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Biomedical subjects

Y McNeil

Publications and source records attributed to Y McNeil.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Soluble transferrin receptor in Aboriginal children with a high prevalence of iron deficiency and infection.

OBJECTIVES: Aboriginal children in tropical Australia have a high prevalence of both iron deficiency and acute infections, making it difficult to differentiate their relative contributions to anaemia. The aims of this study were to compare soluble transferrin receptor with ferritin in iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), and to examine how best to distinguish the effect of iron deficiency from infection on anaemia. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of 228 admissions to Royal Darwin Hospital in children from 6 to 60 months of age. Transferrin receptor concentrations were measured by a particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay and ferritin by a microparticle enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: On multiple regression, the best explanatory variables for haemoglobin differences (r2=33.7%, P<0.001) were mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red cell distribution width (RDW) and C-reactive protein (CRP); whereas transferrin receptor and ferritin were not significant (P>0.4). Using > or =2 abnormal indices (MCV, RDW, blood film)+haemoglobin <110 g/l as the reference standard for IDA, transferrin receptor produced a higher area under the curve on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis than ferritin (0.79 vs. 0.64, P<0.001) or the transferrin receptor-ferritin index (0.77). On logistic regression, the effect of acute infection (CRP) on haemoglobin was significant (P<0.001) at cut-offs of 105 and 110 g/l, but not at 100 g/l when only iron deficiency indicators (MCV, RDW, blood film) were significant. CONCLUSIONS: Transferrin receptor does not significantly improve the diagnosis of anaemia (iron deficiency vs. infection) over full blood count and CRP, but in settings with a high burden of infectious diseases and iron deficiency, it is a more reliable adjunctive measure of iron status than ferritin.

Anemia, Iron-Deficiency↗
PubMed1998

Digestion of human milk oligosaccharides by healthy infants evaluated by the lactulose hydrogen breath test.

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) would not be digested and absorbed in the infant small intestine. The purpose of the study was to quantify the extent of digestion by using the lactulose breath hydrogen test. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-four healthy, breast-fed infants were studied in the home setting. Eight infants (mean age 5.2 months) who had a positive breath hydrogen response (rise > 20 ppm) to the unabsorbable sugar lactulose were given an equivalent load of HMO (0.7 to 1.0 gm/kg body weight) the following week. The breath hydrogen response to the HMO load was compared with that after lactulose by using a paired t test. RESULTS: In seven of the eight infants, a large proportion of the HMO load reached the large intestine and was fermented. In these infants, the mean +/- SEM area under the breath hydrogen curve after HMO (5135 +/- 1148 ppm.4h) was not significantly different from that after lactulose (4949 +/- 1278 ppm.4h, p = 0.7s. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that HMO resist digestion in the small intestine of most breast-fed infants and undergo fermentation in the colon. HMO may therefore be the source of breath hydrogen in breast-fed infants.

Area Under Curve↗
PubMed1998

Sialic acid concentration of brain gangliosides: variation among eight mammalian species.

Sialic acid is a vital component of brain gangliosides which play an essential role in the transmission and storage of information in the brain. The concentration of bound sialic acid in gangliosides and free sialic acid in the brain cortex of eight different mammals [human, chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), rat (Rattus norvegicus), mouse (Mus musculus), rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), sheep (Ovis aries), cow (Bos indicus) and pig (Sus scrofa)] were compared. Total sialic acid concentration (890+/-103 microg/g wet weight tissue, mean+/-SE, n = 6) was 2-4 times higher in the human brain compared with the other species studied (0.001 < p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between human males and females. The rank order of adult brain sialic acid after humans (in microg/g) was rat (493+/-23, n = 12), mouse (445+/-29, n = 16), rabbit (380+/-18, n = 6), sheep (323+/-43, n = 6), cow (304+/-14, n = 6) and pig (252+/-14, n = 6). Apart from the cow vs the sheep, the differences between species were statistically significant (p < 0.05). In the mouse, cow and sheep, total sialic acid concentration increased during maturation by 18-32% (p < 0.05). In a 2-year-old chimpanzee, the sialic acid concentration in the left lobe of the brain cortex was 25% higher than that of right lobe at 6 weeks of age (p < 0.05). Free sialic acid was higher in the human brain cortex (41+/-3 microg/g) than that of the rat and mouse (32+/-3 and 25+/-5 microg/g respectively) and absent from other species. Variation in brain sialic acid concentration among different animals has implications for the evolution of the brain and may affect learning ability in animals.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

Sialic acid content of infant saliva: comparison of breast fed with formula fed infants.

Sialic acid is found in especially high concentrations in brain gangliosides, and supplementary sialic acid is associated with increased learning behaviour in animals. It was hypothesised that breast fed infants may have higher concentrations of sialic acid in body fluids and tissues because human milk is a rich source of sialylated oligosaccharides, while formulas contain very little. The aim therefore was to compare the sialic acid content of saliva collected from full term infants who were either solely breast fed or formula fed until weaning at 3-5 months of age. Thirty three infants, 18 breast fed and 15 formula fed, were studied at a mean (SD) age of 5 (2) months. The breast fed infants, when compared with formula fed infants, were found to have almost two times more free sialic acid in saliva (mean (SE) 16.0 (2.7) v 8.2 (2.1) mg/l, p < 0.036) and nearly 50% more total sialic acid (47.3 (3.9) v 32.2 (4.4) mg/l, p < 0.014). The findings provide a preliminary indication that an exogenous source of sialic acids derived from human milk may contribute to higher concentrations of sialic acid in body fluids. There are important implications for the formulation of human milk substitutes.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Comparison of plasma lipids and vitamin E in young and middle-aged subjects on potato crisps fried in palmolein and highly oleic sunflower oil.

We previously found no difference in healthy young adults' plasma cholesterols between palmolein and olive oil as the major dietary lipid, although the former is high in palmitic acid (16:0) but the latter in oleic acid (18:1 cis). In the experiment reported here we compared the effects of palmolein against another monounsaturated oil, highly oleic sunflower oil (HOSO), on plasma cholesterol in both young and middle-aged healthy adults. The test oils were provided as frying oil of potato crisps (150 g/day in men; 100 g/day in women) against low-fat background diets in free-living motivated volunteers. The design was a randomised double-blind 4-week/3-week crossover trial. Compliance was monitored with continuous dietary diaries and by measuring (fasting) plasma lipid fatty-acid pattern. Plasma lipids and vitamin-E compounds were measured at the start and twice at the end of each test period. In combined young plus older subjects (n = 42) mean plasma total and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) values were both 7% (significantly) lower on HOSO than on palmolein, but because high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) was also 5% lower, the LDL-c/HDL-c ratio was only 3% lower on HOSO than on palmolein. The difference between the present results with HOSO and previous results with olive oil both compared against palmolein suggest that olive oil is associated with higher plasma cholesterols than other monounsaturated oils. In both the young and older subgroup, LDL-c was lower on HOSO but because HDL-c moved down too in the young subgroup, the LDL-c/HDL-c ratio was lower on HOSO only in the older subjects. Palmolein has an unusual pattern of E vitamins, with a high content of tocotrienols, notably the gamma-isomer. Unlike alpha-tocopherol however, there was no sign of these tocotrienols in subjects' plasmas.

Adult↗