Effect of dietary counselling on blood pressure and arterial plasma catecholamines in primary hypertension.

There is still a need of support for nonpharmacologic treatment of uncomplicated, mild-to-moderate essential hypertension. We investigated whether a low sodium-based diet implemented by a nutritionist could lower blood pressure and affect sympathetic activity. Middle-aged, otherwise healthy men with never-treated essential hypertension (n = 95) were randomized to an intervention group, a blood pressure control group, and a time control group. The intervention group was advised to use less sodium chloride in their diet, and if necessary, less saturated fat and decrease body weight. They attended regular clinic visits as did the blood pressure control group. After 1 year, the intervention group had achieved on average 72 mmol/24 h lower urinary sodium excretion (P < .001) and a decrease in body weight of 2.7 +/- 0.5 kg (P < .001). Both supine and standing mean blood pressure were on average 8 to 10 mm Hg lower after intervention compared with the two control groups (P < .001). Arterial plasma epinephrine, measured in all 40-year-old subjects (n = 30), decreased in parallel in all three groups (P < .05), indicating some habituation to the invasive procedure and clinic visits. However, the decrease in norepinephrine was significant (P < .001) only in the intervention group; it correlated with the weight loss (r = 0.76, P < .05) and was significantly higher (P < .05) than in both control groups. These results suggest that broad dietary advice (ie, low intake of sodium chloride, saturated fat and energy), implemented by a nutritionist, may have a significant blood pressure lowering effect and a favorable sympathicolytic effect in uncomplicated, mild-to-moderate essential hypertension.

PCB reduction and clinical improvement by detoxification: an unexploited approach?

1. A detoxification trial was administered to a female worker from a capacitor factory who had been exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other lipophilic industrial chemicals. 2. The patient presented with severe abdominal complaints, chloracne, liver abnormalities, and a spontaneous nipple discharge of approximately 50 ml d-1. 3. PCB levels were high in adipose tissue (102 mg kg-1), serum, (512 micrograms l-1), skin lipids (66.3 mg kg-1), and in the nipple discharge (712 micrograms l-1). 4. The patient's history, the medical evaluation and prior unsuccessful symptomatic treatments were indicative of consequences elicited by occupational exposure to chemicals. 5. Detoxification treatment reduced the PCB levels in adipose tissue to 37.4 mg kg-1 and in serum to 261 micrograms l-1, a 63% and 49% reduction, respectively. 6. The nipple discharge ceased and the symptoms improved. 7. Excretion of intact PCBs in sebum was appreciable before treatment and was enhanced by up to five-fold during detoxification. 8. This therapeutic approach appears promising for cases involving occupational exposure to lipophilic chemicals.

Regulation of the S100 protein and GFAP genes is mediated by two common mechanisms in RT4 neuro-glial cell lines.

RT4-AC cells express both neuronal and glial properties and undergo cell-type conversion in culture to three distinct derivatives, described as either neuronal-like or glial-like. A coordinate induction of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100 protein and GFAP gene expression is coordinately induced by cAMP. In addition, for the first time we provide direct evidence that the ability to express both the S100 and GFAP genes is conserved with cell-type conversion to the glial derivative cell types, but is coordinately lost with conversion to the neuronal derivative cell types. These results make it highly likely that the GFAP and S100 genes are regulated by two common mechanisms in RT4-AC cells: (1) cAMP-mediated control of gene expression; and (2) a mechanism that allows these two genes to be coordinately expressed or not expressed as a consequence of cell-type conversion.

Effect of lipid lowering diet on low density lipoprotein receptor activity in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The effect of lipid lowering diet on low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity has been studied in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 16 hypercholesterolemic male subjects during a three weeks' dietary intervention trial. The participants were randomized to an intervention group or to a control group. The subjects in the intervention group had a non-significantly larger increase in LDL receptor activity, determined as degradation of 125I-LDL at 37 degrees C, than the control group (49.7 +/- 18.1 and 35.4 +/- 21.2 ng/mg, respectively). Irrespective of assignment to the intervention group or control group, the eight subjects with the largest reduction in total serum cholesterol had significantly larger absolute and percentage increases in LDL receptor activity than the eight subjects with the smallest reduction in total serum cholesterol (p less than 0.05). Thus, it appears that the cholesterol reduction that can be achieved in humans by dietary intervention results in a small increase in LDL receptor activity in freshly isolated PBMCs.