Antegrade puncture of the femoral artery: morphologic study

To determine the optimal site for antegrade puncture of the femoral artery, the authors evaluated three cadaver specimens and computed tomographic (CT) scans of 50 patients. The relationships among the common femoral artery, the femoral artery bifurcation, the center of the femoral head, and the inguinal ligament were evaluated. CT showed that the center of the femoral head was always located caudal to the level of the inguinal ligament but cranial to the bifurcation of the common femoral artery. Therefore, the femoral head seems to provide a reliable landmark for entering the common femoral artery.     

Influence of chronic MnCl2 and EDTA treatment on tissue levels and urinary excretion of trace metals in rats

Rats were chronically exposed interperitoneally to Mn as MnCl₂-4H₂O for 30 days. Treatment was then discontinued and the urinary excretion of metals (Mn, Zn, Fe, Cu) with or without EDTA treatment was monitored. Kidney, testes, brain, and muscle, but not liver, revealed elevated Mn levels due to chronic exposure to the metal alone. In brain, the tegmentum, and striatum accumulated more Mn than the hippocampus. EDTA-treated rats excreted 12x as much Mn/day in urine as those not treated with EDTA; Zn excretion was increased 6x, Fe 2x, and Cu decreased 0.2x. EDTA administration enhanced the natural elimination of excess Mn from skeletal muscle, but not from the other examined tissues. Changes were also observed in the concentrations of other trace metals. Mn treatment was accompanied by decreased hepatic Fe levels, increased Cu levels in the testes and the corpus striatum and hippocampus of the brain, and an increase in Zn, Fe, and Cu in skeletal muscle. Except for the elevated brain Cu, these effects were reversible if Mn treatment was discontinued. A highly significant positive correlation was noted between the urinary excretion of Mn and Fe under the influence of EDTA treatment.     

Multicore myopathy with restrictive cardiomyopathy

A 10-y-old girl is presented who suffered mild muscular weakness and exercise intolerance from the age of 1 y onwards, with progression appearing from the age of about 8 y. Multicore myopathy and restrictive cardiomyopathy were diagnosed. Literature concerning the coexistence of multicore myopathy and cardiomyopathy is reviewed.     

The effect of changes in dietary fat on the food group and nutrient intake of 4- to 10-year-old children

OBJECTIVE: To determine how young children changed their overall diet when they changed their fat intake after 3 months of participating in a nutrition education demonstration study designed to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Three 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from 303 4- to 10-year-old children at baseline and 3 months later. At both times, mean number of servings from food groups, grams of fat contributed from food groups, and intake of calories and nutrients were calculated and compared among quartiles of children formed according to change in their percent of calories from total fat after 3 months. RESULTS: Children who reduced their percent of calories from total fat most (ie, by an average of 8.5%) after 3 months consumed fewer servings from meats, eggs, dairy, fats/oils, and breads but tended to increase their number of servings from lower-fat foods within those food groups, particularly from dairy foods. These children also increased their mean intake of fruits, vegetables, and desserts, and maintained average intakes of all nutrients (except vitamin D) in excess of two thirds of the respective recommended dietary allowance. CONCLUSIONS: Young children who reduced their percent of calories from total fat in accordance with the current National Cholesterol Education Program recommendations accomplished this by reducing their overall intake of higher-fat foods, replacing higher-fat foods with lower-fat foods within several food groups, particularly within the dairy group (eg, drinking skim milk instead of whole milk) and by consuming more servings of fruits, vegetables, and very-low-fat desserts. These behaviors did not compromise their mean calorie or nutrient intakes, showing that it is possible for young children to lower their fat intake safely to reduce their risk of future heart disease.     

Cyclic food restriction, insulin and mammary cell proliferation in the rat

We reported recently that weight cycling significantly increased the incidence of mammary cancer in virgin female rats that were pretreated with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea. The present study investigated the effect of weight cycling on mammary epithelial cell proliferation and its relationship to changes in plasma insulin, estrogen, progesterone and urinary corticosterone in 30 female virgin Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were fed a modified AIN-76A diet containing 24.6% corn oil by weight. Weight-cycled (WC) rats were food restricted daily by either 33% or 50% of non-restricted controls for 1 week followed by 3 weeks compensatory refeeding and weight recovery over 18 weeks or 4.5 weight cycles. WC rats consumed 6-10% less food than controls (P = 0.01) but showed a 71- 89% greater efficiency of food utilization for growth (P < 0.0001) than controls. There were no differences in total weight gain during treatment. Mammary lobuloalveolar and ductal cell proliferation of WC rats, measured by 5-bromo-2'deoxyuridine labelling, increased in a dose- response fashion, P = 0.03, P = 0.06 respectively in comparison to controls. Energy and substrate utilization measured by indirect calorimetry indicated WC animals expended less energy (P = 0.005) and utilized less glucose (P = 0.0001) and protein (P = 0.006) during restriction, and less lipid during recovery (P = 0.05) than controls. There were no significant differences in hormone levels between groups. Multiple regression analysis with plasma insulin, estrogen, progesterone and urinary corticosterone as independent variables (r = 0.947, r2 = 0.897, P = 0.003) showed that plasma insulin was the only significant predictor (P < 0.01) of mammary cell proliferation. In accord with this observation, tyrosine-phosphorylated activation of insulin receptor substrate-1, detected by immunoprecipitation and Western immunoblot analysis in mammary tumors of WC rats from our previous study, was 3-5 times greater than in non-restricted controls (P < 0.01). Present findings suggest that weight cycling in rats increases risk of breast cancer development via insulin stimulated mammary cell proliferation.      

长茎金耳环脂溶性化学成分的研究

目的 对长茎金耳环根及根茎的化学成分进行研究。方法 采用溶剂法和色谱法分离化合物，波谱法鉴定化合物的结构。结果 从长茎金耳环根及根茎的乙醇提取物中分离得到9个化合物，经波谱分析确定它们分别是（2E，6Z，8E）－N－异丁基－2，6，8－三烯十酰胺（spilanthol,I)、magnosalin(Ⅱ）、heterotropan(Ⅲ)、N－异丁基－3，4－亚甲二氧基肉桂酰胺（N-isobutyl-3,4-methylenedioxy cinnamide,Ⅳ)、马兜铃内酰胺I（aristololactam I,Ⅴ)、胡萝卜苷（daucosterol,Ⅵ)、7－甲氧基马兜铃内酰胺Ⅳ（7－methoxyaristololactam Ⅳ,Ⅶ)、马兜铃酸I（aristolochic acid I,Ⅷ)和香草酸（vanillic acid,Ⅸ)。结论 这些化合物均为首次从长茎金耳环中分离得到，其中I和Ⅱ为首次从细辛属植物中分离得到。