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I Antener

Publications and source records attributed to I Antener.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Is the adult protein-energy malnutrition syndrome the same as that described in the infant?

Protein-energy malnutrition, a multi-factorial disease, has been described predominantly in the infant. It was the aim of this research to give a biochemical assessment of the adult form and to compare it to the infantile syndrome within the same socio-cultural context of central Zaïre (Kwilu region). Thirty-four children, 22 women and 2 men suffering from marasmic kwashiorkor at the hospital of Yasa-Bonga (Kwilu) were submitted to a complete set of 7 anthropometric and 60 biochemical tests. The control values were taken from healthy well-fed children and adults from Yasa-Bonga; for certain parameters, rural adult control values were also obtained. Dyspigmentation was found in all patients, children and adults alike. The other symptoms were, in decreasing order of importance : oedema, dermatitis, apathy and liver enlargement, often accompanied by associated secondary pathology. In the children, all anthropometric indices were well below normal. In serum, total protein, albumin, prealbumin, ceruloplasmin and haemoglobin were reduced; the alpha 1, alpha 2 and beta-globulins were slightly reduced in infants but not much modified in adults, whereas gamma-globulins were slightly increased in adults only. IgG and IgM were increased in both infants and adults, the enhancement was less pronounced for IgA. Essential amino acids in serum were reduced in the patients and most non-essential amino acids raised, with the exception of tyrosine and arginine which were reduced like the essential amino acids. Some ratios (phenylalanine/tyrosine, serine/threonine, and non-essential/essential amino acids) proved to be very sensitive parameters for this type of protein-energy malnutrition. No differences were found in the amino acid levels between adult and infant patients, with the exception of alanine which was higher in the adults. Alanine levels were also high in the rural adult controls as compared to the European controls, probably due to the extremely high carbohydrate (manioc) diet. Serum electrolytes were normal in adult patients, with the exception of low Ca, whereas in children P and Mg were also low. Total lipids and cholesterol were reduced in adult and infant patients. The urinary excretion of all parameters measured (N, urea, creatinine, hydroxyproline, electrolytes, trace elements and some vitamins) was reduced in the patients with only small differences between adults and infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Biochemical study of malnutrition. Part VI: Histidine and its metabolites.

The present study, as a part of a broader investigation on protein-energy-malnutrition (PEM) in rural Zaire, was undertaken in order to clarify varying aspects of histidine metabolism in patients suffering from protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). Measurement of histidine and its derivatives was performed on blood samples, in urine and in stool ultrafiltrates of healthy rural controls, of PEM mothers and PEM children, before and during dietary treatment, and after histidine oral overloading. In stool ultrafiltrates, unusually high concentration of histidine and of three major catabolites (imidazoleacetic acid, imidazolelactic acid and imidazolepropionic acid) were identified, contrasting with undetectable levels of urocanic acid. On the contrary, very large amounts of urocanic acid may be recovered in the urine of PEM patients, especially in those characterized by very poor life expectancy. Urinary urocanic acid level thus appears as a very sensitive indicator of liver malfunction, in a manner similar to low plasma prealbumin and/or high A-alpha 1-gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase values. These findings point to the severe impairment of histidase and urocanase, two enzymes regulating the histidine catabolic pathway. Under appropriate refeeding, all biochemical abnormalities described in surviving PEM patients are reversible. The persistence of high urinary urocanic acid excretion indicates a worsening of the patient's condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Zinc balances in preterm infants.

Zinc balances were studied in three groups of preterm babies. The first group received bank human milk of 25% concentration, the second group bank human milk enriched with 1 g/100 ml of lactalbumin hydrolysate, and the third group an industrial formula in which 40% of the fats were replaced with medium chain triglycerides (MCT). Zn intakes (microgram/kg/day) were, respectively, 796 +/- 136 (group 1), 689 +/- 231 (group 2), and 252 +/- 67 (group 3). In all 3 groups, fecal Zn excretion was very high: range; 6,862-635 micrograms/kg/day (group 1), 3,022-194 micrograms/kg/day (group 2), and 304-27 micrograms/kg/day (group 3), respectively. Zn retentions were mostly negative for groups 1 and 2 (7/8 and 18/23, respectively), and mostly positive (12/14), for group 3. Zn absorption was found to be related to fecal fat (p less than 0.001) in all groups, and in group 1 and 2 to fecal N (p less than 0.001) and Zn intake (p less than 0.02). Positive zinc balances were obtained when fat and nitrogen absorption exceeded 90%. This was achieved at 280 days of postmenstrual age in preterm babies fed bank human milk, but much sooner in preterm babies fed with MCT.

