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Biomedical subjects

E Ginter

Publications and source records attributed to E Ginter.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The effect of ascorbic acid on cadmium accumulation in guinea pig tissues.

Accumulation of cadmium in organs of guinea pigs after subchronic oral cadmium treatment (1 mg Cd/animal/24 h) was in the following order: kidneys > liver > heart > testes > brain. The preventive effects of high doses of ascorbic acid (AA) against cadmium deposition were more pronounced in the testes, heart and brain, and in the kidney only after short-term cadmium treatment. Ascorbic acid had no protective effect on cadmium accumulation in the liver.

Analysis of Variance

The influence of ascorbic acid on lipid peroxidation in guinea pigs intoxicated with cadmium.

Cadmium (as CdCl2) administered at a dose of 1 mg Cd/animal/day in drinking water to guinea pigs with a low intake of ascorbic acid (2 mg/animal/day) increased lipid peroxidation (LPO) in the kidney, liver and serum after 5 wk of treatment. A high intake of ascorbic acid (100 mg/animal/day) decreased LPO (determined from malondialdehyde levels) in the kidney, liver and serum of Cd-treated guinea pigs. Administration of Cd to guinea pigs with a low intake of ascorbic acid significantly increased LPO in the kidney at 5 wk, in comparison with controls given low levels of ascorbic acid but no Cd. However, at 12 wk, LPO in the kidney of Cd-treated guinea pigs was significantly lower than in the controls. These results indicate that the level of lipid peroxides in the kidney of guinea pigs with a low intake of ascorbic acid depends on the amount of accumulated cadmium.

Administration, Oral

Plasma lipids, lipoproteins and atherogenic index in men and women administered vitamin C.

The aim of the study was to establish whether it is possible, in a group of deliberately selected subjects with hyperlipidaemia, to modulate cholesterol levels by ascorbic acid administered at a dose of 500 mg/day. The authors assessed the levels of vitamin C, total and HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerols in the blood serum of 140 probands assigned to an 83-member experimental group, and to a 57-member control group. The experimental group was provided Celaskon effervescens Spofa at a dose of 500 mg/day/person. The experiment lasted for 18 months. Blood collections were made in the whole cohort at six-month intervals. Administration of L-ascorbic acid led to a highly significant decrease in the levels of total and LDL cholesterol. After 12 months of study, a highly significant decrease in atherogenic index and an increase in HDL cholesterol levels were found persisting until the end of the experiment.

Arteriosclerosis

[Plasma cholesterol levels and ischemic heart disease: new findings and new approaches].

The information explosion characteristic of recent years has presented a series of findings enabling a more effective prevention of ischemic heart disease by controlling low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels of cholesterol. The detection of LDL receptors has provided new information on the mechanisms regulating the level of plasma LDL. Data on competitive inhibitors of endogenous cholesterol synthesis have afforded new possibilities of pharmacological control of LDL levels. Studies of primary prevention of ischemic heart disease have yielded evidence showing that a 1% decrease of cholesterol level reduces coronary risk by 2%. A prospective study of the relationship between cholesterol levels and coronary mortality, absolutely unique as to its extent (368,000 middle-aged men followed up over a period of 6 years) has demonstrated that there is no borderline cholesterol level below which coronary risk would be absolutely excluded. Between total cholesterol level and coronary mortality there is a close, continual and graded relationship. In light of these findings, total cholesterol levels have been reclassified: desirable levels -5.2 x 10(-3) mol.l-1, borderline risk levels under 5.2-6.2 x 10(-3) mol.l-1, and high risk levels--above 6.2 x 10(-3) mol.l-1. In subjects with several risk factors (smoking, hypertension, familial occurrence of heart, heart disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus, HDL cholesterol below 0.9 x 10(-3) mol.l-1) the level of total cholesterol should be brought down below 4 x 10(-3) mol.l-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent

[A new concept of atherogenesis: the role of oxygen radicals].

