Peroxidases in human milk.
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Bacteriolysis↗
Biomedical subjects
G T Laven
Publications and source records attributed to G T Laven.
Nutritional status during the acute stage of spinal cord injury.
This study was designed to help clinicians establish objective guidelines for meeting the nutritional requirements of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients during their initial hospitalizations. The nutritional status of 51 SCI patients treated between 1983 and 1986 was assessed at two, four, and eight weeks after injury. Nutrient deficiencies such as albumin (100% of patients), carotene (62%), transferrin (37%), ascorbate (25%), thiamine (24%), folate (20%), and copper (11%) were documented most frequently at two weeks postinjury. There was an average of 2.0, 1.6, and 1.2 nutrient abnormalities per patient at two, four, and eight weeks postinjury, respectively. Although most depressed nutrient parameters improved with time, diet-dependent plasma proteins such as albumin and transferrin remained low throughout the entire eight-week period. Mean body weight declined 1.3 +/- 3.9 kg during the first two weeks, 2.0 +/- 4.4 kg between two and four weeks, and 0.4 +/- 2.0 kg between four and eight weeks after injury. Significant findings also included a strong correlation between plasma albumin, ascorbate, and carotene levels and maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure (p less than .05). Although nutrient status usually improved with time and was not definitely associated with an increased risk of secondary medical complications, prudence dictates that these deficiencies should be prevented by appropriate intervention.
Adolescent↗
Nutritional status of men attending a soup kitchen: a pilot study.
Nutritional status and socioeconomic characteristics of 49 men attending a soup kitchen in a residential neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama were determined by interview, anthropometry and laboratory assays. Laboratory or anthropometric evidence of nutrient deficiency was present in 94 per cent of the subjects. Deficiency of ascorbate (63 per cent), folate (35 per cent), and thiamin (29 per cent) was higher in these men than in either patients or presumably healthy adults. Since soup kitchen meals provided insufficient vitamin C and folate, additional sources of these nutrients should be provided.
Adult↗
Field use of hair epilation force in nutrition status assessment.
The nutritional status of 69 Nigerians, age 1 month to 75 yr was assessed with the Krumdieck trichotillometer, which measures the force required to epilate a hair (epilation force, EF). EF of normal subjects (serum albumin greater than or equal to 3.5 g/dl) was 36.5 +/- 9.5 mg (mean +/- SD)). EF was significantly lower (25.7 +/- 10.6 g) in malnourished subjects (serum albumin less than or equal to 3.0 g/dl). EF correlated significantly with weight-for-height, mid-arm circumference, mid-arm muscle circumference, and serum albumin (r = 0.36, 0.32, 0.30, and 0.30, respectively, (p less than 0.05), but did not correlate significantly with triceps skinfold. These findings are in agreement with the clinical impression that hair pluckability is affected more by protein depletion than by energy depletion. The trichotillometer may be a useful tool in assessment of protein nutritional status in the field since it requires little training, and no laboratory.
Adolescent↗
Preventive nutrition guidelines for children.
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Arteriosclerosis↗
Trichotillometry: the quantitation of hair pluckability as a method of nutritional assessment.
In protein-calorie malnutrition, particularly kwashiorkor, ease of hair pluckability is frequently observed. In an attempt to quantitate this manifestation of the disease a calibrated mechanical instrument, referred to as a trichotillometer, was devised and used to determine the force required to epilate individual hairs in 17 adult hospitalized patients with evidence of protein calorie malnutrition and in 16 well-nourished patients. Nutritional status was examined by measuring body weight, triceps skinfold thickness, arm muscle circumference, serum albumin, lymphocyte count, hematocrit, beta-carotene, vitamin nutriture, and hair shaft diameter. Average epilation force was significantly lower in the malnourished patients than in the well nourished group (17.0 g +/- 11.8 versus 38.2 g +/- 11.4, p less than 0.001), with the lowest mean value found in patients categorized as having kwashiorkor (14.8 g). Plucking force correlated significantly and positively with serum albumin, hair shaft diameter, triceps skinfold, arm muscle circumference, weight, hematocrit, beta-carotene; it did not correlate with vitamin status. In order to determine the effect of acute stress on epilation force a subgroup of 18 patients was evaluated before and 1 and 4 days after surgery. Within this time interval epilation force was not significantly altered by the stress of surgery.
Adult↗
Hemolytic plaque formation by cellular and noncellular elements of human colostrum.
The morphologic, histochemical, and immunohistochemical characteristics of colostral elements that form indirect IgA hemolytic plaques were determined. Microscopic examination of hemolytic plaques revealed noncellular, globular elements at the center of 82% of the plaques formed by colostral cell preparations. Similar globules in colostral cell preparations contained IgA, IgG, IgM, SC, lactoferrin, alpha-lactalbumin, and lipid. Lysates of colostral cell preparations contained large amounts (500 ng/10(6) cells) of polymeric, SC-associated IgA. These findings suggest that plaque formation by colostral cell preparations may be due to the release of passively acquired, preformed S-IgA from colostral elements, rather than active production of IgA by lymphoid cells.
Colostrum↗
Diagnosis of tuberculosis in children using fluorescence microscopic examination of gastric washings.
In a clinical setting where malnutrition and far-advanced tuberculosis are common, experience with fluorescence microscopy of gastric washings was evaluated in 536 specimens. These specimens were obtained from 191 Haitian children whose illness was difficult to diagnose. Using the culture of gastric washings as a disease indicator, the prevalence of positive specimens was 24 per cent. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value were 58 per cent, 95 per cent, and 81 per cent, respectively. The agreement (J statistic) was +53 per cent. Combining the results of several series showed no differences in the sensitivity and specificity between fluorescence microscopy of gastric washings and fluorescence microscopic examination of sputum specimens. Among 49 children with positive fluorescence microscopy of gastric washings, pulmonary tuberculosis was bacteriologically confirmed in 85 per cent. Positive fluorescence microscopy of gastric washings was more frequent among children with far-advanced and miliary disease than children with less severe disease. The sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence microscopy of gastric washings make it a useful diagnostic tool in childhood tuberculosis, particularly in the presence of negative cutaneous reaction to purified protein derivative, extensive disease, or severe malnutrition.
Age Factors↗