SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
OBJECTIVE: To determine mortality rates and causes of death for thin (i.e., lean or emaciated) cats and, if mortality rates were high, to determine factors associated with risk that cats would be thin. DESIGN: Cohort study. ANIMALS: 1,138 cats examined at 27 private veterinary practices in the northeastern United States. PROCEDURE: Body condition of the cats was scored (emaciated, lean, optimally lean, optimal, heavy, obese) between 1991 and 1992. Follow-up information on whether cats had developed any illnesses, whether cats had died, and, if cats had died, cause of death was obtained between 1994 and 1996. Mortality risk for emaciated cats was estimated, using cats in optimal condition as the reference group. RESULTS: Survival curves for emaciated cats were significantly lower than those for cats of other body conditions. Compared with cats in optimal condition, emaciated cats were 4.4 times as likely to die during the follow-up period. However, after adjusting for age and excluding cats that died within 1 year after body condition was scored, emaciated cats were no longer significantly more likely to die. Emaciated cats were more likely to die of an unknown cause than were cats of optimal condition. Risk factors for emaciated body condition included preexisting illness, age, and Siamese breed. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that emaciated cats had a significantly higher risk of death, compared with cats in optimal body condition. Serious illness and advancing age accounted for much, and perhaps all, of this increased risk of death.
This study reports a reduction of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in large-sized, older Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) collected in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Quebec, Canada) and investigates its relationship over a 4-year period to sex, gonadosomatic index (GSI), condition factor (CF) and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) mRNA levels. In addition, the concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in a subsample of fish. The reduction of EROD activity with age was observed each year in both sexes and was not related to the GSI. A high proportion of large-sized fish, with a body length greater or equal to 225 mm, were emaciated (CF < or = 0.55). A 6-16-fold reduction of EROD activity and a 2-4-fold reduction of CYP1A mRNA levels were observed in large-sized emaciated females compared to small-sized non-emaciated females. Concentrations of PCBs in liver increased from 1000 to 4000 ng/g lipid weight as the hepatic lipid content and the CF decreased. The inter-annual variation of EROD activity was associated with the variation in CF with lowest EROD activity and CF in 1999. When emaciated fish were excluded from the analyses, EROD activity was still lower (2-5-fold) in large compared to small fish and was no longer related to CF. For similar levels of CYP1A mRNA, EROD activity was lower in large compared to small fish. Thus, there was post-transcriptional inhibition of CYP1A activity in large-sized tomcod, indicative of cellular dysfunction. This response may be related to aging, chronic exposure to toxic contaminants or to selective pressures favoring less responsive individuals. This study demonstrates that fish age, size, and CF are important variables to consider in studies using EROD activity as an indicator of environmental contamination. The main finding was that a large part of the reduction of CYP1A with age in St. Lawrence Estuary tomcod was associated with severe emaciation of a large proportion of large-sized fish. Hepatic concentrations of contaminants covaried with the CF and the effects of these two variables on CYP1A could not be discriminated.
Twelve severely emaciated patients with emphysema and 4 control patients with mild emaciation were studied. Arterial blood gas analysis, pulmonary function tests, and muscle biopsy were performed. According to the percentage of ideal body weight (%IBW), patients were divided into two groups of 6 patients each; one with %IBW values greater than 70.0 (group 1) and the other with %IBW values less than 70.0 (group 2), and 4 control patients with emphysema whose %IBW values were greater than 85.5. %FEV1.0, PaO2 and Hugh-Jones scores in group 2 patients were consistent with significantly greater deterioration as compared with those in group 1 patients and controls. In the muscle fibers of 11 patients and 4 controls, nicotinamide and adenosine dinucleotide tetrazolium reductase activity was studded with spots. Nemalin rods were detected in 3 specimens in group 2 and in 1 specimen each in both group 1 and controls. These changes probably result from chronic hypoxemia. Fiber type grouping accompanied by type II dominant fiber atrophy was demonstrated in 5 patients of group 2, whereas type II fiber atrophy was shown in 2 specimens from patients of group 1. Diameters of both types I and II fibers in group 2 were smaller than those in group 1 and controls. Significant correlations were observed between fiber diameters and %IBW, %FEV1.0 and %IBW, and PaO2 and %IBW. Neurogenic and disuse muscular atrophy due to both hypoxic axonal disorder and disuse is likely to be the cause of the emaciation, and a 'vicious circle' between muscular atrophy, respiratory function and hypoxemia probably exists in group 2. Since mild or moderate emaciation was observed in controls and group 1 in spite of the lack of fiber atrophy, involvement of fat and connective tissue should also be taken into consideration to determine the cause of emaciation.
