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L Eriksen

Publications and source records attributed to L Eriksen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

[Iron requirements and iron balance during pregnancy. Is iron supplementation needed for pregnant women?].

Among fertile, nonpregnant, Danish women, 33% have absent or reduced iron stores; 22% have serum ferritin values above 70 micrograms/l, i.e., iron reserves of more than 530 mg, corresponding to the net iron losses during a normal pregnancy. During pregnancy, the demands for absorbed iron increase from 0.8 to 7.5 mg/day. Controlled studies show that iron-treated pregnant women have higher serum ferritin levels, i.e., larger iron stores, and higher haemoglobin levels than placebo-treated women. A supplement of 66 mg ferrous iron daily from the beginning of the 2nd trimester prevents iron deficiency anaemia. In Denmark, general iron prophylaxis with 60-70 mg ferrous iron daily from 20 weeks of gestation is recommended by the health authorities.

Anemia, Iron-Deficiency↗

Comparison of methods for recovery of Ascaris suum larvae from tissues of mice.

Experiments were undertaken to compare procedures for isolating Ascaris suum from mice. A standardised intragastric procedure for inoculation of A. suum eggs, which had a very low interdose variation (S.D. = 6.2% of mean inoculation dose), was developed. There was no significant difference in the number of larvae recovered from the large intestine 4 h post inoculation (p.i.) by using either Baermannisation of washed intestinal wall or submucosal scrapings. In contrast, a significantly higher recovery of larvae was achieved by incubating the intestines vertically in a cylindrical saline-filled funnel. An agar-gel method was used to recover larvae from mucosal scrapings; however, the number of larvae recovered was the lowest of the methods tried. It was found that a significant increase in larval recovery from the liver at 24 h p.i. resulted when the liver was pressed through a garlic press, rather than by using homogenisation. For lung recovery, the highest recovery of larvae (at day 8 p.i.) was obtained by disintegration of tissue with a pair of scissors and incorporating the tissue into agar-gel. The methods presented in this study may be useful for investigation of the histology, morphology and molecular biology of the early of A. suum.

Animals↗

Schistosoma japonicum and Trichuris suis infections in pigs fed diets with high and low protein.

The aim of the study was to measure the impact of Schistosoma japonicum and Trichuris suis infections in young growing pigs fed low- or high-protein diets. Thirty-two pigs. 6-10 weeks old, were randomly allocated to 2 groups receiving either a high- or a low-protein diet. After 11 weeks half of the pigs from each group were infected with 1500 S. japonicum cercariae and 4000 T. suis eggs. The weight of the pigs was measured throughout the study, and blood and faecal samples were collected every second week from the time of infection. At the time of infection the low-protein pigs had significantly lower mean body weights, haemoglobin and albumin levels compared with the high-protein pigs, and this pattern continued throughout the study. The serum albumin concentration was further significantly reduced in the infected low-protein pigs compared to the non-infected low-protein pigs. Significantly more S. japonicum worms as well as faecal and tissue eggs were found in the low-protein pigs compared with the high-protein pigs. No differences between the 2 diet groups were observed in T. suis establishment rates or faecal egg excretion. We conclude that this low-protein diet increased the establishment rates of S. japonicum, favoured larger deposits of S. japonicum eggs in the liver and faecal egg excretion, reduced weight gains and caused anaemia and hypoalbuminaemia in young growing pigs as compared with a high-protein diet.

Animals↗

Sex-manipulated Ascaris suum infections in pigs: implications for reproduction.

In spite of the vast distribution and considerable impact on human and animal health of Ascaris suum and A. lumbricoides, little is known of the sexual biology and reproductive capacity of these intestinal nematodes. By oral transfer of adult female worms to previously parasite-naive pigs we show that in the absence of males the egg production ceases after 2-3 weeks. Such females readily resume egg production a few days after oral transfer of male worms. These observations throw light on an important aspect of Ascaris biology, but also pave the way for possible experimental interbreeding between the human and pig Ascaris species.

Animals↗

Experimental Ascaris suum infection in the pig: worm population kinetics following single inoculations with three doses of infective eggs.

