Opposite effects of short- and long-term fatty acid infusion on insulin secretion in healthy subjects.

Our study investigates short- and long-term effects of infusion of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) on insulin secretion in healthy subjects. Twelve healthy individuals underwent a 24-h Intralipid (10% triglyceride emulsion) infusion at a rate of 0.4 ml/min with a simultaneous infusion of heparin (a bolus of 200 U followed by 0.

Body composition, body fat distribution, and resting metabolic rate in healthy centenarians.

Our study investigated body composition and body fat distribution in healthy centenarians. Body composition, body fat distribution, and resting metabolic rate (RMR) were studied in 40 adult subjects aged < 50 y, 35 aged subjects > 75 y, and 15 healthy centenarians aged > 100 y. Body composition was determined by bioimpedance analysis, body fat distribution was calculated as waist-hip ratio (WHR), and RMR was calculated by using the Arciero-Poehlman formula.

Left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with a stronger impairment of non-oxidative glucose metabolism in hypertensive patients.

Hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) have a higher degree of hyperinsulinaemia than hypertensive patients without LVH. Obese patients with LVH have also been demonstrated to have a very low glucose disappearance rate after an intravenous glucose bolus. No studies have investigated the difference in insulin action and substrate oxidation in hypertensive patients with and without LVH.

Long-term changes induced by neonatal handling in the nociceptive threshold and body weight in mice.

During the first 3 weeks of life, four litters of CD-1 male mice were daily handled (HA group) and four other litters were left undisturbed (UHA group). At 35 days of life, mice underwent the tail flick (TF) and hot plate (HP) tests to measure the baseline reaction to thermal nociceptive stimulation. At the age of 50, 80, and 140 days body weight was measured.

Low-dose iloprost infusion improves insulin action in aged healthy subjects and NIDDM patients.

Objective: To investigate the effect of iloprost infusion on insulin action.

Research Design And Methods: Thirteen healthy subjects and 13 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients matched for age (68.2 +/- 0.

Low-dose Iloprost infusion improves insulin action and non-oxidative glucose metabolism in hypertensive patients.

Fourteen hypertensive (174.3/98.3 mmHg) non-diabetic patients were given a euglyceamic glucose clamp along with infusion of 0.

Evidence for a relationship between oxidative stress and insulin action in non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetic patients.

Ten healthy subjects and 30 non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetic patients matched for age, gender ratio, body mass index, lean body mass (LBM), waist to hip ratio, and arterial blood pressure volunteered for the study. In all subjects, fasting plasma free radical (O2-) levels and basal membrane lipid fluidity (MLF) and protein mobility (MPM) were determined. The whole group of subjects underwent a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp with simultaneous indirect calorimetry for substrate oxidation determination.

[Echographic markers of chromosome abnormalities].

Many recent studies have identified biometric parameters which can be used as screening factors in the diagnosis of chromosomic anomalies. This derives from the assertion that karyotype testing in over-35-year-old women alone only allows 20-30% of fetuses suffering from chromosomic anomalies to be diagnosed. The majority of these fetuses remain undiagnosed during the prenatal period given that a high percentage of younger women are excluded from screening.

Plasma vitamin C affects glucose homeostasis in healthy subjects and in non-insulin-dependent diabetics.

In aged healthy (n = 10) and non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetic (n = 10) subjects matched for age [67.3 +/- 0.5 vs.

Total-body and myocardial substrate oxidation in congestive heart failure.

Congestive heart failure is a condition associated with increased plasma norepinephrine levels, which have been demonstrated to impair glucose handling. In the present study, 10 patients suffering from congestive heart failure and 10 healthy age- and body mass index-matched subjects were submitted to a hyperinsulinemic (insulin infusion rate, 0.5 mU/kg.

Metabolic features of patients with and without coronary heart disease but with a superimposable cluster of cardiovascular risk factors.

Background: Many studies have shown a significant association between the magnitude of insulin resistance and the plasma insulin levels in non-diabetic patients. It has also been shown that all major cardiovascular risk factors are associated with the presence of hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance. However, studies have not addressed the possible metabolic differences in insulin action that can occur in patients with and without coronary heart disease (CHD) but with a superimposable cluster of risk factors.

Different contribution of substrates oxidation to insulin resistance in malnourished elderly patients with cancer.

Background: The relative contribution of malnutrition and cancer to insulin resistance in elderly patients is still poorly understood.

Methods: Twenty malnourished and 15 well-nourished patients with cancer matched for age (70 +/- 0.3 versus 69 +/- 0.

Daily vitamin E supplements improve metabolic control but not insulin secretion in elderly type II diabetic patients.

Objective: To investigate the potential metabolic benefits deriving from daily vitamin E administration in type II diabetic patients.

Research Design And Methods: Twenty-five type II diabetic patients were invited to randomly take placebo or vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol; 900 mg/day) along a similar 3-mo period in a double-blind, crossover procedure. A wash-out period of 30 days separated the two treatment periods.

Effects of physiological plasma insulin levels on glucose turnover parameters in familial hypercholesterolemia.

Eight young, non-obese patients with primary familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and 8 healthy subjects matched for age, body mass index, lean body mass, plasma triglyceride and HDL-levels and arterial blood pressure were selected from a lipid clinic. Patients with FH had higher plasma LDL-cholesterol (8.3 +/- 0.

Reduced antinociceptive response to beta-endorphin in adult mice after chronic neonatal handling.