Diet↗
PubMed1981

Biochemical study of malnutrition. Part V. Metabolism of phenylalanine and tyrosine.

In order to elucidate the metabolic disorders which were observed for phenylalanine and tyrosine in protein-energy malnutrition, loads of both these amino acids were given to young mothers who showed all the clinical and biochemical symptoms of malnutrition and to healthy controls of the same age. Loads of phenylalanine resulted in higher blood levels, lower blood tyrosine formed from phenylalanine and higher urinary excretion of secondary phenylalanine and tyrosine metabolites in the patients, the former being due to a phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency, the latter to concomitant disturbances in tyrosine catabolism. Loads of tyrosine resulted in very high urinary excretion of secondary tyrosine metabolites in two patients, due to a p-hydroxyphenylalanine-oxidase deficiency and to a high urinary excretion of tyrosine but almost normal excretion of secondary metabolites in the third patient, which is very likely to be due to a tyrosine-transaminase deficiency. Blood tyrosine levels remained lower in all patients, which may be explained by tyrosine malabsorption and increased utilization by the depleted tissues. Protein-energy malnutrition leads to enzyme deficiencies similar to those observed in some inborn errors of metabolism.

4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate Dioxygenase↗
PubMed1981

Biochemical study of malnutrition. Part IV. Determination of amino acids in the serum, erythrocytes, urine and stool ultrafiltrates.

Before dietary treatment, no significant differences, except for alanine, were found in the amino acid pattern for 22 young mothers and 33 children with protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), the characteristic feature of the serum pattern being the imbalance between essential and non essential amino acids. Apart from lysine, the essential amino acid levels were all below normal. This imbalance may be detected readily from the abnormal values of some particularly sensitive ratios: phenylalanine/tyrosine, valine/glycine, non essential amino acids/essential amino acids and, above all, serine/threonine. A striking finding was the very low threonine levels in all subjects, including local controls and the extremely low tryptophan levels in malnourished children. Before treatment, almost all the erythrocyte amino acid levels as well as the E/S ratios (erythrocytes/serum) were found to be raised in 9 children, demonstrating their poor clinical status. The urinary amino acid level was similar in both, patients before treatment and local controls. The urinary threonine level was low, like in the serum. A normalisation in most of the amino acid levels in the serum was observed upon dietary rehabilitation although not yet significant in all of them. In urine a similar tendency was observed but it was significant for threonine and methionine only, after 2 weeks treatment. Some additional urinary amino acid assays revealed changes upon two weeks dietary rehabilitation that can be interpreted as an increased production of enzymes affected by PEM as well as a growth of the patients' muscular mass. Increased free amino acid losses in the stools, caused by diarrhoea due to secondary malabsorption, and various viral and bacterial infections accompanying malnutrition, illustrate the severity of the diarrhoea.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Study on malnutrition. III. Biochemical assessment of the dietary treatment and evolution of the illness.

During the course of a malnutrition study, the efficiency of two diets has been followed by clinical observations and biochemical tests. The diets were adapted to the physiological state of 25 patients (16 children, 6 young mothers, 1 adolescent and 2 men) undergoing treatment in a rural hospital at Yasa-Bonga, Zaïre. One group of patients was examined after two weeks of treatment (6 children, 2 mothers), the other group after two months (8 children, 5 adults). In order to study the evolution of the illness, 9 children and 3 young mothers were examined regularly after the return to their villages every 6 months for 2-4 years. The patients responded positively to both diets. After two months of treatment they had clinically recovered, except for the most serious cases. After two weeks of treatment a deficiency in electrolytes, low levels of prealbumin and a net increase in transferrin were noted. After 2 months of treatment the children had regained their normal growth (hydroxyproline index), and most of the biochemical parameters had reached their normal value despite a few deficiencies in electrolytes, phosphorus and magnesium. However, the prealbumin level remained low, particularly amongst children suffering from relapses. In a few cases the activities of cholinesterase (CHE) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT) remained low, which was taken as a sign of poor response to treatment. Generally, the adults responded more slowly to treatment than the children. Regular examinations carried out on certain patients on their return to the villages permitted 2 groups to be distinguished: the first one was composed of patients recuperating well due to good social conditions; the second group of patients suffered from relapses due to lack of hygiene and of rudimentary knowledge of nutrition, and above all severe social problems. The condition of the liver of all these patients was very important; it could be estimated by the determination of the serum levels of prealbumin and the activities of CHE, gamma-GT and isoenzymes of gamma-GT.

Adolescent↗