Development of a Measure of the Motives Underlying the Selection of Food: the Food Choice Questionnaire

A number of factors are thought to influence people's dietary choices, including health, cost, convenience and taste, but there are no measures that address health-related and non-health-related factors in a systematic fashion. This paper describes the development of a multidimensional measure of motives related to food choice. The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) was developed through factor analysis of responses from a sample of 358 adults ranging in age from 18 to 87 years. Nine factors emerged, and were labelledhealth,mood,convenience,sensory appeal,natural content,price,weight control,familiarityandethical concern. The questionnaire structure was verified using confirmatory factor analysis in a second sample (n=358), and test–retest reliability over a 2- to 3-week period was satisfactory. Convergent validity was investigated by testing associations between FCQ scales and measures of dietary restraint, eating style, the value of health, health locus of control and personality factors. Differences in motives for food choice associated with sex, age and income were found. The potential uses of this measure in health psychology and other areas are discussed.     

Case Report: Giant choledochal cyst

We report an adult female with a rare giant choledochal cyst. The patient presented following a normal pregnancy with the classical triad of an abdominal mass associated with jaundice and right upper quadrant abdominal pain. The cyst was excised using an intramural technique and biliary reconstruction achieved with a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Our patient has remained well with no evidence of malignancy over a 12 year review period. The aetiology and current management of this condition are discussed.     

Modifying infant stress responses to major surgery: spinal vs extradural vs opioid analgesia

Twenty-six infants due to undergo major abdominal or thoracic surgery under general anaesthesia were randomized to receive additional analgesia with group A) spinal/epidural analgesia; B) epidural analgesia or C) opioid analgesia with fentanyl. We wished to determine if spinal analgesia followed by epidural analgesia might result in more complete control of cardiovascular or stress responses than the other two treatment groups. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded at five min intervals throughout surgery. Blood samples were taken for measurement of catecholamines and whole blood sugar on induction, 45 min after skin incision and at the end of surgery. Heart rate rose significantly at the start of surgery in groups B and C but not group A. Systolic blood pressures were higher in group C compared to A and B. The rise in plasma glucose concentrations was significantly different between the groups in the order C>B>A (P<0·05). A similar trend was seen in the plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations but this failed to achieve significance due to the limited sample size.     

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.     

The effects of co-culture with human fibroblasts on human embryo development in vitro and implantation

In a human in-vitro fertilization (IVF) programme, the effect of co- culture of embryos with human fibroblasts was evaluated with respect to pregnancy rate and embryo development. Patients were included in the study after giving informed written consent. The IVF treatments were randomly assigned by stratification of both age (<36 versus > or =36 years) and previous IVF attempts (yes versus no). After fertilization was established, the zygotes were transferred to a 4-well dish with or without fibroblasts and cultured for 2 days. On the third day after ovum pick-up (OPU), cell number and quality [5 (good) to 1 (poor)] of the embryos were scored and a maximum of three embryos was transferred. Supernumerary embryos of good quality were cryopreserved. The design of this study was a group sequential trial with the objective of detecting differences between pregnancy rates following IVF with conventional incubation or incubation in co-culture with fibroblasts. This design included one evaluation at half-way data collection. In the study, 148 patients had an OPU, of whom 77 were allocated to the co-culture group. There was no statistically significant difference in pregnancy rate, cell number and embryo quality between the two groups. The ongoing pregnancy rate per embryo transfer was 27% in co-culture and 30% in the conventional culture group. The implantation rates per transferred embryo were 17 and 18% respectively. Using a multivariate logistic regression model for the probability of ongoing pregnancies, the odds ratio of co-culture, adjusted for age and previous IVF attempts, was not statistically significant. In conclusion, co-culture with human fibroblasts does not contribute to an improvement of embryo quality nor to a higher pregnancy rate after IVF in an unselected group of patients.      

Affinity Maturation and Isotype Switch in Clonally Related Anti-Erythrocyte Autoantibodies

The NZB mouse is genetically predisposed to develop, at approximately 6 months of age, a spontaneous and severe autoimmune anaemia caused by production of pathogenic anti-mouse erythrocyte auto-antibodies. Molecular analysis of a panel of five anti-erythrocyte monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) derived from splenocytes of unimmunized NZB mice revealed that these autoantibodies all had functionally rearranged genes from the V_H J558 family of immunoglobulin genes with closest homology to germline genes H10 and H30. Owing to clustering of nucleotide differences within the CDRs, compared with the germline, it was concluded that these antibodies were most likely generated by an antigen-driven mechanism.
We report here further molecular analysis of two (4.16.1 and B4.13.2) of the panel of five anti-mouse erythrocyte producing hybridomas which are apparently clonally related. Nucleotide analysis of the light chain cDNA indicated that both antibodies had closest homology to germline gene V_k24 and use J_k2 gene. Determination of the functional affinities of the MoAb reveal that B4.13.2 (IgG2a) has a > 10-fold higher affinity for mouse erythrocytes when compared to 4.16.1 (IgGl). This finding supports the view that these two autoantibodies are generated by an antigen-driven mechanism. The proposed mechanism would involve the selection and expansion of a small population of B-lymphocytes by antigen leading to isotype switch, somatic mutation and increased affinity. Our data also point to the possibility that some framework residues may be involved in the binding to antigen.     