To study population kinetics during primary Ascaris suum infections, 3 groups of 52 pigs each were inoculated with 100, 1000, or 10,000 infective eggs. In all groups, the majority of larvae was found in the liver on day 3 post inoculation (p.i.) and in the lungs on day 7 p.i. Liver white spots, caused by migrating larvae, were most numerous at day 7 p.i., whereafter they gradually healed, and only low numbers of granulation-tissue type white spots and lymphonodular white spots persisted at days 21-56 p.i. Independent of dose level, 47-58% of the inoculated eggs were recovered as larvae in the small intestine on day 10 p.i., but most larvae were eliminated at days 17-21 p.i. This elimination started earlier and removed a higher percentage of the worms with increasing inoculation dose, resulting in small strongly aggregated worm populations by day 28 p.i. (k of the negative binomial distribution was low: 0.2-0.4) without significant differences between groups. Thus, overdispersion, which is a characteristic of both porcine and human ascarosis, is found here under experimental conditions where aggregation factors like host behaviour, transmission rate, host status etc have been partly or totally controlled.

Animals↗

Ascaris suum: a revision of its early migratory path and implications for human ascariasis.

During the course of carrying out studies on the role of intestinal immunity in blocking the migration of larval Ascaris suum in the pig, it was discovered that the prevailing understanding of larval penetration sites was at variance with our observations. Therefore, a detailed investigation of the migration of A. suum 1.2 larvae through the intestine was initiated. The results demonstrate that the 1.2 larvae invade almost exclusively the wall of the pig cecum and colon and not the small intestine as is generally believed. The larvae were recovered from the mucosa of the cecum and colon as early as 3 hr postinoculation (PI) with infective eggs and were recovered from the liver by 6 hr PI. The maximal recovery of larvae (total larvae and larval/g of mucosa) from the intestinal mucosa occurred between 6 and 12 hr PI; by 24 hr PI, virtually all of the larvae had disappeared from the mucosa. These observations correct a common misunderstanding of this aspect of the life cycle of A. suum in the pig, and they raise 2 issues related to the biology and pathogenesis of Ascaris in humans. What is the actual migratory and development behavior of Ascaris lumbricoides and A. suum in humans and the potential risk for liver lesions? Most authors, in describing the life cycle of A. lumbricoides, either ignore or discount a possible obligatory liver stage of development, and, consequently, the potential for lesion formation similar to that which occurs in pigs infected with A. suum. This issue takes on added importance with the growing evidence that A. suum is an important zoonoses.

Animals↗

Improved method for the recovery of Ascarus suum larvae from pig intestinal mucosa.

In the course of a comprehensive study on the population biology of Ascaris suum, it became necessary to determine quantitatively the migration of the larvae (L2) through the pig intestine. Because no satisfactory methods for recovering these larvae from the intestinal mucosa were apparently available in the literature, we undertook the development of such a procedure. Direct Baermannization of the intestine proved inadequate, so a series of studies was undertaken to find a method to solubilize the mucosa and free the larvae. Both pepsin digestion and mucus reduction with N-acetyl cysteine were evaluated. The highest recovery rates were obtained with short-term pepsin digestion (45-90 min), followed by a specific settling and washing procedure. A third alternative, migration of larvae out of agar-gel, was also tested. Although the recovery efficiency was low (10% of pepsin digestion), the larvae recovered were clean, with good motility. The agar-gel procedure could be useful when L2 larvae are needed for other purposes, such as antigen preparation or cultivation.

Acetylcysteine↗

Recovery of Schistosoma japonicum from experimentally infected pigs by perfusion of liver and mesenteric veins.

