The lipid lowering effect of plant sterol ester capsules in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Background: Foods enriched with phytosterols have been proven to be an effective therapy to improve blood lipid profiles. However, none of the studies have investigated the efficacy in lipid lowering of plant sterol esters (PSE) in capsule form. The objective of this study is to determine if the plant sterol esters (PSE) in capsule form (1.

Antioxidant transport by the human placenta.

We investigated the transfer of three antioxidants - melatonin, S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) and various forms of vitamin E - across the term, normal human placenta. The transport technique involved the single, isolated placental cotyledon system in vitro. Melatonin crossed the placental rapidly, equally to the freely diffusible marker, antipyrine.

Vitamin E dose-response studies in humans with use of deuterated RRR-alpha-tocopherol.

Background: Supplemental vitamin E does not raise plasma alpha-tocopherol concentrations more than approximately 3-fold.

Objective: To elucidate the mechanism for the limitation in plasma alpha-tocopherol, we undertook human supplementation trials using incrementally increased doses of deuterated vitamin E.

Design: Plasma was obtained from 6 healthy, young adults (4 men and 2 women) during 3 sequential supplementation trials with doses of 15, 75, and 150 mg RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate labeled with deuterium (d3-RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate).

Human plasma and tissue alpha-tocopherol concentrations in response to supplementation with deuterated natural and synthetic vitamin E.

We report a comparison of natural and synthetic vitamin E in humans using deuterium labeling to permit the two forms of vitamin E to be measured independently in plasma and tissues of each subject. Differences in natural and synthetic vitamin E concentrations were measured directly under equal dosage conditions using an equimolar mixture of deuterated RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate and all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate. Two groups of five adults took 30 mg of the mixture as a single dose and as eight consecutive daily doses, respectively.

Transport of deuterium-labeled tocopherols during pregnancy.

With use of deuterium-labeled isotopes of RRR- and all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, the transport of vitamin E in pregnancy was evaluated to determine whether the placenta discriminates between these compounds. Fifteen pregnant subjects were recruited 5 d before delivery to receive 15, 30, 75, 150, or 300 mg vitamin E/d in capsules containing d3-RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate and d6-all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (1:1, by wt). Maternal blood was obtained before dosing, at hospital admission, and at parturition.

Concurrent liquid chromatographic separation and photodiode array detection of retinol, tocopherols, all-trans-alpha-carotene, all-trans-beta-carotene and the mono-cis isomers of beta-carotene in extracts of human plasma.

In this report we describe the development of a method for the concurrent reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation and photodiode array detection of human plasma retinol, tocopherols and carotenes. For a single sample injection, retinol, retinyl acetate, alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, alpha-tocopheryl acetate, all-trans-alpha-carotene and all-trans-beta-carotene, as well as the mono-cis geometrical isomers of beta-carotene were separated and detected. Analytical separations were performed at a subambient temperature (0 degree C) over a Suplex pKb-100 reversed-phase analytical column with an isocratic mobile phase of methanol-methyl tert.

Lightweight, mobile E-mail for intra-clinic communication.

We have developed a mobile messaging system designed for use in the clinic setting. The system is designed to facilitate quick, informal, interactions that occur in a clinical setting, e.g.

Optimizing physician access to surgical intensive care unit laboratory information through mobile computing.

Approximately 30 minutes of computer access time are required by surgical residents at Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) to examine the lab values of all patients on a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) service, a task that must be performed several times a day. To reduce the time accessing this information and simultaneously increase the readability and currency of the data, we have created a mobile, pen-based user interface and software system that delivers lab results to surgeons in the ICU. The ScroungeMaster system, loaded on a portable tablet computer, retrieves lab results for a subset of patients from the central laboratory computer and stores them in a local database cache.

Toward reusable software components at the point of care.

An architecture built from five software components -a Router, Parser, Matcher, Mapper, and Server -fulfills key requirements common to several point-of-care information and knowledge processing tasks. The requirements include problem-list creation, exploiting the contents of the Electronic Medical Record for the patient at hand, knowledge access, and support for semantic visualization and software agents. The components use the National Library of Medicine Unified Medical Language System to create and exploit lexical closure-a state in which terms, text and reference models are represented explicitly and consistently.

Accessing oncology information at the point of care: experience using speech, pen, and 3-D interfaces with a knowledge server.

Oncologists' information needs arise at diverse times and settings. For example: "Is superior vena cava syndrome a medical emergency?" Our collaborative group is developing a system that supports an interface with combinations of spoken, gestural, and simulated three-dimensional manipulation to help an oncologist focus on the information need, not the system. The system requires a small amount of input from the oncologist, and then anticipates what information is pertinent to the patient at hand, based on the sources it has available.

Relative bioavailability of RRR- and all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate in humans: studies using deuterated compounds.

Vitamin E in nutritional supplements in its most common form is alpha-tocopheryl acetate. Available stereoisomeric forms are RRR- (1 stereoisomer) and all-rac- (8 stereoisomers). We evaluated the relative bioavailability of RRR- and all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate using the deuterium-labeled isotopes [5-CD3] 2R, 4'R and 8'R-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (d3), and [5,7-(CD3)2]-all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (d6).