Male CD-1 mice were daily exposed to handling stress from second to the nineteenth days of life. Eleven and 16 days after the interruption of stress, handled (HA) and control nonhandled (UHA) animals were tested to measure the baseline threshold for the perception of thermal nociceptive stimulation by the tail-flick test (TFT) and to assess the presence of the Straub tail response (STR). On day 50 of life, the antinociceptive response induced by intracerebroventricular B-endorphin (BE) was also studied.

Evidence for a relationship between free radicals and insulin action in the elderly.

In forty healthy subjects with normal glucose tolerance divided by age into four groups (group A, subjects with mean age < 25 years [n = 10]; group B, subjects with mean age < 40 years [n = 9]; group C, subjects with mean age < 60 years [n = 11]; group D, subjects with mean age > 75 years [n = 10]) and were matched for body mass index (BMI), lean body mass (LBM), mean arterial blood pressure, and sedentary life style, we determined the plasma O2- production, reduced to oxidized glutathione level ratio (GSH/GSSG), and plasma membrane microviscosity. Euglycemic hyperinsulinemic (1 mU/kg.min-1 for 120 minutes) glucose clamp with simultaneous D-3-H glucose infusion and indirect calorimetry allowed determination of glucose turnover parameters and substrate oxidation.

Pharmacologic doses of vitamin E improve insulin action in healthy subjects and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

Ten control (healthy) subjects and 15 non-insulin-dependent diabetics underwent an oral glucose-tolerance test and a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp before and after vitamin E supplementation (900 mg/d for 4 mo). In control subjects (placebo-treated vs vitamin E-supplemented subjects, respectively) vitamin E reduced the area under the curve for glucose (344 +/- 21 vs 287 +/- 13 mmol.L-1 x min-1; P < 0.

Area tempestas modulates the behavioural responses to nociceptive stimuli in rats.

The antinociception of opiates is mediated through the activation of opioid receptors in several mid brain and brain stem areas. This paper reports that the forebrain area termed area tempestas (AT), first identified as a convulsant trigger area, is also a component of the endogenous pain suppression system. Unilateral AT application of DAMGO, morphine and U-50,488H in rats at doses in the nanogram range produced marked and dose-dependent increases in the latency to respond to nociceptive stimuli.

Chronic magnesium administration enhances oxidative glucose metabolism in thiazide treated hypertensive patients.

In newly-diagnosed untreated (n = 24) and thiazide treated (n = 18) hypertensive patients erythrocyte ion content and plasma ion and metabolite levels were determined. Thiazide treated patients had lower arterial blood pressure, plasma ion levels, erythrocyte magnesium and potassium content but higher fasting plasma insulin (66 +/- 7 v 87 +/- 8 pmol/L P < .02), triglycerides (1.

Plasma GSH/GSSG affects glucose homeostasis in healthy subjects and non-insulin-dependent diabetics.

In healthy subjects (n = 10) and non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetics (n = 10) matched for age [43.1 +/- 2.2 vs.

High-intensity nociceptive stimuli minimize behavioral effects induced by restraining stress during the tail-flick test.

Analgesia following exposure to various stressors is a well-documented phenomenon. Restraint of an animal during the tail-flick test (TFT) represents a potent stressor that can induce both altered baseline latencies and enhanced response to opioids. The present study shows that the use of higher stimulus intensities during TFT minimizes the stress influences produced by restraint on the animal's response rendering the test more sensitive to the pharmacological action of analgesic drugs.

ACE inhibition improves insulin-sensitivity in aged insulin-resistant hypertensive patients.

We have compared the cardiovascular and metabolic responses to five different ACE inhibitors in 86 patients matched for age, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover, randomised trial. In the active drug treatment phase the patients were randomly assigned to one of five ACE inhibitors: captopril (75 mg/day; n = 16); enalapril (20 mg/day; n = 14); quinapril (20 mg/day; n = 17); ramipril (5 mg/day; n = 21) and lisinopril (20 mg/day; n = 18). Placebo and ACE inhibition phases lasted two weeks and were separated by a one week wash-out period.

An EEG analysis of drug effects after mild head injury in mice.

An electroencephalographic (EEG) and behavioral model of head injury in unanesthetized, free moving mice has been used to test the effects of TRH and GM1. In our experimental conditions a mechanical head injury capable of inducing loss of righting reflex for 2 to 60 sec, also induces a consistent decrease of the total power of the spectrum of EEG and a decrease of the power of fast beta band (20-40 Hz) for at least 120 min. TRH, injected after trauma in dose of 10 mg/kg, caused improvement of EEG total power of the spectrum.

Antinociceptive action of opiates and opioid peptides after unilateral microinjection into area tempestas in rats.

Area tempestas (AT) is a forebrain area involved in the genesis and generalization of clonic convulsions in rats. This study reports that upon AT application opiates and opioid peptides produce antinociceptive effects as measured with the hot-plate (HP) and tail-flick (TF) tests in rats. Unilateral infusion of mu and kappa agonists into AT at doses in the nanogram range delayed the latency to respond for the contralateral paws in the HP test (Emax, 67-91 degrees of analgesia), beginning 1 to 5 min after application.

Metabolic effects of nitrendipine.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted to evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of nitrendipine in the treatment of isolated systolic hypertension in elderly patients. The subjects were 20 elderly patients with isolated systolic hypertension who received 20 mg of nitrendipine or placebo daily for 60 days. In the nitrendipine-treated patients, both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were reduced significantly during treatment (from a mean of 180 to 155 mmHg and 92 to 80 mmHg); heart rate did not change significantly.