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.     

Capacity related characteristics of Glyco-Gel affinity chromatographic support

We examined capacity related properties of "Glyco-Gel" (Pierce), a boronate agarose gel for separating and measuring glycated proteins by affinity chromatography. Our data indicate linear capacity to as much as 20 mg as applied hemoglobin or almost 10 mg as bound hemoglobin and 26 mg as applied serum proteins or a minimum of 2.5 mg as bound serum protein for each mL of gel. The capacity and affinity of the support for glycated proteins becomes optimum only after four regeneration cycles. The support matrix appears to have a small concentration of nonspecific binding sites equivalent to 0.09 to 0.18 mg as serum protein for each mL of gel. These sites do not bind hemoglobin. They lead to an overestimation of glycated protein that can cause large errors when the proportion of glycated protein is determined with small column loads. If near capacity loads are applied, the samples must be dialyzed or diluted to avoid decreased analytical recovery resulting from competitive and eluting properties of endogenous sugars.     

Variation in serum binding of tertatolol mediated by disease-induced modification of alpha-acid glycoprotein concentration

Summary The serum concentrations of ₁-acid glycoprotein (AAG), albumin (HSA) and non-esterified fatty acids, and the serum binding of tertatolol were measured in four groups of individuals: healthy control subjects (n=24), and patients with inflammation (n=28), and hepatic (n=20) and renal (n=27) insufficiency.Serum binding of tertatolol was increased in patients with inflammation (94.6%), decreased in patients with hepatic insufficiency (88.8%) and it was unchanged in patients with renal insufficiency (92.8%) as compared to controls (92.7%).Multivariate analysis indicated that the changes were mainly related to concomitant changes in AAG concentration, which could account for 57% of intersubject variability in the bound/free ratio, and to a lesser extent in HSA, which accounted for only 4% of the variability in the binding.The data show that the free fraction of the basic drug tertatolol in serum is affected by pathological conditions that cause changes in AAG concentration.     

Factors influencing Cryptosporidium testing in Connecticut.

To describe patterns of testing for Cryptosporidium oocysts in stool samples, Connecticut laboratories were surveyed. Different detection methods were used. Most laboratories examined stools specifically for Cryptosporidium only on physician request. The rate of positive tests varted widely (0 to 28%). Higher rates of positivity were associated with the use of monoclonal antibody methods, the use of two or more staining procedures, and testing of stool specimens in addition to those requested by physicians.     

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.