Months Of Diet Research Articles

Lecithin: Cholesterol acyl transfer rate and high density lipoproteins in plasma during dietary and clofibrate treatment of hypertriglyceridemic subjects

Effects of lipid-lowering treatment on the lecithin: cholesterol acyl transfer (LCAT) rate and the concentrations of lipids and high density lipoproteins (HDL) lipids in plasma were determined in hypertriglyceridemic subjects. Thirty-nine subjects were studied before and after two months on a weight reducing diet. Twenty subjects were studied also one month after the addition of clofibrate to the dietary regimen. After two months on the diet the mean body weight had decreased by 4.5%. There were reductions in the mean plasma concentrations of triglycerides (TG) by 18% and in total cholesterol (TC), unesterified cholesterol (UC) and phospholipids (PL) by 12%. The mean HDL-TC concentrations increased by 10%, while the mean HDL-PL concentration was unchanged. During two months of diet the mean molar LCAT rate decreased by 17% and the mean fractional LCAT rate was reduced by 6%. One month after the addition of clofibrate there were reductions in the mean plasma concentrations of TG by 43% and of TC, UC and PL by 15%. The mean HDL-TC concentration increased by 22%, while the mean HDL-PL concentration was enhanced by 9%. The mean molar LCAT rate decreased by 10%, based on reductions in the type IV subjects with high molar LCAT rates before the clofibrate treatment. The mean fractional LCAT rate was not changed in the type IV subjects but increased in the type IIb and type III subjects during clofibrate therapy. The changes in the molar LCAT rate correlated positively with the changes in the body mass after two months on the diet and with the changes in the concentrations of TG, UC and PL in plasma obtained with both kinds of treatment. The changes in the fractional LCAT rate were negatively correlated with the changes of low density lipoprotein-TC concentrations during both kinds of treatment.

Reduction of duration and severity of megimide seizures in rats on a folic acid deficient diet.

Folic acid deficient diet reduces the duration and severity of intravenous megimide seizures in the rat after 6 months of diet. Plasma and serum folate levels are strongly reduced after that period. The difference between Lactobacillus casei and Streptococcus faecalis activity in brain show a slight, but not significant, decrease after 12 months of diet.

Metabolic inductions in the rat after an intraperitoneal injection of fructose and glucose, according to the nature of the dietary carbohydrate. II. Modifications after seven months of diet.

Wistar CF male rats, 120-125 g body wt., were fed during 7 months a diet containing either 72% fructose, or 72% glucose, or 72% starch. They were killed after a 18-hour fast, and either at 0 or at 30 min after an i.p. injection of 2.5 g fructose + 2.5 g glucose/kg body wt. A number of substrates and cofactors were enzymatically assayed in their liver and also in their heart, to study their metabolic state. The fructose fed rats had the worst growth, but the heaviest liver, with a high nitrogen contents. Their cholesterol blood level was very significantly higher than that of the 2 other groups. The profile of the liver concentrations after fasting and their response after the rats had received fructose + glucose, showed that the fructose-fed animals were the best adapted to rapid metabolizing of the carbohydrate: they had the largest increase in a-glycerophosphate and malate and the lowest decrease in total adenine mononucleotide concentration.

The Effect of Dietary Restriction of B-Complex Vitamins and Protein on the Excretion of Creatinine by Human Subjects: Four Figures

Seven men, ages 22 to 27 years, were subjected to a uniform regimen of physical exercises and tests over a period of 50 weeks, during which the variations of creatinine excretion, body weight, and physical performance were studied. The diets were as follows: a weighed, creatinine-containing normal diet I, containing 3170 cal., 70 gm protein and adequate quantities of minerals and vitamins, during 11 weeks; a weighed, essentially creatinine-free diet II, containing 3300 cal., 45 gm protein, greatly restricted quantities of B-complex vitamins, but otherwise adequate, over a period of 36 weeks — divided into equal periods of restriction and subsequent supplementations of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, pteroylglutamic acid, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid and 40 gm casein; approximately equal quantities of a rehabilitation diet III, containing 250 to 350 gm of meat, during the last 3 weeks. After the fifth week of diet II, all supplements were given to 2 subjects who thus served as “controls” for a period of 7 months. Creatinine was determined in composite samples collected over 4 days each week. The creatinine excretion varied somewhat from week to week, often in a rhythmic manner, independent of the small changes of body weight in each subject. The maximum variations of the creatinine coefficient were of the order of ± 5% of each mean from all subjects during 9 weeks of diet I, and ± 3% of the mean from each of the control subjects during the first 9 weeks of diet II. These variations were minimized when the monthly averages were compared; the creatinine excretion then paralleled the rise or fall of body weight. During the first 5 weeks of diet II, the average coefficients of 6 subjects, weighting 62.0 to 77.0 kg, agreed within -1.5 to + 1.6 mg, or -6.1 to + 6.5% of the mean of 24.7 mg per kilogram per day; in the case of the seventh subject, who was fat and weighed 83.1 kg, the average coefficient was 22.2 mg. The average coefficients were in the same relative order of subjects with both diets I and II. Administration of diet II to 5 subjects resulted in gradually decreasing average creatinine coefficients and physical performance which were paralleled to some extent by development of early clinical signs and symptoms of dietary deficiency. In 2 subjects, the administration of thiamine did not increase the average creatinine excretion or the coefficient within 2 months. Complete supplementation did not immediately increase the average creatinine excretion or the coefficient, nor did it rapidly improve the physical performance. In 2 subjects, the creatinine excretion and the coefficient were not raised to that of diet I when meat, milk and 1 egg were given in addition to all supplements (a total of about 110 gm protein) during the last 2 months of diet II. The effect of the previous dietary regimen was still evident during the period of the rehabilitation diet III, both by comparison of the results with those from the control subjects and by comparison of the individual data at the end of diet period II with those of diet period I. Therefore, dietary restrictions with respect to protein and B-complex vitamins resulting in the development of deficiency symptoms may be reflected in metabolic changes associated with the formation and excretion of creatinine. These changes may persist, and are not rapidly abolished during subsequent supplementation.