Uptake of individual fatty acids into adipose tissue in relation to their presence in the diet

BACKGROUND: The fatty acid composition of adipose tissue triacylglycerol reflects, but is not identical to, the fatty acid composition of the habitual diet. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue is explained by differences between fatty acids in early storage in adipose tissue after a meal. DESIGN: Nine healthy men ate a meal containing several fatty acids. Blood samples were taken for 6 h after the meal from an arterialized hand vein and a vein draining the anterior abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. RESULTS: Net storage of fatty acids in adipose tissue occurred between 1 and 4 h after the meal. In relation to the amount fed, storage of fatty acids differed (P < 0. 01) between classes (n-3 polyunsaturated < saturated < n-6 polyunsaturated < monounsaturated); oleic acid was stored in the greatest amounts. These differences agreed closely with published data, except for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The only individual metabolic step at which significant differences between fatty acids was shown was incorporation of fatty acids into chylomicron triacylglycerol. Differences between fatty acids in rate of extraction from chylomicron triacylglycerol and net uptake into adipose tissue in the postprandial period were significant (P < 0. 01), but not when expressed in relation to proportions in chylomicron triacylglycerol. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristic fatty acid pattern of adipose tissue may predominantly reflect the early metabolic handling of different fatty acids. Adipose tissue uptake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is slow in relation to that of other fatty acids.     

Relation between insulin resistance and plasma concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides, carotenoids, and tocopherols

BACKGROUND: It is not known whether total circulating lipid hydroperoxides are increased in insulin-resistant individuals and whether this correlates with depletion of liposoluble antioxidant vitamins that are consumed during lipid peroxidation. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to define the relation between resistance to insulin-mediated glucose disposal and plasma concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides and liposoluble antioxidant vitamins in healthy volunteers. DESIGN: Insulin-mediated glucose disposal was determined in 36 healthy, nondiabetic volunteers by measuring their steady-state plasma insulin (SSPI) and glucose (SSPG) concentrations in response to a 180-min constant infusion of octreotide, insulin, and glucose. In addition, fasting plasma concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides and liposoluble antioxidant vitamins were determined by using the FOX 2 assay and liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Statistically significant direct relations were observed between SSPG and mean arterial blood pressure (r = 0.44, P: = 0.008) and plasma lipid hydroperoxide concentrations (r = 0.42, P: = 0.01), whereas significant inverse correlations were found between SSPG and alpha-carotene (r = -0.58, P: = 0.0002), beta-carotene (r = -0.49, P: = 0.004), lutein (r = -0.35, P: = 0.04), alpha-tocopherol (r = -0. 36, P: = 0.04), and delta-tocopherol (r = -0.45, P: = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Variations in insulin-mediated glucose disposal in healthy individuals are significantly related to plasma concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides and liposoluble antioxidant vitamins. These findings suggest that total plasma lipid peroxidation is increased in insulin-resistant individuals at an early, preclinical stage, ie, well before the development of glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes.     

The influence of reported paternal attitudes on the decision to breast-feed

Objective: To identify factors that influence a woman's decision to breast-feed.
Methodology: Five hundred and fifty-six women were recruited from the maternity wards of two Perth hospitals. Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire completed by participants prior to discharge. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors influencing the initiation of breast-feeding.
Results: At discharge from hospital 83.8% of women were breast-feeding, including 6% who were giving complementary formula feeds. After controlling for potentially confounding demographic and biomedical factors, the father's reported preference for breast-feeding was found to be the most important factor influencing a woman's decision to breast-feed (OR 10.18).
Conclusion: Fathers participate in and influence the choice of infant feeding method and should be included in breast-feeding discussions.     

Margin of safety for discharge after apnea in preterm infants

OBJECTIVE: Most neonatologists include an apnea-free period in the criteria for the discharge of preterm infants. However, the length of time one should wait after the cessation of apnea before sending an infant home without a monitor is debated. We undertook this study in an attempt to define a minimal and safe observation period between the time of the last apnea episode and discharge. METHODS: We reasoned that in infants with idiopathic apnea of prematurity, the intervals between days on which apnea occurs gradually increase until some point at which clinically significant apnea ceases. Therefore, knowledge about the intervals between days on which apnea occurred just before the last apnea would provide a reasonable estimate of the minimal safe observation interval between the last apnea and discharge. We reviewed the charts of 266 infants born in 1993 and 1994 at 相似文献   

