Rats screened for voluntary ethanol intake (high, medium, and low ethanol-preferring rats and non-ethanol-exposed controls) were given acute immobilization stress either immediately following the ethanol screening procedure, or after a 20 day period without access to ethanol. Among animals examined for stress responses immediately after ethanol screening, it was observed that water-only control rats developed significantly less frequent and less severe gastric stress ulcers than rats in all ethanol-exposed groups. This result suggests that ethanol, stress and routine handling may have contributed to ulcer formation in these animals. In contrast, among rats tested for stress responses after 20 days without ethanol, it was observed that the high ethanol-preferring animals showed less severe stress ulcers. These results indicate that among high ethanol-consuming animals, the presence of ethanol enhances ulcer severity, while prior experience with ethanol consumption does not appear to predispose rats to exacerbated stress gastric pathology.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sitting height, fat-free mass and body fat as reference variables for lung function in healthy British children: comparison with stature.

The ventilatory capacity, total lung capacity and transfer factor with their respective subdivisions have been measured on 254 healthy British boy and girl twins aged 8-16 yrs. The logarithmic regression relationships of lung function on stature have been compared with those on sitting height and on stature plus indices of body muscle and fat. The regressions on stature and on sitting height describe the results with similar precision, but stature is marginally better; either index may be used as the reference variable. For the description of inspiratory capacity and of all indices which include this volume (e.g. vital capacity, total lung capacity and transfer factor), additional precision is secured by adding to the regression equation on stature a term for fat-free mass or body mass divided by the square of the stature; for the description of functional residual capacity, the inclusion of a term for % body fat similarly reduces the variance about the regression equation. The difference in lung function between boys and girls is smaller when the function is related to stature than to sitting height. It is further reduced when fat-free mass/sature and % body fat are also included in the prediction equations. The equations may be used to obtain reference values for indices of lung function in similar subjects.

Adipose Tissue↗