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Biomedical subjects

H Van den Berg

Publications and source records attributed to H Van den Berg.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

A European carotenoid database to assess carotenoid intakes and its use in a five-country comparative study.

A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and carotenoid database with information on alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene and beta-cryptoxanthin was prepared and used to compare the carotenoid intakes in five European countries: UK, Republic of Ireland, Spain, France and The Netherlands. Eighty, age- (25-45 years) and sex-matched volunteers were recruited in each of the five countries. A FFQ and carotenoid database was prepared of the most commonly consumed carotenoid rich foods in the participating countries and the information was used to calculate frequency and intake of carotenoid-rich foods. The median total carotenoid intake based on the sum of the five carotenoids, was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in France (16.1 mg/day) and lower in Spain (9.5 mg/day,) than the other countries, where the average intake was approximately 14 mg/day. Comparison of dietary source of carotenoids showed that carrots were the major source of beta-carotene in all countries except Spain where spinach was most important. Likewise, carrots were also the main source of alpha-carotene. Tomato or tomato products, were the major source of lycopene. Lutein was mainly obtained from peas in Republic of Ireland and the UK, however, spinach was found to be the major source in other countries. In all countries, beta-cryptoxanthin was primarily obtained from citrus fruit. Comparing the data with that from specific European country studies suggests that the FFQ and carotenoid database described in the present paper can be used for comparative dietary intake studies within Europe. The results show that within Europe there are differences in the specific intake of some carotenoids which are related to different foods consumed by people in different countries.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Nutritional and psychological status of young women after a short-term use of a triphasic contraceptive steroid preparation.

The present study was aimed to assess the psychological status of young healthy women after the administration of a triphasic contraceptive steroid preparation for six complete menstrual cycles. Subjects had never used oral contraceptives (OC) and had neither a familial history of depression nor psychological disturbances. OC-induced psychological disturbances were interpreted for years as evidence of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) deficiency. Other nutritional deficiencies, namely in cobalamin, folate and iron, can disturb the functioning of the central nervous system. In addition, a deficiency of any of these nutrients can lead to several anemia-induced symptoms that are highly susceptible to influence the psychological status. For ample evidence, nutritional status was then evaluated in parallel to psychological testing. Blood iron and vitamin levels of interest were found to be adequate and could not have biased the response to a psychological test (MMPI). This study showed that a 6-month Triphasil treatment did not modify significantly the psychological status of subjects. To our knowledge, this is the first psychological study on young never OC-users taking an identical triphasic contraceptive steroid preparation to investigate early psychological side-effects due to OC, at a similar time of the menstrual cycle, when nutritional status was also evaluated.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Triple immunofluorescence staining for prediction of relapse in childhood precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

In this study we describe a fast and sensitive method using three-colour immunofluorescence for the detection of cells with phenotypes that are rare in normal bone marrow (BM) but occur frequently in children with precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. We show that, in the first year after initiation of therapy, in 17/18 patients (10 patients were analysed after first diagnosis and nine patients after first BM relapse; one patient was analysed on both occasions) the percentage of CD10+ CD19+ cells and CD20- CD22+ cells in the CD34+ cell population indicated the likelihood of relapse. A suppression of cells expressing these phenotypes after initiation of therapy was followed by an outgrowth of normal precursor B cells after 12 months. Therefore this early test for impending relapse (which occurred 10-28 months after starting chemotherapy) was only applicable in the first year after beginning the treatment. However, despite this predictive value, comparison of fluorescence data with PCR results obtained from the same BM sample indicated that only a subpopulation of the CD34+ CD10+ CD19+ and CD34+ CD20- CD22+ cells above the determined threshold value represented malignant cells. A large prospective study to confirm the predictive value of this three-colour immunofluorescence assay is warranted.

Burkitt Lymphoma↗
PubMed1996

Follow-up of leucocyte and reticulocyte counts for the prediction of early graft failure after non-HLA-identical BMT in children.

