Neuropeptide Y mRNA and serotonin innervation in the arcuate nucleus of anorexia mutant mice

The anorexia (anx) mutation causes reduced food intake in preweanling mice, resulting in death from starvation within 3–4 weeks. In wild-type rodents, starvation induces increased neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA levels in the arcuate nucleus that promotes compensatory hyperphagia. Despite severely decreased body weight and food intake at 3-weeks age, anx/anx mice do not show elevated NPY mRNA levels in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus compared to wild-type/heterozygous littermates. The NPY mRNA levels can be upregulated in normal mice at this chronological age, because 24-h food deprivation increased arcuate NPY mRNA in wild-type littermates. The unresponsiveness of NPY expression in the arcuate of anx/anx mice was paralleled by serotonergic hyperinnervation of the arcuate nucleus, comparable to the serotonergic hyperinnervation previously reported in the rest of the anx/anx brain. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that wasting disorders are accompanied by disregulation of NPY mRNA expression in the arcuate nucleus, and suggests that reduced food intake, the primary behavioral phenotype of the anx/anx mouse, may be the result of altered hypothalamic mechanisms that normally regulate feeding.     

Interventions to tackle malnutrition and its risk factors in children living in slums: a scoping review

Context: Children living in slums are at high risk of being malnourished. There are no published reviews on existing interventions promoting better nutrition for children living in slums and the risk factors for children’s malnutrition. Improved understanding of the risk factors for malnutrition in slums communities and the impact of interventions on children’s health can provide guidance to practitioners and decision-makers. The present review is designed to provide this information.

Methods: The search included 30 electronic bibliographic databases and relevant eligible studies published up to December 2013.

Results: The search located 1512 citations. Full text relevance screening was conducted on 226 studies and on abstracts for 16 studies. The final 58 unique studies included 22 on interventions and 38 on risk. All of the interventions were nutrition-specific, with nutritional intervention being the most dominant type. Seventy-three per cent of the interventions were assessed effective.

Conclusion: The findings stressed the gaps in knowledge in terms of quality assessment and programmatic recommendations to identify children who are the most at risk of malnutrition to appropriately target interventions. Finally, the review helped to inform a systematic review (Cochrane Systematic review protocol 2015) that will examine the impact of interventions on outcome measures.     

Rosiglitazone reduces body wasting and improves survival in a rat model of cancer cachexia

ObjectiveRosiglitazone improves insulin sensitivity and promotes weight gain in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, which could be useful in wasting and cachexia. However, its effects on cardiac function are controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rosiglitazone on body wasting, body composition, cardiac function, and survival in a rat model of cancer cachexia.MethodsRats were injected with Yoshida AH-130 hepatoma tumor cells and randomized to receive placebo or rosiglitazone 4 mg/kg daily. Treatment started 1 d after tumor inoculation and the rats were sacrificed 14 d thereafter. Body weight and body composition was measured at baseline and after removal of tumor. Echocardiography was performed at baseline and on day 11. At the end of the study, organs were weighed and the proteasome activity in gastrocnemius muscle was measured.ResultsSurvival analysis showed a significant benefit from treatment with rosiglitazone (hazard ratio = 0.38, 95% confidence interval: 0.15–0.86). Rosiglitazone reduced average daily weight loss (2.33 g/d rosiglitazone versus 3.93 g/d placebo; P < 0.05) as a result of both fat and lean mass preservation. It decelerated white and brown tissue wasting, but had no effect on skeletal muscle mass and heart mass. However, peptidyl-glutamyl-protein-hydrolysing and trypsin-like activity in gastrocnemius muscle was significantly reduced by rosiglitazone. Finally, it increased left ventricular ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and systolic volume and improved cardiac output in cachectic cancer rats.ConclusionsRosiglitazone prevents weight loss and improves survival in a rat model of cancer cachexia. It exerts beneficial effects on cardiac function.     

Nutritional deficiencies in the developing world: current status and opportunities for intervention

Several contributory factors such as poverty, lack of purchasing power, household food insecurity, and limited general knowledge about appropriate nutritional practices increase the risk of undernutrition in developing countries. The synergistic interaction between inadequate dietary intake and disease burden leads to a vicious cycle that accounts for much of the high morbidity and mortality in these countries. Three groups of underlying factors contribute to inadequate dietary intake and infectious disease: inadequate maternal and child care, household food insecurity, and poor health services in an unhealthy environment.     

