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PubMedDate not supplied

Committee on Natural Toxins and Food Allergens. Marine and freshwater toxins.

There have been major developments this past year in the Marine and Freshwater Toxins topic area (formerly Phycotoxins). These include AOAC approval and inauguration of a new AOAC Presidential Task Force on Marine and Freshwater Toxins to accelerate methods validation, and the appointment of several new Topic Advisors. A joint FAO/IOC/WHO group addressing biotoxins in molluscan bivalves is also relevant to this report and to the new Task Force. The AOAC Presidential Task Force on Marine and Freshwater Toxins is an international group that, in late November 2004, consisted of 90 world experts and stakeholders. Chaired by this General Referee, the group establishes methods priorities based on analytical methods criteria, determines fitness for purpose, identifies and reviews available methodologies, recommends methodologies for validation, and identifies complementary analytical tools. Once appropriate analytical methodology has been identified or developed, the Task Force is able to identify financial and technical resources necessary to validate the methods. The first two formal meetings of the Task Force were held in Bethesda, MD, on May 19, 2004 and in St. Louis, MO, on September 22, 2004. These meetings were held in conjunction with the XI International IUPAC Symposium on Mycotoxins and Phycotoxins and the 118th AOAC INTERNATIONAL Annual Meeting and Exposition, respectively. The Bethesda meeting served to introduce members of the group to the AOAC Community/Task Force model and to discuss objectives, concerns, general workings, and communications. The meeting concluded on an encouraging note, with a commitment from AOAC to help provide financial resources for the review of nonproprietary methods deemed high priority by the Task Force. This development was seen as an important step toward reaching methods validation objectives. The terms of reference for the Task Force were approved by the AOAC Board of Directors in late June, 2004. They described the Task Force membership as composed of voting and nonvoting members, with the voting members consisting of 13 members (12 plus the Chair). Voting members comprise of a balance of government regulators, academics, and industry members. No single agency has more than 2 voting members. Task Force members serve as experts in the field and agree to identify other experts; recommend individuals who can serve on the Task Force and as Chair; develop and prioritize a list of marine and freshwater toxins that need validated methods; assist in identifying existing methods for validation through AOAC validation programs; and recommend to the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Board of Directors policies and procedures necessary to accomplish the mission of the Task Force. They endeavor to actively support the work of the Task Force through garnering of sources of funding (except where prohibited by employer); identifying potential participating laboratories, sample identification and acquisition; and increasing program awareness among stakeholders. They assist AOAC in the identification of study directors and in the development of quality measurement tools by participating in the validation of methods and by identifying venues for members of the Task Group or the community to gather and assist with meeting content. Prior to the September 2004, AOAC Annual Meeting, the Task Force approved a set of Analytical Methods Selection Criteria, which are critical to the mission of the Task Force. They can be found, along with the Terms of Reference, roster of members, and other information, on the Task Force Web site at http://www.aoac.org/marine toxins/task_force.htm. The September 22, 2004 Task Force meeting in St. Louis included discussion of 2 interlaboratory studies, a proprietary kit for domoic acid by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; Biosense Labs AS, Bergen, Norway) and also a nonproprietary liquid chromatography (LC) method for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins by precolumn oxidation (James F. Lawrence, Health Canada). These 2 methods were recommended by the Task Force for review by AOAC in September 2004. The group also discussed future priority directions, aspects of interlaboratory studies and official methods of analysis, other methods validation issues, future meetings, and funding. In addition to the Task Force meeting, 2 subgroup meetings were held. One subgroup addressed strategies to replace the mouse bioassay for brevetoxins with alternative modern methods based on ELISA or LC/mass spectrometry (MS). Brevetoxin metabolites, toxicity issues, and extraction conditions as well as future field studies were addressed in detail. The receptor binding assay (RBA)/saxitoxins subgroup addressed several aspects of the methodology, radiolabeled saxitoxin, and comparisons of mouse bioassay and RBA response. Both subgroups were productive and were seen as very useful by the participants. Task Force attendees generally agreed that subgroups are the most effective means of progressing towards validation of new methods and of ensuring thorough discussions of methods under consideration. By the time of their next meeting (April 2005) at the "Marine and Freshwater Toxins Analysis: 1st Joint Symposium and AOAC Task Force Meeting" in Baiona, Spain, the Task Force will have several well developed new subgroups in the areas of okadaic acid and dinophysis toxins, yessotoxins, domoic acids, and ciguatoxins. Some of the subgroups will hold face-to-face meetings in Spain and others will meet at future symposia or joint meetings. It is likely that training sessions will be associated with multiple Task Force meetings planned for 2005. Details on these meetings can be found on the Task Force Web site. Although the Task Force has experienced rapid growth, the addition of new members to the group, especially industry and government stakeholders, is encouraged. Task Force member Michael Quilliam, NRC Canada, provided the information given below on a joint CODEX group of special relevance to the new Task Force. This group met in late September 2004. For more information, see http://www.who.int/foodsafety/chem/meetings/biotoxin/en/.

