Day-to-Day Variation in Iron Status Indexes is Similar for Most Measures in Elderly Women With and Without Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective To determine the day-to-day variation in biochemical measures of iron status in a group of elderly women with rheumatoid arthritis compared with a group of healthy elderly women.Design Venous blood samples were collected from each subject on 3 nonconsecutive days during a 2-week study period; subjects had fasted overnight. Variability in hemoglobin level, hematocrit value, serum iron concentration, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation, serum ferritin concentration, and plasma transferrin receptor level was determined.Subjects Two groups of women, one with rheumatoid arthritis (n=10) and another that was apparently healthy (n=10).Statistical analyses Variance component analysis was used to estimate the biological variation (σ²_day) and analytic variation (σ²_rep) for each iron index. The coefficient of variation (CV) for each variance component was calculated: coefficient of biological variation = CV_day, coefficient of analytic variation = CV_rep, and coefficient of a single future determination = CV_fd.Results The CV_rep for all iron indexes was smaller than the CV_day in both groups. The CV_day was considerably higher for serum iron concentration and for transferrin saturation than for the other indexes in both groups (16.6% arid 16.6% in healthy subjects and 33.6% and 28.2%, respectively, in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis). The higher CV_day for serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation translated into a higher CV_fd for these indexes. Because of the higher variance for these two indexes, more sampling days were required for reliable estimates. CV_da and CV_fd for plasma transferrin receptor level were relatively low.Conclusions These findings corroborate our previous finding that variation of serum ferritin concentration in the elderly is lower than that demonstrated in younger populations. This aging effect persists in the presence of rheumatoid arthritis. Fasting appeared to improve reliability in the determinations for serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation. Variability estimates for the indexes other than serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation were not altered by the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. Plasma transferrin receptor level is a reliable index for assessing iron status in populations with rheumatoid arthritis. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96:247-251.     

Change in Nutrient Intakes, Number of Servings, and Contributions of Total Fat from Food Groups in 4- to 10-Year-Old Children Enrolled in a Nutrition Education Study

Objective To determine change in nutrient intakes, number of servings, and contributions of total fat from food groups in children who lowered their dietary fat intake.Design A research and demonstration study designed to lower plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. There were four study groups: two intervention and two control groups. All children had hypercholesterolemia except for those in one control group. Three 24-hour dietary recalls were collected on randomly assigned days over a 2-week period at baseline and 3 months after the intervention.Subjects Three hundred three 4- to 10-year old children from suburbs north of Philadelphia, Pa.Interventions One intervention involved a home-based, parent-child autotutorial program (PCAT group) with audiotaped stories and print materials for the children and their families; the other intervention involved one face-to-face counseling session with a registered dietitian (counseling group).Outcome measures Change in mean nutrient intakes compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA); change in number of servings and mean grams of total fat contributed from 10 different food groups.Statistical analyses performed Analyses of variance and χ² analyses.Results Children in every study group had mean intakes of all nutrients (except vitamin D) greater than 67% of the RDA 3 months after the baseline measurement. Several food groups (ie, meats, dairy products, fats/oils, and desserts) provided less total fat to the diets of children who reduced their dietary lipid intake after 3 months (ie, PCAT and counseling groups). These children also reduced the mean number of servings selected from these food groups. Within these same food groups, some children consumed fewer servings of higher fat foods and more servings of lower fat foods.Applications/conclusions Children who lowered their dietary fat intake after intervention reported both quantitative and qualitative changes in food choices from several food groups. These choices did not significantly reduce their nutrient intakes. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96:865-873.     

Vegetables, Fruit, and Cancer Prevention: A Review

In this review of the scientific literature on the relationship between vegetable and fruit consumption and risk of cancer, results from 206 human epidemiologic studies and 22 animal studies are summarized. The evidence for a protective effect of greater vegetable and fruit consumption is consistent for cancers of the stomach, esophagus, lung, oral cavity and pharynx, endometrium, pancreas, and colon. The types of vegetables or fruit that most often appear to be protective against cancer are raw vegetables, followed by allium vegetables, carrots, green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, and tomatoes. Substances present in vegetables and fruit that may help protect against cancer, and their mechanisms, are also briefly reviewed; these include dithiolthiones, isothiocyanates, indole-3-carbinol, allium compounds, isoflavones, protease inhibitors, saponins, phytosterols, inositol hexaphosphate, vitamin C, D-limonene, lutein, folic acid, beta carotene, lycopene, selenium, vitamin E, flavonoids, and dietary fiber. Current US vegetable and fruit intake, which averages about 3.4 servings per day, is discussed, as are possible noncancer-related effects of increased vegetable and fruit consumption, including benefits against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity, diverticulosis, and cataracts. Suggestions for dietitians to use in counseling persons toward increasing vegetable and fruit intake are presented. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96:1027-1039.     

Increased Sensitivity of Lymphocytes from Atopic Individuals to Histamine-Induced Suppression

Histamine depressed lymphocyte reactivity to phytohemagglutinin and, to a lesser degree, concanavalin A, when administered simultaneously with mitogen to lymphocyte cultures. Addition of histamine at later times to the cultures appeared to have a slightly enhancing effect on the lymphocyte response. Stimulation of lymphocytes with pokeweed mitogen was in some cases enhanced, even by high concentrations of histamine. Lymphocytes from atopic individuals were more sensitive to the inhibitory effect of histamine than lymphocytes from nonatopic individuals. The sensitivity appeared age-dependent, but within each age group histamine evoked significantly more suppression on lymphocytes from atopic than from nonatopic individuals. The possibility that the altered reactivity of lymphocytes to histamine, which appears to be associated with atopic allergy, is of pathogenic importance, is discussed, and a hypothesis for the development of atopic disease is proposed.     

Predominance of null mutations in ataxia-telangiectasia

Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal recessive disorder involving cerebellar degeneration, immunodeficiency, chromosomal instability, radiosensitivity and cancer predisposition. The responsible gene, ATM, was recently identified by positional cloning and found to encode a putative 350 kDa protein with a Pl 3-kinase-like domain, presumably involved in mediating cell cycle arrest in response to radiation-induced DNA damage. The nature and location of A-T mutations should provide insight into the function of the ATM protein and the molecular basis of this pleiotropic disease. Of 44 A-T mutations identified by us to date, 39 (89%) are expected to inactivate the ATM protein by truncating it, by abolishing correct initiation or termination of translation, or by deleting large segments. Additional mutations are four smaller in-frame deletions and insertions, and one substitution of a highly conserved amino acid at the Pl 3-kinase domain. The emerging profile of mutations causing A-T is thus dominated by those expected to completely inactivate the ATM protein. ATM mutations with milder effects may result in phenotypes related, but not identical, to A-T.      

Loss of 14q and 22q in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (pacemaker cell tumors)

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), also referred to as “gastrointestinal pacemaker cell tumors (GIPACT)” are mesenchymal neoplasms that are phenotypically similar to the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). Cytogenetic studies of this entity are rare and molecular cytogenetic studies utilizing chromosome-specific probes are nonexistent. In the current study, cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic analysis of 12 histologically and immunohistochemically confirmed GISTs revealed loss of a whole chromosome 14 or region(s) of 14q in 8 tumors evaluated (67%) and loss of a whole chromosome 22 or region(s) of 22q in 8 (67%) patients. Loss of 14q and 22q were observed in histologically benign and malignant GISTs. Structural rearrangements of chromosome 1 were observed in 2 malignant GISTs. These findings indicate that loss of 14q and 22q are nonrandom, early events in GIST tumorigenesis and suggest that tumor suppressor genes responsible for the development of this neoplasm may be located on these chromosomal arms.