[Malnutrition and dementia in the elderly in German nursing homes. Results of a prevalence survey from the years 2008 and 2009]. / Mangelernährung und Demenz bei Bewohnern in Einrichtungen der stationären Altenpflege in Deutschland : Ergebnisse von Prävalenzerhebungen aus den Jahren 2008 und 2009.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Dementia is one of most challenging problems for the care of older people in Germany. Although malnutrition in nursing homes is also associated with dementia, few systematic studies have described health care structures in German nursing homes for people with dementia and their individual nutritional status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine dementia-specific differences concerning the nutrition situation for the elderly in German nursing homes. METHODS: A cross-sectional multicenter study was performed using a standardized multilevel instrument (observation, questionnaire) developed at the University of Maastricht. Variables are indicators for malnutrition and its risks, quality indicators, care dependency and types of interventions. RESULTS: In the 2008 and 2009 surveys, 53% of 4,777 participants (77.9% women, 22.1% men, mean age 82 years) were identified (based on care documentation) as having dementia. More than one third of this population (n = 759, 85.1% women, 14.1% men, mean age 85 years) was probably malnourished; thus, the prevalence rate in the group of people with dementia was 10% higher compared to the group without dementia. People with dementia showed a higher risk in all relevant risk indicators (weight history, body mass index, and food intake) for malnutrition compared to those without dementia. Furthermore, people with dementia had higher care dependency rates and required more assistance for eating and drinking. CONCLUSION: The study results confirm the relationship between malnutrition and dementia. The use of standardized nutrition screening tools is not common practice in German nursing homes yet. However, the results suggest that with an increasing risk for malnutrition combined with dementia the proportion of nursing interventions also increases, which means that nurses must react adequately. Nevertheless, the interventions concerning malnutrition should be improved especially with respect to preventive measurements.

Associated factors of different nutrition indicators in German nursing home residents: comparative results of a multicenter cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is one of the most important care problems in the nursing home care sector. The subject of this analysis is the investigation of associative factors for different indicators of malnutrition of residents in nursing homes in Germany. METHODS: A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from 4,478 nursing home residents. Unintended weight loss or reduced intake and BMI ≤ 20 were analysed as indicators for malnutrition. The influence of age, sex, co-morbidities and care dependency were investigated in logistic regression models. RESULTS: Residents with a high care dependency had a higher risk of suffering weight loss/reduced intake. With regard to BMI ≤ 20, residents aged > 85 years, female gender, cancer, musculoskeletal disease as well as high care dependency had a higher risk. CONCLUSION: In both models, care dependency plays a major role in explaining malnutrition. Associative factors for malnutrition must be interpreted according to the indicators used to define malnutrition.

iNKT cell frequency in peripheral blood of Caucasian children and adolescent: the absolute iNKT cell count is stable from birth to adulthood.

Human invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) are a unique population of T cells that express a semi-invariantly rearranged T cell receptor (TCR) and are involved in a variety of immunoregulatory processes. We assessed the frequency of peripheral blood iNKT cells in 64 healthy Caucasian children from 7 months to 18 years of age and five cord blood samples by flow cytometry. iNKT cells were measured as CD3(+) cells co-expressing TCRVα24 and TCRVß11 and using the monoclonal antibody 6B11, which recognizes specifically their invariant TCR rearrangement. The absolute number of iNKT cells ranged from 86 to 10,499 (CD3(+) /TCRVα24(+) / TCRVß11(+)) and 233 to 11,167 (CD3(+) /6B11(+)) iNKT cells per millilitre of blood. This range is stable from birth to adulthood. The relative iNKT cell count was found to be 0.003-0.71% (CD3(+) /TCRVα24/TCRVß11) and 0.019-0.776% (CD3/6B11) of peripheral blood T cells and shows only a slight increase with age.

Highly skewed T-cell receptor V-beta chain repertoire in the bone marrow is associated with response to immunosuppressive drug therapy in children with very severe aplastic anemia.

One of the major obstacles of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) in children with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) comes from the often months-long unpredictability of bone-marrow (BM) recovery. In this prospective study in children with newly diagnosed very severe AA (n=10), who were enrolled in the therapy study SAA-BFM 94, we found a dramatically reduced diversity of both CD4+ and CD8+ BM cells, as scored by comprehensive V-beta chain T-cell receptor (TCR) analysis. Strongly skewed TCR V-beta pattern was highly predictive for good or at least partial treatment response (n=6, CD8+ complexity scoring median 35.5, range 24-73). In contrast, IST in patients with rather moderate reduction of TCR V-beta diversity (n=4, CD8+ complexity scoring median 109.5, range 82-124) always failed (P=0.0095). If confirmed in a larger series of patients, TCR V-beta repertoire in BM may help to assign children with SAA up-front either to IST or to allogeneic stem-cell transplantation.

[Prevalence of malnutrition, interventions and quality indicators in German nursing homes - first results of a nationwide pilot study]. / Prävalenz von Mangelernährung, Maßnahmen und Qualitätsindikatoren in deutschen Altenpflegeheimen - erste Ergebnisse einer landesweiten Pilotstudie.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The aims of this study were to test the transfer and feasibility of a Dutch annual survey on malnutrition into German nursing homes and to gather first data about the prevalence of malnutrition, treatment and quality indicators in German resident homes. METHODS: A cross-sectional multicentre study, using a standardised multilevel instrument (observation, questionnaire) developed in the University of Maastricht was applied. Variables are indicators for malnutrition and its risks, quality indicators, care dependency and treatment initiatives. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 32 nursing homes with 2,444 participating residents. 26% of the residents show indicators of malnutrition, a risk of malnutrition can be found in another 28%. Only one quarter of the nursing homes use a standardised nutritional screening instrument. Significantly more people with dementia have indicators of malnutrition. Most facilities provide a protocol or a guideline for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition. Also most are training their staff regularly in questions of malnutrition, half the institutions employ dieticians or nutritionists. Special treatment was initiated in half of all residents having indicators of malnutrition or showing a risk. CONCLUSION: The Dutch instrument is applicable in German nursing homes. Its utilisation shows that malnutrition is still a problem in German nursing homes. The standardised assessment of nutritional status is the exception; the interventions carried out should be improved.

Dissociation of endogenous components of auditory evoked potentials following carbachol microinjection into the cholinoceptive pontine inhibitory area.

Microinjections of the cholinergic agonist, carbachol, into an area ventromedial to the principal nucleus of the locus coeruleus produce pronounced suppression of postural somatomotor and sympathetic visceromotor functions, and profound unresponsiveness to external stimuli. In order to clarify whether this unresponsiveness is due exclusively to disruption of motor components of various behavioral responses, we examined changes in the endogenous components of auditory evoked potentials recorded in conjunction with a tone discrimination task. Concomitant with carbachol-induced behavioral unresponsiveness, the late positive component (LPC) at 250-350 ms disappeared, while the early positive component at 80-150 ms was enhanced. This result suggests that, after the onset of carbachol-induced behavioral unresponsiveness, external stimuli enter the brain but are not integrated in neural processes reflected in LPC which has previously been implicated in processes mediating orienting responses, selective attention, and/or cognitive evaluation.

Continuous recording of intracranial pressure in the awake, drug-free cat.

A simple and quantitatively reliable technique for continuous recording of intracranial pressure in awake, drug-free cats is presented. In addition, behavioral responses to acute elevation of intracranial pressure by slow intraventricular infusion in awake cats are described.