An optimized procedure for perfusion of pigs infected with Schistosoma japonicum was developed. The technique involves insertion of a perfusion influx tube into the thoracic descending aorta, clamping vessels to parts of the body which did not need to be perfused (the kidneys, hind legs, etc.) and placing a collection tube directly into the portal vein. In addition, the clamping technique allows for separate perfusion of the liver and intestinal veins. The perfusion medium was a sodium citrate buffer (40 degrees C) to which the vasodilator sodium nitroprusside was added. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted to investigate if the perfusion efficiency, measured by total worm recovery, could be increased if praziquantel was administered prior to perfusion. Twelve pigs were each infected with 1000 S. japonicum cercariae and their schistosomes were collected 11 weeks later by separate perfusion of the liver and intestinal veins. Six of these pigs were treated orally with praziquantel one hour before perfusion. In general, the vessels of the livers and intestines of all pigs were well perfused, judging by the resulting pale colour of the tissues. Worms from praziquantel treated pigs were collected within 5 min of perfusion as opposed to approximately 20 min in the non-treated pigs. More worms were collected from the livers of the praziquantel treated pigs, indicating a hepatic shift of schistosomes from the intestinal mesenteries. However, comparable numbers of worms were retained in the mesenteric veins following perfusion in the 2 groups, indicating that manual recovery of schistosomes from the intestinal mesenteries is necessary in addition to perfusion for obtaining the total worm counts. Another experiment was conducted to determine if the intensity and/or duration of infection had an effect on the number of worms collected by the perfusion technique. Seventy-two pigs were allocated into 3 groups of 24 pigs each, which were infected with either 100, 500 or 2000 cercariae per pig. The 3 groups were further divided into 4 subgroups of 6 pigs each which were perfused with our selective technique at 4, 11, 17 or 24 weeks post infection, respectively. All of the pigs received an oral praziquantel treatment prior to perfusion. The results indicated that increasing intensities and/or duration of infection resulted in trapping of schistosomes in intravascular inflammatory reactions which made it more difficult to collect the adult schistosomes by perfusion.

Animals↗

Use of an agar-gel technique for large scale application to recover Ascaris suum larvae from intestinal contents of pigs.

Four groups each of 3 pigs were inoculated with Ascaris suum eggs. Pigs in groups 1 and 3 were inoculated with 1000 eggs, and pigs in groups 2 and 4 with 10,000 eggs. On day 10 and 21 post-inoculation (p.i.), respectively, groups 1 + 2 and 3 + 4 were slaughtered, and the contents from the small intestines collected. The contents were mixed with agar to a final concentration of 1% agar and allowed to sediment. The larvae were allowed to migrate from the agar-gel into 38 degrees C 0.9% saline overnight, and were then collected on a sieve (20 microns mesh) and counted. The larvae retained in the agar-gel were counted after pouring the melted agar through a sieve (20 microns mesh). The results showed that more than 97% of the larvae migrated out of the agar-gel and were available for counting in an almost clean suspension. The inoculation dose level did not significantly affect the recovery percentage, neither did the larval stage (10 or 21 days old larvae). The variation in the time interval from slaughtering to start of incubation (interval 57-155 min) did not significantly affect the recovery percentage.

Agar↗

Prevalence of eating disorders among Norwegian women and men in a psychiatric outpatient unit.

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of the study was to establish lifetime and point prevalence of different eating disorders in a psychiatric outpatient population of both men and women. METHOD: A questionnaire was sent out to 364 patients referred to a psychiatric outpatient department. Of these questionnaires, 234 (64.3%) were completed and returned. Patient questionnaires were analyzed to assess the prevalence for different groups of eating disorders according to DSM-III-R criteria. RESULTS: In women there was a lifetime prevalence of 5.2% of anorexia nervosa (AN), 16.1% bulimia nervosa (BN), 6.5% binge eating disorder (BED), and 11.0% eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS), in total 38.7%. The point prevalence was 1.9% AN, 5.2% BN, 3.2% BED, nd 8.4% EDNOS, in total 18.7%. The lifetime prevalence in men was 0% AN, 10.7% BN, 6.7% BED, and 4.0% EDNOS, in total 21.3%. Point prevalence was found to be 0% AN, 2.7% BN, 5.3% BED, and 6.7% EDNOS, in total 14.7%. Staff information yielded substantially lower rates of eating disorders among these patients. There was a significantly higher rate of eating disorders in the close family of eating-disordered patients compared to the patient group without such a disorder. DISCUSSION: The results support earlier studies indicating that younger patients have more eating disorders. The men showed frequencies of BN and BED at the same level as women, but the frequency of EDNOS was lower, and there were no cases of AN.

Adult↗

Worm establishment and egg production of Schistosoma japonicum in pigs infected by percutaneous methods or intramuscular injection.

