Influence of dietary carbohydrate on the metabolism of juvenile Litopenaeus stylirostris

Cockles Cerastoderma edule were fed two different concentrations ( approximately 0.8 and 2 mm(3) l(-1)) of two diets with different qualities ( approximately 10 and 60% of organic content) which were achieved by mixing different proportions of ashed silt particles with cells of the microalgae Tetraselmis suecica. Clearance, ingestion and absorption rates of organic matter and biochemical components were measured after 3 days (acute response) and 11 days (acclimated response) of exposure to the diets. With low quality diets cockles were found to reject part of the filtered matter ( approximately 25-35%) through pseudofaeces production both in the acute and acclimated responses. In the acute response, absorption rate of organic matter was positively dependent on food quality and quantity, but the physiological response to increasing food concentrations differed with food quality: with low qualities, increasing absorption rate resulted from the simultaneous increase of clearance ( approximately 2 times) and ingestion rate ( approximately 4 times) as well as absorption efficiency of organic matter ( approximately 22%). However, those fed high qualities, were found to compensate increasing food concentration by reducing ( approximately 50%) clearance rate. The resulting moderate increase of ingestion rate ( approximately 1.6 times) was accompanied with a reduction in absorption efficiency ( approximately 20%). Irrespective of food quality and quantity, protein and lipids were absorbed, respectively, with the highest (from 61.7 to 80.0%) and the lowest (from 42.6 to 66.8%) efficiency. Acclimated response was entirely affected by food quality: with low qualities, cockles greatly improved the energetic intake from available ration ( approximately 4 and 2 times, with low and high food concentrations, respectively). Both preingestive and digestive mechanisms were involved in this response: at the preingestive level, clearance rate and preingestive selection efficiency were significantly increased. At the digestive level, cockles were capable of maintaining absorption efficiency of organic matter with rising ingestion rate. On the contrary, acclimation to high quality diets brought about no significant increase in organic absorption rate: with low ration, clearance rate was kept constant, whereas with high ration the increase in clearance and ingestion rate ( approximately 2 times) promoted a compensatory reduction in absorption efficiency. However, the biochemical composition of the absorbed matter was found to be absolutely modified, both at low and high food rations, due to an strong reduction of lipid absorption efficiency. The observed modifications of absorption rate and/or the biochemical composition of the absorbed matter suggests the capability of cockles to adjust the digestive performance.     

Influence of valproic acid on hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism

Valproic acid (dipropylacetic acid), an antiepileptic agent known to be hepatotoxic in some patients, caused inhibition of lactate gluconeogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, and fatty acid synthesis by isolated hepatocytes. The latter process was the most sensitive to valproic acid, 50% inhibition occurring at ca. 125 microM with cells from meal-fed female rats. The medium-chain acyl-CoA ester fraction was increased whereas coenzyme A (CoA), acetyl-CoA, and the long chain acyl-CoA fractions were decreased by valproic acid. The increase in the medium chain acyl-CoA fraction was found by high-pressure liquid chromatography to be due to the accumulation of valproyl-CoA plus an apparent CoAester metabolite of valproyl-CoA. Salicylate inhibited valproyl-CoA formation and partially protected against valproic acid inhibition of hepatic metabolic processes. Octanoate had a similar protective effect, suggesting that activation of valproic acid in the mitosol is required for its inhibitory effects. It is proposed that either valproyl-CoA itself or the sequestration of CoA causes inhibition of metabolic processes. Valproyl-CoA formation also appears to explain valproic acid inhibition of gluconeogenesis by isolated kidney tubules. No evidence was found for the accumulation of valproyl-CoA in brain tissue, suggesting that the effects of valproic acid in the central nervous system are independent of the formation of this metabolite.     