Advisory Committees↗

PubMed1992

[The original of the "Tratado de Urología" by Francisco Díaz. Lost during the fire of the Monastery of El Escorial in 1671?].

The publication of the Treaty of Urology of Francisco Díaz towards the end of the sixteenth Century, was a milestone in the History of medicine. The originality and precociousness of his doctrine entailed a true revolution in the genesis of medicosurgical literature, considering that the text constitutes an inspired anticipation to the specialization age. Ever since the last century, all historians and annotators of this work have asked themselves whether there was an earlier edition to that of 1588 since the title "Newly printed treaty ..." invites such a inference. So far, every investigation searching for the original or a copy of the first edition have been in vain. This paper, based on documents and old works from the Archive of Protocols in Madrid, Library of the Royal Palace and Library of El Escorial Monastery, reveals certain data until now unpublished on the destiny of most of the copies belonging to the second edition presented and brings into light old references on which account is given that the original "Treaty of Urology" by Francisco Díaz, considered to be a Sixteenth Century Codex was lost in the fire of the El Escorial Monastery in 1671.

Fires↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Marine and freshwater toxins.

In a very busy and exciting year, 2005 included First Action approval of a much needed official method for paralytic shellfish toxins and multiple international toxin symposia highlighted by groundbreaking research. These are the first-year milestones and activities of the Marine and Freshwater Toxins Task Force and Analytical Community. Inaugurated in 2004 and described in detail in last year's General Referee Report (1) this international toxins group has grown to 150 members from many regions and countries. Perhaps most important they are now making important and global contributions to food safety and to providing alternatives to animal-based assays. Official Method 2005.06 was first approved in late 2004 by the Task Force and subsequently Official First Action in 2005 (2) by the Methods Committee on Natural Toxins and Food Allergens and the Official Methods Board. This nonproprietary method (3) is a precolumn oxidation, liquid chromatographic method that makes good use of fluorescence detection to provide high sensitivity detection of the saxitoxins. It has also proven to be rugged enough for regulatory use and the highest level of validation. As pointed out in the report of method principle investigator and Study Director James Lawrence, approval of 2005.06 now provides the first official alternative to the mouse bioassay after many decades of shellfish monitoring. This past year in April 2005 the group also held their first international conference, "Marine and Freshwater Toxins Analysis: Ist Joint Symposium and AOAC Task Force Meeting," in Baiona, Spain. The 4-day conference consisted of research and stakeholder presentations and symposium-integrated subgroup sessions on ciguatoxins, saxitoxin assays and liquid chromatography (LC) methods for saxitoxins and domoic acids, okadaiates and azaspiracids, and yessotoxins. Many of these subgroups were recently formed in 2005 and are working towards their goals of producing officially validated analytical methods. (Abstracts from the Baiona 2005 meeting cited in this report can be found in the online version of the conference abstract book in the Files and Folders section of the Marine and Freshwater Toxins online community at www.aoac.org.) An active topic for discussion in Baiona and subsequent Task Force activities was the expert consultation for Codex which met in Oslo, Norway in 2004 (previously described and cited in last year's GR report, ref 1). The consultation group's executive summary report (http://www.fao.org/es/ESN/food/risk_biotoxin en.stm) describes suggested changes in action levels as well as methods, method validation, and other issues. September 2005 saw the AOAC Task Force efforts further supported by another symposium, "Marine and Freshwater Toxins: Quality Methods for Food Safety and International Trade," at the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The multidisciplinary talks at this full day symposium ranged from ciguatoxins to cyanobacterial toxins, and spanned toxicology, biochemistry, molecular biology and analytical chemistry. Again, the symposium preceded Task Force meetings. Toxin subgroups, including a new group on cyanobacterial toxins, met for engaging and productive subgroup discussions. All of these activities were preceded by a Wiley Award symposium for Task Force member Mike Quilliam of NRC Canada. These talks, presented at a half-day symposium on the first day of the Annual Meeting, focused on Quilliam's work with LC tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and certified reference standards and materials, and included related presentations by some of his many research collaborators. To maintain flow and continuity between symposia and between Task Force meetings, the group now uses new electronic discussion forums. Individual subgroup areas, under the Marine and Freshwater Toxins Task Force, comprise this online community. First introduced by AOAC INTERNATIONAL in early 2005, these new resources are being used to distribute information and to supplement the in-person subgroup meetings and electronic mail in the group's validation efforts.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

