Effects of clarithromycin, azithromycin and rifampicin on terbutaline-induced sweating in foals.

BACKGROUND: Erythromycin (ERY) induces anhidrosis in foals. Azithromycin (AZI) and clarithromycin (CLA), often combined with rifampicin (RIF), are commonly used to treat Rhodococcus equi infections, but effects on sweating have not been investigated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of AZI, CLA and RIF on sweat responses in normal foals. STUDY DESIGN: Each experiment was a blinded, duplicated, six foal × three period counterbalanced within subjects design (12 foals/experiment). METHODS: Antimicrobials were given orally for 5 days. In Experiment 1, ERY, AZI and CLA were given. In Experiment 2, ERY, RIF and ERY/RIF combination were used. Quantitative intradermal terbutaline sweat tests were performed daily for 3 days before and 1, 2, 5, 9, 24, and 39 days after treatment. Data were analysed by repeated measures analysis of variance procedures. Significance was P≤0.05. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, all macrolides suppressed sweating although CLA and AZI were less potent than ERY. In Experiment 2, significant sweat suppression occurred in foals given ERY with or without RIF, but there was no effect of RIF alone. Rifampicin reduced sweat suppression by ERY on Day 1 of treatment but not thereafter. MAIN LIMITATIONS: Because ERY blood concentrations were not measured, effects of RIF on ERY-induced anhidrosis could not definitively be ascribed to altered ERY bioavailability. CONCLUSIONS: All macrolides commonly used to treat R. equi pneumonia, i.e. ERY, AZI and CLA, induce anhidrosis in foals. The potent anti-sudorific effect of ERY is delayed, but not substantially affected by concurrent RIF administration.

The effect of body weight changes and endurance training on 24h substrate oxidation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of exercise training and dietary macronutrient composition on 24 h substrate oxidation in male, obese subjects. DESIGN: A 16 month exercise intervention study was executed, including a weight loss period with a very low energy diet (VLED) for 2 months at the start of the study. SUBJECTS: Twelve male, obese subjects (age 36.3+/-5.1 y; body weight 94.6+/-13.9 kg; body mass index, BMI 30.8+/-3.0 kg/m2) and in an additional study 15 lean, well-trained subjects (age 36.2+/-7.2 y; body weight 72.2+/-5.9 kg; BMI 22.3+/-1.7 kg/m2) participated. MEASUREMENTS: Substrate oxidation was measured during a standardized 36 h stay in the respiration chamber at the start of the study (0 months), and at 4, 10 and 16 months. In the respiration chamber subjects were randomly assigned to a high-fat (Hi.F) diet (60% of energy (En%) fat) or a reduced-fat (Red.F) diet (30 En% fat). The well-trained group was measured once in the respiration chamber for 36 h according to the same protocol. RESULTS: At any time point, independent of the diet consumed, the 24 h carbohydrate (CHO) balances in the chamber were mostly negative (means ranging from +31 to -98 g/d) and the fat balances mostly positive (means ranging from -26 to +38 g/d) for the obese a well as for the lean, well-trained group. For both diets an increased shortage of 70 g of CHO was found at 16 months compared with 4 months, and an increase in fat balance of 33 g during the same time period in the obese subjects, indicating that CHO oxidation had increased with 12 months endurance training. In the well-trained group the 24h CHO balance was even more negative for both types of diet (-103 to -185 g/d for the Red.F and Hi.F diet, respectively) under similar conditions compared with the trained obese group. CONCLUSION: The changes in 24 h substrate utilization in the obese, as well as in the well-trained group, suggest that endurance training increased the reliance on carbohydrate oxidation and therefore did not increase 24 fat oxidation.

Obesity, restrained eating and the cumulative intake curve.

The cumulative intake curves of 50 obese and 86 normal weight women during test meals were related to body mass index, age and the three factors of Stunkard & Messick's questionnaire (Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 29, 71-83), cognitive restraint, disinhibition and perceived hunger. Eating behaviour was monitored by a concealed camera and rate of intake via an electronic balance built into the table under the plate. The eating behaviour of each subject was very consistent over a series of three or six lunches of the same solid food consumed solitarily in a constant environment, with marked differences between subjects. Differences in body mass index over the whole sample were not related to the shape of the cumulative intake curve during test meals. In multiple regression analysis, the normal-weight subjects who scored high on disinhibition of restraint in response to emotions and external influences showed a more nearly constant rate of intake. In a separate multiple regression, the overweight subjects with the same characteristic showed a decelerating rate of intake. Susceptibility to hunger had no discernible relationship to the shape of the cumulative intake curve in either normal or overweight subjects. We conclude that the shape of the cumulative intake curve can be attributed more to cognitive than to biological factors.