Showing papers in "Acta vitaminologica et enzymologica in 1981"

Effects of combination treatment with vitamins E and C on chloasma and pigmented contact dermatitis. A double blind controlled clinical trial.

Abstract: A multi-clinical double-blind study on therapeutic effect of combination preparation of vitamins E and C was undertaken in comparison with single preparation of vitamin E and vitamin C in the treatment of chloasma or pigmented contact dermatitis (PCD). Combination treatment resulted in significantly better clinical improvement than vitamin C alone in both diseases. Objective data compiled from color difference measurements and color photographs revealed significantly better results with combination treatment in chloasma than vitamin C alone and, in PCD, than vitamin E or C alone. Differences in skin luminosity between hyperpigmented and normal areas significantly decreased in all three groups, with the combination group producing the most significant change. The total serum lipoperoxide level and its ratio to total serum lipids tended to decline in the combination group, and decreased significantly in vitamin E group. The sebum lipoperoxide level decreased significantly only in the combination group (EC).

Humoral immune response in vitamin A deficient children.

Abstract: Humoral immune response was evaluated in children with vitamin A deficiency. The percentage of B lymphocytes and the initial levels of plasma IgA, IgG and IgM were normal. Two weeks after the immunisation with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, there was a marked increase in the antibody titers. There were no significant differences between the deficient and the normal children. The results indicate that the antibody production is not altered in children with vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin A and vitamin E concentration of the milk from mothers of pre-term infants and milk of mothers of full term infants.

Abstract: The vitamin E, vitamin A and beta carotene concentrations of milk, from eight mothers delivering premature infants and ten mothers delivering full term infants were determined and compared. Milk samples were collected three times per day on days 3, 9, 15, 21, 27 and 33 postpartum. Dietary records were kept on days 2-3, 14-15, and 32-33. There was no significant difference in vitamin E, vitamin A and beta carotene levels between the two groups. The mean retinol concentration was higher in the milk of mothers of premature infants on all days except day three. The highest mean carotene and retinol concentrations in the milk of mothers of full terms infants were on day three: but the peak occurred in the preterm group on day nine and did not drop as rapidly as the milk retinol of the full term group. The milk of mothers of fullterm infants, day 3 vitamin E concentration was significantly higher than days, 15, 21, 27 and 33 postpartum. There were no significant differences in the dietary intake of the full term and preterm groups. The amount of vitamin E in the milk was not affected by dietary vitamin E intake of the subjects regardless of gestational age of the infant. More research is needed to determine the exact quantity of vitamin A and E ingested by the premature infants if breastfed by their respective mothers.

Alcaptonuria and sucrase-isomaltase deficiency in three offspring of a consanguineous marriage

Abstract: Intestinal brush border membrane hydrolases and HLA lymphocyte antigens have been examined in three siblings with sucrose intolerance and alcaptonuria, and their consanguineous parents. Sucrase-isomaltase activity was absent in the three patients, and corresponded with the gel electrophoresis of SDS-solubilized brush border membranes, which failed to demonstrate the protein band normally associated with sucrase-isomaltase complex. The activities of all brush border membrane enzymes in the mother were normal, while those of the father were generally low. The use of hydrolytic capacity ratios, however, permitted the designation of both parents as heterozygotes. Significant homogentisic aciduria was found only in the three propositi, and no effect of homogentisic acid on the sucrase activities of two normal, unrelated children could be demonstrated in vitro. The HLA lymphocyte antigen profiles of all seven family members demonstrated remarkable histocompatibility in five of them.

The nutritional status of patients with an alcohol problem.

Abstract: 73 patients with an alcohol problem seen in a hospital medical unit over a two year period were examined specifically for signs suggestive of nutritional deficiency and of organ or system damage due to alcohol. A seven day dietary recall was carried out on most of them. Clinical signs of nutritional deficiency were relatively uncommon but nine patients had Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and ten had peripheral neuropathy. Thiamine was present in less than recommended amounts in 81.5% of the diets. Vitamin D and vitamin C were the next most common dietary deficiencies. 66.1% were deficient in energy intake and about a third of patients derived more than 40% of their energy from alcohol.

