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Biomedical subjects

J J Vitale

Publications and source records attributed to J J Vitale.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Effects of oral soy phosphatidylcholine on phagocytosis, arachidonate concentrations, and killing by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

A dietary supplement of linoleic acid (LA) as soy phosphatidylcholine (PC) or as triglyceride on polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) functions, arachidonate (AA) concentrations, AA release, and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) generation was studied in normal adults. Study 1: Eight subjects were fed PC (27 g) or placebo for 3 d in a blinded crossover experiment with PMNL assays at baseline and 4, 7, and 14 d. Study 2: Subjects were fed equal quantities of LA as PC (18 g, n = 8), safflower (SF, n = 4), or soybean oil (SY, n = 4) with PMNL assays at baseline and 48 h. Study 1: PC increased PMNL phagocytosis and killing of Candida albicans twofold (P less than 0.001) and PMNL phospholipid AA content threefold (P less than 0.001); AA release after Candida albicans stimulation increased 5.3-fold, correlating with PMNL killing (r = 0.932) and phagocytosis (r = 0.872). Study 2: PC, but not SF or SY, produced changes similar to those of study 1. With PMNL exposure to calcium ionophore A23187 or N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, PC increased LTB4 generation. Phospholipid LA, in contrast to triglyceride LA, enhanced PMNL phospholipid AA, phagocytosis, and killing.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Vitamin A supplementation improves macrophage function and bacterial clearance during experimental salmonella infection.

The effects of additional but nontoxic amounts of vitamin A on susceptibility to salmonella infection was studied by comparing rates of bacterial clearance and phagocytosis. Forty-eight male Lewis rats were divided into a treatment group receiving a total of 6000 units of vitamin A palmitate weekly for 5 weeks and a control group was given an equal volume of saline. After completion of the treatment regimen, one-half from each group were infected intraperitoneally with 10(5) Salmonella typhimurium; the other half received intraperitoneal injection of saline. At this time no differences in weight gain were noted and all animals were sacrificed within 2 weeks. At 72 hr after bacterial challenge, all saline-treated control animals displayed bacteremia. Cultures of liver and splenic homogenates were positive in 89 and 100% of infected control animals vs 0 and 44% for treated animals during the first week of infection. Kupffer cell, peritoneal, and splenic macrophages of the vitamin A-treated group had greater phagocytic activity than controls as assessed by the percentage of cells ingesting yeast particles and by the number of particles ingested (phagocytic index). These results suggest that vitamin A in moderate amounts may benefit the host's response to infection by enhancing phagocytic cell function.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The effect of alcohol intoxication on inflammation of the cornea.

New Zealand albino rabbits received daily intraperitoneal injections of alcohol (ethyl alcohol), 1.6 g/kg and the effect of short-term (three days) and long-term (six weeks) administration on corneal inflammation was studied. Both regimens produced an average peak serum concentration of more than 0.200 g/dL, a level consistent with gross intoxication in the majority of humans. Clinical signs of intoxication were present in all animals, manifested by a gross disturbance of equilibrium and gait. Neither regimen produced measurable liver damage. Nonetheless, following both regimens of alcohol administration, significantly fewer polymorphonuclear leukocytes invaded the corneas of animals receiving alcohol than invaded the corneas of simultaneously run controls receiving intraperitoneal saline. These data provide a mechanism to explain why an alcoholic individual might not cope with a corneal infection as well as a nonalcoholic person, an observation long thought to be true clinically.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1985

Newborn sepsis following antepartum group B streptococcal maternal infection in rats.

Group B streptococcus is an important pathogen in man and infection due to this bacteria is responsible for significant mortality and morbidity in neonates. An animal model of neonatal infection caused by group B streptococcus that results from vertical transmission is described. Nine pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats received intraperitoneal inoculation of 10(9)-10(10) colony forming units of group B streptococcus on day 20 or 21 of gestation. Four of nine rats died following inoculation. A total of 51 pups was born to the surviving five mothers. Pups were sacrificed at 4- to 8-h intervals and cultures of blood, brain, liver, and spleen were obtained. Nineteen of 51 pups (37%) had group B streptococcus isolated from blood or tissues within the first 48 h of life. Results suggest that antepartum systemic infection in rats can result in vertical transmission of disease. This animal model can be used to further study the mechanisms of transmission of group B streptococcus and the pathogenesis and treatment of neonatal sepsis caused by this pathogen.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Nutrition in sports medicine.

Strenuous or vigorous exercise does not appear to significantly alter the requirements for any specific nutrient except calories. The major nutritional problem in sports medicine, particularly among the young, will be one of meeting caloric requirements from a variety of foods. As high- or low-energy requirements are met, so will requirements for all other essential nutrients. We should all heed the words of Sir Robert Hutchison (1871-1960), as perhaps the Food and Nutrition Board did. He wrote in the New Castle Medical Journal, vol. 12, 1932, "One swears by whole meal bread, one by sour milk; vegetarianism is the only road to the salvation of some, other insist not only in vegetables alone, but on eating those raw. At one time the only thing that matters is calories; at another time they are crazy about vitamins or about roughage. Scientific truth may be put quite briefly; eat moderately, having an ordinary mixed diet and don't worry." Robert Charles Benchley (1889-1945), an American humorist, critic, and actor, was known to say that when the thought of exercise came upon him, he would lie down until the thought passed over. Clement Richard Attlee (1883-1967), prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, said he owed his long life to resisting all forms of exercise.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

A possible role of iron deficiency in gastric cancer in Colombia.