[Surveillance on contamination of total aflatoxins in corn, peanut, rice, walnut and pine nut in several areas in China].

OBJECTIVE: To realize the contamination of total aflatoxins in corn, peanut, rice, walnut and pine nut in China, and provide the base data for establishing a China tolerance limit standard and an international control practice for total aflatoxins. METHODS: The samples of corn, peanut, rice, walnut and pine nut from Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang provinces and municipalities were collected randomly from markets, with the totally 284 samples. The samples were grounded and added to acetonitrile/water mixture. After filtering, the extract was transferred into a purifying column and pressed slowly. Then the purified liquid was derivatized with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and detected by using a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: There was 70.27% corn having been detected out an average level of aflatoxins of 36.51 microg/kg and the highest level was 1098.36 microg/kg. At the same time, there was 14.86% corn exceeding the China national tolerance limit. In peanut, the aflatoxins detected rate was 24.24%. The average level was 80.27 microg/kg and the highest level was 437.09 microg/kg. While there was 3.03% peanut exceeding the China national and Codex tolerance limits. All of the rice, walnut and pine nut samples met the China tolerance limit for aflatoxins. CONCLUSION: Corn and peanut might be the severely contaminated foods with aflatoxins in China. The aflatoxin B(1) in foods might be can not delegate the contamination of aflatoxins completely. Surveillance of total aflatoxins in foods suggested an actual need of establishing the China national and international standards for total aflatoxins.

Aflatoxins↗

PubMed2006

[Ochratoxin A contamination of cereal grain harvested in 2003 and 2004 years].

The analysis of ochratoxin A--mycotoxin produced by widely distributed Aspergillus and Penicillium--of cereal grain harvested in 2003 - 2004 years were performed by immunoaffinity column clean-up and HPLC with fluorescence detection. This survey examined 282 samples of raw grain wheat, rye, barley and oat 13.8% of all samples contaminated by ochratoxin A in the range 0.2-33.3 mg/kg. Calculation made on the basis of the obtained means showed that the daily ochratoxin A intake of human from cereal grain were from 1.58 to 2.84 ng/kg b.w. Scientific Committee for Food of the European Commission suggested that it was prudent to reduce exposure to ochratoxin A as much as possible below 5 ng/kg bw/day. Codex Alimentarius and European Commission have established maximum permissible level of 5 mg/kg for ochratoxin A in raw cereal grains.

Aspergillus ochraceus↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The pattern of use of emergency department in the local unit of Como].

The pattern of use of emergency department of hospitals is on the agenda of policy makers at national, regional and local level. It is still difficult to achieve a balance between the claim for improving the accessibility in order to allow people in need to receive this level of care and the possible its inappropriate use. The triage procedure offers the possibility to assess priorities because the "white codex" identifies those whose access to emergency department could potentially be diverted to an other level of care. The use of the Emergency Department is studied in an affluent area of Northern Italy using an "ad hoc" tool and data linkage in order to describe the process and its possible failures. The results are aimed to give decision makers the opportunity to start addressing these issues on sounder bases particularly as far as triage based assessment is concerned.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

[Study on the baseline contents and reference maximum limit standard of heavy metals and harmful element of 23 Chinese herbs in Northern China].

