PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B M Nicol

Publications and source records attributed to B M Nicol.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Sialic acid changes in Dalton's lymphoma-bearing mice after cyclophosphamide and cisplatin treatment.

Sialic acid changes in Dalton's lymphoma cells and other tissues of 10-12-week-old Swiss albino mice were investigated in relation to tumour growth in vivo and following cyclophosphamide (ip, 200 mg/kg body weight) or cisplatin (ip, 8 mg/kg body weight) treatment. Three to four animals of both sexes were used in each experimental group. The sialic acid level of tumour cells (0.88 micromol/g) increased with tumour progression (1.44-1.59 micromol/g; P < or =0.05) in mice. Sialic acid concentration in other tissues (liver, kidney, testes and brain) also increased (approximately 40, 10, 30 and 58%, respectively) in the tumour-bearing hosts as compared with that in the respective tissues of normal mice. In vivo cyclophosphamide or cisplatin treatment resulted in an overall decrease of sialic acid contents in the tissues. Cyclophosphamide was more efficient in lowering tissue sialic acid than cisplatin (P < or =0.01, ANOVA). It is suggested that sialic acid residues could be an important factor contributing to the manifestation of malignant properties in cancer cells in general and Dalton's lymphoma cells in particular. A significant decrease in the sialic acid content of Dalton's lymphoma cells after cisplatin or cyclophosphamide treatment may bring about specific changes in tumour cells which could be associated with tumour regression.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Endogenous nitrogen excretion and utilization of dietary protein.

1. The endogenous nitrogen losses of men of different ethnic, ecological and socio-economic backgrounds are similar when calculated per unit body-weight or per unit basal energy consumption. The hypothesis that endogenous N losses, adjusted upwards by a factor of 0-30 to equate them with N equilibrium, can be used to derive man's physiological requirements for proteins of high quality, e.g. those of egg and milk, was studied. 2. Men living in Nigeria, accustomed to eat diets which provided mixtures of protein only slightly higher than the 'safe level of intake' proposed by the Joint FAO/WHO ad hoc Expert Committee on Energy and Protein Requirements (FAO/WHO, 1973), were found to use absorbed N more efficiently than University of California students who habitually consume diets which supply a great excess of protein over that 'safe level'. 3. The greater protein-sparing effect of carbohydrates than of fats and oils may play a part in this more efficient use of protein by men living in developing countries. Also, man possesses mechanisms in intermediary metabolism which allow him to adjust to low levels of protein intake. 4. Thus it appears that all apparently healthy men cannot be considered equal in regard to their requirements for protein.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

The utilization of dietary protein by Nigerian men.

1. The excretion of urinary and faecal nitrogen by young Nigerian men of a low income group was found to vary significantly between subjects, but was not significantly different in the same subject, when they were given a mixed diet composed of rice, vegetables and fish on two separate occasions. At the levels of energy and protein supplied by this diet the men gained or lost small amounts of weight, mean values indicating N equilibrium, the variation around the mean being high. 2. The correlation between the urinary and faecal N of these men was significantly negative at and below the level of N equilibrium, becoming positive 2-3 weeks after they had consumed the above diet supplemented by 400 g of lean beef per day, and had already established considerable rates of gain in body-weight and N retention. The diets were made isoenergetic by adding the beef at the expense of cassava flour and red palm oil. 3. The physiological processes involved in the adaptation, by young Nigerian men of low income, to a highly efficient use of low-protein diets are discussed in relation to the biological value and true digestibility of those diets, and to the 'safe level of protein intake' and protein-energy ratios proposed by FAO/WHO (1973, 1975). 4. It is concluded that the protein requirements of apparently healthy men can only be established in the context of their ecological, socio-economic and nutritional backgrounds.

Adult↗