Effect of alanyl-glutamine on leucine and protein metabolism in irradiated rats.

The mechanism by which glutamine produces a favorable effect in the treatment of sepsis, injury, burns and abdominal irradiation is not completely understood. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of alanyl-glutamine (AlaGln) administration on the metabolism of proteins in irradiated rats. The rats were exposed to whole-body irradiation (8Gy) and then fed intragastrically with a mixture of glucose and amino acids either with AlaGln or without AlaGln. At 48 hours after irradiation, parameters of whole-body protein metabolism and DNA synthesis in intestinal mucosa were investigated using a primed, continuous infusion of [1-14C]leucine and [3H]thymidine. In addition, we evaluated the effect of irradiation and AlaGln on gut morphology, blood count and amino acid concentrations in blood plasma and skeletal muscle. Control rats were not irradiated but were given identical treatment. An increase in whole-body leucine oxidation, and insignificant changes in whole-body proteolysis and in protein synthesis were observed after irradiation. In irradiated rats we observed a decrease in muscle glutamine concentration, a decrease in protein synthesis in jejunum, colon and heart, and an increase in synthesis of proteins of blood plasma and spleen. Morphological examination and measurement of DNA synthesis failed to demonstrate any favorable effect of AlaGln supplementation on irradiated gut. However, administration of AlaGln resulted in a decrease in whole-body proteolysis and leucine oxidation which caused an increase in the fraction of leucine incorporated into the pool of body proteins. We conclude that the data obtained demonstrate that irradiation induces metabolic derangement associated with increased oxidation of essential branched-chain amino acids (valine, leucine and isoleucine) and that these disturbances can be ameliorated by administration of AlaGln.

Effect of alanyl-glutamine on leucine and protein metabolism in endotoxemic rats.

BACKGROUND: Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA; valine, leucine, and isoleucine) have a regulatory effect on protein metabolism and are the main donor for synthesis of alanine and glutamine in the skeletal muscle. This study was performed to investigate whether exogenous alanine or glutamine would affect leucine and protein metabolism in intact and endotoxemic rats. METHODS: Rats were injected with endotoxin of Salmonella enteritidis or saline. Thirty minutes later, the effects of endotoxemia and L-alanyl-L-glutamine (AG) on leucine and protein metabolism were evaluated using a primed constant infusion of [1-14C]leucine, endotoxin, and AG (200 mg/mL) solution or an infusion of [1-14C]leucine without endotoxin or AG. The specificity of the effect of exogenous alanine and glutamine was evaluated by a single infusion of alanine, glutamine, and glycine in a separate study. RESULTS: Endotoxin treatment induced more negative net protein balance caused mainly by an increase in whole-body proteolysis. Protein synthesis increased in kidneys, colon, and spleen, while a decrease was observed in skeletal muscle. The impressive effects of AG were the decrease in plasma branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) levels, decrease in leucine oxidized fraction, and improvement of protein balance associated with a decrease in whole-body proteolysis. Similar changes in leucine and protein metabolism were induced by infusion of alanine or glutamine but not by infusion of glycine. CONCLUSIONS: IV administration of alanine or glutamine improves protein balance and decreases leucine oxidized fraction in postabsorptive state and in endotoxemia. Decreased proteolysis is the main cause of decreased plasma BCAA levels after AG treatment.

Use and evaluation of the Czech version of the SF-36 questionnaire self-reported health status of medical students.

SF-36 questionnaires were completed by 231 medical students of the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové (1997, 1998). Results of measurements of eight health dimensions are presented here. Significantly lower values for bodily pain were found in the group of overweight students. Students with some reported cured diseases have significantly lower values for bodily pain and general health dimensions in comparison with students without any reported disease. In our sample a high rate of non-smokers (86.4% men and 93.6% women) and low rate of students with BMI > 25 (18.4% men and 3.8% women) were found. About 30% of respondents reported one or more cured diseases. In addition to the SF-36 questionnaire, students in 1998 completed also a special one-page form (3). The one-page form enabled direct estimates of the eight dimensions of the health status on a scale from 0% to 100%. This study compares the results of measurement of the health status for both instruments. Differences found here are compared and discussed with similar comparisons in an American study (3). Results in both studies are similar but not the same. An indirect measurement of health status with specific questions in the SF-36 is more objective than a direct measurement with the one-page form. Nevertheless, the SF-36 is limited in the number of possible answers for some dimensions (RP, RE). In that case, our results indicate that a percentage scale from the one-page form seems better. Additionally this study compares the results of the SF-36 in Czech medical students with comparable samples from other three European countries. On average, the health dimensions of SF-36 in Czech medical students achieved the worst values in comparison with samples from Switzerland, Germany and Great Britain.

