Effect of zinc supplementation on growth in West African children: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial in rural Burkina Faso.
(33/1319)
OBJECTIVE: To analyse the effects of zinc supplementation on growth parameters in a representative sample of young children in rural Burkina Faso. Design Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled efficacy trial. Setting Eighteen villages in rural northwestern Burkina Faso. Subjects In all, 709 children aged 6-31 months were enrolled; 685 completed the trial. Intervention Supplementation with zinc (12.5 mg zinc sulphate) or placebo daily for 6 days a week for 6 months. Outcomes Weight, length/height, mid-arm circumference, and serum zinc. RESULTS: In a representative subsample of study children, 72% were zinc-deficient at baseline. After supplementation, serum zinc increased in zinc-supplemented but not in control children of the subsample. No significant differences between groups were observed during follow-up regarding length/height, weight, mid-arm circumference, and z scores for height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that zinc supplementation does not have an effect of public health importance on growth in West African populations of young children with a high prevalence of malnutrition. Multinutrient interventions are likely to be more effective. (+info)
Evaluation of nutritional status and factors related to malnutrition in children on CAPD.
(34/1319)
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional status of children on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and to relate it to the dose of dialysis and serum levels of inflammatory cytokines and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). PATIENTS: 17 CAPD patients (8 girls, 9 boys; mean age 13.1 +/- 3.5 years, median 15 years) were included in the study. Anthropometric measurements and serum albumin levels were used in the evaluation of nutritional status. Serum interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and IGF-1 levels were determined in all CAPD patients and in a healthy control group. Weekly Kt/V and creatinine clearance (CCr) were measured to determine adequacy of dialysis. RESULTS: The mean dialysis period was 23.7 +/- 15.2 months (median 23 months). Anthropometric measurements and serum albumin level were as follows: height 130.2 +/- 15.6 cm, height standard deviation score (HtSDS) -4.2 +/- 2.4, body mass index (BMI) 16.3 +/- 1.6 kg/m2, body mass index standard deviation score (BMISDS) -0.8 +/- 0.9, triceps skinfold thickness (TST) 4.2 +/- 1.4 mm, midarm circumference (MAC) 16.21 +/- 2.3 cm, upper arm muscle area (AMA) 1799.1 +/- 535.7 mm2, upper arm fat area (AFA) 334.5 +/- 143 mm2, and serum albumin 3.1 +/- 0.7 g/dL. The BMI was above the fifth percentile in all patients; TST and MAC were below the fifth percentile in 14 patients (82.4%) and 10 patients (58.8%) respectively. The AMA was below the fifth percentile in 8 patients; however, the AFA was below the fifth percentile in all patients. Mean serum albumin level was under 3.5 g/dL in 70.5% of the children. We found significant positive correlations between BMI and Kt/V (r = 0.69, p < 0.01), CCr (r = 0.64, p < 0.05), and IL-6 (r = 0.61, p < 0.01). There was an inverse correlation between BMISDS and dialysis period (r = -0.58, p < 0.05); and between IL-6 and serum albumin (r = -0.49, p < 0.05). A significant positive correlation between BMISDS and serum IGF-1 level (r = 0.62, p < 0.01) was noted. We also found a significant positive correlation between serum IGF-1 level and both HtSDS (r = 0.57, p < 0.05) and TST (r = 0.52, p < 0.05). Significant positive correlations between AFA and CCr and IGF-1 were also noted (both r = 0.56, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although many factors may be responsible for malnutrition and growth retardation, we found that prolonged period of dialysis, inadequate dialysis, and low IGF-1 levels are the most important risk factors in CAPD patients. (+info)
Host nutritional status as a contributory factor to the remodeling of schistosomal hepatic fibrosis.