The author discusses a new concept of atherogenesis which is based on older hypotheses (lipid infiltration hypothesis), theory of impaired endothelial barrier, role of immunological and thrombocytic factors) and supplements it by new findings on the role of oxygen radicals in the development of atherosclerosis. The atherogenity of native low density lipoproteins (LDL) is enhanced substantially by their post-secretory changes caused by the action of free oxygen radicals on unsaturated fatty acids in the outer layer of LDL particles. The development of lipid peroxides on the surface of LDL leads to a changed orientation of the metabolism of LDL particles: oxidized LDL are not bound to classical LDL receptors in the liver but to so-called scavenger receptors in monocytes and macrophages. Lipid accumulation in monocytes, not controlled by feedback mechanisms, leads to formation of foam cells which are the basis of atheromatous plaques. This process can be influenced by antioxidants which block the formation of lipid peroxides. The new concept is particularly important for the population of Czechoslovakia and other formerly totalitarian countries where deterioration of the environment occurred and concurrently also adverse dietary changes (high fat, sucrose and spirit intake, low vegetable and fruit consumption). It is probable that an increased intake of antioxidants (ascorbic acid, carotenes, tocopherols, bioflavonoids, selenium etc.) would, along with other corrective provisions, suppress the steep increase of cardiovascular diseases.

Arteriosclerosis

Effect of vitamins C and E on toxicity and mutagenicity of hexavalent chromium in rat and guinea pig.

The effect of simultaneous pretreatment with vitamins C and E on the toxicity and mutagenicity of K2Cr2O7 in rats and guinea pigs was evaluated. Dietary pretreatment of Cr(VI)-intoxicated rats with ascorbic acid or alpha-tocopherol normalized vitamin C levels in lungs but not in kidneys. The synergistic preventive effect of both vitamins was confirmed in the production of lipoperoxides in Cr(VI)-intoxicated rats. Simultaneous administration of vitamins C and E in guinea pigs prevented the decrease of vitamin C levels provoked by the oxidative effects of Cr(VI). The results of the micronucleus test in bone marrow showed that it was vitamin C that caused the antimutagenic effect against bichromate, in both rats and guinea pigs. The effect of vitamin E was demonstrated only in an increase of the ratio of NCE to PCE, i.e., in a decrease of the cytotoxic but not the mutagenic effects of hexavalent chromium.

Adrenal Glands

Cholesterol-lowering effect of the mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus in hereditary hypercholesterolemic rats.

We studied the effect of the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (4% in diet containing 1% of cholesterol) on serum and liver lipids in female rats with hereditary enhanced sensitivity to alimentary cholesterol. We found that the consumption of the mushroom-containing diet prevented serum cholesterol increase which was manifested at the end of the 4th week of the experiment. At the end of the 7th week of the experiment the cholesterolemia was lowered by almost 40% as compared with control animals kept on the same diet but without the mushroom. The decrease in serum cholesterol levels is a consequence of the decreased cholesterol concentrations of very-low-density lipoproteins and of low-density lipoproteins.

Animals

Effect of oyster fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus) on serum and liver lipids of Syrian hamsters with a chronic alcohol intake.

The authors studied the effect of oyster fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus) (2% dried fruiting bodies in a standard diet) on the serum and liver lipids of growing male Syrian hamsters with a chronic alcohol intake (a 15% aqueous solution). After eight weeks' alcohol intake there was an increase in their serum cholesterol, triacylglycerol (TG) and phospholipid (PL) concentration, 40 - 60% of which was accounted for by an increase in the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) concentration. The proportion of VLDL in the lipoprotein pool rose by almost 15%, whereas the proportion of high density lipoproteins (HDL) fell. The simultaneous administration of the fungus in the diet reduced the cholesterol level below the value in the control animals not given any alcohol. Both the serum TG and the VLDL concentration fell by 30%, but neither the chemical composition and concentration of the HDL nor the cholesterol concentration were affected. The addition of the fungus to the diet completely abolished the increase induced in the liver cholesterol and TG concentration by the chronic intake of alcohol.

Alcoholism

Effect of dehydrated apple products on the serum and liver lipids in Syrian hamsters.