Plasma amino acid levels after carbon tetrachloride induced acute liver damage. A dose-response and time-response study in rats.

The aims of the present study were to assess the changes of individual plasma amino acid levels in relation (1) to the severity of liver damage and (2) to the process of liver recovery. Acute liver injury was induced by an intragastric administration of CCl4 diluted in olive oil in doses of 2, 4 and/or 6 g of CCl4 per kg b.w. The control rats received olive oil only. Animals were sacrificed at 16, 24, 48 and 96 hours after treatment. The severity of liver injury was assessed by histological examination, by changes in ALT and AST in the blood plasma and by changes in liver weight. Statistical analysis was carried by ANOVA, p < 0.05 was considered significant. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used as a measure of the degree of linear relationship between variable and dose. In the period of the development of acute liver damage, i.e. at 16 and 24 hours after treatment, an increase in blood plasma amino acid levels and positive correlations with the dose of CCl4 were observed for most individual amino acids. The only exception was arginine which decreased in a dose dependent manner. At a phase of liver recovery, i.e. at 48 and 96 hours after CCl4 treatment, the concentrations of some individual amino acids decreased below the control values. The negative correlation with the dose of CCl4 occurred for taurine and isoleucine (at 48 hours) and taurine, threonine, valine, methionine, isoleucine and leucine (at 96 hours).

[Growth of the neurocranium]. / Rust neurokrania.

The present study demonstrates the results of evaluation of growth changes of the neurocranium in a set of 98 human skulls of immature individuals aged 6-18/20/ years from the XIII.-XVIII. century. Craniometric values were matched with the corresponding values measured on the skulls of the same age groups from the IX. century and IX.-XII. centuries.

Children pain during dental treatment.

This research work was done on the set of 69 children and adolescents 6-14 years old at the children's department of the dental clinic, university hospital in Hradec Králové. We found their expectancy of dental pain inadequate to reality: 67% children overestimated expected pain, 12% underestimated it. It does not see that children feelings prior to very performance would signalize in advance how much unpleasant or painful the dental procedure is going to be. We have not found any significant difference in either understanding the instruction or sticking to them, or general cooperation of children. The average time interval of dental procedures fluctuated between 18 and 40 minutes, children were not given any anesthetics (with exception of two cases of extractions) which could be one of the causes of distress. From all the children 35% experienced pain in the dental chair and were able to assess it by VAS and verbally characterize its quality. According to the view of children assessing the subjectively experienced pain intensity there exist two types of dental procedures: the first type being represented by painless but demanding patience procedures, the second group of painful treatment (making fillings or extractions). There were no statistical difference between girls and boys in their experiencing pain but there was some difference between girls and boys as went for an approach of health workers: these much more often tried to support girls.

Effect of supplementation of University of Wisconsin solution with glycoproteins from psychrophilic strains of yeast on hypothermic liver storage of rats.

Extracellular yeast glycoproteins (YG) produced by Rhodosporidium toruloides have been shown to increase the survival rate of different yeast species after storage in liquid nitrogen. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of YG on cold-stored rat livers. Water-soluble YG produced either by Phaffia rhodozyma (G3) or by Leucosporidium antarcticum (G4) were added to a modified University of Wisconsin solution (mUW) and used for cold storage (1 degree C) of isolated livers. The functional status of each liver was then assessed under conditions of 90-min normothermic reperfusion. The 46-h cold storage in mUW without G3 and G4 resulted in serious preservation-reperfusion injury of the liver. The addition of G3 to mUW for 46-h preservation of the liver resulted in significantly higher bile flow (4.32 +/- 0.35 vs 2.35 +/- 0.49 microliters/min/10 g at 75-90 min), higher portal blood flow (10.99 +/- 0.2 vs 4.78 +/- 1.07 ml/min/g at 90 min), lower liver weight after reperfusion (102.4 +/- 1.5 vs 116.7 +/- 6.6% of weight before preservation), and lower total tissue water after reperfusion (2.49 +/- 0.05 vs 2.92 +/- 0.13 g water/g dry weight). However, the activity of ALT, AST, and LDH in perfusate was not changed. The beneficial effect of G4 was less pronounced. The 24-h storage in mUW resulted in a significant increase of AST and LDH activity in perfusate; the addition of G3 to mUW for 24-h preservation did not affect these parameters. In conclusion, the addition of 0.05% G3 or G4 to mUW was only partially beneficial in improving rat liver preservation.

