The Journal of nutrition
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The Journal of nutrition · Apr 1995
The impaired growth induced by zinc deficiency in rats is associated with decreased expression of the hepatic insulin-like growth factor I and growth hormone receptor genes.
This study was conducted to determine whether dietary zinc status affects the expression of the insulin-like growth factor I and growth hormone receptor/growth hormone binding protein genes in the liver of growing rats. Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allotted to zinc-deficient, pair-fed or ad libitum-fed dietary treatments and fed diets containing no added zinc for 14 d. Zinc acetate was added to the deionized, distilled water (30 mg/L) provided to pair-fed and ad libitum-fed rats. ⋯ In contrast, the abundance of the 1.8-kb insulin-like growth factor I transcript was unaffected by zinc deficiency. The growth hormone receptor mRNA levels of zinc-deficient and pair-fed rats were 17 and 50% and their growth hormone binding protein mRNA levels were 46 and 65% those of the ad libitum-fed rats. In summary, zinc deficiency markedly decreases expression of the insulin-like growth factor I and growth hormone receptor genes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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The Journal of nutrition · Oct 1994
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialVitamin requirements for the treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia in humans.
We have previously shown that a modest vitamin supplement containing folic acid, vitamin B-12 and vitamin B-6 is effective in reducing elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations. The effect of supplementation of the individual vitamins on moderate hyperhomocysteinemia has now been investigated in a placebo-controlled study. One hundred men with hyperhomocysteinemia were randomly assigned to five groups and treated with a daily dose of placebo, folic acid (0.65 mg), vitamin B-12 (0.4 mg), vitamin B-6 (10 mg) or a combination of the three vitamins for 6 wk. ⋯ The daily pyridoxine dose did not reduce significantly plasma homocysteine concentrations. The combination of the three vitamins reduced circulating homocysteine concentrations by 49.8%, which was not significantly different (P = 0.48) from the reduction achieved by folate supplementation alone. Our results indicate that folate deficiency may be an important cause of hyperhomocysteinemia in the general population.
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The Journal of nutrition · May 1993
Comparative StudyTotal parenteral nutrition containing medium- vs. long-chain triglyceride emulsions elevates plasma cholesterol concentrations in rats.
Male Fischer 344 rats (235-246 g) were fed for 6-14 d by intravenous or intragastric infusion with total parenteral nutrition (TPN) solutions providing 40 or 65% of nonprotein energy as fat from long-chain triglyceride (LCT) or a 3:1 admixture of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) and LCT emulsions. In three separate experiments, plasma cholesterol concentrations were significantly greater (24-32%) with intravenous infusion of TPN solutions containing MCT-LCT rather than LCT. Plasma cholesterol concentrations in rats were not significantly different with intragastric infusion of TPN solutions containing MCT-LCT rather than LCT. ⋯ The concentration of individual hepatic acyl-CoA esters reflected the fatty acid profiles of the lipid emulsions infused. Total hepatic acyl-CoA concentrations suggested differences in utilization of acyl-CoA esters with intravenous infusion of MCT-LCT rather than LCT and were consistent with rapid oxidation of MCT. These data demonstrate that MCT-LCT elevates plasma cholesterol concentrations compared with LCT emulsions with intravenous, but not with intragastric, infusion of TPN solutions in rats.