Worm establishment and egg production were compared in Landrace/Yorkshire crossbred pigs infected with Schistosoma japonicum using 3 different infection techniques. S. japonicum worm establishment and overall egg production following intramuscular injection of cercariae suspended in Iscove's medium exceeded that in pigs infected by the leg immersion or the coverslip percutaneous technique. However, the egg production per mature female was similar for all three infection methods. The results support the use of intramuscular injection of medium-suspended cercariae as an effective, safe, rapid and convenient infection method for studies on the population biology of S. japonicum in pigs when dermal cercarial penetration is not required.

Animals↗

Recovery of Oesophagostomum dentatum from pigs by isolation of parasites migrating from large intestinal contents embedded in agar-gel.

Four groups with three pigs in each group were inoculated with Oesophagostomum dentatum larvae (L3 larvae). Groups 1 and 3 were inoculated with 20,000 larvae, and Groups 2 and 4 with 200,000 larvae. On Days 11 and 34, respectively, Groups 1 and 2 and Groups 3 and 4 were slaughtered, and the contents from the large intestines collected. Subsamples of intestinal contents were mixed with agar to a final concentration of 1% agar and allowed to set. The worms were allowed to migrate from the agar-gel into 38 degrees C 0.9% saline overnight. Then the worms were collected on a sieve (38 microns mesh) and counted. The worms retained in the agar-gel were counted after pouring the melted agar through a sieve (38 microns mesh). The results showed that more than 95% of the worms migrated out of the agar-gel, and subsequently were available for counting in an almost clean suspension. Additionally the method yielded a high worm recovery; all stages were recovered. The recovery percentage was not significantly affected by either the dose of parasites or the time interval from slaughtering to start of incubation (37-128 min).

Agar↗

Comparison of two methods for recovering migrating Ascaris suum larvae from the liver and lungs of pigs.

Nine groups of 5 pigs were inoculated with Ascaris suum eggs on day 0. Groups 1, 2, and 3 were inoculated with 100 eggs, groups 4, 5, and 6 with 1,000 eggs, and groups 7, 8, and 9 with 10,000 eggs. On day 3, groups 1, 4, and 7 were slaughtered, on day 7 groups 2, 5, and 8, and on day 10 groups 3, 6, and 9. The liver (days 3 and 7) and lungs (days 3, 7, and 10) were removed and 2, 25% samples of both organs were collected. Larvae were recovered from 1 sample by the Baermann method and from the other by an agar-gel method. Overall there were no significant differences in the liver larval recovery between the 2 methods. The use of the agar-gel method resulted in a very clean suspension of larvae and thereby reduced the sample counting time by a factor of 5-10 compared to the Baermann method. With both methods larval recovery from the lungs resulted in a clean larval suspension that was easy to count, and there were overall no significant differences between the 2 methods, although there was a tendency toward the Baermann method recovering more larvae from the lungs than the agar-gel method. The tissue sample dry weight did not significantly influence larval recovery by the agar-gel method, and the time interval from slaughtering to start of incubation on day 3 (interval 51-92 min), day 7 (interval 37-114 min), and day 10 (interval 50-129 min) had no significant effect on recovery by either method.

Agar↗

Experimental transfer of Ascaris suum from donor pigs to helminth naive pigs.

The difficulties in experimentally establishing patent intestinal infections with the pig large roundworm Ascaris suum make transfer of adult or larval stages a potentially important method of inducing this infection. Adult worms and 10-day-old larvae were transferred by stomach tube to untreated pigs and pigs treated with the gastric acid pump inhibitor omeprazole, as well as surgically directly into the small intestine of pigs. Transfer of adult worms resulted in patent infections with comparable worm survival rates in all 3 recipient groups but with a nonsignificant decrease in egg production after transfer to untreated pigs. Thus, it is possible with oral transfer of adult worms to achieve infections with more or less known numbers and sexes of the parasites, as well as producing patent infections in hosts that have never experienced a hepato-tracheal migration. Whereas the orally transferred 10-day-old L3/L4 larvae did not establish well, surgical transfer of larvae to helminth-naive recipient pigs resulted in high recovery rates 1 wk after transfer in 3 out of 5 pigs.

