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Biomedical subjects

F J Muñoz

Publications and source records attributed to F J Muñoz.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Are anthropometric changes in healthy adults caused by modifications in dietary habits or by aging?

The aim of this work was to investigate to what extent age-dependent anthropometric changes are causally related to changes in dietary habits. In a randomly obtained sample of 246 healthy adults in the age range of 20-90 years from a well-defined agrarian population, the intake of proteins, fat and carbohydrates in males decreases with age (r = -0.65, p < 0.001; r = -0.65, p < 0.001; r = -0.5, p < 0.01, respectively), but in females it remains unaltered (e.g. the mean +/- SD daily protein intake in young adult females is 74 +/- 31 vs. 71 +/- 11 g in individuals over 80); in males it decreases from 140 +/- 34 to 71 +/- 13 g. On the contrary, in both sexes the muscle-mass-related measurements decrease (r = -0.45, p < 0.001; vs. r = -0.41, p < 0.001; mean values of the quotient lean body mass with body length in young adult females and males were 41.9 +/- 4.4 and 52.7 +/- 5.9 vs. 35.0 +/- 3.1 and 43.2 +/- 5.0, respectively, in individuals over 80, p < 0.001 in both sexes). From 35 onwards, the daily urea excretion-as a marker of the protein degradation rate-declines significantly with age, but without a clear correlation to the protein intake (r = 0.38), as occurs during young adulthood (r = 0.63). Furthermore, body fat content tends to increase with age, but the differences are statistically significant only in males of very advanced age (p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

The noradrenergic innervation of the rat thymus during pregnancy and in the post partum period.

The noradrenergic innervation of the rat thymus during pregnancy and the post partum period was examined by a sucrose glyoxylic acid method for catecholamines, and by high pressure liquid chromatography. Fluorescent nerves decreased in number throughout pregnancy when there was an overall loss in thymic weight due to cortical involution. These changes are maximal by parturition. There was a dramatic increase in nerves between d 21 of pregnancy and d 1 after parturition, especially in the capsule and around blood vessels in the connective tissue septa. The neonates were removed at parturition and thymic weight was rapidly regained. The increased numbers of nerves remained throughout this post partum period. Noradrenaline levels in the thymus altered in a similar pattern throughout pregnancy and the post partum period, but did not parallel thymic weight changes. The mean noradrenaline concentration in the virgin thymus was 1063 +/- 107 pg/mg protein. Levels remained similar during early pregnancy and increased significantly at d 16. Virgin levels were regained by d 21. Values peaked after parturition but rapidly decreased over the next 3 days, and remained at or below virgin levels to d 28 except for a transient rise at d 10 post partum. Adrenaline values were consistently below detection levels. This study shows that there are variations in both nerves visualised, and in neurotransmitter (noradrenaline) content in the thymus during the course of pregnancy and the post partum period. Thus thymic function could be influenced by central events (levels of catecholamines in peripheral blood) as well as local events mediated by transmitter changes in nerves.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Effects of pupillary dilation on automated perimetry in glaucoma patients receiving pilocarpine.

The authors studied 18 glaucoma patients receiving pilocarpine 2% therapy with automated static threshold perimetry using the Humphrey Field Analyzer 30-2 and STATPAC programs before and after instillation of 10% phenylephrine. The mean defect improved by an average of 3.14 decibels (dB) (standard deviation, 1.89 dB0 after administration of phenylephrine (P less than 0.001). The pattern standard deviation and the corrected pattern standard deviation also improved with dilation by 1.42 dB (P less than 0.01) and 1.73 dB (P less than 0.05), respectively, after dilation with phenylephrine. Comparisons of the unweighted means of threshold values in three zones of increasing eccentricity showed that the outer zone of the visual field had the greatest improvement after dilation. These findings indicate that pupillary dilation in glaucoma patients receiving pilocarpine therapy produces a nonuniform increase in threshold sensitivities and support the importance of consistent pupillary diameters on serial automated visual field examinations.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Estimation of the aging rates of populations through the prevalence of age-related diseases.

Ten prevalences of disease or functional affections due to degenerative processes that statistically show a significant age-dependent behaviour were taken as variables for a biological aging study of a population living in a district of Madrid. The cross-sectional procedure consisted in grouping the disease prevalences by age decades and calculating aging by the vector-analytical mathematical method in which the age-dependent prevalence was the result of one of the total of 10 vector components. The progressive accumulative increase of the vector distances from the origin as well as the distances among the vectors in relation to the population age was considered as biological aging. On the basis of similar mathematical models the results were compared with those obtained from other populations in which different indicators were used; the results are concurrent, but show here a greater aging acceleration than when the population was composed solely of healthy individuals. This is considered a logical consequence due to the sample composition. The presented procedure, focussed epidemiologically, can be useful in comparing aging of populations.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increase in insulin secretion with age: its clinical importance in evaluating abnormal secretions focused on diabetes type II and obesity.