Clinical hexamitiasis was recorded in pheasant poults between six and 12 weeks old, after placing the birds into release pens, and was characterised by reduced appetite, lethargy and emaciation. Post mortem the carcases were dehydrated. The presence in the lumen of the gut of characteristic motile organisms which could often be found several hours after death, provided a good clinical diagnosis. An emaciation syndrome, clinically similar but not associated with hexamitiasis or other pathogens also occurs in poults. It is characterised by extreme emaciation, largely confined to the pectoral muscles, and dehydration although the birds continue to eat and drink; the cause is unknown. Both hexamitiasis and the emaciation syndrome can cause high morbidity and mortality.
The purpose of the studies was to determine the pre-and postslaughter characteristics of the body and selected organs of cattle in relation to their degree of fatness which are important for veterinary inspection. The studies were carried out on 60 cows of the lowland black-and-white breed at about 4 years of age, divided into 4 groups according to the degree of fatness: well fed, lean, moderately emaciated and completely emaciated. It was found that: a) the preslaughter macroscopic features of the animal body does not permit to differentiate the leannes from two states of emaciation, they are important only in the postslaughter quality grading of carcasses, b) for the differentiation of fatness of cattle from the sanitary point of view only postslaughter evaluation based on the characteristics of carcass (index of beef round and loin eye area) and some organs (liver), is significant, c) for the use in veterinary inspection three states of the degree of fatness, i.e. well-feeding, leannes and emaciation are recommended.
OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Diencephalic syndrome of emaciation (DS) is seen almost exclusively in infants and young children, and only two cases of DS in adults have been reported previously. We describe a case of DS associated with a third ventricle intrinsic craniopharyngioma in an adult patient. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old man presented with profound emaciation, disorientation, memory loss, and psychological disorders. Computed tomographic scanning and magnetic resonance imaging of his brain disclosed a tumor within the third ventricle. The preoperative endocrinological examination indicated an elevated growth hormone level and a decreased somatomedin C level. INTERVENTION: The patient underwent partial resection of the tumor, which was adherent to the floor of the third ventricle but not to the ventricle wall, by an interhemispheric-transcallosal approach. The histological examination revealed a squamous papillary-type craniopharyngioma. The patient received 50 Gy of radiotherapy, which resulted in 90 to 95% reduction of the tumor size within 6 months, as indicated by the magnetic resonance images presented. The psychological disorders, memory disturbance, and severe emaciation improved gradually thereafter. CONCLUSION: Although extremely rare, DS can occur in an adult harboring a tumor in the anterior hypothalamus.
The studies were carried out on 60 cows of the lowland black-and-white breed at about 4 years of age, which were divided into 4 groups according to the degree of fatness: well-fed, lean, moderately and completely emaciated. The basic composition, water holding capacity, miofibrillar protein, collagen, amino acid composition of proteins, biological value of muscle proteins, DNA level, pH, physical parameters of muscle fibres and sensory properties of meat were determined. It was found that: a) with the decrease of the fatness degree changes in the basic composition of muscle tissue follow; the most significant is the decrease in the content of total protein, particularly that of miofibrillar protein, b) the water to protein ratio over 4 to 1 is a good index for determination of emaciation, c) the biological value of protein is the same regardless the degree of fatness, d) distinct organoleptic changes of meat occur only in extreme cases of emaciation.
Diencephalic syndrome of emaciation (Russell's syndrome) characteristically presents with the symptoms of marked emaciation in spite of normal linear growth and marked increased of serum growth hormone in infancy and early childhood. It is usually caused by a low-grade glioma, most often an astrocytoma, of the anterior third ventricle including the optic nerve and chiasm. Usually it is not associated with von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis. We describe two unusual cases of diencephalic syndrome; one case was caused by a low-grade astrocytoma involving the anterior third ventricle associated with neurofibromatosis, and the other by a malignant astrocytoma of the anterior third ventricle.
