Waist-to-hip ratio, weight gain, and dietary and serum selenium are associated with DNA content flow cytometry in Barrett's esophagus.

This cross-sectional study reports associations between anthropometric measures, serum antioxidant concentrations, and present diet with measures of elevated cell proliferation in 51 patients with Barrett's esophagus. Cell proliferation was assessed as fractions of cells in the S and G2 phases, measured in biopsies of Barrett's tissue and analyzed by DNA content flow cytometry. Elevated proportions in the S and G2 phases predict progression to adenocarcinoma. The percentage of cells in the S phase was positively associated with waist-to-hip ratio (r = 0.33, p < 0.05) and negatively associated with serum and dietary selenium (r = -0.34 and -0.32, respectively, p < 0.05). The percentage of cells in the G2 phase was positively associated with weight change from age 25 (r = 0.39, p < 0.01) and negatively associated with dietary selenium (r = -0.31, p < 0.05). Selenium from breads and grains was negatively associated with the percentage of cells in the S phase (r = -0.41, p < 0.01) and the percentage of cells in the G2 phase (r = -0.41, p < 0.01). These results suggest that increasing weight gain in adulthood, increasing waist-to-hip ratio, and decreasing dietary selenium intake and serum levels increase the risk of progression of Barrett's esophagus to adenocarcinoma.

Hyper- and hypo-responsiveness to dietary fat and cholesterol among inbred mice: searching for level and variability genes.

A concept proposed by Berg (Berg, K. 1989. Arteriosclerosis. 9: I-50-I-58) is that a combination of level and variability genes determine an individual's overall plasma lipid levels and atherosclerotic risk. Our goal was to determine which inbred mouse strains could be used to identify candidate level and variability genes controlling lipid levels and atherosclerosis susceptibility. Nine common inbred mouse strains were examined for responsiveness with respect to plasma lipoprotein and tissue lipid levels upon feeding diets rich in cholesterol and fat. Marked quantitative variations were observed in plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels among mice fed rodent chow and the high fat test diets. Mice of strains DBA/2 and AKR appeared to be hyporesponsive to diets containing high levels of fat and cholesterol as compared to rodent chow. In contrast, several strains were primarily hyperresponsive to either dietary fat or cholesterol, or both ingredients. Determination of cholesterol absorption for selected strains fed test diets suggested that decreased cholesterol absorption, in part, contributes to hyporesponsiveness as seen in DBA/2 mice. Levels of mRNA for cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase were estimated and shown to vary markedly among strains. An inverse correlation was seen among strains between cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA, and plasma and hepatic cholesterol levels for some diets. Thus, genes controlling cholesterol absorption and bile acid synthesis are candidates for further study as level and variability genes affecting plasma cholesterol levels. Overall, inbred mouse strains will prove useful for identifying genes controlling level and variability traits.

Parenteral nutrition in marrow transplant recipients after discharge from the hospital.

The use of parenteral nutrition (PN) following discharge from the hospital and its relation to patient characteristics were evaluated retrospectively in 246 marrow transplant recipients. PN was used in 65% of all patients. Patients with leukemia, regardless of age, sex, type of leukemia, remission status, irradiation schedule, laminar air flow isolation and donor sex match, required more frequent and more prolonged PN than patients with aplastic anemia. Children required PN most often for failure to thrive and adults for stomatitis. There was no significant difference in frequency or duration of PN among 24 patients with acute myelogenous leukemia randomized to receive cyclosporine or methotrexate therapy and among 28 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia randomized to interferon or no interferon. We conclude that outpatient PN presents a valuable addition to posttransplant supportive care. It shortens the duration of hospitalization both by earlier discharge of patients still requiring PN and by avoiding readmission to the hospital for the purpose of PN.

Effects of encoding and retrieval strategies on the recall of learning disabled and normal children.

Fifth- and sixth-grade learning disabled (LD) and normal boys and girls (N = 120) were presented 36 categorizable pictures in either a random or blocked (by categories) format. Recall was either free, cued, or constrained cued. LD children recalled fewer pictures than normal children except under the cued recall condition, a finding which suggests a failure on the part of LD children to employ retrieval strategies spontaneously. Clustering scores for LD and normal children did not differ. Therefore, the deficient recall of LD children did not appear to be associated with failure to use clustering as an encoding strategy. Both the encoding and retrieval conditions contributed significantly to the overall variance in amount recalled.

Acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of an assembly task by mentally retarded children.

Four TMR children were taught a three-piece assembly task. They were taught to verbalize the steps in the designated sequence before actually assembling the objects. Data were collected on their performance in both the training setting and in the regular classroom. Maintenance sessions were also recorded. Each child rapidly acquired the target behavior in the treatment setting and was successful in generalizing and maintaining the behavior in an extra-treatment setting.