Effect of a dietary supplement containing blueberry and sea buckthorn concentrate on antioxidant capacity in type 1 diabetic children.

UNLABELLED: Many studies have shown that oxidative stress plays an important role in the etiology of diabetes and its complications. New methods of treatment for prevention and control of this disease is a priority for the international scientific community. METHODS: We investigated the relationship between the glycated hemoglobin, C peptide and two antioxidant enzymes. Thirty type 1 diabetic children were treated with a blueberry and sea buckthorn concentrate for two months. RESULTS: After two months of administering the product to diabetic children, the erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher (p < 0.05). Levels of glycated hemoglobin were significantly lower (p < 0.05). The activity of whole blood glutathione peroxidase was moderately increased but the difference was not statistically significant. C peptide concentration was significantly higher after treatment with this dietary supplement (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that treatment with this dietary supplement has a beneficial effect in the treatment of type 1 diabetic children and it should be considered as a phytotherapeutic product in the fight against diabetes mellitus.

A comparison of two methods for the evaluation of the daily urinary fluoride excretion in Romanian pre-school children.

OBJECTIVE: To compare two different methods of estimating daily fluoride urinary excretion in pre-school children under stable fluoride intake conditions. DESIGN: Thirty-five healthy kindergarten children, permanent residents of Targu-Mures, Romania, where the average drinking water fluoride concentration is 0.12 mg F/L, participated on two separate occasions, when they were aged 4-6 and 5-7 years, respectively in the collection of a) a mid-morning spot urine sample and b) a 16-h time-controlled urine sampling. In case a), the ratio of concentrations of fluoride and creatinine were measured, while in case b) the rates of fluoride excretion in two separate 8-hour periods were used to estimate the 24-hour fluoride urinary excretion. RESULTS: The estimated average daily fluoride urinary excretion values (S.D.) were 0.318 (0.182) mg F/day for method a) and 0.341 (0.193) mg F/day for method b). These values were not significantly different (Mann-Whitney U test; p = 0.49). The estimated daily fluoride doses were 0.040 (0.021) and 0.043 (0.022) mg F/kg body weight/day, respectively. The latter values were not significantly different (Mann Whitney U test; p = 0.38). CONCLUSIONS: Results obtained suggest that under stable F-intake conditions the estimation of the daily fluoride urinary excretion by means of a mid-morning spot urine sample yields comparable results to those obtained with the more involved method of separate, two 8 h (16 h) time-controlled urine sampling recommended by the WHO. Use of spot urine sampling appears to be particularly useful for epidemiological studies.

Lipoproteinlipase activity in multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases.

Taking into account the disturbances of lipid metabolism occurring in patients with demyelinating diseases, an expected finding was their increased basal lipolytic activity. We investigated 135 cases divided into 4 categories: 1. MS; 2. inflammatory diseases of the CNS; 3. cerebrovascular diseases and other diseases without any CNS organic involvements; 4. a group of absolutely healthy controls (blood donors). High values of plasmatic lipolytic activity were found in multiple sclerosis patients as compared with the other groups. They were probably due to the effect of a disturbance with an influence upon the basal lipoproteinlipase activity too. This influence is likely to refer to the stages of the process by which heparin releases lipoprotein-lipase from the capillary endothelium. Significant correlations between the clinical evolution of the disease and the values of lipolytic activity were pointed out. Measurement of this activity is a useful biochemical test in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Computerized electroencephalographic mapping in hypomagnesian spasmophilic syndromes.

Out of 397 patients presenting hypomagnesaemia there were selected for this study only 107 cases with neurotic and neuromuscular clinical picture (sometimes with short and simple loss of consciousness) without any sign of organic cerebral lesion. The dosing of the seric and erythrocytic magnesium was performed by means of a colorimetric method of Mann and Yoe, modified by the authors. In all the cases, the EEG and EMG changes were studied by simultaneous recording of the EEG and EMG before, during and after hyperpnoea. In these 107 selected cases (divided into three groups: children, adolescents and adults) the computerized electroencephalographic maps (CEM) were carried out by an original method, transcribing the primary data of Hjorth's NSD parameters (Amplitudes and Frequencies) into a Romanian M-118 microcomputer, by a technique with analog-digital conversion. The CEM (in white-black and in colour cartography) were performed for various epochs, including the sequential ones (second by second, all along the EEG discharges during and after hyperpnoea). By these methods, we analyzed the dynamic fluctuation and temporo-spatial cortical distribution of the sinusoidal slow waves generated by the reticulate neuronal hypersynchrony. The CEM showed some differences in the three groups of hypomagnesemic syndromes selected.