Animals↗

An epidemiological study of eating disorders in Norwegian psychiatric institutions.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to establish the prevalence of eating disorders in psychiatric patients. METHOD: The total inpatient (n = 8,942) and outpatient (n = 10,125) Norwegian psychiatric population was investigated with a staff-report questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of eating disorders in the inpatient population was 3.8% for women and 1.6% for men. In the outpatient population, the differentiated diagnoses anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and the comorbidity of AN+BN was 5.7%, 7.3%, and 1.6% for women, and 0.8%, 0.7%, and 0.3% for men (this could be reduced to AN and BN prevalences of 7.3% and 8.9% for women and 1.0% and 1.0% for men). DISCUSSION: The level of the prevalence figures is in the expected area, thus the present study confirms earlier studies with smaller psychiatric populations.

Adult↗

Experimental transfer of adult Oesophagostomum dentatum from donor to helminth naive recipient pigs: a methodological study.

This study was carried out to compare potential methods of transplanting adult Oesophagostomum dentatum from experimentally infected donor pigs to helminth naive recipient pigs. The following methods were each tested in five pigs: A. Transfer of worms by stomach tube to the gastric ventricle of pigs per os pretreated with 0.5 mg/kg cisapride to increase gastrointestinal peristalsis; B. Transfer by stomach tube to the gastric ventricle of pigs per os pre-treated with cisapride (0.5 mg/kg) and omeprazol 20 mg which blocks hydrochloric acid secretion; C. Surgical transfer of worms to caecum of pigs. Worms for transplantation to pigs were obtained after slaughter of experimentally infected donor pigs and following isolation from the contents of the large intestine, using an agar gel migration technique. A mean of 1054 nematodes were transferred into each recipient pig within 2 hours. Procedures A and B resulted in establishment rates corresponding to only 0.5% and 7.6% of the transferred worms. In contrast, surgical transfer allowed 74.2% of the transplanted worms to be established. In all groups the transplanted worms migrated to the normal predilection site, i.e. the middle part of the large intestine. More female than male worms established in all groups. It was concluded from this study that surgical transfer was the most reliable of the methods tested for experimental establishment of adult O. dentatum in helminth naive pigs.

Animals↗

[3H]-L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate labels a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR4a.

1. The ligand binding site of subtype mGluR4a of the metabotropic glutamate receptor family was characterized by using [3H]-L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate ([3H]-L-AP4) binding. 2. Specific [3H]-L-AP4 binding to membranes prepared from baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells transfected with a vector encoding mGluR4a accounted for 60-70% of the total binding whereas no specific binding of [3H]-L-AP4 was observed to membranes prepared from BHK cells expressing the vector only. 3. Specific binding of [3H]-L-AP4 to mGluR4a was detectable at 0 degree C, was saturated with 10 min and enhanced by Cl(-)-ions but not by divalent cations (Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+). 4. [3H]-L-AP4 binding showed a maximal binding density (Bmax) of 3.0 +/- 0.5 pmol mg-1 protein and an affinity (KD) of 441 nM. A modest decrease in affinity was observed in the presence of 0.1 mM guanosine-5'-O-(3-thio)trisphosphate-gamma-S, the KD being 761 nM and the Bmax 3.4 +/- 0.6 pmol mg-1 protein. 5. The following rank order of affinity for mGluR4a was observed: L-AP4 = L-serine-O-phosphate > glutamate = (2S,1S,2S)-2-(carboxycyclopropyl)-glycine > 1-amino-3-(phosphonomethylene)cyclobitanecar-boxylate > > (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate = quisqualate > ibotenate. 6. A highly significant correlation was observed between the potencies of the compounds to inhibit forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP-formation in BHK cells expressing mGluR4a and the affinity for displacement of [3H]-L-AP4 binding from mGluR4a suggesting that this binding site is functionally relevant. 7. In conclusion, [3H]-L-AP4 is a suitable radioligand for characterizing mGluR4a when expressed in BHK cells. Interestingly, a significant correlation was found between the ability of various compounds to displace [3H]-L-AP4 binding from mGluR4a and the previously observed potencies for inhibition of synaptic transmission via L-AP4 sensitive glutamatergic pathways. These data support the hypothesis that the L-AP4 receptor is contained within the mGluR family.

Aminobutyrates↗