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Biomedical subjects

H Rico

Publications and source records attributed to H Rico.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Body composition in children and Tanner's stages: a study with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.

Total body bone mineral content (TBBM), body fat content (BF), and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured in 154 children using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Total body calcium level (TBCa) was calculated from TBBM. Children were divided into groups according to Tanner's stages 1, 2, 4, and 5. Children in stage 3 were not included in the study in order to better differentiate between prepubertal and postpubertal individuals. We did not find differences in TBBM, TBCa, BF, and FFM between Tanner's stages 1 and 2 or between sexes. TBBM and TBCa in stages 4 and 5 were lower in girls than in boys (P < .001 and P < .01, respectively); no differences were observed between girls of both groups, although boys showed significant differences (P < .05). FFM for both sexes was lower in stages 1 and 2 than in stages 4 and 5. Girls showed lower FFM (P < .001) than boys in stages 4 and 5; FFM was higher in boys in stage 5 than in those in stage 4 (P < .005), and the same was true for girls (P < .002). Boys in stage 4 had less BF than girls (P < .005), and the same was true for stage 5 (P < .001). Girls in stages 4 and 5 had greater BF than those in stages 1 and 2 (P < .001). These differences suggest that as boys go through puberty, both TBBM and FFM continue to increase, while in girls only BF and FFM increase. These data indicate clear sex differences in somatic postpubertal development.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1993

Four-compartment model of body composition of normal elderly women.

A group of 186 apparently normal women was divided into three age groups (average ages 65.3 +/- 4.4, 74.7 +/- 5.5, and 80.9 +/- 4.2 years, respectively) and their body composition was studied using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The fat, fat-free, and mineral components were quantitated, and the fat-free compartment was calculated to define a four-compartment model of body composition (fat, fat-free, mineral, and water). Fat decreases with age, as shown by the comparison of the group whose average age was 75 years with the 65-year-old group (p < 0.01) and 80-year-old group (p < 0.005). Soft-tissue mass was greater in the 80-year-old group (p < 0.025) than in the 75-year-old group. Water was lower in the two older groups (p < 0.02 and p < 0.005, respectively), and the mineral component showed no differences. The decreased fat, increased soft tissues, and absence of changes in the mineral component may be related to an improvement in habits and lifestyle in recent years.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1993

Body composition in postpubertal boy cyclists.

Twenty-two young male cyclists aged 15 to 19 years (mean 16.2 +/- 0.4 years) were studied in order to assess the effect of physical training on the body composition of adolescents. The subjects had been training on the road 10 hours per week for over 2 years, and were compared to 22 sedentary normal subjects of similar age range (mean 16.9 +/- 0.3 years). Food and calcium intake was similar in both groups. The total body bone mineral content and total body bone mineral density were lower in the group of cyclist adolescents (p < 0.05 respectively). There were no differences in height, weight, corporal index, percent body fat, fat-free mass and soft tissue mass between groups. Our results suggest that cycling in male adolescents may be associated with a lower bone mass gain. In our opinion, the recommendable nature, quantity and quality of exercise at these ages must be better defined, through additional experimentally-designed studies, in order to prevent negative effects over bone mass gain.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1993

A longitudinal study of total and regional bone mineral content and biochemical markers of bone resorption in patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria on thiazide treatment.

The effect of thiazides on total body bone mineral content and axial (trunk) and peripheral (arms) bone mass was evaluated. First, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to study bone mass in 24 patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria and in 22 healthy subjects. Next, the patients were randomized into a group of 14 patients treated with chlorthalidone (50 mg/day) and a group of 10 untreated patients who served as controls; in these two groups biochemical and bone mass studies were repeated 1 year later. Compared with healthy controls, patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria had less bone mass in total body (p < 0.02), arms (p < 0.001), and trunk (p < 0.05). After 1 year, the group of patients treated with thiazides manifested an increase of bone mass in total body (p < 0.0045), arms, and trunk (p < 0.0001) and a decrease in 24-hour calciuria, urinary calcium/creatinine ratio, and serum tartrate resistant acid phosphatase concentration; the untreated group of patients lost bone mass in all three sites. Under baseline conditions, the groups of treated and untreated patients exhibited a negative linear regression between total body bone mass and both urinary calcium/creatinine (r2 = 0.234; p < 0.001) and serum tartrate resistant acid phosphatase concentration (r2 = 0.399; p < 0.0001). Our results confirm the favorable effect of thiazides on bone mass and provide evidence of enhanced bone remodeling in idiopathic hypercalciuria.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1993