(35/1319)
Weaning Swiss mice were percutaneously infected with 30 cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni and submitted to a shifting either from a deficient to a balanced diet or vice-versa, for 24 weeks. The nutritional status was weekly evaluated by measurements of growth curves and food intake. Hepatic fibrosis and periovular granulomas were studied by histological, morphometric and biochemical methods. All mice fed on a deficient diet failed to develop periportal "pipestem" fibrosis after chronic infection. An unexpected finding was the absence of pipestem fibrosis in mice on normal diet, probably related to the sample size. The lower values for nutritional parameters were mainly due to the deficient diet, rather than to infection. Liver/body weight ratio was higher in "early undernutrition" group, after shifting to the balanced diet. Volume density and numerical density of egg granulomas reached lowest values in undernourished animals. The amount of collagen was reduced in undernourished mice, attaining higher concentrations in well-fed controls and in "late undernutrition" (balanced diet shifted to a deficient one), where collagen deposition appeared increased in granulomas. That finding suggested interference with collagen degradation and resorption in "late" undernourished animals. Thus, host nutritional status plays a role in connective tissue changes of hepatic schistosomiasis in mice. (+info)
Children, cancer, and nutrition--A dynamic triangle in review.
(36/1319)
The overall cure rate for cancer in childhood now exceeds 70% and is projected to reach 85% by the year 2010 in industrialized countries. Therefore, major attention is being placed on reducing the side effects of therapy. However, 85% of the world's children live in developing countries, where access to adequate care often is limited and health status frequently is influenced adversely by prevalent infectious diseases and malnutrition. Despite several confounding factors (different definitions of nutritional status, the wide variety of measures used for its assessment, the selection biases by disease and stage, treatment protocols of variable dose intensity and efficacy, small sample sizes of the studies conducted in the last 20 years), it is accepted that the prevalence of malnutrition at diagnosis averages 50% in children with cancer in developing countries; whereas, in industrialized countries, it is related to the type of tumor and the extent of the disease, ranging from < 10% in patients with standard-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia to 50% in patients with advanced neuroblastoma. The importance of nutritional status in children with cancer is related to its possible influence on the course of the disease and survival. Some authors have described decreased tolerance of chemotherapy associated with altered metabolism of antineoplastic drugs, increased infection rates, and poor clinical outcome in malnourished children. In this article, the authors review methods of nutritional assessment and the pathogenesis of nutritional morbidity in children with cancer as well as correlations of nutritional status with diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. (+info)
Malnutrition impairs alveolar fluid clearance in rat lungs.
(37/1319)
Inadequate nutrition complicates the clinical course of critically ill patients, and many of these patients develop pulmonary edema. However, little is known about the effect of malnutrition on the mechanisms that resolve alveolar edema. Therefore, we studied the mechanisms responsible for the decrease in alveolar fluid clearance in rats exposed to malnutrition. Rats were allowed access to water, but not to food, for 120 h. Then, the left and right lungs were isolated for the measurement of lung water volume and alveolar fluid clearance, respectively. The rate of alveolar fluid clearance was measured by the progressive increase in the concentration of Evans blue dye that was instilled into the distal air spaces with an isosmolar 5% albumin solution over 1 h. Malnutrition decreased alveolar fluid clearance by 38% compared with controls. Amiloride (10(-3) M) abolished alveolar fluid clearance in malnourished rats. Either refeeding for 120 h following nutritional deprivation for 120 h or an oral supply of sodium glutamate during nutritional deprivation for 120 h restored alveolar fluid clearance to 91 and 86% of normal, respectively. Dibutyryl-cGMP, a cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel agonist, increased alveolar fluid clearance in malnourished rats supplied with sodium glutamate. Terbutaline, a beta(2)-adrenergic agonist, increased alveolar fluid clearance in rats under all conditions (control, malnutrition, refeeding, and glutamate-treated). These results indicate that malnutrition impairs primarily amiloride-insensitive and dibutyryl-cGMP-sensitive alveolar fluid clearance, but this effect is partially reversible by refeeding, treatment with sodium glutamate, or beta-adrenergic agonist therapy. (+info)
Malnutrition and atherosclerosis in dialysis patients.