The urinary C-peptide excretion was measured in a healthy standardized population sample of 160 subjects from 20 to 90 years of age, homogeneously distributed by age and sex. Urinary C-peptide excretion corresponded to 7% of the total amount released. The daily C-peptide excretion was 61.23 +/- 2.2 (S.E.) microg in the whole sample which corresponds to 41.9 +/- 1.5 IU of insulin secreted/day (I(CP)d), without sex differences. There is an increase of the I(CP)d value from the young to the healthy middle-aged person, but when the results were corrected for standard amounts of excreted creatinine (1 g) and urea (22 g) the age-dependent increase is to be observed during the whole adult life span. Assuming that cross-sectionally observed data are representative of the individual changes, it is concluded that age alone increases insulin secretion. The results which may be useful as reference values for clinical application were as follows: (A) in 5 diabetes type II patients in which the I(CP)d value was measured several times a week, the intraindividual variation coefficient was 10.9 +/- 7.2%;(B) in a sample of 47 type II diabetic patients of both sexes, between 51 and 70 years of age, a clear correlation was found between I(CP)d and the results of the glucagon stimulation test, mainly regarding the relationship between I(CP)d and the planimetrically measured area under the curve (r = 0.7, P < 0.0001); (C) in 7 obese non-diabetic individuals of similar ages the influence of the hypocaloric diet on the I(CP)d value was more evident than the use of C-peptide blood determinations before or after glucagon. Finally, the I(CP)d values of type II diabetes patients with insulin requirement (n = 27) were significantly lower than in the healthy control group (31.1 +/- 24.0 vs. 45.0 +/- 20.4), while diabetic patients without insulin requirement showed significantly higher values (73.0 +/- 33.0) (n = 27). These clinical studies primarily focused on the physiology of human ageing justify the measurement of C-peptide urinary excretion for evaluating daily insulin secretion in patients with type II diabetes.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of the seasonal cycle on the splenic leukocyte functions in the turtle Mauremys caspica.

The reptile immune system is strikingly affected by seasonal variations, which induce changes in the structure of the lymphoid organs and in the function of the leukocytes. The aim of this work is to study several functions of splenic leukocytes from the turtle Mauremys caspica along its seasonal cycle. The functions assayed were adherence to substrate, mobility directed to a chemoattractant gradient (chemotaxis), lymphoproliferative response to mitogens, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and natural killer-like cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Splenic leukocytes showed a positive response in all the assays, and this response was similar to that of mammals. In regard to the effect of the seasonal cycle, we have observed in winter a low adherence to substratum and high chemotaxis and cytotoxic activity, whereas in spring, only lymphoproliferation induced by mitogens showed high values except with lipopolysaccharide, which did not induce any seasonal variation in proliferation percentages. In summer, a high chemotaxis and cytotoxicity were observed, while in autumn, adherence to substratum was increased, but chemotaxis, cytotoxicity, and proliferation were clearly diminished. Our results demonstrate that splenic leukocyte functions are affected by the seasonal cycle, which induces a different pattern of response depending on the function studied.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Isotype distribution and clinical significance of antibodies to cardiolipin, phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylserine in systemic lupus erythematosus: prospective analysis of a series of 92 patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and correlation with clinical manifestations of the IgG and IgM isotypes of antibodies to cardiolipin (aCL), phosphatidic acid (aPA), phosphatidylinositol (aPI) and phosphatidylserine (aPS) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: Clinical and laboratory features of 92 consecutive unselected patients with SLE were prospectively studied over two years. aCL, aPA, aPI and aPS were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: aCL were detected in 34 (37%) patients, aPA in 26 (28%), aPI in 22 (24%), and aPS in 29 (32%). A significant association was found between the appearance of thrombosis and the presence of IgG aCL (p < 0.001) and IgG aPS (p < 0.05). A significant association was also found between thrombocytopenia and the presence of IgG aCL (p < 0.001), IgG aPA (p < 0.01), IgG aPI (p < 0.05), and IgG aPS (p < 0.001). The development of hemolytic anemia was associated with the detection of IgM aCL (p < 0.001), IgM aPA (p < 0.05), IgM aPI (p < 0.001), and IgM aPS (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: We found a relatively high prevalence of aCL, aPA, aPI and aPS in our SLE population and confirmed the presence of a correlation between the IgG isotype of these antibodies and thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, and also between the IgM isotype and hemolytic anemia. These results demonstrate the variety of antiphospholipid antibodies that can be detected in SLE patients, as well as their association with the clinical manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antiphospholipid antibodies in primary Sjögren's syndrome: prevalence and clinical significance in a series of 80 patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in a cohort of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS). METHODS: Eighty patients with primary SS were studied prospectively. The prevalence of aPL and characteristics of the clinical and laboratory features of these patients were compared with those of the following groups of patients: (i) 50 patients with SS associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); (ii) 100 patients with SLE without SS; and (iii) 100 healthy blood donors from the blood bank of our hospital. RESULTS: Only 11 (14%) patients with primary SS were found to have aPL (anticardiolipin antibodies or lupus anticoagulant, or both) in their sera, but anti beta 2-glycoprotein I antibodies were not detected in any patient. In contrast, aPL were detected in 12 (24%) patients with SS secondary to SLE and in 21 (21%) patients with SLE without SS. None of the healthy controls presented aPL in their sera. Patients with primary SS presented a lower prevalence of thrombocytopenia (p < 0.05) and livedo reticularis (p < 0.01) compared with the other two groups of patients. No patient with primary SS was diagnosed as having an antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), while 4 (8%) patients with secondary SS and 9 (9%) with SLE without SS were found to have APS (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In patients with primary SS, aPL are present in a lower percentage than in patients with SS secondary to SLE or in patients with SLE without SS. The presence of aPL in these primary SS patients is not associated with the clinical events of APS.

Adult↗