Linkages between macromolecules in Candida albicans cell wall.

Wall mannoproteins can be divided into two major groups depending upon their degree of interaction with the structural network: one type interacts by non-covalent bonds while the second group seems covalently bound to other wall components (intrinsic or structural mannoproteins). Cytological and biochemical studies have shown that mannoproteins are distributed randomly throughout cell wall interacting with glucan, chitin and other mannoproteins. Experimental results obtained using regenerating protoplasts have shown that building of the wall occurs in two steps: during the first one the skeleton of chitin is formed retaining protein molecules by non-covalent bonds. The second steps take place by deposition of glucan molecules that allows incorporation of mannoproteins probably by covalent linkages. Using two monoclonal antibodies, one of them reacting with a mycelial specific antigen and a second one with an epitope found in yeast and mycelial cells, two families of proteins are detected, that are secreted independently. The antigens reacting with both monoclonal antibodies are solubilized from the walls of each morphologic structure forming part of supramolecular structures.

Antibodies, Fungal↗
PubMed1993

Total and regional bone mass values and biochemical markers of bone remodeling in endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: TO measure peripheral, axial, and total bone mass and to assess markers of bone remodeling in women with endometriosis, with the aim of addressing previous reports of diminished peripheral bone mass in these patients. METHODS: Whole body bone densitometry, estradiol (E2) levels, and biochemical bone markers (calcium, phosphorus, total alkaline phosphatase, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, and total proteins) were determined in 28 patients with endometriosis and compared with findings in 33 controls. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups in bone mass at different sites or in biochemical bone markers. We observed a significant negative correlation between tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and E2 levels (P < .001) and with total (P < .001), head (P < .01), and axial (trunk) (P < .001) bone mass. Total alkaline phosphatase did not correlate with any of the indices studied. CONCLUSIONS: Bone mass was not lower in any of the areas studied in women with endometriosis. There was a significant negative correlation of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase with E2 and with total, head, and trunk bone mass.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Rheumatoid arthritis-like deformities in an early 16th-century painting of the Flemish-Dutch school.

Hand deformities resembling those of rheumatoid arthritis have been depicted in a painting by an anonymous artist of the Flemish-Dutch School, mid-15th to early 16th century. The painting is presently in the Escorial Museum near Madrid, Spain. This observation, like other earlier observations of rheumatoid deformities in paintings of the Middle Ages, suggests that rheumatoid arthritis is not a modern disease; it had, indeed, appeared several centuries before Landré-Beauvais' description in 1800.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1992

[The 4-component model of body composition].

BACKGROUND: Given the importance of knowing the corporal composition according to the model of the four components (fat, mineral, fat free and aqueous) the same was calculated in 220 women and 130 men, considered as normal, between the ages of 15 and 49. METHODS: The corporal components were determined with double energy x-ray densitometry with the component corresponding to water being obtained from the fat free component, thereby evaluating the four principal parts of corporal composition. RESULTS: In the men all of the values except those of fat were greater than in the women (p less than 0.001), with the fat in the latter being (p less than 0.001). The values of mineral content demonstrated sexual differences in reaching of the peak of osseous mass and were maintained stable in women up to the age of 49. CONCLUSIONS: With regards to the mineral component, there is a sexual difference in achieving the maximum value. While the fat values in men are super-impossible to those referred in the literature for ther media and with other techniques they are not so in women, in whom superior values are observed leading to reanalysis of how the physical constitution, habits and way of life of women in this country may have repercussions in this sense.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Crush fracture syndrome in senile osteoporosis: a nutritional consequence?

