Moderate Amounts Of Protein Research Articles

Lithium orotate in the treatment of alcoholism and related conditions

The subjects were 42 alcoholic patients (33 males and 9 females) who were treated with lithium orotate during an alcohol rehabilitation program in a private clinical setting for at least six months. They derive from a total number of 105 patients who received this treatment initially, while the remainder discontinued the treatment within six months. The data were collected from a private practice record and the follow-up varied between six months and 10 years. The 42 patients studied displayed a multitude of complaints in addition to chronic alcoholism. These included liver dysfunction, seizure disorders, headaches, hyperthyroidism, affective disorders, Meniere's syndrome, liver and lung cancers. Thirty-six of the 42 patients studied had been hospitalized at least once for the management of their alcoholism. Lithium orotate was given, 150 mg daily, with a diet low in simple carbohydrates and containing moderate amounts of protein and fat. In addition, calcium orotate (for hepatic involvement), magnesium orotate, bromelaine, and essential phospholipids (for cardiac problems), and supportive measures were instituted, if required. Lithium orotate proved useful as the main pharmacologic agent for the treatment of alcoholism. Ten of the patients had no relapse for over three and up to 10 years, 13 patients remained without relapse for 1 to 3 years, and the remaining 12 had relapses between 6 to 12 months. Lithium orotate therapy was safe and the adverse side effects noted were minor, i.e., eight patients developed muscle weakness, loss of appetite or mild apathy. For these patients, the symptoms subsided when the daily dose was given 4 to 5 times weekly. Further advantages for this lithium therapy were noted, i.e., improved liver and cardiovascular functions, reduction (and in some cases abolishment) of migraine headaches, alleviation of the Meniere's symptoms, and amelioration of seizures. There were increases in the white blood cell counts in the patient with chemotherapy-induced leukopenia and reduction of edema and ascites in patients with liver cirrhosis, as well as the pleural effusions and lymph node swelling in the patient with lung cancer. No manic episodes occurred during lithium orotate treatment in three patients with this affective disorder. The hyperthyroid condition was also improved in four patients.

Treatment of kwashiorkor with moderate amounts of protein

Summary 1. One hundred and thirty-one children admitted for the treatment of kwashiorkor and without serious complicating illness were divided, on clinical grounds, as having “severe”, “moderate”, or “slight” cases. 2. The criteria for the division are stated. Weight for age could not be used. 3. The children were given a milk diet or one of two kinds of peanut biscuit. All the diets provided 4 to 5.5 Gm. protein per kilogram of body weight per day. 4. The milk diet and one of the biscuit diets, which included 15 per cent dried skim milk added uncooked to the powdered biscuit, gave similar results. The other biscuit, which included 8 per cent of the milk cooked with the other ingredients, was less satisfactory. 5. Those children with “severe” cases took longer to lose edema (as shown by weight loss) than those with “moderate” or “slight” cases. No other effect of severity could be distinguished. 6. The weight gains that followed the loss of edema could not be correlated with the intake of protein. The gains of the children given the unsatisfactory biscuit were small. The gains of the children given the other diets were better but were less than those of another group who were given a high-protein milk diet. 7. The chief points discussed were: (a) severe diarrhea as a cause of the excessive weight losses found to accompany kwashiorkor in Mexico and elsewhere, (b) serum chemical determinations as an aid to the diagnosis of severity, and (c) the value of therapeutic diets and the magnitude and significance of individual variation in the responses to them.