Endothelin receptor expression in human decidua

The endothelins are signalling peptides that act via two receptors, ET(A) and ET(B). In the human endometrium, endothelin receptors have been demonstrated in glands and stroma and have been shown to vary during the course of the menstrual cycle. The present study was undertaken to determine whether or not expression of endothelin receptors changes during pregnancy or after administration of exogenous progestagens. The expression of the receptors was correlated with the appearance of basement membrane components during decidualization of the endometrial stroma. Decidual specimens (n = 15) were obtained during the first trimester of pregnancy and 10 at term. Sixteen pairs of endometrial biopsies were obtained from women with menorrhagia before and after exposure to exogenous progestagens. A total of 15 hysterectomy specimens were used as controls for the expression of stromal basement membrane proteins in the absence of decidualization. Autoradiography was carried out with selective ligands for ET(A) ([125I]-PD 151242) and ET(B) ([125I]-BQ3020). The distribution of ligand binding was then compared with the distribution of laminin alpha2 light chain and collagen IV. ET(A), ET(B), laminin alpha2 light chain, and collagen IV were expressed in stromal decidual cells in the first trimester of pregnancy. ET(B) was also found on endometrial glandular epithelium. Quantitative macro-autoradiography and multiple regression analysis demonstrated a highly significant positive correlation (P < 0.001) between expression of ET(B) and laminin alpha2 light chain. In the third trimester qualitative examination suggested a reduction of ET(A) in the stroma. Progestagen-induced decidua exhibited a similar pattern to that found in first trimester decidua. This study has demonstrated up-regulation of ET(B) during the progesterone- dependent process of decidualization and suggests a paracrine or autocrine role for endothelins in the decidua.      

Induction of a differentiated ciliated cell phenotype in primary cultures of Fallopian tube epithelium

Human Fallopian tubal epithelial cells in culture lose morphological features associated with the epithelium in situ and the extent to which they retain their in-vivo phenotype or function is unknown. In order to address this question, immunocytochemical markers were identified which distinguish secretory (HMFG2+, LhS28-) from ciliated (HMFG2-, LhS28+) epithelial cells in tissue sections of Fallopian tube. These markers were used to analyse the phenotype of tubal cells in vitro. Primary cultures of human tubal epithelial cells were seeded onto glass and grown to confluence before addition of oestradiol-17beta. In the absence of hormone, tubal epithelial cells expressed cytokeratins and nuclear receptors for oestrogen and progesterone and adopted a homogeneous (HMFG2+, LhS28-) secretory cell phenotype. Following the addition of oestradiol-17beta, a proportion of cells became positive for LhS28. The induction of a ciliated epithelial cell phenotype was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, where on permeable collagen membranes, approximately one-third of tubal epithelial cells became ciliated in the presence of oestradiol-17beta. We suggest that in vitro, tubal epithelial cells adopt an immature secretory-like phenotype and that oestrogen can induce differentiation to a ciliated epithelial cell phenotype.      

Clinical profiling of recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFSH; Puregon): relationship between serum FSH and efficacy

Single-dose and multiple-rising dose studies of recombinantfollicle stimulating hormone (rFSH) in hypogonadotrophic maleand female volunteers demonstrated that the rate of FSH absorptionafter i.m. injection is higher in men than in women. In theabsence of endogenous FSH, a correlation between serum FSH andbody weight became apparent. The elimination half-life of rFSHwas not different between the sexes and was comparable withurinary FSH. However, the in-vitro bio:immuno ratio of serumFSH was significantly higher after the administration of rFSHthan after urinary FSH. When rFSH was administered daily witha fixed dose, steady state levels were reached within 3-5 days.Serum FSH concentrations increased in a dose-dependent mannerwhen the daily dose was increased weekly over 3 weeks from 75to 225 IU. In hypogonadotrophic women, rFSH induced normal folliculargrowth whereas oestrogen synthesis was impaired. In women pituitarysuppressed by a high-dose oral contraceptive, the daily administrationof 150 IU rFSH for 1 week induced more and larger antral folliclesthan the same regimen with urinary FSH, whereas the serum immunoactiveFSH concentrations measured 24 h after each dosing were similar.It is concluded that even though equal or lower serum immunoactiveFSH concentrations were obtained following the administrationof rFSH compared with urinary FSH, circulating bioactivity FSHconcentrations were higher. Therefore, the conventional ideathat serum immunoreactive FSH correlates positively with themagnitude of the ovarian response should be reconsidered.