Osteoporosis is a very important age-related health problem. The body's composition changes with age, and these changes are a true reflection of aging and of the individuals's nutritional status. Mineral content changes have been reported in vertebral osteoporosis. Interestingly, enough, there have not been reports on concomitant water, fat, and fat-free mass changes associated with this condition. In this report, changes in the latter parameters are compared between patients with osteoporosis and controls. The four components (water, mineral, fat, and fat-free mass) were found significantly reduced (p less than 0.001) in osteoporosis. Serum albumin and protein mass were also reduced (p less than 0.001).

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Sex differences in the acquisition of total bone mineral mass peak assessed through dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry evaluation of total body bone mineral content (TBBM), total bone mineral density (TBMD), and regional bone mineral content (BMC) (head, trunk, arms, and legs) was carried out in order to assess sex differences of bone in 120 women and 121 men aged 15-29 years. Subjects from both sexes were divided into 5-year groups (15 through 19, 20 through 24, and 25 through 29 years old, respectively). Significantly higher values for TBBM, TBMD, and regional BMC were observed in males compared with females in the 20 to 24 and 25 to 29-year-old groups (P less than 0.001), but not in the group aged 15-19. After adjusting TBBM for lean body mass (LBM), we observed significantly lower values of TBBM/LBM in the males compared with females in all the age groups. A positive and significant correlation was observed between TBBM and age in the males of all the groups (r = 0.624, P less than 0.001), but not in the females. These data suggest that total bone mass peak acquisition takes place earlier in women than in men, leading to more reduced bone mass value, which in turn may be an osteoporosis predisposing factor.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Is pelvic bone mineral content assessed through dual energy X-ray absorptiometry an appropriate anatomical area for bone mass estimation in women?

Bibliographic references seem very controversial regarding the most appropriate anatomical area for bone mass estimation. Since some overlapping in the different bone mass measurements among normal and osteoporotic females has been observed, we have studied the bone mineral content of the pelvic bone through DEXA, and have correlated it with the total body bone mineral content, a highly discriminating measure, in order to observe whether pelvic bone mineral may be a useful measure in bone mass assessment. Pelvic and total body bone mineral values did not decrease until menopause in 104 normal premenopausal females aged 20 to 49 years. On the other hand, these values decreased in normal postmenopausal women (n = 44) aged 50 to 65 years (p < 0.001), with a 16% pelvic bone mineral content and an 11% total body bone mineral content decrease. Osteoporotic females (n = 30), showed lower values for both levels than normal postmenopausal ones (p < 0.001), with a 54% pelvic and a 24% total decrease. A 15% overlap was observed when pelvic values between normal postmenopausal and osteoporotic females were compared. The greater percentage decrease in pelvic BMC compared to total body bone mineral content and the lower overlap observed suggest that the pelvis may be an ideal anatomical area for bone mass evaluations.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Salmon calcitonin reduces vertebral fracture rate in postmenopausal crush fracture syndrome.