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to obtain the baseline contents and establish the reference maximum limits of heavy metals and harmful element in China. METHODS: According as Chinese standard methods of heavy metals and harmful element, 254 Chinese herbs were determined. RESULTS: The contents of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic in different Chinese herbs were (1.78 +/- 1.98), (0.17 +/- 0.24), (0.04 +/- 0.06) and (0.72 +/- 0.69)mg/kg, respectively. In the process of establishing the reference maximum limit standards of these harmful substances, the dietary intakes which including the intakes from food, beverage and drinking water were necessarily considered. The intakes including dietary and Chinese herbs of per person per day (and the percent of ADI) of lead, cadmium, mercury and inorganic arsenic were 102.9 microg (45.7%), 21.4 microg (34.0%), 5.7 microg (5.7%) and 81.0 microg (60.5%), respectively. We recommended the reference maximum limit standards of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic which in Chinese herbs were 5.0 mg/kg, 0.3 mg/kg, 0.2 mg/kg and 2.0 mg/kg, respectively. CONCLUSION: The survey of baseline level of heavy metals and harmful element was successful. The intakes of these harmful substances were safe to human health. The maximum level standards of lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic in plant Chinese herbs submitted by our coordinated group have been accepted by Chinese Herbs Codex, 2005 version. This standard is suitable for quality standards in plant Chinese herbs.

Arsenic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interlaboratory study of the Charm ROSA Safe Level Aflatoxin M1 Quantitative lateral flow test for raw bovine milk.

An interlaboratory study of 21 public health, state agriculture, and industry laboratories in the United States tested raw commingled bovine milk containing aflatoxin M1 using the Charm Rapid One Step Assay (ROSA) Safe Level Aflatoxin M1 Quantitative lateral flow method. Blind coded sample pairs were fortified with 0, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, and 550 parts per trillion (ppt) aflatoxin M1. A ROSA reader quantitatively interpreted test strips with ppt readings. Readings < or = 400 ppt were interpreted as negative, and readings >400 ppt were interpreted as positive. Initial positive samples were subsequently assayed 2 additional times. If both retest results were >400 ppt, the sample was called positive/ actionable relative to U.S. and Codex levels, 500 ppt. The concentration of 400 ppt was chosen for the positive/negative interpretation to provide 90% sensitivity with 95% confidence at the 500 ppt legislative level. The combined false negative rate was <5% (4 of 83) for samples at 500 and 550 ppt. The false violatives at 0, 300, 350, 400, and 450 ppt (n = 42 at each level) were 0, 0, 21, 14, and 93%, respectively. The 90% positive concentration with 95% confidence was 503 ppt by probit analysis. The average intralaboratory repeatability was 11% and average interlaboratory reproducibility was 13% for the fortified sample pairs. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the study samples by 5 laboratories showed 38% false negatives with the 500 and 550 ppt samples, and a 0% false-violative rate with samples less than the 500 ppt action level.

Aflatoxin M1↗

PubMed2006

OIE philosophy, policy and procedures for the development of food safety standards.

Food safety was identified as a high priority area in the 2001-2005 World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Strategic Plan. Member Countries of the OIE considered that the organisation should be more active in issues of public health and consumer protection and that this should include more involvement in the area of diseases or pathogens transmissible through food, whether or not animals are affected by such diseases or pathogens. A permanent Working Group on Animal Production Food Safety was established in 2002 to coordinate the OIE's activities in food safety. The Working Group was requested to focus on food safety measures applicable at farm level and to monitor the ongoing cooperation between the OIE and Codex Alimentarius. More emphasis is now placed on the public health aspects of a disease when OIE standards are developed or revised. For example, the revised chapter on bovine tuberculosis in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code includes food safety recommendations for meat and meat products and for milk and milk products. The revised chapter was approved by the OIE International Committee of Member Countries at their 73rd General Session in May 2005. More chapters will follow, beginning with a chapter addressing bovine brucellosis.

Animal Diseases↗

PubMed2006

[Guidelines for animal and meat inspection procedures in the slaughterhouse].

Over the last few decades there have been significant developments in livestock and meat inspection systems in slaughterhouses. The most highly developed countries have taken the lead in bringing about these changes by enacting new legislation. These new national laws have been reflected by the Codex Alimentarius in its Codes of Good Practice and this has served to harmonise world trade in foodstuffs. The author identifies the different aspects to be considered when carrying out a veterinary inspection of animals and animal products in the slaughterhouse, bearing in mind the need to protect public and animal health. Although this article only covers cattle, many of the concepts set forth can be applied to other livestock species. Information obtained from the slaughterhouse is useful to primary production; conversely, information compiled in the primary production process makes for more efficient use of slaughterhouse resources. This information makes it possible to carry out risk-based inspections, which will gradually replace traditional procedures. Conventional inspections are often very rigid and mechanical and incapable of measuring the seriousness of hazards or of determining the probability that they will occur. Emerging biological, physical and chemical hazards, as well as new technologies, mean that we cannot become complacent about inspection procedures but must continue to be alert and to keep pace with the constant changes in food safety sciences. Another new trend is the active participation of operators, who must shoulder primary responsibility in upholding the safety of the food they produce. Official veterinary inspection in the slaughterhouse plays several roles: the detection of animal diseases, the inspection of meat and meat products and the verification of audits carried out by the private sector. In recent years, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis and cases of dioxin poisoning have highlighted the need for traceability of foodstuffs, i.e. giving consumers the opportunity to obtain information about the origin of their food and the different stages of its production (commonly referred to as the 'farm-to-fork' chain). Finally, the slaughterhouse veterinarian, as a professional devoted to providing care to animals, is also responsible for ensuring animal welfare; this is an inherent part of his professional ethics.