Jaundice: Surgical considerations

It was pointed out that in so-called surgical (obstructive) jaundice, a history of biliary colic is usually obtained and is the main factor pointing to a surgical condition. A history of chills and fever and light-colored stools may also be obtained. Tenderness and rigidity of the right upper abdominal wall may or may not be present. However, no hard and fast rule, based on either history or physical examination can be made to select those cases in which operation is indicated. Because of this difficulty laboratory tests based on disturbances of normal functions of the liver are often indicated and helpful in making a diagnosis. These tests of function fall into several main groups: (1) Secretion of bile: bile and urobilinogen in urine, icteric index of blood, Van den Bergh tests of blood; (2) storage of carbohydrate: glucose or galactose tolerance tests; (3) excretion or secretion of enzymes: phosphatase in blood; (4) detoxifying: formation of hippuric acid from sodium benzoate; (5) abnormal globulin formation: cephalin-cholesterol test; (6) dye excretion: bromsulfalein retention; and (7) storage of vitamin K and protbrombin formation: prothrombin level of the blood. Even in the most probable acute surgical cases, a preliminary period of four to six hours for parenteral administration of salt, water and glucose is necessary. Glucose replenishes the glycogen reserves of the liver and protects its cells. Vitamin κ is also given to control the bleeding tendency in jaundice. Moderate amounts of protein in the form of plasma or amino acids help liver regeneration. In those patients whose clinical picture is less acute, conservative management with salt, water, glucose, vitamin κ and protein may result in the clearing up of jaundice which was due to industrial or other poisons or cirrhosis. Laboratory tests may not be able to differentiate obstruction, cirrhosis, stone in the common duct, liver abscess, metastases to the liver, or carcinoma of the common duct or head of the pancreas. Therefore, persistent signs of obstruction such as jaundice, light-colored stools, bile in the urine and a positive direct Van den Bergh test will require eventual surgical exploration. Even when the decision to operate is difficult to make, preliminary therapy as outlined above builds up the general condition of the patient, while at the same time a few key laboratory tests can be carried out. It is emphasized that obstruction of the biliary tract often co-exists with damage to the liver cells so that laboratory tests may not be clear-cut. It is in these cases that judgment and experience decide the course to be taken.

EXPERIMENTAL RENAL INSUFFICIENCY PRODUCED BY PARTIAL NEPHRECTOMY

Chanutin and Ferris1reduced renal tissue in the rat to a minimum compatible with life and demonstrated a progressive development of polyuria, albuminuria, retention of nitrogen, renal hypertrophy, hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy. The animals were fed a stock diet containing a moderate amount of protein. Wood and Ethridge2reported pathologic changes in the kidney stumps of partially nephrectomized rats. They noted changes in the glomeruli, tubules, small arteries and arterioles. The arterial lesions were similar to those noted in human arteriosclerosis. In the physiologic and pathologic changes that are seen after subtotal nephrectomy an excellent opportunity is offered for studying the influence of various combinations of foodstuffs and metabolites on the damaged kidney. The present study was undertaken to ascertain the effect of feeding diets containing whole liver, liver protein and a concentrated aqueous extract of liver to animals with acute and potential renal insufficiency. The degree of

Loss of Immune Substances from the Body

Summary The paper reported a study of the elimination of “natural” diphtheria antitoxin in human urine. The urines were divided into three classes: those containing no detectable serum protein as obtained from persons whose renal permeability to protein was normal; those containing moderate amounts of protein as obtained from persons (cardiac failure and orthostatic albuminuria) of abnormal renal permeability but with no lesions in the lower urinary tract; those obtained from persons with lesions in the lower urinary tract that might have afforded opportunity for whole serum to leak into the urine without filtration through the kidney. When derived from persons with normal kidney permeability, detectable amounts of antitoxin (0.002 to 0.004 unit per 1.0 cc.) were found only in the urines voided by a man possessing an exceptionally high (15.0 units) concentration in his blood stream. When the urines contained moderate amounts of serum protein, antitoxin was contained if the donor of the urine possessed only moderately high amounts in his blood. The occurrence of antitoxin in urine containing no detectable serum protein is discussed. Data on the daily output of antitoxin showed that elimination by way of the urine can account for only a small portion of the drop frequently observed in the antitoxin content of the blood. However, none of the pathological urines examined contained more than moderate amounts of albumin, and it is suggested that in cases of acute nephrosis or other clinical conditions in which large amounts of serum protein are eliminated, urinary elimination of antitoxin might be sufficient to cause a significant loss in the immunity reserves of the body.

The influence of feeding upon acidosis in the phlorhizinized dog

Experiments have been reported by Geelmuyden1 and by Baer2 in which they fed protein to dogs under the influence of phlorhizin, and noted a marked drop in the quantity of acetone bodies eliminated in the urine. Lusk3 has called attention to the fact that the animals used by Geelmuyden and by Baer in their experiments were for the most part, only partially phlorhizinized, and that their results might be explained on the assumption that the protein ingested gave rise to dextrose which was burned in the organism.In five experiments which we have carried out upon dogs phlorhizinized according to the method of Coolen, we have found a drop of from fifty to ninety per cent, in the quantity of acetone and of oxybutyric acid eliminated, following the ingestion of moderate amounts of protein. A determination of the glucose to nitrogen ratio in the urine showed that the fall in acidosis cannot be accounted for by ascribing it to sugar burned in the organism.Since acidosis in the phlorhizinized dog can be practically...