ABSTRACT
Changes in the cupper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations have been reported previously in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCMP). As a result of controversial results, the aim of this study was to compare the Zn and Cu concentrations and Zn/Cu ratio of IDCMP patients to healthy volunteers. In addition, the correlation of Cu and Zn levels with age has been evaluated. The study population consisted of 18 IDCMP patients and 27 healthy volunteers. IDCMP patients had normal angiography with echocardiography supporting cardiomyopathy without pericardial and valvular diseases. Exclusion criteria were renal or hepatic insufficiency, alcohol usage, and intake of supplements containing Cu or Zn within 1 week ago. Cu and Zn levels have been assayed with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 10 software with independent sample t test for comparing the level of Cu and Zn of IDCMP patients with normal subjects and Pearson correlation to determine the correlation between numeric data. P < 0.05 was considered as significant differences. There was a trend for a lower Zn level in IDCMP patients compared to healthy volunteers. (0.97 +/- 0.25 mg/l vs. 1.12 +/- 0.42 mg/l, respectively). The mean Cu levels of IDCMP and normal subjects were 1.33 +/- 0.20 mg/l and 1.31 +/- 0.23 mg/l, respectively. There was a significant difference in Zn/Cu ratio among patients based on the NYHA classification of heart failure (P = 0.003). Age was negatively correlated with Zn levels in IDCMP group (P = 0.037) and positively with Cu levels in healthy volunteers (P = 0.012). A lower Zn level in IDCMP patients compared to healthy volunteers and specially a significant difference in Zn/Cu ratio of patients based on their NYHA classification would suggest a critical role of zinc and Cu imbalance in development of IDCMP.
Subject(s)
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/blood , Copper/blood , Health , Zinc/blood , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Estrogen's role in learning and memory may be to predispose animals to use specific cognitive strategies (Korol & Kolo, 2002). Specifically, estrogen may facilitate hippocampal-dependent learning, while at the same time attenuate striatal-dependent learning. As a stringent test of this hypothesis, place or response learning on an eight-arm radial maze was compared between ovariectomized (OVX) female Long-Evans rats and rats with chronic estrogen replacement (OVX+E; 5mg 17-beta estradiol 60-day release tablet). Reference and working memory errors were monitored separately for both place and response learning tasks. OVX+E rats learned the place task significantly faster than the response task, and faster than OVX rats. OVX rats required fewer days to reach criterion on the response task than OVX+E rats. Estrogen selectively enhanced reference memory performance, but only during place learning. The specific pattern of estrogen effects on learning suggests that future studies include verification of cognitive strategies used by animals.
Subject(s)
Association Learning/physiology , Corpus Striatum/physiology , Estradiol/physiology , Hippocampus/physiology , Maze Learning/physiology , Memory/physiology , Animals , Female , Ovariectomy , Random Allocation , Rats , Rats, Long-Evans , Space Perception/physiologyABSTRACT
The clinical, haematological and pathological features of an outbreak of diesel fuel poisoning in a group of goats are described. The major clinical signs were dullness, pneumonia and nervous signs.
Subject(s)
Fossil Fuels/poisoning , Goats , Pneumonia, Aspiration/complications , Animals , Blood Cell Count , Female , MaleABSTRACT
Camels with cannulas in the small intestine were used to study the "digestive-absorptive" capacities of the small intestine. Solutions of different carbohydrates were infused through the cannulas and the responses in blood glucose levels were measured. Monosaccharides were readily absorbed from the camel small intestine. The pattern of disaccharide absorption indicated that there was high lactase activity and low maltase and sucrase activity, in the camel small intestinal mucosa.
Subject(s)
Camelus/metabolism , Dietary Carbohydrates/metabolism , Animals , Blood Glucose/analysis , Female , Intestinal Absorption , Intestine, Small/metabolism , MaleABSTRACT
Left cecal displacement is described in a 4-year-old cow. This is the first reported case in the literature. Diagnosis was made at laparotomy.