Discrimination between RRR- and all-racemic-alpha-tocopherols labeled with deuterium by patients with abetalipoproteinemia.

The ability to discriminate between stereoisomers of alpha-tocopherol was studied in five patients with abetalipoproteinemia (ABL) because an impairment in secretion of apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins might impede the normally enhanced plasma transport of RRR-alpha-tocopherol. An oral dose containing 3.7 g of each 2R, 4'R,8'R-alpha-[5-C2H3]tocopheryl acetate (d3RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) and 2RS,4'RS,8'RS-alpha-[5,7-(C2H3)2]tocopheryl acetate (d6 all rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) was administered, then the labeled and unlabeled alpha-tocopherol contents of plasma and red blood cells from multiple blood samples obtained at selected times up to 72 h following the dose were quantitated.

Lipid content of microparticulate (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The preparation of pharmaceutical grade (1-->3)-beta-D-glucans from Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires that the microparticulate glucans which are employed as the starting material for drug production be of the highest purity. Potential contaminants of the (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan isolation process are yeast cell wall lipids, which are frequently found in association with glucans. The lipid content of yeast-derived (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan during various stages of the isolation process by methyl esterification and total ion gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was examined.

Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of the RRR and all racemic stereoisomers of alpha-tocopherol in humans after single oral administration.

The plasma and red blood cell pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of the natural source (RRR, d) and all racemic (all rac, dl) stereoisomers of alpha-tocopherol were studied in 12 men in a double-blind randomized crossover study. Subjects were administered two 400-mg soft-gelatin capsules of either RRR or all rac alpha-tocopherol. Plasma alpha-tocopherol concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography at various time intervals for up to 96 hours postadministration.

Vitamin E supplements fail to protect mice from acute MPTP neurotoxicity.

The effect of chronic treatment with vitamin E (VE) on acute 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced neurotoxicity, as assessed by striatal dopamine (DA) depletion, was studied. Male C57B1/6J mice were fed VE (48 mg kg-1 per day, intragastric) for 4, 8, or 12 weeks prior to administration of MPTP (20 mg kg-1, i.p.

Delayed hypersensitivity on a surgical service.

Two hundred patients assessed for nutritional deficiencies were analyzed for reaction to skin testing with common antigens and the incidence of sepsis and death. Only 39% of all skin tests were positive, though 50% of the patients had at least one positive test. Associated diagnoses revealed a high incidence of malnutrition, cancer, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Prolonged, intravenous paraquat infusion in the rat. II. Paraquat-induced alterations in lung polyamine metabolism.

The effects of paraquat (PQ) on lung putrescine, spermidine, and spermine levels, and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity were assessed in rats after 7 days of iv infusion of the herbicide via osmotic minipump. Paraquat administration at a rate of 250 nmol/hr [673 +/- 40 nmol/kg/hr (n = 15)] had no effect on these parameters. In contrast, significant (p less than 0.

Prolonged, intravenous paraquat infusion in the rat. I. Failure of coinfused putrescine to attenuate pulmonary paraquat uptake, paraquat-induced biochemical changes, or lung injury.

Paraquat (PQ) was administered to rats for 7 days by iv infusion from osmotic minipump at dosage rates of 250 and 500 nmol PQ/hr. The efficacy of putrescine in attenuating pulmonary PQ accumulation in vivo and the resulting PQ-induced biochemical changes and lung injury were assessed in these animals by coinfusion of putrescine at rates of 2500 or 5000 nmol/hr. Dose-dependent, steady-state blood levels of both PQ and putrescine were achieved by 18 hr and maintained throughout the infusion period.

Effects of postoperative carbohydrate overfeeding.

Forty-three indirect calorimetric studies were performed on 24 patients who received postoperative supplemental nutrition for a total of 1088 days. Patients were retrospectively grouped into Group 1 (G1) (respiratory quotient greater than 0.95) and Group 2 (G2) (respiratory quotient less than 0.

The influence of cysteine and methionine supplements on polyamine biosynthesis in the rat.

Previous reports from this laboratory have shown that supplementation of diets containing the optimal level (0.02%) of dietary inorganic sulfate (SO4(2-] with cysteine instead of methionine can affect several metabolic pathways. It is possible that these results reflect alterations in the biosynthesis of potent physiological compounds, the polyamines.

A metabolic comparison of cysteine and methionine supplements in the diet of a rat.

Adult male Long-Evans rats (250-300 g) were fed diets containing 15% of casein not supplemented with amino acids, supplemented with 0.505% cysteine or supplemented with 0.620% methionine for a period of 17 days.

Prognostic Nutritional Index: its usefulness as a predictor of clinical course.

Despite mounting evidence, a question still exists as to the true clinical relevance of varying degrees of malnutrition, the role of currently measured nutritional parameters in identifying malnutrition and predicting clinical risk in individual patients, and the efficacy of nutritional therapy. This study was designed to document the usefulness of the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) as a predictor of clinical course. The nutritional assessments and clinical records of 328 subjects in a Veterans Administration Hospital were reviewed, PNI and complication rates were determined for each of the subjects, and the data statistically analyzed.

An effect of dietary sulfur on liver inorganic sulfate in the rat.

The effect of dietary sulfur on liver inorganic sulfate concentration was determined by feeding rats diets containing 0.0002, 0.02, 0.