Allogeneic BMT using a non-genotypically HLA-identical donor may be curative for children suffering from lethal haematological diseases, who lack a genotypically HLA-identical donor. Unfortunately, graft failures are often seen, especially after T cell depletion of the graft. We studied whether untimely decreased counts of leucocytes and reticulocytes in peripheral blood might predict graft failure at an early stage. Fifty-five recipients of a non-genotypically HLA-identical BM graft were included in the study; data from these children were compared with those of 77 recipients of a genotypically HLA-identical BM graft. Time-related reference values of peripheral blood leucocyte and reticulocyte counts were established in graft recipients with proven donor-origin recovery after BMT. Graft failure after nonHLA-identical BMT was observed in 16 out of 55 children (29%) and after HLA-identical BMT in one out of 77 (1.3%). With respect to early graft failure, the predictive value of granulocyte numbers falling below the lower limit of the reference values and a rapid decline of reticulocyte numbers after their appearance in peripheral blood was 100% (95% confidence intervals of 83-100% and of 80-100%, respectively). Early immunosuppressive intervention was applied in six patients and was successful in three of them.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Short-term moderate energy restriction does not affect indicators of oxidative stress and genotoxicity in humans.

Restriction of energy intake (ER), without malnutrition of essential nutrients, has repeatedly been demonstrated to increase longevity in rodents. In the antioxidant theory of aging the lack of balance between the generation of free radicals and free radical scavenging was thought to be a main causal agent, in the aging process. From this point of view the antiaging effect induced by ER might be due to the lower rate of free-radical production and related damage induced by a lower metabolic rate. The antiaging effects of ER might also occur in humans. This study explored the effects of a 10-week moderately energy-restricted diet (80% of habitual) in 24 non-obese middle-aged men (16 ER subjects, 8 controls) on resting metabolic rate (RMR) and indicators of the primary antioxidant defense system, oxidative stress and genotoxicity. RMR decreased significantly in both groups, even when adjustments were made for the change in body composition. The increase in blood vitamin C concentration correlated with the increase in urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (80HdG) excretion. The change in urinary 80HdG excretion also correlated with the change in RMR per kg fat-free mass. No differences between groups were found for changes in indicators of genotoxicity, erythrocyte catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity and in plasma vitamin E, A or beta-carotene concentrations. We conclude that 10 weeks of moderate ER did not affect indicators of antioxidative capacity, oxidative stress and genotoxicity of humans. Since subjects were not in energy balance at the end of the study, no conclusions can be made with respect to long-term effects.

8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine↗
PubMed1992

Effect of wheat bran on excretion of radioactively labeled estradiol-17 beta and estrone-glucuronide injected intravenously in male rats.

Urinary and fecal estrogen excretion were studied in male rats fed a non-fiber wheat starch diet (dietary fiber less than 1%; NF group; n = 4), a low-fiber wheat flour diet (dietary fiber 2%; LF group; n = 4) or a high-fiber wheat bran diet (dietary fiber 11.6%; HF group; n = 3). Short-term effects of the experimental diet on estrogen excretion were studied after i.v. injection of 5 microCi (0.185 MBq) of [14C]estradiol-17 beta (E2) into the tail vein of the rats fed the diets for 2 days. After 3 weeks on the experimental diets, the long-term effects were studied after injection of 5 microCi of [14C]E2 and 10 microCi of [3H]estrone-3-glucuronide (E1-gluc). The diet was found to affect estrogen excretion. The short-term effect indicated that rats fed the HF diet excreted a relatively large amount of labeled compounds in the feces during the first day after injection, while rats fed the NF or the LF diets excreted about half that amount over the same period. On the other hand, urinary excretion of labeled compounds was significantly higher in the NF and LF rats. The long-term effect resulted in steeper slopes (P less than 0.05) of the fecal excretion profiles of rats fed the HF diet as compared with rats fed the NF and LF diets, indicating an accelerated fecal excretion of labeled compounds in the HF rats. The kinetic profiles of 14C and 3H radioactivity in blood plasma indicated a fast decrease (t1/2 of less than 2 min) for both [14C]E2 and [3H]E1-gluc. It was concluded that, owing to the short-term effect of wheat bran intake, during the first 24 h after i.v. administration relatively large amounts of radioactively labeled compounds are excreted in feces of rats fed the HF diet. In contrast, excretion is lower in urine of these rats. When the microflora is adapted to the experimental diet the wheat bran diet still results in an accelerated fecal excretion of labeled compounds, which might be attributed to an interruption of the enterohepatic circulation of estrogens. This might result in lowered plasma and/or tissue estrogen levels and hence a decreased exposure of estrogen-sensitive tissue to estrogens, which might decrease risk on mammary (breast) cancer development.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Evolution of sequences encoding the principal neutralization epitope of human immunodeficiency virus 1 is host dependent, rapid, and continuous.

