The effects of fetal alcohol exposure on sustained attention in the preschool years were investigated in a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged urban children. The 245 children examined were the 4-year 10-month-old follow-up cohort of a prospective study begun while their mothers were pregnant. Sustained attention was assessed by an automated, computer-administered vigilance task. Indices of fetal alcohol exposure included three measures of maternal drinking and two early indicators of fetal alcohol damage. The data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate regression techniques, both with and without adjustment for covariates. None of the analyses supported the hypothesis that fetal alcohol exposure adversely affects sustained attention performance in preschool children. We infer that, if there is an effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on vigilance task performance, that effect is small.

Arousal↗

PubMedDate not supplied

alpha-Ketoglutarate regulation of glutamine transport and deamidation in renal mitochondria.

alpha-Ketoglutarate (KG) is a potent inhibitor of renal mitochondrial glutamine transport and deamidation at physiological concentrations. The concentration-inhibition relationship observed between KG and mitochondrial glutamine transport and deamidation indicates that changes in renal KG concentration occurring during alterations in acid-base balance would have significant effects on mitochondrial ammonia production in vivo. A rapid-mixing, rapid-filtration method was developed to measure the effects of KG on initial rates of mitochondrial glutamine transport. Transport was linear for only a few seconds and approached steady-state conditions by 30 seconds. KG (0.3 mM) raised the glutamine transport Km approximately two-fold. We propose that KG may play a major regulatory role in the early adaptation of renal ammonia production to acidosis.

Acid-Base Equilibrium↗