Abattoirs↗

PubMed2002

[Health policy of the Republic of Turkey in accordance with the minutes of the Turkish Parliament (Part II)].

Because of the invasion of the Ottoman territory after the World War I, the Turkish War of Liberty was initiated by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends. While they aimed at a successful outcome of the battle, they at the same time tried to achieve a nation-wide organization. In order to look after the nation's medical and social service, on May 2nd 1920, a new ministry called the Ministry for Medical and Social Service was founded. The new ministry's task was not only to concern itself with the medical and social service, but also with immigration and of the immigrants. At the beginning the hitherto existing social system and certain laws were not abolished until they were replaced by new ones in order to prevent an interruption in the social service. In these years the aim of the social system was to struggle against infectious diseases, to prevent infections, to decrease infant mortality and to increase the population, to take measures against diseases from abroad, to pass the laws needed and to form a central authority. Besides these laws which were directly related with the medical and social service during the War of Liberty, the governing of the districts and the regulations concerning the miners in Zonguldak were passed in order to protect peoples' health. Our political existence was confirmed through the signing of the agreement reached by the Lausanne Conference after the War of Liberty and consequently the Medical Care Supreme Council of Istanbul, which had continued its validity as a capitulation, was abolished. The social state policy of the period which had started with the foundation of the Turkish Republic aimed to extend the state's medical organization, increase the number of the medical staff, continue the employment of the health personnel specialized in medicine, struggle against infectious diseases in an organized way, provide a wide-spread medical service, give priority to preventive health care and establish medical institutions, effect a cooperation of these institutes, pass the necessary laws and establish state supervision in all fields. In the first ten years of the Republic, new schools and courses were started in order to increase the number of the medical staff to be sent to areas deprived of social service. In accordance with the Obligatory Service Law of 1923, doctors who were sent to eastern Turkey were provided with encouraging advantages. The organizational work and the laws concerning infectious diseases like malaria, syphilis and trachoma, which were wide-spread, was effective and successful from the year 1925 onwards when Dr. Refik Saydam was the Minister for Health. The meetings of the Turkish National Congresses on Medicine helped solve the nation's health problems and influenced the state's policy and the Health Ministry's activities. The aim was not merely the protection of peoples' health through education. In this period, many laws were passed with the aim to protect the nation's health and to ensure state control in every field. Some of these are still in force today. Besides free medical treatment of the poor and the old, laws of validity for a long period, which were effective in the protection of the health of children, the adolescent and the pregnant women in the social life and employment, were passed. In the first ten years of the Republic a protective, comprehensive and human health policy was observed in accordance with the policy of the state. The second part of the study deals with the Turkish Parliament's minutes on the health organizations; the health budgets; the laws passed on about the health practitioners; the struggle against infectious diseases; the Turkish codex, pharmacists and laboratories; the education of physicians and other health personnel etc.

Health Policy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Determination of the moisture content of instant noodles: interlaboratory study.

Determination of the moisture content of instant noodles, currently under discussion by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) requires 2 methods: one for fried noodles and the other for nonfried noodles. The method to determine the moisture content of fried noodles by drying at 105 degrees C for 2 h used in the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) system of Japan can be applied to this purpose. In the present study, the JAS method for fried noodles was modified to be suitable for nonfried noodles by extending the drying time to 4 h. An interlaboratory study was conducted to evaluate interlaboratory performance statistics for these 2 methods. Ten participating laboratories each analyzed 5 test materials of fried and nonfried noodles as blind duplicates. After removal of outliers statistically, the repeatability (RSDr) and the reproducibility (RSD(R)) of these methods were 1.6-2.6 and 3.9-4.8% for fried noodles, and 0.3-1.5 and 1.3-2.9% for nonfried noodles, respectively.