(38/1319)
Longitudinal associations of malnutrition with atherosclerotic events in uremia are unclear. In 50,732 incident Medicare dialysis patients who had normal (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m(2)), low (<18.5 kg/m(2)), or high (> or = 25 kg/m(2)) body mass index (BMI) and initiated dialysis in the United States from January 1995 to December 1999 with reported measured creatinine clearances and acute coronary syndrome (ACS; International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes 410.x and 411.x) were examined in parametric survival models. Normal BMI was the referent group. Twenty-four-hour urinary creatinine (UCr) was used as a measure of muscle mass. There were 7213 (14.2%) hospitalized ACS events, 1528 (22%) of which were fatal (death within 30 d). One-year post-ACS mortality was 48%. Low BMI (hazard ratio [HR], 0.89; P = 0.02] was associated with lower hazard, and UCr was not predictive (NS) of hospitalized ACS in multivariable model. Low BMI (NS) was not associated with a composite end point of hospitalized ACS/suspected out-of-hospital ACS death, whereas lowest UCr quartile was associated with higher hazard (HR, 1.14; P < 0.001). Low BMI (HR, 1.24; P < 0.001) and decrease in UCr (highest quartile reference, second quartile HR, 1.11 [P < 0.001]; third quartile HR, 1.24 [P < 0.001]; and fourth quartile HR, 1.43 [P < 0.001]) were associated with increased hazard of death. Hospitalized ACS events in dialysis patients carry very high immediate and long-term mortality. Positive longitudinal associations of malnutrition with documented hospitalized ACS events could not be demonstrated. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to provide definitive evidence of malnutrition as a uremic risk factor for atherosclerosis. (+info)
Carotid atherosclerosis is associated with inflammation, malnutrition and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.
(39/1319)
BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that endothelial cell adhesion molecules may participate in the initiation and progression of atherosclerotic vascular damage. The aim of the present report was to investigate serum intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin concentrations and their probable association with atherosclerotic disease in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). METHODS: Sixty-three CAPD patients and 40 age- and sex-matched apparently healthy normotensive controls participated in the study. Atherosclerotic disease in both groups was assessed by measuring the intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque score of the common carotid arteries using an ultrasound scanner. RESULTS: Compared with controls, CAPD patients had significantly increased IMT and plaque score values (P<0.001 and P<0.0001, respectively), as well as serum ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin concentrations (P<0.0001, P<0.0001 and P<0.05, respectively). In univariate analyses, IMT values were significantly correlated with age, systolic blood pressure (BP), logCRP, fibrinogen, albumin and ICAM-1 levels (P = 0.001, P = 0.04, P = 0.01, P = 0.04, P = 0.02 and P = 0.002, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that ICAM-1 levels were a strong independent correlate of IMT (P = 0.005). Serum albumin also remained independently associated with IMT values (P = 0.03). Plaque score values were significantly correlated with age, systolic BP and fibrinogen (P = 0.002, P = 0.04 and P = 0.01, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that fibrinogen concentrations were a significant independent contributor to plaque score values (P = 0.002). Adhesion molecule concentrations did not show any relation with plaque score either on univariate or multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS: In CAPD patients, carotid atherosclerosis is associated with markers of inflammation, malnutrition and circulating levels of adhesion molecule ICAM-1. Hypoalbuminaemia and ICAM-1 appear independently related with atherogenesis but the mechanisms supporting these associations remain to be identified. (+info)
Molecular characterization of Ancylostoma ceylanicum Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor: evidence for a role in hookworm-associated growth delay.
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Hookworm infection is a major cause of iron deficiency anemia and malnutrition in developing countries. The Ancylostoma ceylanicum Kunitz-type inhibitor (AceKI) is a 7.9-kDa broad-spectrum inhibitor of trypsin, chymotrypsin, and pancreatic elastase that has previously been isolated from adult hookworms. Site-directed mutagenesis of the predicted P1 inhibitory reactive site amino acid confirmed the role of Met(26) in mediating inhibition of the three target serine proteases. By using reverse transcription-PCR, it was demonstrated that the level of AceKI gene expression increased following activation of third-stage larvae with serum and that the highest level of expression was reached in the adult stage of the parasite. Immunohistochemistry studies performed with polyclonal immunoglobulin G raised against recombinant AceKI showed that the inhibitor localized to the subcuticle of the adult hookworm, suggesting that it has a potential in vivo role in neutralizing intestinal proteases at the surface of the parasite. Immunization with recombinant AceKI was shown to confer partial protection against hookworm-associated growth delay without a measurable effect on anemia. Taken together, the data suggest that AceKI plays a role in the pathogenesis of hookworm-associated malnutrition and growth delay, perhaps through inhibition of nutrient absorption in infected hosts. (+info)