蛛网膜下腔出血中脑耗盐综合症36例报告

目的 观察蛛网膜下腔出血中并发的脑耗盐综合症。方法 从我院神经外科4年中诊治的蛛网膜下腔出血患者中，根据脑耗盐综合症诊断标准确定该综合症。结果 蛛网膜下腔出血并发脑耗盐综合症和蛛网膜下腔出血严重程度有关。结论 妥善处理脑耗盐综合症，能提高疗效。     

Goitre and wasting induced in hamsters by hexachlorobenzene

Male Syrian hamsters were treated with hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in their diet at levels of 100 ppm for 28 weeks, 200 ppm for 18 and 28 weeks, and 500 ppm for 6 weeks. All treatments caused at least a 2.5- to 3-fold increase in thyroid size, mainly by enlargement of some follicles. Serum thyroxine (T₄) levels were unchanged, whereas levels of triiodothyronine (T₃) eventually became depressed by >60%. Uptake of ¹³¹I into thyroids was induced approximately 3-fold when estimated after feeding HCB (500 ppm) for 3 or 6 weeks. Hamsters also lost weight by depletion of adipose tissue, leading to 50% mortality in longer experiments. Results were distinct from the effects of the known antithyroid agent 3-aminotriazole or amitrole (200 ppm for 28 weeks), which did not affect survival and although causing thyroid enlargement depressed serum T₄ and significantly elevated T₃. The effects of HCB in hamsters were also different from those in rats (500 ppm HCB for 6 weeks) in which there was only a small increase in thyroid size (1.3-fold), serum levels of T₃ were only slightly depressed but T₄ levels were reduced by 74%. These studies are discussed with reference to the effects of other polyhalogenated aromatic chemicals on the thyroid, serum thyroid hormone levels and lethality.Presented in part at the International Symposium on Hexachlorobenzene, June 1985, Lyon, France (Smith et al. 1986a)     

上海市4所小学消瘦流行现状及其特征研究

[目的 ]　了解上海市某区小学消瘦流行现状及其流行的性别与年龄差别。 [方法 ]　根据上海市某区 4所小学学生保健卡资料所载身高体重记录 ,根据理想体重百分比法按学校、性别、年级进行消瘦发生率统计 ,并采用卡方检验作差异显著性分析。 [结果 ]　 4校 2 76 2名学生平均消瘦发生率为 18.3% ,其中女生 2 2 .8% ,明显高于男生的 13 .9% ,高年级学生消瘦发生率明显高于低年级学生 ,随年龄的增长 ,消瘦逐渐由轻度向中度演变。 [结论 ]　在 4所小学学生中消瘦具有相当高的发生率 ,且具有明显的性别与年龄流行特征。     

Nutrition in Chinese-Korean Children and Adolescents

ObjectiveTo study the nutrition habits among Chinese-Korean children and adolescents in Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin, China. MethodsData were obtained from the Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 for Chinese-Korean children and adolescents aged 7-18 years.The number of the subjects included was 4789, 4704, 5875, and 5315, respectively. ResultsThe rate of the occurrence of stunting showed a declining trend from 1995 to 2010 (for boys:urban, 6.3%; rural, 12.7% in 1995 and 3.5% for both in 2010. For girls: urban, 7.8%; rural, 13.4% in 1995 and 4.2% and 5.5%, respectively, in 2010). Although the ratio of wasting did not show significant differences between the urban and rural children and adolescents in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 respectively, the ratio of occurrence of overweight or obesity increased (for boys: urban, 7.3% and 1.3%in 1995, 17.6% and 12.9% in 2010; rural, 7.0% and 1.3% in 1995, 14.6% and 12.8% in 2010, respectively. For girls: urban, 8.1% and 1.0% in 1995, 17.3% and 8.6% in 2010; rural 5.7% and 0.7% in 1995, 16.4%and 7.4% in 2010, respectively). ConclusionThe ratio of malnutrition in children and adolescents in Chinese-Korean areas declined from 1995 to 2010, and the distinction in malnutrition between the urban and rural areas was negligible in 2010. Further, the ratio of overweight and obesity increased over this period.     

Two cases of cerebral salt wasting syndrome developing after cranial vault remodeling in craniosynostosis children

Hyponatremia has been recognized as an important postoperative metabolic complication after central nervous system (CNS) operations in children. If not appropriately treated, the postoperative hyponatremia can cause several types of CNS and circulatory disorders such as cerebral edema, increased intracranial pressure. The postoperative hyponatremia after CNS surgery has been considered as one of the underlying causes of the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). In some cases, however, the cerebral salt wasting (CSW) syndrome has been detected. CSW syndrome is far less well-known than SIADH and also different from SIADH in diagnosis and treatment. It causes an increase in urine output and urine sodium after a trauma of CNS and dehydration symptoms. The appropriate treatment of CSW syndrome is opposite the usual treatment of hyponatremia caused by SIADH. The latter is treated with fluid restriction because of the increased level of free water and its dilutional effect causing hyponatremia, whereas the former is treated with fluid and sodium resuscitation because of the unusual loss of high urinary sodium. Early diagnosis and treatment of CSW syndrome after CNS surgery are, therefore, essential. We made a diagnosis of CSW syndrome in two craniosynostosis children manifesting postoperative hyponatremia and supplied them an appropriate amount of water and sodium via intravenous route. The hyponatremia or natricuresis of the children improved and neurologic and circulatory sequelae could be prevented.