in the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and of cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1); ethanol treatment prevented the PH-induced diminution of ADH activity. In summary, our data suggest that ethanol could minimize the PH-promoted metabolic adjustments mediated by redox reactions, probably leading to an ineffective preparatory event that culminates in compensatory liver growth after PH in the rat.     

5-(Tryptophyl)amino-1,3-dioxoperhydropyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine-based potent and selective CCK(1) receptor antagonists: structural modifications at the tryptophan domain

Analogues of the previously reported potent and highly selective CCK(1) receptor antagonist (4aS, 5R)-2-benzyl-5-(N-Boc-tryptophyl)amino-1,3-dioxoperhydropyrido-[1, 2-c]pyrimidine (2a) were prepared to explore the structural requirements at the Boc-tryptophan domain for CCK(1) receptor affinity. Structural modifications of 2a involved the Trp side chain, its conformational freedom, the Boc group, and the carboxamide bond. Results of the CCK binding and in vitro functional activity evaluation showed three highly strict structural requirements: the type and orientation of the Trp side chain, the H-bonding acceptor carbonyl group of the carboxamide bond, and the presence of the Trp amino protection Boc. Replacement of this acid-labile group with 3, 3-dimethylbutyryl or tert-butylaminocarbonyl conferred acid stability to analogues 14a and 15a, which retained a high potency and selectivity in binding to CCK(1) receptors, as well as an in vivo antagonist activity against the acute pancreatitis induced by caerulein in rats. Oral administration of compounds 14a and 15a also produced a lasting antagonism to the hypomotility induced by CCK-8 in mice, suggesting a good bioavailability and metabolic stability.