NUTRITION IN LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS

ABSTRACT: Olegård, R., Gustafson, A., Kjellmer, I. and Victorin, L. (Department of Paediatrics I, University of Göeborg, Göteborg, Sweden). Nutrition in low-birth-weight infants. III. Lipolysis and free fatty acid elimination after intravenous adminstration of fat emulsion. Acta Paediatr Scand, 64: 745, 1975.–Triglyceride linoleic acid in a fat emulsion for intravenous administration (Intralipid) was used as a marker in an evaluation of fat metabolism in newborn low-birth-weight (LBW) infants. Qualitative data on fatty acids as well as quantification of triglycerides and free fatty acids were obtained by gas-liquid chromatography. Influences on these parameters after a single and after repeated injections of Intralipid revealed differences between low-birth-weight infants appropriate-for-date (AFD) (n =8) and those light-for-date (LFD) (n =5). The LFD exhibited in comparison with the AFD infants an impaired lipolysis of injected triglycerides and a retarded elimination from plasma of released free fatty acids. In LFD, in general, this resulted in triglyceride accumulation and low free fatty acid levels. Heparin facilitated plasma triglyceride lipolysis and free fatty acid elimination from the blood stream.     

QT Sensing Rate Responsive Pacing and Myocardial Infarction:

A 65-year-old man, treated with the QT sensing rate responsive pacemaker required to manage high degree AV block, sustained a transmural inferior wall myocardial infarction 6 months after the pacemaker implant. The rate response of the pacemaker during the acute phase of the infarction was physiological as evidenced by increased pacing rate during pain and with the gradual decrease in rate during the first postinfarction days. The underlying mechanisms are discussed.     

Consensus report on acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry

With respect to acoustic rhinometry, new elements concern the problems related to the interpretation of the minimal cross-sectional area, and the presentation of a protocol for a multinational study, which aims to define a normal nose. Also, the previously issued recommendations for standardisation for technical specifications and standard operating procedures are briefly reviewed. For rhinomanometry, new insights into the field of fluid dynamics are highlighted, as well as their repercussion on more recent graphical representations for active anterior rhinomanometry such as four phases rhinomanometry and resistometry. For acoustic rhinometry as well as rhinomanometry, a more stringent standardisation of decongestive procedures is suggested.     

High doses of fluoride do not affect cyclic AMP levels in human and rat plasma or urine

Abstract – The effect of fluoride ingestion on plasma and urinary cyclic AMP levels was studied in healthy volunteers, children undergoing prophylactic fluoride treatment and in rats. In the first series of experiments fluoride ingestion led to a 20-fold increase in plasma fluoride concentration, which was unrelated to changes in plasma cyclic AMP. The only significant effect on plasma cyclic AMP occurred prior to fluoride, an effect attributed to stress. In the second series performed in children increases in urinary F^- of up to 200-fold were associated with slight but nonsignificant changes in cyclic AMP excretion. In rat experiments the blood sampling procedure was associated with a rise in plasma cyclic AMP. When this was prevented by pretreatment with propranolol (3 mg/kg), the effect of fluoride (50 ppm in the drinking water) was tested. A fall in urine production was not associated with any change in cyclic AMP excretion or in nephrogenic cyclic AMP. It is concluded that if fluoride alters cyclic AMP in rats and man the effect is small and easily masked by other factors such as catecholamine release following stress.     

Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Concentration in Lumbar Cerebrospinal Fluid from Patients with Febrile Convulsions and Controls

ABSTRACT. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentration of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was analysed in 41 children with febrile convulsions (FC), 41 febrile controls of similar age (control group 1), and 59 controls, who had no fever and/or were outside the age range for FC (control group 2). A significant correlation between CSF-GABA and age was demonstrated for controls (1 + 2) (r= 0.63, p < 0.00001), as well as for patients with FC (r= 0.42, p= 0.003). Patients with FC did not differ significantly from control group 1 in respect to CSF-GABA. Duration of FC was related to both CSF-GABA and age (GABA: r=−0.29, p < 0.05; age: r =−0.32, p < 0.05). For 56 controls (1 + 2) > 1 year of age, a significant negative correlation between CFC-GABA and body temperature was found (r=−0.34, p = 0.01). The low CSF-GABA in the FC-labile age group, the negative correlation of CSF-GABA to body temperature, and the negative correlation of the duration of FC to both CSF-GABA and age, all indicate that GABA could be of importance in the pathophysiology of FC.     

BAROREFLEX-GOVERNED SYMPATHETIC OUTFLOW TO MUSCLE VASCULATURE IS INCREASED IN HYPOTHYROIDISM

Microelectrode recording of muscle nerve sympathetic activity (MSA), which is baroreflex-governed and involved in cardiovascular homeostasis, was made in five patients with hypothyroidism and in seven patients with hyperthyroidism prior to treatment and after recovery to euthyroidism. Patients with hypothyroidism had a higher level of MSA when hypothyroid than after recovery (mean +/- SEM 39.3 +/- 7.1 and 26.8 +/- 7.9 bursts/min, respectively, P less than 0.05), whereas hyperthyroidism was not accompanied by a change in the number of sympathetic bursts/min. The response of MSA to manouvres known to influence the neural outflow via baroreceptors and other receptor inputs was not changed with altered thyroid function. The findings provide direct evidence of an increased sympathetic activity in hypothyroidism, but suggest that other physiological properties of MSA are intact in thyroid disease.