[Application of GIQLI questionnaire to two groups of healthy yogurt consumers]. / Aplicación del Cuestionario GIQLI a dos colectivos de sanos consumidores de yogur.

We present the outcomes of GIQLI Questionnaire (Gastrointestinal Quality of Life) application to three groups of healthy individuals: the first one, consumers of pasteurized yogurt; the second one, consumers of non-pasteurized yogurt; and the third one, a comparison control group of non-consumers. The results from the three groups are in agreement with other validation studies of the Questionnaire, not finding significant differences between groups.

Health status measurement in Toxic Oil Syndrome.

Toxic Oil Syndrome (TOS) is a previously unreported condition which affected more than 20,000 people in Spain in 1981 and whose natural history is unknown. In 1993-94, a stratified random sample of 1400 survivors was drawn to measure their health status through clinical examination and their self-perception of well-being through the Nottingham Health Profile Questionnaire (NHPQ). Two-thirds of the sample population responded; indirect estimates suggest that selection bias was limited. Clear and intermediate signs of neuropathy were found in one-fifth and one-half of the patients, respectively. One-fourth and one-sixth showed some degree of scleroderma and contractures. All conditions were more frequent in women than in men and in age >50 than in younger ages. Although no concurrent control group was included in the study, prevalences of these conditions are well above expectations and are largely attributable to TOS. NHPQ scores increased with age in both sexes up to age 50, after which they reached a plateau (with values around 48 in men and 62 in women). Scores were associated to the occurrence of peripheral neurological changes, contractures, and scleroderma-like conditions. A multivariate analysis indicated age, sex, and severity of neurological conditions as major determinants of the NHPQ scores. This overall pattern of findings is peculiar to TOS and differs from the typical post-disaster nonspecific syndrome.

[Factors that determine intensity of response to treatment with tiludronate in Paget's disease]. / Factores que determinan la intensidad de la respuesta al tratamiento con tiludronato en la enfermedad de Paget.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of both clinical and pharmacokinetic factors as determinants of response to tiludronate in Paget's bone disease (PBD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty six PBD patients with serum alkaline phosphatase (SAP) levels at least twice the normal upper limit were enrolled. The sample included 17 (65%) men and 9 (35%) women whose mean age (SD) was 60.3 (9.8) (range: 38-76). Each patient received 400 mg/day of tiludronate, per os, for 90 (6) days. The SAP variations were considered as the main parameter of response. Plasma concentrations of tiludronate were assayed using the HPLC method with UV detection; the maximum and minimum (Cmin) concentration, as well as the area under a concentration-time curve were calculated. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess the influence on tiludronate effect. RESULTS: Mean (SD) percent reduction of SAP from the initial values ranged from 30.5 (13.9) at the end of the first month of drug intake to a nadir of 76.1 (8.8) achieved 6 months after the treatment was stopped. Serum SAP activity fell to normal range in 7 (27%) patients at the end of the therapy period, in 17 (65%) three months later, and in 18 (69%) one year thereafter. One year after the treatment ended only one patient had evidence of relapse. Final multivariate regression model showed that the percent reduction of SAP increases by 11.9 percent points per Cmin tiludronate unit and by 0.006 points per basal SAP unit, and decreases by 0.52 per year of age. Out of 13 patients with bone pain, 9 (69%) experienced relief within the second and third months of treatment. No clinical or laboratory severe side effects were seen and only five patients (19%) had mild adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that tiludronate leads to a marked suppression of PDB clinical and biochemical activity. Cmin of tiludronate in plasma is the best predictor of biochemical response.

Factors associated with pathogenicity of oils related to the toxic oil syndrome epidemic in Spain.

The toxic oil syndrome (TOS), which affected over 20,000 persons in Spain in 1981, has been linked to the consumption of aniline-denatured rapeseed oil, but the precise etiologic agent is still unknown. We attempted to validate the use of high concentrations of oleyl anilide as a marker for oils that contain (or contained) the causal agent. We compared the chemical compositions of oils obtained from ill (N = 59) and unaffected (N = 70) families in 1981. Case oils had higher concentrations of fatty acids and sterols in which rapeseed oil is particularly rich. In addition, case oils had more frequent and extensive contamination with oleyl anilide and other fatty acid anilides. We observed a dose-response effect; risk increased sharply with increasing concentrations of oleyl anilide, and no control oil had more than about 825 micrograms per liter of that compound. We conclude that high concentrations of oleyl anilide specifically mark oils that contain (or used to contain) the TOS etiologic agent.

Aplicación del Cuestionario GIQLI a dos colectivos de sanos consumidores de yogur / Application of GIQLI questionnaire to two groups of healthy yogurt consumers

Se presentan los resultados de la aplicación del Cuestionario GIQLI sobre Calidad de Vida Gastrointestinal a tres colectivos de sujetos sanos: uno consumidor de yogur pasteurizado, otro de yogur sin pasteurizar, en comparación con un tercer grupo control de no consumidores. Las cifras de los tres colectivos son congruentes con otros estudios de validación del Cuestionario sin encontrar diferencias valorables entre los tres grupos (AU)

We present the outcomes of GIQLI Questionnaire (Gastrointestinal Quality of Life) application to three groups of healthy individuals: the first one, consumers of pasteurized yogurt; the second one, consumers of non-pasteurized yogurt; and the third one, a comparison control group of non-consumers. The results from the three groups are in agreement with other validation studies of the Questionnaire, not finding significant differences between groups (AU)