The principal neutralization epitope of human immunodeficiency virus 1 is localized in the third variable (V3) domain of the external envelope and has been shown to bind isolate-specific antibodies. Therefore, the extent of variation within the nucleic acid sequence encoding this epitope was studied in DNA directly obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of six children and their plasma donor. This revealed that the quasi-species distribution of sequences obtained after cloning varied from recipient to recipient and that the distance from the donor sequences increased over time. V3 nucleotide evolution rates averaged 9.5 x 10(-3) per site per year for silent sites and 11.4 x 10(-3) per site per year for nonsilent sites (vs. 9.7 and 9.8 x 10(-3) per site per year for a control region 5' adjacent to the V3 region) and, although individual differences were observed, did not correlate with the serum antigen levels or disease progression. Sequences of both the epitope coding region itself (V3) and the control region upstream diverted more from the donor sequence among children not progressing to AIDS than among children progressing to AIDS. The evolution of V3 sequences is apparently host dependent, rapid, and independent of the level of antigen expression.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

Nutritional status in anorexia nervosa: clinical chemistry, vitamins, iron and zinc.

Routine clinical chemical variables and parameters of the vitamin, iron and zinc status were measured in 20 female patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and in 10 lean and 10 normal weight, healthy, female control subjects. Patients with AN had higher activities of L-gamma-glutamyl transferase (gamma-GT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and a higher concentration of prealbumin in serum and lower leucocyte and lymphocyte counts in blood. For the other routine clinical chemical parameters no significant differences between the groups were observed. AN patients had higher serum vitamin B12 and retinol levels. No significant differences were found for the status parameters of thiamin, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folate, vitamin E and vitamin D. Contradictory results were obtained for the riboflavin status: AN patients had a lower level of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in blood and a lower stimulation ratio of the glutathione reductase activity in erythrocytes (alpha-EGR). Patients with AN had higher serum ferritin concentration and lower total iron binding capacity (TIBC). However, haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Ht) and iron saturation were not significantly different. No significant difference was found in the concentration of zinc in plasma. In spite of the poor intake of nutrients and energy, the results obtained did not indicate an inadequate status of vitamins, iron and zinc in patients with AN.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Vitamin B-6 metabolism in the pregnant rat: effect of progesterone on the (re)distribution in maternal vitamin B-6 stores.

Parameters of vitamin B-6 metabolism were studied in pregnant rats, nonpregnant control rats and progesterone-supplemented ovariectomized rats. Plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) and pyridoxal concentrations in pregnant rats were 20 and 40% of those of nonpregnant rats, respectively. Excretion of 4-pyridoxic acid in the urine in pregnant rats was about 40% of that of nonpregnant rats. Liver PLP content was also lower during pregnancy, but liver pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP), kidney PLP and PMP and muscle PLP contents did not change significantly. Progesterone administration to ovariectomized rats resulted in slightly lower plasma, liver and kidney PLP levels than in intact untreated control rats. Liver and kidney pyridoxal kinase (PK) and pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate oxidase activities were similar in pregnant and nonpregnant rats. Progesterone treatment resulted in a significantly lower PK activity in the kidney of the treated rats than in untreated controls. It is concluded that the pregnancy-induced changes in vitamin B-6 metabolism were unlikely to be related directly to progesterone. However, progesterone may secondarily affect maternal vitamin B-6 stores during pregnancy, by temporary deposition and increased retention of vitamin B-6.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Human milk vitamin content after pasteurisation, storage, or tube feeding.