Increase of body temperature and folic acid metabolism.

Abstract: Folic acid metabolism was studied in forty-four febrile children aged 2 months -9 years by measuring their serum and red cell folate levels. In all the children, there was a significant reduction in red cell folate along with a steady rise in serum folate as the body temperature increased above 39 degrees C. There was no correlation between the folate parameters and the pathological cause of the pyrexia (malaria or broncho-pneumonia). These results suggest that a rise in body temperature causes a breakdown of folate stores, which leads to some disturbance of folate metabolism. The extent of this disturbance is not known but it may have some detrimental effects on growing children.

Thiamin transport by rat small intestine "in vitro": influence of endogenous thiamin content of jejunal tissue.

Abstract: The relationship between thiamin intestinal transport and phosphorylation in vitro was investigated using everted jejunal sacs from normal rats, rats affected with dietary thiamin deficiency at different degrees and relative pair-fed controls; recovered rats, i.e. severely thiamin-deficient animals, 6 hours after the intravenous injection of 1 mg of thiamin chloride/100 g body weight. The sacs were incubated at 37 degrees for 30 min with 0.2 microM 14C-labeled thiamin. During incubation, the endogenous phosphorylated thiamin undergoes a dephosphorylation, which is lowest in thiamin deficient rats. The jejunal sacs from all experimental groups take up and phosphorylate labeled thiamin: the rate is inversely proportional to the endogenous cellular content of phosphorylated thiamin. The net transport of labeled thiamin is enhanced in thiamin-deficient rats. The labeled thiamin net transport after incubation is linearly related to the labeled phosphorylated thiamin content of intestinal tissue. Thiamin repletion of severely thiamin-deficient rats restore the normal levels of endogenous free and phosphorylated thiamin in the intestinal within 6 hours. In addition after incubation, the labeled phosphorylated thiamin content reverts to the levels of the control, while thiamin net transport remains high.

[Colorimetric determination of plasma vitamin C: comparison between 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and phosphotungstic acid methods (author's transl)].

Abstract: The evaluation of a recently published colorimetric method for plasma ascorbic acid determination, using phosphotungstic acid (PTA), was performed by comparison with the largely employed 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) procedure The method has been evaluated according to International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) recommendations In particular, calibration procedures have been performed and precision, accuracy, linearity, specificity and sensitivity have been studied in biological samples Linear regression analysis indicates that the two methods do not correlate completely The PTA method shows a better recovery The PTA method shares with the DNPH procedure a poor precision at low concentrations of vitamin C in plasma such as to make results less reliable at the clinically significative levels

Vitamin C and weight reducing drugs on brain ascorbic acid in guinea pigs.

Abstract: A comparison has been made of the effects of d(+) fenfluramine, Mazindol and Diethylpropion on the changes in body weight and brain ascorbic acid concentrations in male and female guinea pigs receiving vitamin C-deficient diet daily with or without daily supplementary vitamin C for 24 days. Bodyweight increases initially; the subsequent decrease was more rapid in scorbutic male than in the female guinea pigs. The weight-reducing drugs prevented the initial rise in weight of these ascorbutic guinea pigs. Fenfluramine caused the greatest fall in weight in both sexes, the effect being more pronounced in the males. Supplementary vitamin C reduced the anti-obesity actions of fenfluramine, Mazindol and Diethylpropion. Brain ascorbic acid level in scorbutic guinea pigs was more significantly reduced by fenfluramine than by either Mazindol or Diethylpropion after 24 days administration. These drugs prevented the rise in brain ascorbic acid normally produced by supplementary vitamin C. The reduction brain ascorbic acid appears to be related to the loss of weight more in the males than in the females.

Molecular species of phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine in heart of rats given excess vitamin A.

