Effects of high carbohydrate and high fat diet on plasma metabolite levels and on i.v. glucose tolerance test in intact and neutered male cats.

To elucidate the impact of dietary influence on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and on the development of diabetes mellitus in the carnivorous cat, a 3 weeks feeding trial was carried out on six sexually intact and six neutered adult male cats. The effects of two isonitrogenic diets, differing in carbohydrate and fat content, were investigated on plasma metabolite levels in a 24-h blood sampling trial. Plasma leptin concentrations were also determined at the beginning and at the end of the 24-h trial. Glucose and insulin response was measured in an i.v. glucose tolerance test. A 5 days long digestion trial was also performed, which revealed a high digestion capacity of both fat and carbohydrates in cats. The high fat diet induced a significant rise in the plasma triglyceride, FFA, beta-hydroxybutyrate and cholesterol concentration, while the elevation in the glucose level did not reach significance. In the glucose tolerance test no significant difference was found between the neutered and intact cats. However, independently of the sexual state, the cats on the high fat diet showed a slightly elongated glucose clearance and reduced acute insulin response to glucose administration. This is indicative of diminished pancreatic insulin secretion and/or beta-cell responsiveness to glucose. The results of this preliminary study may be the impetus for a long-term study to find out whether it is rather the fat rich ration than carbohydrate rich diet that is expected to impair glucose tolerance and thus might contribute to the development of diabetes mellitus in cats. Whether the alteration in glucose metabolism is due to altered leptin levels remains to be determined.

Incidence and mortality of malignant melanoma in Berlin (West) from 1980 to 1986.

Newly diagnosed melanomas were investigated utilizing the histological reports from the 4 Departments of dermatology as well as from 3 Departments of pathology in Berlin (West) during the years 1980-86. The study included 960 melanomas and documented the histological features, age, gender and nationality of the patients involved. 936 patients were Germans (379 males, 557 females), and the mean age-adjusted incidence rate (for the European standard population) was 7.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and year for both genders with an increase between 1980-81 and 1985-86 in men from 6.0 to 9.8 and in women from 5.8 to 7.8/100,000 and year. Thus a 49% increase in incidence was observed for both genders combined during a 5-year period. In this study, a preponderance of male incidence rates was observed for the first time in Germany. Interestingly, the age-adjusted incidence rate for the Turkish population, which is the largest foreign population with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Berlin, was only 1.3/100,000 and year. 162 men and 145 women died of melanoma in the time period examined. From 1980-81 to 1985-86, the age-adjusted mortality rate changed from 3.5 to 2.6 for men and from 1.2 to 1.6 for women per 100,000 and year, thus revealing a slight decrease in mortality for both genders combined.