The effect of two dehydrated apple products (10% in diet)--apple pulp (crude fibre 3.5%, pectin 1.4%) and apple pomaces (crude fibre 13.5%, pectin 7%)--on the serum and liver lipids of growing Syrian male hamsters were studied. The animals were fed a natural diet (38% of energy substituted by milk fat; the diet contains 53 mg of cholesterol (CH) per 100 g) which resulted in an accumulation of CH and triacylglycerols (TG) in the serum as well as in the liver, and CH-rich very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) in the circulation. After two months both apple products decreased the levels of CH and TG in serum (by 40-70%) and the content of CH in VLDL with similar efficiency. Both products reduced CH content in the liver, and the apple pulp also decreased TG content. Up to the 6th month the apple pulp studied suppresses accumulation of CH and TG in both the serum and the liver. A complete analysis of lipoproteins of main density class at the time showed that the decrease of serum CH and TG to a decisive extent is due to the decrease of their concentration in VLDL (by more than 50%). Therefore, the concentration of VLDL and the whole lipoprotein pool decreased by 50%. The apple pulp doubled the amount of CH transported by HDL. Three months after the replacement of butter in the diet by corn germ oil the CH and TG levels in the serum and TG also in the liver decreased to the physiological level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Long-term hypolipaemic effect of apple pulp on golden hamsters with alimentary hyperlipoproteinaemia.

Golden hamsters with alimentary hyperlipoproteinaemia (fed on a diet in which 44% of the energy was accounted for by fats, 52 mg cholesterol (CH)/100 g) were given apple pulp (10% of the diet) for six months. From the end of the first month up to the end of the experiment, elevation of serum CH, triacylglycerol (TG) and phospholipid (PL) levels and CH and TG accumulation in the liver were effectively inhibited. At the close of the experiment, hyperlipoproteinaemia was characterized by an increase in the amount of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), which carried 60-80% of all circulating lipids, accounted for over 70% of the total lipoprotein pool and transported almost 60% of the serum CH (high density lipoproteins--HDL--only 16%). The apple diet markedly reduced (by 50-80%) the amount of all lipids in the lipoproteins within density limits of 1,006-1,063 kg/m3 and lowered the total lipid concentration in these density classes and in the lipoprotein pool as a whole (by 50%). The proportion of the individual lipoprotein classes in the lipoprotein pool was not significantly affected. The apple diet did not affect either the chemical composition of HDL or their participation in the lipoprotein pool, but raised the proportion of serum CH transported in this lipoprotein class. Neither the lipoprotein lipase activity of the adipose tissue nor lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity were influenced by the apple diet.

Adipose Tissue

[Blood cholesterol levels and mortality in cancer].

Prospective studies carried out in different parts of the world, with the most extensive one comprising 360,00 American men followed up over a period of 7-8 years, have found that the total serum cholesterol level correlates inversely with subsequent mortality for cancer. On excluding the first years following the determination of cholesterol level this inverse relationship decreases or disappears completely. The cholesterol level keeps decreasing for at least two years prior to death caused by cancer. Patients suffering from a malignant process are frequently found to have very low cholesterol levels and that even when they are in a good nutritional condition. The effect of the preclinical stage of cancer on the metabolism of plasma lipoproteins is presumed to account for the inverse correlation observed between cholesterol level and cancer. The rapidly multiplying cancer cells require great amounts of cholesterol to build up their new membranes and therefore increase the activity of receptors binding plasma low-density lipoproteins (LDL). This mechanism speeds up the transfer of plasma cholesterol into cancer cells. According to some reports increased cholesterol supply by food enhances the risk of cancer both in humans and experimental animals. Changes in the nutritional pattern aimed at preventing ischemic heart disease (reduced intake of satured animal fat and cholesterol) may be associated with a lower risk for malignancy.

Adult

[Nutrition in the prevention of ischemic heart disease].

The survey presents current knowledge on the role of nutrition in prevention of hypercholesterolemia and ischemic heart disease. From the standpoint of their role in atherogenesis, nutritional factors can be divided into protective and risk factors. The group of protective factors includes n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid, plant sterols, plant lecithins, some fiber components (e.g. pectin), plant proteins (e.g. soybean), vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chromium, and selenium. The group of risk factors comprises saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, sucrose, sodium, vitamin D, and ethanol. After World War II the development of food consumption in Czechoslovakia resulted in an imbalanced state persisting for some decades now which is characterized by a high involvement of risk factors (high consumption of meat, sausages, animal fats, eggs, common salt, and alcoholic beverages) and by a low involvement of protective factors (low consumption of vegetables, fruit, potatoes, legumes, fish, and roughly milled grain). The imbalance of risk and protective factors in nutrition is conceivably one of the main causes of the extremely high mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Czechoslovakia. The current unfavorable trend in the rate of ischemic heart disease and in life expectancy of the population in Czechoslovakia can not be reversed without substantial changes in the composition of nutrition.

Coronary Disease