Validity and reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire focused on the Mediterranean diet for the Quebec population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Validated dietary assessment methods specific to population and food habits are needed to conduct randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the aim of our study was to assess the reproducibility and the relative validity of a French language semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) focused on the Mediterranean diet within the population of Quebec. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty-three participants aged 19-86 years with and without coronary heart disease were recruited, and randomized in 3 groups in a crossover design where the sequence of administration of two FFQs and a dietary record (DR) differed in each group. The FFQ includes 157 food items and was designed to measure food intake over one month. It was administered twice 3-5 weeks apart to assess reproducibility and was compared to a 12-day DR to assess validity. For reproducibility (n = 47), intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for energy and 33 nutrients ranged from 0.38 to 0.91 (mean 0.63). For validity, the Pearson's correlation coefficients between the DR and the FFQ pre-DR ranged from 0.26 to 0.84 (mean 0.55) and ICCs ranged from 0.25 to 0.84 (mean 0.54). As for the DR and the FFQ post-DR, the Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.36 to 0.83 (mean 0.55) and the ICCs ranged from 0.36 to 0.83 (mean 0.53). CONCLUSION: This FFQ demonstrates good reproducibility and validity for most key nutrients of the Mediterranean diet for the Quebec population.

Clinical experience with saralasin infusion in hypertensive patients.

Renal arteriography gives a reliable anatomic delineation of the renal vasculature. However, the presence of renal arterial disease does not determine the physiologic significance of the lesion. The intravenous infusion of saralasin, a specific angiotensin II antagonist, has been investigated as a method for identifying patients with hypertension dependent upon excessive angiotensin II activity. Correlations between the blood pressure response to saralasin infusion, peripheral and differential renal vein plasma renin levels and renal angiography have been obtained in 35 hypertensive patients. The results suggest that a hypotensive response to saralasin infusion provides an adjunct to renin determinations for recognizing angiotensinogenic renovascular hypertension. However, false negative responses to saralasin occur. The reasons for these negative responses need to be determined before saralasin infusion can be employed as the sole screening test for renovascular hypertension.

The role of platelets in blood-aqueous barrier breakdown induced by anterior chamber paracentesis in the rabbit.

Anterior chamber paracentesis of the rabbit eye causes disruption of the blood-aqueous barrier, which is characterized by a rapid increase in the albumin and total protein content of the aqueous humor. Prostaglandins appear to be implicated as major mediators in this reaction, since a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, very efficiently prevents protein leakage. When paracentesis was performed in platelet-depleted rabbits (either by transfusion or by treatment with an antiplatelet plasma), the protein content in the aqueous humor did not rise to values observed in normal animals. These data suggest that platelets play some role in the response to paracentesis, a fact in accordance with histological results. In contrast to cyclooxygenase inhibitors, dexamethasone inhibits neither the blood-aqueous barrier breakdown nor prostanoid release from platelets. These data also indirectly indicate the possible role of platelets in triggering the paracentesis reaction in the rabbit.

[Study of fetal heart rate in deliveries complicated by fetal acidosis]. / Etude de la fréquence cardiaque foetale dans les accouchements compliqués d'acidose foetale

A study has been carried out on the parameters of the graph of the fetal heart rate (the basal rate and dips) in 44 cases of acute fetal distress with a pH lower than 7.2 in the blood and in 30 normal deliveries. The statistical analysis confirms that there is a significant rise in the number of heart rate abnormalities such as persistent bradycardia or persistent tachycardia and with dips during deliveries with fetal acidosis. The frequency of these abnormalities increases with the degree of acidosis. Sometimes the abnormalities in the fetal heart rate precede the appearance of the acidosis. All the same the discovery of these abnormalities does not by itself make a precise diagnosis of fetal distress because we do find these abnormalities in a certain number of cases even in normal deliveries. Only measuring fetal pH at a definite time can establish the diagnosis of fetal distress and the severity of the condition.

Oxidative stress and lens opacity: an overall approach to screening anticataractous drugs.

Since oxidative stress is a well substantiated hypothesis of cataract pathogenesis, screening was performed in acellular systems in order to select scavengers of reactive oxygen species; the selected compounds are at present being tested in lens culture and in animal models.

2-(2-hydroxy-4-methylphenyl)aminothiazole hydrochloride as a dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase/lipoxygenase and a free radical scavenger. 1st communication: in vitro studies.

2-(2-Hydroxy-4-methylphenyl)aminothiazole hydrochloride (CBS-113 A) inhibits cyclooxygenase in platelets and 5-lipoxygenase in leukocytes at micromolar concentrations. On the other hand the drug is a potent scavenger of oxygen-derived free radicals. Moreover and possibly consequently, CBS-113 A inhibits the oxygen burst of stimulated leukocytes and the release of an interleukin 1-like compound from vascular endothelial cells in culture. These properties could lead to another activity of therapeutic interest in comparison with anti-inflammatory drugs already available.

2-(2-hydroxy-4-methylphenyl)aminothiazole hydrochloride as a dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase/lipoxygenase and a free radical scavenger. 2nd communication: anti-inflammatory activity.

The paper describes the topical anti-inflammatory activity of 2-(2-hydroxy-4-methylphenyl)aminothiazole hydrochloride (CBS-113 A), a dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase/lipoxygenase and a potent free radical scavenger. When applied in eye drops (0.01 to 0.1% according to the model used), the drug inhibited inflammation in experimental conjunctivitis and uveitis induced by various procedures (e.g. paracentesis, endotoxin, S-antigen, albumin, Fe2+). The compound also inhibited leukocyte infiltration and histamine release when administered locally in pleural cavity with carrageenan. CBS-113 A could decrease plasma leakage induced by arachidonic acid or platelet activating factor in skin and airway, respectively. However, it was devoid of any activity when administered by systemic route. The compound appears as a potentially useful anti-inflammatory drug, in particular in ophthalmology and as an alternative to glucocorticoids, since it does not present the side effects of these steroids (e.g. worsening of herpetic keratitis).