Acceptance of sugar reduction in flavored yogurt.

To investigate what level of sugar reduction is accepted in flavored yogurt, we conducted a hedonic test focusing on the degree of liking of the products and on optimal sweetness and aroma levels. For both flavorings (strawberry and coffee), consumers preferred yogurt containing 10% added sugar. However, yogurt containing 7% added sugar was also acceptable. On the just-about-right scale, yogurt containing 10% sugar was more often described as too sweet compared with yogurt containing 7% sugar. On the other hand, the sweetness and aroma intensity for yogurt containing 5% sugar was judged as too low. A second test was conducted to determine the effect of flavoring concentration on the acceptance of yogurt containing 7% sugar. Yogurts containing the highest concentrations of flavoring (11% strawberry, 0.75% coffee) were less appreciated. Additionally, the largest percentage of consumers perceived these yogurts as "not sweet enough." These results indicate that consumers would accept flavored yogurts with 7% added sugar instead of 10%, but 5% sugar would be too low. Additionally, an increase in flavor concentration is undesirable for yogurt containing 7% added sugar.

Liver transplantation resolves the hyperdynamic circulation in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia with hepatic involvement.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatic involvement in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia is common but often asymptomatic. However, in some cases, the vascular lesions that involve the liver may lead to high-output cardiac failure and pulmonary hypertension that is predominant over hepatobiliary manifestations. Liver transplantation and treatment of these complications are described and discussed in this article. METHODS: Three patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and hepatic involvement received transplants. They had pulmonary hypertension and chronic right-sided heart failure caused by disseminated intrahepatic telangiectasias with shunts between the hepatic artery and hepatic veins or portal vein. Left-to-right intrahepatic shunt output was estimated to range between 51% and 57.5% of cardiac output. RESULTS: Hyperdynamic circulation disappeared after liver transplantation in all patients. Results of computed tomography and right-sided heart catheterization performed 6 months later were normal. Follow-up periods currently are 65, 53, and 29 months, and each patient continues to be asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS: This report suggests that liver transplantation can be considered as an alternative and successful curative treatment that may prevent the irreversible evolution of cardiopulmonary disease.

Late resolution of hepatopulmonary syndrome after liver transplantation.

We report a 38-year-old patient with hepatopulmonary syndrome related to posthepatitis C liver cirrhosis. After liver transplantation, hypoxemia initially worsened markedly, then resolved completely 14 months after transplantation. Liver transplantation may be a reliable treatment of hepatopulmonary syndrome, but clinicians should be aware that the correction of hypoxemia may be delayed and that transient deterioration is possible.

Effectiveness of early alpha-interferon therapy for hepatitis C virus infection recurrence after liver transplantation.

The results in this short series show that early and prolonged alpha-interferon therapy for hepatitis C virus recurrence after liver transplantation could bring some benefit to the infected liver grafts. The risk of graft rejection was clearly minimised by maintaining immunosuppression at normal levels.