The effectiveness of calcitonin on the vertebral fracture rate in postmenopausal osteoporosis was assessed through the skeletal deformity index (SDI) and the new vertebral fracture rate per 100 patient-years in a group of 32 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis treated by us with 100 IU of salmon calcitonin and 500 mg of elemental calcium for 10 consecutive days each month, and in another group of 28 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis treated with 500 mg of elemental calcium only for 10 consecutive days each month. Both groups were age-matched. The follow-up was a retrospective randomized study over 24 months. Thirty of the 32 women of the calcitonin group and 27 of 28 women of the calcium group finished treatment. The SDI was stabilized after six months in the calcitonin group (0.57 +/- 0.13, 0.62 +/- 0.18, 0.63 +/- 0.16 and 0.64 +/- 0.17, at base line, 6, 12 and 24 months respectively). The calcium group showed a significant increase only at 12 months (P less than 0.01) and 24 months (P less than 0.05) (0.61 +/- 0.16, 0.63 +/- 0.16, 0.69 +/- 0.16, and 0.73 +/- 0.15, at base line, 6, 12 and 24 months respectively). At 24 months, the new vertebral fracture rate decreased by 60% (20%, 14% and 8% at 6, 12 and 24 months respectively) in the calcitonin group and increased by 35% (31%, 33% and 42%, at 6, 12 and 24 months respectively) in the calcium group (P less than 0.025). These results show that calcitonin induced a significant reduction in postmenopausal osteoporotic vertebral fractures.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Total and regional bone mineral content in relation to menopause.

Total body bone mineral content (TBBM) and anatomical region bone mineral content (head, trunk and extremities) were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 188 women aged 60 +/- 6 years, of whom 154 were normal and 34 were osteoporotic. Of the 154 normal subjects, 90 were premenopausal (40 aged 44 +/- 3 years and 50 aged 34 +/- 8 years), the remaining 64 being postmenopausal and aged 58 +/- 7 years. There were no TBBM or regional changes in the premenopausal women, whereas there was a significant reduction in bone mineral content in the postmenopausal as compared with the premenopausal women in all regions. The osteoporotic subjects showed a general decrease (P < 0.001) in all measurements which was more marked in the trunk. The rate of TBBM reduction was 16% in the normal postmenopausal women and 29% in the osteoporotic subjects. All the postmenopausal women (both normal and osteoporotic) showed lower TBBM values than those in the Wisconsin trial, similar results being obtained in the case of the premenopausal group. Such differences can only be explained by hardship experienced by these now postmenopausal women during their childhood and adolescence.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Long-term influence of anticonvulsant agents on calcitonin, parathyroid hormone and osteocalcin.

It has been reported that anticonvulsant drugs decrease serum calcitonin; this effect may be dose dependent and/or hypocalcemia dependent. The objective of the present study is to assess such a dependence and to evaluate other parameters in relation to calcitonin. Serum calcitonin, parathyroid hormone and osteocalcin were determined through RIA, and serum calcium, total protein and alkaline phosphatase through an autoanalyzer in 17 patients undergoing long-term treatment with phenytoin and phenobarbital. At the same time, 20 normal subjects were studied and served as controls. In the patients, no changes were observed in calcitonin, parathormone, osteocalcin and calcemia corrected for protein, and there was a statistically significant increase in alkaline phosphatase values (p < 0.001). Calcemia correlated positively with calcitonin (p < 0.01) and negatively with parathormone (p < 0.05). There was no calcitonin correlation with the anticonvulsant dosage or with the total doses ingested. Increased alkaline phosphatase levels in the presence of normal osteocalcin figures suggest a hepatic origin of the former. The fact that there were no calcitonin level changes but a correlation did exist between calcitonin and calcemia leads us to think that any hormonal changes induced by anticonvulsant agents may act indirectly through changes induced in serum calcium.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Characterization of a Schizosaccharomyces pombe morphological mutant altered in the galactomannan content.

In a search for Schizosaccharomyces pombe mutants resistant to the antifungal agent papulacandin B, a morphological mutant was isolated. The mutant is round shaped in contrast to the rod shaped parental strain. This morphological defect segregated as a recessive Mendelian character and was not observed in other papulacandin B resistant mutants belonging to the same complementation group. The mutation mapped in the right arm of S. pombe chromosome III very close to pap1 marker. Mutant cell walls were more susceptible to alkali extraction and Novozyme degradation than those from the wild-type. A specific reduction in the cell wall galactomannan fraction was the only significant difference detected as compared to the wild-type strain. Levels of beta (1,3)-glucan and mannan synthases as well as other enzymic periplasmic mannoproteins were very similar in wild type and mutant strains.

Acid Phosphatase↗