Through the efforts of Correa, Cuello, Haenszel, Tannenbaum and others it was learned that the incidence of gastric cancer in certain areas of Narino (Colombia) was among the highest in the world. These areas of high risk for gastric cancer were adjacent to an area of substantially lower risk. Gastric biopsies from healthy volunteers residing in the "high risk" area exhibited a greater incidence of superficial gastritis and chronic atrophic gastritis with and without intestinal metaplasia than those from the low risk area. The latter pathological finding is considered to be a precursor lesion to gastric cancer. Volunteers from the "low risk" area as well as individuals from Cali in the coastal region and Cartegena on the coast, also exhibited a similar spectrum of pathology but at a substantially reduced frequency. Natives of both cities were also at lower risk for gastric cancer than inhabitants of Narino. It was found that the water supply of the "high risk" area contained a higher concentration of nitrate than water in the "low risk" area. Correa et al. hypothesized that the high nitrate concentrations of well water contributed to the formation of N-nitroso compounds in the stomachs of these individuals early in life. The occurrence of this putative carcinogen in combination with the abrasive action of dietary grains contributed to a series of mutations in the gastric epithelium progressing through a sequence of pathologic changes, loss of gastric acid and culminating in gastric cancer. In the current report individuals in a Medellin population who were admitted with abdominal complaints and were found to be iron deficient exhibited the same spectrum of gastric pathology described by previous investigators. Superficial gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis and achlorhydria have also been described in association with chronic iron deficiency (and/or associated nutritional defects) per se. The development of these lesions are likely to occur within the first two decades of life when iron requirements are maximal. It is suggested that these changes preceed the development of gastric cancer. Bacterial colonization of the achlorhydric stomach may facilitate nitrate reduction and the formation of a putative carcinogen N-nitroso compound(s) from nitrate in the water supply. Additionally, the effects of chronic iron deficiency on host immune defense may compromise these mechanisms and permit tumor growth with minimal immune intervention.

Achlorhydria↗
PubMed1981

Lipids and immune function.

There is in vitro and in vivo evidence to suggest that dietary lipids play a role in modulating immune function. A review of the current literature on the interrelationships among dietary lipids, blood cholesterol levels, immunosuppression, and tumorigenesis makes for a very strong argument that (a) immunosuppression may be causally related to lymphoproliferative disorders, as well as to tumorigenesis and (b) diets high in polyunsaturated fat, relative to diets high in saturated fat, are more immunosuppressive and are better promotors of tumorigenesis. The effects of dietary fat on immune function seem to be mediated though its component parts, the unsaturated fatty acids, specially linoleic, linolenic, and arachidonic. It is not clear how these components affect immune function. Several studies suggest that one effect is mediated by altering the lipid component of the cell membrane and thus its fluidity; the more fluid the membrane, the less responsive it is. Thus, fluidity of both immune cells and those to be destroyed or protected may be affected. The effects of saturated as well as unsaturated fatty acids may be mediated by modulating serum lipoprotein levels, prostaglandin metabolism, and cholesterol concentrations and metabolism.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Surface lipid composition in children with protein-calorie malnutrition.

The composition of skin surface lipid has been measured in a group of 21 children with the diagnosis of marasmic-kwashiokor. When compared to the values for healthy children of comparable age, the squalene content was significantly decreased (3.1% +/- 3.2% versus 9.8% +/- 3.6%) and the squalene/wax ester ratio was also significantly decreased (0.57 +/- 0.55 versus 2.13 +/- 0.91). Measurements of skin surface lipid also were made in five of these children after treatment. The altered values reverted towards normal. Since changes in the squalene content and the squalene/wax ester ratio of skin surface lipid can be correlated with other biochemical changes of protein-calorie malnutrition, the analysis of surface lipid, a procedure that is both convenient and non-invasive, can be of use in determining the nutritional status in field studies of malnourished subjects.

Child↗
PubMed1977

The impact of infection on vitamin metabolism: an unexplored area.

Very little work has been done to answer the question: What is the effect of an infectious process on vitamin metabolism? The few studies that have been done would indicate that in the acute phase of an infection there is a redistribution of vitamins as well as other nutrients; these changes can be interpreted as indicating an adaptive and perhaps beneficial response of the host in meeting the challenges imposed by the infectious agent. It is accepted that chronic infection may lead to nutrient depletion, but it is not clear that in the normal healthy individual the administration of vitamins during an acute infections is of any benefit. One can certainly argue that during the infectious process the administration of vitamins and perhaps other nutrients could conceivably afford some protection were the infectious process to continue for some time. This raises other questions concerning the effects of chronic infection and whether or not they occur in well or malnourished individuals.

Acute Disease↗