Inhibition of cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adducts in rat tissues by dietary oltipraz

The present study investigated the effects of dietary oltipraz on cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adduct formation. Female Sprague- Dawley rats were exposed daily to sidestream cigarette smoke in a whole- body exposure chamber 6 h/day for 4 consecutive weeks. One group of rats was maintained on control diet while another group received the same diet supplemented with either a low (167 p.p.m.) or high (500 p.p.m.) dose of oltipraz, starting 1 week prior to initiation of smoke exposure until the end of the experiment. Analysis of lipophilic DNA adducts by the nuclease P1-mediated 32P-post-labeling showed up to five smoke-related adducts. Adduct no. 5 predominated in both the lung and the heart while adduct nos 3 and 2 predominated in the trachea and bladder, respectively. Quantitative analysis revealed that the total adduct level was the highest in lungs (270+/-68 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), followed by trachea (196+/-48 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), heart (141+/-22 adducts/10(10) nucleotides) and bladder (85+/-16 adducts/10(10) nucleotides). High dose oltipraz treatment reduced the adduct levels in lungs and bladder by >60%, while the reduction in lungs in the low-dose group was approximately 35%. In trachea, the effect of low and high dietary oltipraz on smoke DNA adduction was equivocal, while smoke-related DNA adducts in the heart were minimally inhibited by high-dose oltipraz. In a repeat experiment that employed a 3-fold lower dose of cigarette smoke, oltipraz (500 p.p.m.) was found to inhibit the formation of DNA adducts in rat lungs and trachea by 80 and 65%, respectively. These data clearly demonstrate a high efficacy of oltipraz in inhibiting the formation of cigarette smoke-induced DNA adducts in the target tissues.      

Genitalverstümmelung und Strafrecht

Some of the girls who live in Germany and have Muslim parents are threatened by female genital mutilation. This report describes the kinds and medical consequences of female genital mutilation as well as the criminal judgement. Female genital mutilation is considered as dangerous bodily harm, not as grievous bodily harm. Consent does not justify the infringement of rights. The argument that Islam justifies the infringement of rights is irrelevant by law. The human right of bodily intactness has priority over the right of religious freedom. Finally the legal regulations about dealing with personal data are presented. A legal compulsory registration still does not exist.     

A CASE SERIES ANALYSIS OF “CATEGORY-SPECIFIC” DEFICITS OF LIVING THINGS:THE HIT ACCOUNT

We report a case series analysis of a group of seven patients with apparent “category-specific” disorders affecting living things. On standard diagnostic tests, a range of deficits were apparent, with some cases appearing to have impaired visual access to stored knowledge, some with impaired semantic knowledge (across modalities), and some with an impairment primarily at a name retrieval stage. Patients with a semantic deficit were impaired for both visual and associative/functional knowledge about living things, whilst patients with a modality-specific access deficit showed worse performance when stored visual knowledge was probed. In addition, patients with impaired access to visual knowledge were affected when perceptual input was degraded by masking, and all patients showed an interaction between perceptual similarity and category when matching pictures to names or defining statements. We discuss the results in terms of the Hierarchical Interactive Theory (HIT) of object recognition and naming (Humphreys & Forde, 2001). We also discuss evidence on lesion sites in relation to research from functional brain imaging on category differences in object identification in normal observers.     

Disorders of Visuo-spatial Cognition

Posterior fusiform gyrus (BA 37) is responsible for Hanja (ideogram) alexia in stroke patients. Patients with semantic dementia (SD) have lesions in the basal temporal area. The close proximity in these two lesions and the fact that reading ideograms requires holistic processing as is necessary in recognition of objects, suggests a possibility that ideogram alexia/agraphia may occur in patients with SD. We established and carried out Hanja and Hangul (phonogram) reading/writing tasks on six SD patients and nine Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients as control to see if these two patient groups show dissociation in the two sets of tests. SPM analysis was performed on the SD patients' PET images to look for any dysfunctions in the posterior fusiform gyrus. The SD patients manifested Hanja alexia/agraphia whereas Hangul reading/writing ability was relatively preserved. There were group differences between SD and AD in the Hanja tasks but not in the Hangul tasks. The SPM analysis revealed no hypometabolism in the posterior fusiform gyrus, but only in the middle and the anterior part of the temporal gyrus. Dysfunction in the middle temporal gyrus (BA 21) may have disrupted the temporal lobe connections preventing the function of the posterior fusiform gyrus.