Failure of carnitine in improving hepatic nitrogen content in alcoholic and non-alcoholic malnourished rats

AIMS: To investigate the effect of carnitine supplementation on alcoholic malnourished rats' hepatic nitrogen content. METHODS: Malnourished rats, on 50 percent protein-calorie restriction with free access to water (malnutrition group) and malnourished rats under the same conditions with free access to a 20 percent alcohol/water solution (alcohol group) were studied. After the undernourishment period (4 weeks with or without alcohol), both groups were randomly divided into two subgroups, one of them nutritionally recovered for 28 days with free access to a normal diet and water (recovery groups) and the other re-fed with free access to diet and water plus carnitine (0.1 g/g body weight/day by gavage) (carnitine groups). No alcohol intake was allowed during the recovery period. RESULTS: The results showed: i) no difference between the alcohol/no alcohol groups, with or without carnitine, regarding body weight gain, diet consumption, urinary nitrogen excretion, plasma free fatty acids, lysine, methionine, and glycine. ii) Liver nitrogen content was highest in the carnitine recovery non-alcoholic group (from 1.7 to 3.3 g/100 g, P<0.05) and lowest in alcoholic animals (about 1.5 g/100g). iii) Hepatic fat content (~10 g/100 g, P>.05) was highest in the alcoholic animals. CONCLUSION: Carnitine supplementation did not induce better nutritional recovery.

Differential response to gepirone but not to chlordiazepoxide in malnourished rats subjected to learned helplessness

The learned helplessness (LH) paradigm is characterized by learning deficits resulting from inescapable events. The aims of the present study were to determine if protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) alters learning deficits induced by LH and if the neurochemical changes induced by malnutrition alter the reactivity to treatment with GABA-ergic and serotonergic drugs during LH. Well-nourished (W) and PCM Wistar rats (61 days old) were exposed or not to inescapable shocks (IS) and treated with gepirone (GEP, 0.0-7.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, N = 128) or chlordiazepoxide (0.0-7.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, N = 128) 72 h later, 30 min before the test session (30 trials of escape learning). The results showed that rats exposed to IS had higher escape latency than non-exposed rats (12.6 ± 2.2 vs 4.4 ± 0.8 s) and that malnutrition increased learning impairment produced by LH. GEP increased the escape latency of W animals exposed or non-exposed to IS, but did not affect the response of PCM animals, while chlordiazepoxide reduced the escape deficit of both W and PCM rats. The data suggest that PCM animals were more sensitive to the impairment produced by LH and that PCM led to neurochemical changes in the serotonergic system, resulting in hyporeactivity to the anxiogenic effects of GEP in the LH paradigm.

Restauración de la inmunocompetencia en ratones malnutridos con la administración de un hidrolizado de microalgas / Restoration of the immunocompetence in malnourished mice by the administration of a microalgae hydrolysate

Se evaluó el efecto de la administración intraperitoneal de un hidrolizado proteico de la microalga Chlorella vulgaris en una dosis de 500 mg/kg de peso durante 6 días, como complemento de la dieta convencional en la recuperación de la inmunocompetencia de ratones Balb/c con malnutrición proteico-energética inducida experimentalmente por restricción dietética. La intervención con el hidrolizado implicó la restauración del conteo de leucocitos totales a valores similares a los del grupo control; a un incremento en los niveles de linfocitos en sangre periférica; estimuló la proliferación de las células del sistema fagocítico mononuclear y el metabolismo de los macrófagos, expresado por una mayor actividad de la enzima fosfatasa ácida lisosomal y al aumento del peso relativo y actividad hematopoyética del bazo. Estas acciones moduladoras permiten considerar al producto como un preparado inmunológicamente activo capaz de inducir un estado incrementado de resistencia no específica en el organismo

Chronic calcific pancreatitis associated with osteomalacia and secondary hyperparathyroidism.

A 22-year-old woman with chronic calcific pancreatitis had dramatic relief of pain after pancreaticojejunostomy. Four years later, she presented with steatorrhea with osteomalacia and secondary hyperparathyroidism, a rare occurrence in chronic pancreatitis. She improved with pancreatic enzyme supplementation and calcium and vitamin D therapy.

Effect of oral iron therapy on physical growth

In order to evaluate the effects of iron therapy on weight and height, we studied 65 children with a mean age of 32 months who were assined to oral iron therapy with 4-5 mg/Kg/day of elemental iron as ferrous sulfate or ferric hydroxide polymaltose for 8 weeks. The medicine was distributed to the patients and its consumption was checked fortnightly. Statistical significant increases in heloglobin, serum iron and transferrin levels and in transferrin saturation and ferritin levels were observed. The weight-for-age and weight Z-scores were determined using the ANTHRO computer software (CDC/WHO) which, based on birth and examination dates, permits age estimates with centesimal accuracy for the months using the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) standards. Mean Z-scores before and after iron therapy demonstrated a significant increase in weight-for-age (Z=0.53 after, P<0.01) and weight-for-0height (Z = 0.19 before and -0.08 after, P<0.01) indices, but not in the height-for-age index (Z+-0.46 before and Z= -0.46 after iron therapy). A significant decrease in the number of children with inadequate weight-for-age (<90 per cent) and weight-for-height (<90 per cent) indices was observed after iron therapy in patients aged less than 60 months. In conclusion, oral iron therapy for a period of 8 weeks led to a significant weight gain

Malnutrition proteino-calorifique et infection de l'enfant

L'etude de 103 cas de malnutrition proteino-energetique (MPE) hospitalises repondant aux criteres cliniques et biologiques montre dans 89;2 pour cent (92 cas) une infection dans les 4 semaines precedant la prise en charge. Les infections les plus frequentes sont celles des voies respiratoires (61;5 pour cent) suivies des infections cutaneo-muqueuses. L'etude bacteriologique des diarrhees presentes dans tous les cas ne montre les germes que dans 17 cas. Dans tous les cas; la malnutrition apparait comme un facteur aggravant de la MPC