A Czech version of the inventory of learning processes.

A Czech version of the Schmeck's ILP inventory was administered to 1898 university and college students from Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. Factor analysis identified six factors which explained 73% of data variance. The Czech version is shorter as compared to the original and includes 49 items; its reliability is satisfactory. Our experience showed that ILP-CZ inventory could be used in senior classes of secondary (high) schools, and in both undergraduate and graduate studies. The inventory can be used both for screening at the beginning of university and/or college studies and counselling services offered during the study.

Proportional changes in the facial part of the skull of immature individuals.

The present study demonstrates the results of an evaluation of selected dimensions on the upper part of the splanchnocranium for a set of 98 skulls of immature individuals aged 6-18 (20) years, from the XIII.-XVIII. century. Prevailing growth changes related to age were determined on the basis of the craniometric measurements.

The value of bone marrow biopsy in the prognosis of hairy cell leukemia (HCL).

Histological findings in the bone marrow and their changes in the course of the disease and therapy were evaluated with respect to the prognosis in a group of 32 patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL). Two types of bone marrow infiltration by hairy cells (HCs), the diffuse type and the interstitial type, respectively were found. The diffuse type of infiltration and the minimal or absent residual hematopoiesis (RH) at presentation were found with statistical significance to be unfavorable prognostic findings when compared with interstitial infiltration and persisting RH (p < 0.01). Reticulin fibrosis is a characteristic finding in HCL and was found in all but 2 patients.

[Epidemiologic aspects of neoplasms and prognosis of their incidence in the Czech Republic]. / Epidemiologicke aspekty zhoubnych novotvaru a jejich incidence v Ceske Republice.

"In this article development of the incidence [of] and mortality [from] neoplasms in the Czech Republic during [the] forty year period (1951-1989) has been analyzed." The authors assess the influence of cigarette smoking, high alcohol consumption, and poor nutrition. Projections for the years 1995 and 2000 are included. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND RUS)

[Evaluation of the quality of a decision-making rule in discriminant analysis]. / Hodnocení kvality rozhodovacího pravidla v diskriminacní analýze.

Logistic regression (LR) and concept of the beta-confidence allocation rule were applied to predict the survival of dogs within the radiobiological experiment. The biochemical and haematological investigations in 86 dogs on the 2nd, 5th and 8th day post-external gamma-neutron irradiation (4.8-7.2 Gy) were used as explanatory variables for the prediction of more than 64 days survival. The influence of experimental conditions was monitored. Correctly predicted cases with LR models were proportioned as 81%, 85% and 93% on 2nd, 5th and 8th day respectively. Using beta-allocation rule, those correctly allocated with 0.50 confidence on the individual days were 75%, 81% and 85% of cases, that adds valuable information on the stability of the estimated classification rule. Method of beta-allocation also allows testing of whether individual observations are correctly assigned at a given significance level.

[Comparison of the quality of diagnostic approaches using the characteristic (ROC) curve test]. / Porovnání kvality diagnostických postupu pomocí charakteristické (ROC) krivky testu.

The method is described to compare the quality of two diagnostic approaches as based on comparing surfaces under the ROC test curve. Apart from small deviations, this method may be applied on independent samples and paired observations carried on identical individuals. Experimental data are issued from comparing two methods of prediction of the survival in dogs on the radiobiologic experiment.

[General medication in elderly people]. / Gesamtmedikation bei alten Menschen.

A total of 460 elderly people (252 residents of home for aged, 137 patients of geriatric clinic and 71 old persons living in one-man households) were analysed for a general and long-term medication. They were ranged as follows: 8.5% without medication, 6.5% received 1 drug, 85% had 2-10 different drugs daily. The consumption of 3-4 drugs daily was the most frequent. Both male and female subjects showed no difference in the average number of drugs prescribed per person and day. It was significantly higher in advanced than in early old age persons, in those with the decreased self-sufficiency, an in the institutionalized geriatric population.

[Comparison of stomatological findings in geriatric population of both the homes for the aged and one-man households]. / Vergleich der stomatologischen Befunde bei in Altersheimen und zu Hause lebenden alten Menschen.

