Food preferences, nutrient intake and nutritional status in cancer patients.

Food intake and nutritional status were estimated in 34 cancer patients (14 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 20 patients with relapse of different cancers) and 25 healthy subjects (control group). A two-month dietary history based on Burke's method was used to estimate food intake. Nutritional status was expressed by weight, anthropometric parameters and hematologic parameters. The patients' intake of cheese, eggs, rye bread, and poultry was reduced compared to controls. The difference in food preferences resulted in a higher energy supply from carbohydrate and a lower intake of indigestible carbohydrate, vitamin B12, iron and iodine in patients than in controls. The groups did not differ in anthropometric parameters, but a decreased total serum protein, albumin and hemoglobin was observed in patients, whereas their alpha-globulin levels were increased. Thus, food preferences in cancer patients seem to be associated with insufficient intake of nutrients.

Lack of effect of tryptophan treatment in demented gerontopsychiatric patients. A double-blind, crossover-controlled study.

Twenty-eight elderly patients with dementia and in many cases also depression received daily treatment with either L-tryptophan (3g in the evening) or casein (control substance) for 1 month each, using a crossover design and double-blind procedures. Each patient's mental condition and performance ability were rated, and biological variables (serum tryptophan levels, platelet 5-HT uptake, platelet MAO activity, red blood cell thiamine, pyridoxine and riboflavin levels) were measured. Serum tryptophan levels were elevated by tryptophan treatment, but the treatment failed to have significant effects on the mental condition of the patients as a whole. Dividing the patients into two groups on the basis of the treatment during which they received their best behavioral rating failed to show significant relations to biological variables, except for differences between Vmax values for platelet 5-HT uptake. The findings indicate that long-term administration of tryptophan to gerontopsychiatric patients does not generally have beneficial effects.

Stereoselective effect of tranylcypromine enantiomers on brain serotonin.

Brain levels of 5-HT, 5-HIAA and L-tryptophan were measured in reserpinized rats given the enantiomers of tranylcypromine (TCP). (+)-TCP (1.5-30 mg/kg) increased levels of 5-HT, whereas (-)-TCP failed to affect 5-HT levels. (+)-TCP at high dosage (30 mg/kg) decreased brain levels of 5-HIAA, whereas (-)-TCP failed to affect 5-HIAA levels. Neither (+)-TCP nor (-)-TCP influenced brain levels of L-tryptophan. The effects of (+)-TCP on behavior resembled those of drugs which influence 5-HT processes, whereas (-)-TCP failed to produce 5-HT-dependent behaviors. The findings support the notion that TCP enantiomers have stereoselective effects on serotonergic mechanisms.