Abstract: The effect of 33 mg of vitamin A for two days on heart phospholipids and on the molecular species of phosphatidyl-choline and phosphatidyl-ethanolamine of rats has been studied. Vitamin A reduced the amounts of heart total phospholipids, phosphatidyl-choline and its tetraenoic species and of the hexaenoic species of phosphatidyl-ethanolamine. In rats administered vitamin A the incorporation of NaH232PO4 and choline 1,2-14C chloride into total phospholipids and into the phosphatidyl-choline fraction was reduced. The results of the incorporation of NaH232PO4 into the various molecular species of phosphatidyl-choline and phosphatidyl-ethanolamine showed that excess A impaired the synthesis of these phospholipids via the CDP-choline-ethanolamine pathway.

Inactivation of microbial pyridoxal kinase by pyridoxal.

Abstract: Pyridoxal kinase from Escherichia coli and bakers' yeast was inactivated by pyridoxal while the enzyme from rat and pig brain was not The inactivation of the enzyme purified from E coli was reversible and was rendered irreversible by the reduction with NaBH4 This finding as well as a similar inactivation by 5'-deoxypyridoxal but not by 4'-deoxypyridoxine suggested that the inactivation was due to Schiff base formation The suggestion was confirmed by the incorporation of tritium label into the enzyme by the reaction of the enzyme with [3H] pyridoxal followed by the treatment with NaBH4 Correlation between the loss of enzyme activity and the amount of pyridoxal bound to the enzyme showed that binding of pyridoxal to one crucial site completely inactivated the enzyme Pyridoxine and 4'-deoxypyridoxine did not have a protective effect against inactivation indicates that the binding site was not the substrate site The results of kinetic and equilibrium analyses were consistent with a one-step inactivation mechanism

Combined therapy with ascorbic acid and calcitonin for the relief of bone pain in Paget's disease.

Abstract: In a short trial, 24 patients with Paget's disease of the bone were treated for 2 weeks with either ascorbic acid and calcitonin in combination, or with calcitonin alone. Pain relief was then assessed subjectively by the patients and classified as nil, some, or a marked reduction in pain. There were 11 patients in the group on combined therapy and 73% of them experienced pain relief, compared with 85% of the 13 patients in the group on calcitonin alone. In the patients who experienced pain relief, however, 62% of those on the ascorbic acid and calcitonin combination claimed a marked relief of pain compared with only 36% of the patients who responded to calcitonin alone. These results indicate that when calcitonin and ascorbic acid are used in combination they may provide an increase in the extent of pain relief, but do not increase the total proportion of patients actually obtaining relief. Urinary hydroxyproline excretion was reduced in the calcitonin treated group, but there was little change in the patients on the combined therapy.

Methods of determination of vitamin B 12

Abstract: A brief review on the methods for vitamin B12 determination is presented. The most appropriate utilization of each method based on its sensitivity, on the availability of the sample and on practical difficulties has been indicated. The methods have been divided into: a) physico-chemical methods, where the vitamin is identified spectrophotometrically; b) microbiological methods, where the vitamin is determined quantitatively by means of the growth of cobalamine dependent bacterial strains; c) kinetic methods, based on the different rate of conversion of the different cobalamines into dicyanocobalamine in the presence of an alkaline solution of cyanide; d) enzymatic methods, where activation of apodioldehydrase is used for the quantitative determination of adenosylcobalamine; e) chromatographic methods, where the separation of the cobalamines is obtained by chromatography and the quantitative determination is obtained by means of the growth of cobalamine-dependent bacterial strains (bioautography); f) radioisotopic methods where total cobalamines are determined quantitatively by measuring radioactivity after addition of (57Co)-CNCbl and a specific binder.

Effect of folate deficiency on the digestive and absorptive functions of intestinal epithelium in rats.

Abstract: The effect of folate deficiency, induced by a folate deficient diet, on the digestive and absorptive functions of the intestinal epithelium in rats has been investigated. The intestinal uptake of D-glucose and L-alanine and the brush border sucrase, lactase and alkaline phosphatase activities were considerably depressed in folate deficient animals compared to the control group. Kinetic studies with brush border sucrase in control and deficient animals revealed that reduced levels of the enzyme in folate deficiency are due to a reduced number of enzyme molecules. There was no change in activity of lactate-dehydrogenase in enterocytes of folate deficient rats.