Cooking↗

PubMed1991

Prospects of expert systems in psychiatric diagnostics.

The paper deals in particular with the theoretical foundations of introducing computer technology and techniques into psychiatric diagnostics. It is done from the aspect of present expert systems of the type FEL-EXPERT, PCE expert, CODEX, etc., as well as from the aspect of a prospect for the future in connection with the development of systems of the so called artificial intelligence.

Expert Systems↗

PubMed1976

Production and standardization of polyvalent Clostridium perfringens vaccine in Iran.

In this presentation an account of the large-scale production and the standardization of polyvalent Clostridium perfringens vaccine in Iran is described. Over 20 million doses of this vaccine are produced and utilized in Iran every year. Certain modifications have been made to the culture media used in our laboratory for the production of this vaccine in order to bring down its cost. The prepared vaccine is highly immunogenic as determined by the laboratory examination on the quality of the vaccine according to British Veterinary Codex and the field reports.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The determination of prolamins in gluten-free food. Introductory remarks.

This paper gives the considerations on the Codex Alimentarius Standard on gluten free food and the levels that are proposed as a new standard. Background for the level of tolerance for gliadin in coeliac patients is given as well as the arguments for the choice of an enzyme immunochemical method for the determination of gliadin in gluten free food.

Dietary Proteins↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reaction to a paper by Whitaker and Dickens on aflatoxin testing plans for shelled peanuts in the U.S. and the export market.

The present paper examines a technical paper of Whitaker and Dickens on aflatoxin testing plans that discusses (without a literature reference) a testing plan used in The Netherlands. However, this testing plan has never been in operation. We present the current situation in The Netherlands with respect to legislation and sampling plans on aflatoxin, which has fairly important consequences for the results of the simulation study of Whitaker and Dickens. It is shown that the percentage of rejected U.S.-exported lots in The Netherlands would increase from 16% to 27% based on the actual testing plan in The Netherlands. The need for international harmonization of testing, and the role of Codex Allmentarius is also emphasized.

Aflatoxin B1↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score method for assessing protein quality of foods.

The current concepts of protein quality evaluation were reviewed. A detailed examination of existing animal assays and more promising amino acid scoring methods has been carried out by an Ad Hoc Working Group on Protein Quality Measurement for the Codex Committee on Vegetable Proteins during the last 5 years. Several factors such as inadequacies of protein efficiency ratio (PER, the poorest test) and other animal assays, advancements made in standardizing methods for amino acid analysis and protein digestibility, availability of data on digestibility of protein and individual amino acids in a variety of foods, and reliability of human amino acid requirements and scoring patterns were evaluated. On the basis of this evaluation, amino acid score, corrected for true digestibility of protein, was recommended to be the most suitable routine method for predicting protein quality of foods for humans. Amino acid scores corrected for true digestibility of protein (as determined by rat balance method) were termed "protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores." A detailed method for the determination of the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score was proposed, and information about the range of scores to be expected in foods or food products was provided in the present investigation. The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score method is a simple and scientifically sound approach for routine evaluation of protein quality of foods. Accuracy of the method would, however, be confirmed after validation with growth or metabolic balance studies in humans.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1990

[New possibilities in kidney transplantation from live unrelated donors].

The kidney transplantation, as a method of medical treatment, could not be developed faster in our country for many years. A number of demands for transplantation grows much faster than our modest capability. The similar, but in a rather smaller degree, this problem occurs in some other countries in the world. The main cause is: the organization of corpse collecting and the conservatism of doctors. The latter problem, in the countries of western hemisphere, is surpassed more easily by a doctor codex and a legal obligation that involves doctors actively in this process, which is not the case in our country. The organization of corpse collecting in some states of the USA is highly developed, but however it does not give sufficient number of organs for the cadaveric transplantation. New, additional possibilities are found: the taking of even organs (kidneys) from alive unrelated donors, spouses, which excludes the possibility of greed and gives, only in the USA, about 1.500 additional alive transplantations per year. The complementary medical attitude towards the increasing of number of cadaveric transplantations is: considerably freely taking of kidneys from cadavers without tissue compatibility, only with the compatibility of blood groups of ABO system. Since the immunological criteria, in our country, are very intensified by the Zagreb immunology group, e.g. from 75-100% for alive transplantation, or the minimum of 50% tissue compatibility for cadaveric transplantation, this old-fashioned attitude has considerably lowered the number of transplantations in our country.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Histocompatibility↗