We investigated the effect of the composition of the storage container, Holder pasteurisation, and conditions during tube feeding on the concentration of selected vitamins in human milk. Though the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and E were not affected, the concentration of several water soluble vitamins decreased. The lower vitamin C concentration of milk stored in polypropylene containers compared with milk stored in glass containers (29%) was not significant. Holder pasteurisation significantly lowered the concentrations of vitamins C (36%), folacin (31%), and B6 (15%). Tube feeding significantly lowered the concentrations of vitamins C (44%) and B6 (19%), and exposure to phototherapy seemed to lower the vitamin C concentration (53%) further. Low birthweight infants have increased vitamin requirements. Vitamin losses in expressed human milk before or during feeding may increase the incidence of vitamin deficiencies in these babies.

Enteral Nutrition↗
PubMed1986

Effect of work load on free and sulfate-conjugated plasma catecholamines, prolactin, and cortisol.

The effects of maximal performance capacity and different work load intensities on the response of free and sulfate-conjugated plasma catecholamines, prolactin (PRL), and cortisol were studied in six healthy male volunteers. In a first experiment, the volunteers had to perform a step-wise incremental bicycle ergometer test to determine the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) and aerobic capacity (VO2 max). The levels of free noradrenaline (NE), adrenaline (Epi), and dopamine (DA) increased considerably, whereas no significant changes for sulfate-conjugated catecholamines, PRL, and cortisol were observed. In a second series of experiments with the same volunteers, the effects of 30 min exercise were studied at a constant work load intensity on 3 different days. Three intensities were used for each of the volunteers: 45%, 60%, and 75% of their aerobic capacity (i.e., below, close to, and above their OBLA). The values obtained for all parameters showed an intensity-dependent rise. The most important changes occurred at work load intensities above the OBLA. At the highest intensity, all parameters except sulfate-conjugated Ne and cortisol showed a significant increase. Although the physiologic parameters reached a steady state during exercise, there were no indications that this was the case with the values of the neuroendocrine parameters. Ten minutes after the exercise, the levels of the free catecholamines had declined considerably, whereas the values of the other parameters were unchanged or showed a further increase.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Limit aesthesiometry.

An aesthesiometer with disposable monofilaments is designed for measuring very small pressures on the corneal surface. This was achieved by using various lengths of a nylon monofilament with diameters of 0.08, 0.10, and 0.12 mm. With these lengths and diameters pressures between 0.1 and 1.0 g/mm2 can be exerted on the corneal surface.

Contact Lenses↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Circadian and circatrigintan rhythms of biogenic amines in premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Circadian and circatrigintan (menstrual) rhythms in biogenic amines were studied in premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Selection of patients and controls was based on assessment of Menstrual Distress Questionnaires (MDQs). Patients showed a clear increase in menstral tension symptoms in the week before menstruation, both during selection and during the study. In the group of control subjects, there was hardly any increase in average MDQ symptoms during the late luteal phase. Diurnal urine and nocturnal urine were collected on days 5, 11, 17, 21, and 25 of the cycle. Blood was sampled from subjects in supine position through an intravenous (iv) catheter the morning after urine collection. Patients showed a higher tryptophan (Trp) and epinephrine (Epi) level in plasma, higher excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) in urine and a larger volume of 24-hr urine. Excretion of norepinephrine (NE) in 24-hr urine showed a linear increase during the cycle, while excretion of dopamine (DA) showed a quadratic pattern, being lowest at day 17. Homovanillic acid (HVA) and MHPG gave cubic patterns, i.e., an increase during the follicular phase, followed by a decrease after ovulation and a subsequent increase in the late luteal phase. Plasma Epi showed a linear decline during the cycle in patients, but not in control subjects. Excretion of NE, Epi, vanilmandelic acid (VMA), and HVA in urine was higher during the day than at night. The results of this study suggest that the metabolism of biogenic amines in patients suffering from PMS differs from that in control subjects, but that, except for plasma Epi, changes do not parallel the actual presence of PMS symptoms.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