Changes in bone histomorphometry and bone mineral during treatment of osteoporosis with 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 and calcium.

Abstract: Treatment with 1 alpha-OHD3 supplemented with calcium will possibly unveil symptoms of spinal pain (8/10) and increase physical activity (7/10) in patients suffering from osteoporosis. An increase in trabecular bone (8/10) as well as a decrease in bone resorption (9/10) accompanied by measured increased bone mineral (6/10) has been observed. Some patients did not show any response to this kind of treatment.

[Folate determination in serum for clinical use (author's transl)].

Abstract: Folate deficiency may be diagnosed in man by measuring serum folate activity using either a microbiological procedure with L. casei or a radioassay. The microbiological procedure tends to be time consuming and tedious, as compared with the radioassay; nevertheless it allows the accurate determination of each folate derivative that is normally present in serum. The comparison of serum folate levels obtained by the two methods shows an adequate correlation. However, it results from individual samples show that the values obtained by the radioassay are lower than the microbiological ones by 10-30%. The lower results in the radioisotope test may be caused by the presence of high levels of unsaturated endogenous protein binders in serum and/or by the difference in affinity of lactoglobulin - the binding protein used in the test - for folic acid (standard) and 5-methyl FH4 or 10-formil FH4 (serum).

Vitamins in metabolic diseases

Abstract: Several vitamins have been demonstrated to interfere with the pathogenesis of some metabolic diseases, mainly by three different mechanisms: 1) vitamin malabsorption, 2) errors in vitamin metabolism, 3) vitamin dependent syndromes. The latter is due to a deficiency of the apoenzyme whose coenzyme is the vitamin itself. In this case pharmacological, instead of nutritional doses of the vitamin may be needed. The vitamins which interfere with inborn metabolic errors are reviewed; for each vitamin the corresponding diseases which may be treated are indicated. The vitamins are: 1) thiamine (leucinosis); b) nicotinic acid (hyperlipoproteinemia); c) biotin (beta-methyl-crotonyl-glycinuria, propionic aciduria); d) pyridoxine (infantile convulsions, familial pyridoxine responsive anemia, homocystinuria, cystathioninuria, xanthurenicaciduria); e) cobalamins (congenital intrinsic factor deficiency, cobalamin malabsorption, transcobalamin deficiency, methylmalonic aciduria) f) folic acid (congenital folic acid malabsorption, formimino-transferase deficiency, methylenetetrahydrofolic reductase deficiency, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome); g) vitamin D (phosphatic diabetes, Prader's type rickets, Albright's syndrome; essential hereditary hypophosphatemia, etc). It is noteworthy that the vitamin therapy of these diseases, not only corrects the metabolic errors, but can also promote the healing or the amelioration of the psycho-physical growth, of central nervous system alterations and of other lesions.

Effect of tryptophan metabolites and metal ions on the purified kynureninase from rat liver.

Abstract: Kynureninase purified from rat liver was inhibited by 3-hydroxyanthranilate, or anthranilate, and slightly by 5-hydroxyanthranilate. However, tryptophan metabolites other than anthranilate and its derivatives, and also alpha-keto acids and alanine did not affect the activity of this enzyme. Kynureninase was also inhibited and inactivated by metal ions, especially Hg2+ and Zn2+. On the other hand Mg2+, Ca2+ and monovalent cations had no effect on the activity of the enzyme. The reductants, such as dithiothreitol, reduced glutathione and mercaptoethanol, prevented this inactivation. p-Chloromercurybenzoate (CMB) and N-ethylmaleimide inhibited the enzyme action. Kynureninase which had been completely inactivated by Hg2+ or CMB could be reactivated with excess dithiothreitol, indicating that enzyme inactivation can be attributed to the blocking of sulfhydryl groups. Five sulfhydryl groups per subunit of the enzyme molecule were detected using CMB and mercury orange.