In November 1993, unusual mortality occurred among endangered Laysan ducks on Laysan Island, one of the remote refugia of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge (USA). Ten live ducks were emaciated, and blood samples documented anemia, heterophilia, and eosinophilia. Pathology in 13 duck carcasses revealed emaciation, marked thickening of the proventricular wall, abundant mucus, and nodules in the gastrointestinal tract. Histology revealed granulomata associated with nematodes in the proventriculus, small intestines, and body walls of nine of 10 ducks examined on histology. We suspect that low rainfall and low food abundance that year contributed to enhanced pathogenicity of parasite infection, either through increased exposure or decreased host resistance. Because the Laysan duck is found only on Laysan island and is critically endangered, translocation of this species to other islands is being considered. Given that we have not seen pathology associated with Echinuria spp. in native waterfowl on other Hawaiian Islands and given the parasite's potential to cause significant lesions in Laysan ducks, it will be important to prevent the translocation of Echinuria spp.
A cross-sectional survey using a cluster sampling method made it possible to calculate the Weight-for-Height index of 1830 children aged 0-5 years. With the index, we were able to compare the distribution and prevalence of emaciation between the population of nomadic herdsmen of the Adrar of Iforas and the population of sedentary agriculturalists of the Region of Gao in Mali. The results show that the nutritional status of both populations stands below the reference population; the prevalence of emaciation (Z-score less than or equal to -2 standard deviations) is significantly higher among the agriculturalists than among the pastoralists (34% and 9% respectively). The results stress the usefulness of functional classification as a tool for identifying vulnerable groups in the context of nutritional aid programs.
A 5-year-old boy had a nodular erythema, elongated and thickened fingers, and emaciation. His condition was a rare congenital disease inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Eleven cases have been previously reported in the Japanese literature. The onset is early in childhood, and nodular erythema is an essential and initial finding. Growth retardation and emaciation progress slowly with age. The characteristic clinical features include large eyes, nose, lips, and ears, disproportionately long and thick fingers, and the loss of adipose tissue from the upper half of the body. Cardiomegaly and hypertrophy of the periosteum of the phalanges have been described in some cases.
A 10-month-old boy with the clinical features of the diencephalic syndrome of emaciation due to a suprasellar spongioblastoma is described. The patient showed high basal levels of growth hormone (GH greater than 80 muU/ml on several occasions). In addition, elevated concentration of plasma testosterone (125.5 ng/100ml) was combined with a relatively high LH-increase to LHRH (45.6 mU/ml). After completion of irradiation basal GH-levels had been normalized, and GH responses to insulin induced hypoglycemia (IIH) and propranolol-glucagon (PG) were adequate. Complete clinical remission of emaciation occurred soon after radiation therapy and went parallel with the normalization of GH-regulation.
Anorexia and emaciation are symptoms which can be found in many diseases either singly or in combination with other unspecific clinical signs such as diarrhea and vomiting. Therefore accurately assessing the medical history, performing a thorough clinical examination and carrying out laboratory tests are all necessary steps in establishing a diagnosis. Further specific examinations such as radiography, ultrasonography or endoscopy may also have to be performed. Since anorexia and emaciation can result in severe consequences for the organism, establishing a definitive diagnosis is important to enable the appropriate therapy to be applied without delay.
We studied the effects of protein-energy malnutrition on the liver morphology of rats as compared to animal emaciation and to reduction in size of the organs not irrigated by splanchnic blood such as kidneys and spleen. The animals were divided into two groups, one of them fed ad libitum rate (N = 10) and the other (N = 14) receiving water but no food for 7 days, and the changes in animal weight, liver, kidney and spleen mass were determined. DNA and the protein/DNA ratio, as well as hepatocyte size, were determined in liver tissue. The liver decreased in mass (27.14%) at a significantly higher proportion (p < 0.05) when compared to body emaciation (19.22%). Similar to the reduction in body weight, the masses of kidneys and spleen were reduced by 18.68% and 24.28%, respectively. The reduction in liver mass occurred due to hypoplasia and atrophy, i.e., a decrease in hepatocyte number and size, respectively. We conclude that there is a preferential consumption of liver protein in protein-energy malnutrition which is suggested to result from the additive action of the effects of overall consumption of organic reserves due to malnutrition proper and to the reduction of the hepatotrophic stimulus.