In 187 residents of houses for the aged and 80 old persons living in one-man households in Hradec Králové, the authors proceeded by comparing the functional state of dentition, rate of pathological changes on the oral mucosa, level oral hygiene and regularity of stomatological care. Both groups showed no significant difference in numbers of male or female subjects, in age distribution nor in the educational level. Stomatological findings were more favorable in those living in their homes. This was probably caused by significantly higher numbers of self-sufficient persons than in the group of population living in the homes for aged.

[Incidence of dental caries and dental calculus in the front dentition]. / Výskyt zubního kazu a zubního kamene ve frontálním úseku chrupu.

The attempt had been made to determine interrelations in the incidence of dental caries and dental of frontal dentition in a total of 100 healthy individuals aged 21-40 years. Caries susceptibility was evaluated as averagely higher in the upper frontal denture and lower in lower one. Both supragingival and subgingival forms of dental calculus were of rare occurrence in upper portion, and they occurred massively in lower portion of denture. In the upper frontal portion, the significant correlation has been stated statistically between the caries susceptibility and the quantity of both forms of dental calculus. The higher was caries susceptibility, the lower was the amount of dental calculus. The lower frontal denture showed the significant differences as to the incidence of supragingival calculus at various degree of caries susceptibility in the same sense as in the upper one. No difference in unsatisfactory status of dental hygiene was determined in both portions observed. The periodontal disorder was more expressed with age and it showed no significant difference in both mentioned portions.

[Reasons for extraction of permanent teeth in a health community dental centre]. / Príciny extrakcí stálých zubu na obvodním stomatologickém pracovisti.

The authors assessed the diagnostic reasons for extraction of 1170 teeth in 565 patients treated in a health community dental centre. They recorded data on the patient's sex and age, on the extracted tooth and reason for extraction. They found that under the age of 30 years permanent teeth were extracter mostly on account of extensive damage by caries and its sequelae. On account of destruction of the periodontium permanent teeth were extracted in patients older than 31 years. At the age of 31-40 years on account of extensive caries and its complications significantly more teeth were extracted in women than in men, at the age above 71 years significantly more teeth were extracted on account of this diagnosis in men, as compared with women. On account of caries and its sequelae 75.7% upper premolars, 69.7% upper molars and 69.9% lower molars were extracted. On account of advanced destruction of the periodontium in the investigated group 80.5% lower incisors were extracted. In other groups of teeth this diagnosis was less frequent.

[Comparison of the characteristics of aged people in geriatric institutions in the Eastern Bohemia Region]. / Porovnání charakteristik starých lidí v zarízeních geriatrického typu ve východoceském kraji.

The representative trial has been performed in four types of East Bohemian geriatric institutions. Following totals were investigated: 193 patients of the long-term care institutions, 492 subjects residing in homes for aged, 96 in homes for pensionaries and 105 in homes with day-care. Various social and health characteristics have been scrutinized as follows: age, sex, residence, employment, reason for the admission, duration of stay, subjective complaints, vision and hear disorders, speech defects, denture status, incontinency, mobility, self-sufficiency, occurrence of chronical diseases, complexive evaluation of somatic and psychic conditions as well as the dependence on environs. Mentioned institutions are stated as varying in the majority of studied characteristics with relation to the pattern of persons admitted. The home for aged became a final institution from which the complexive care is awaited including its provision for elderly people, both patients and those self-unsufficient. The complexiveness of long-term institutional care results from the analysis of obtained data as well as its better and comprehended resolution in the future.

[Classification of multidimensional observations using linear discriminant functions]. / Klasifikace vícerozmerných pozorování pomocí lineární diskriminacní funkce.

In the present paper the role of linear discriminant analysis is delimitated all along with a range of problems which could be solved using this method in appropriate conditions. The analysis is given of possibilities on how to involve the decrease in number of variables in a model, and how to predict probability of incorrect classification. As an example of application, the prediction of dog survival is calculated in radiobiological experiment on the basis of biochemical and hematological values which were obtained by the 2nd day after the irradiation as well as an error probability was determined.

[Use of linear logistic regression in classification of observations]. / Pouzití krokové logistické regrese pro klasifikaci pozorování.

In the present paper the prediction method using the logistic regression is explained, and the range of problems for its use is deliminated. The example is presented of mentioned method's application on how to predict the dog survival in a radiolobiological experiment. The obtained results are compared with the prediction of outcome using the linear discriminant function. Both models are identic in a proportion of erroneously classified subjects. This method may be diagnostically supportive in ranging individuals to one of two groups delimitated previously.