Influence of carbohydrate dosage on exercise performance and glycogen metabolism

This study was undertaken to examine the effects of ingestion of carbohydrate (CHO) solutions of 0 (WP), 6 (CHO-6), 12 (CHO-12), and 18 g CHO/100 ml (CHO-18) on performance and muscle glycogen use. Ten trained cyclists performed five 120-min cycling trials. The first 105 min of each trial was at 70% of maximal O2 consumption (VO2max), and the final 15 min was an all-out performance ride on an isokinetic cycle ergometer equipped to measure total work output. In one of the trials (CHO-12I) the submaximal portion of the ride consisted of seven 15-min rides at 70% of VO2max with a 3-min rest between each ride. Every 15 min the men consumed 8.5 ml.kg-1.h-1 (approximately 150 ml) of one of the four test solutions. Venous blood samples were obtained every 15 min for glucose and insulin. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis at 0 and 105 min in the WP and the CHO-12 continuous and intermittent trials. Biopsy samples were assayed for glycogen and sectioned and stained for myosin adenosinetriphosphatase and glycogen for single fiber depletion measurements. There were no differences in glycogen use (86.7 +/- 6.0, 75.5 +/- 7.9, and 83.5 +/- 5.5 mmol/kg for the WP, CHO-12C, and CHO-12I, respectively) or depletion patterns between the WP and the two CHO-12 trials. Blood glucose was significantly elevated in both the CHO-12 trials and in the CHO-18 trial compared with the WP trial.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Cadmium-induced changes in the activity of carbohydrate metabolism enzymes in mollusks

In the bivalve mollusksCrenomytilus grayanus, Mizuhopecten yessoensis, Mercenaria stimpsoni, andPeronidia venulosa, the activity of hexokinase (HK) and pyruvate kinase (PK), the key enzymes of glycolysis, and of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PhDH), the main enzyme of the pentose phosphate path, was determined in the presence of heightened cadmium concentrations (500 mg/l). Under the effect of cadmium, the enzyme activity either decreased immediately or underwent an initial increase and decreased later. Such a response is consistent with the general theory of stress and suggests a difference in the adaptive capacities of the mollusks studied.     

The metabolism of synthetic estrogens in non-users and users of oral contraceptives

Using both pulse injections and constant infusions of ³H-mestranol (³H-ME) (1) and ³H-ethinyl estradiol (³H-EE) we have studied the metabolism of these compounds in non-users and users of oral contraceptives. Following pulse injection of ³H-ME the disappearance of radioactivity could be described as a function which was the sum of two exponentials. Studied by both types of administration there was no difference in the metabolism of ³H-ME in the two groups; the overall mean ± SE metabolic clearance rate (MCR) was 690 ± 45 1/day/m², the mean ratio of the concentrations of radioactivity as EE following administration of ME (CR_BB^{M, E}) was 0. 23 ± 0. 02 and the mean [ρ]_BB^{M, E} (fraction of administered ME measured in blood as EE) was 0. 19 (95% confidence limits = 0.15 – 0. 23).Following pulse injection of ³H-EE the disappearance of radioactivity was best described as a function which is the sum of three exponentials. Results from both types of administration revealed no difference in the metabolism of ³H-EE between non-users. The overall mean ± SE MCR^EE was 630 ± 30 I/day/m². The MCR^EE is significantly (0. 02 > P > 0. 01) less than the mean MCR for estradiol reported previously, in both non-users and users of oral contraceptives. The use of oral contraceptives containing estrogens and progestins does not appear to influence the metabolism of the estrogen used. Approximately 20% of mestranol is converted to and appears in the blood as ethinyl estradiol.     

The effects of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives on the endogenous estradiol metabolism.

The estradiol metabolism may be of clinical relevance in the pathophysiology of various diseases; the increase in D-ring metabolites over A-ring metabolites in breast cancer patients is of special interest. Since estrogen therapy has been blamed for increasing the risk of breast cancer, the effects of hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) and oral contraception were investigated on the ratio of the main D-ring metabolite, 16alpha-hydroxyestrone (16-OHE1), to the main A-ring metabolite, 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1). In our study, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in postmenopausal women consisted of administration of estradiol valerate either with or without addition of the progestin dienogest. In the second part of the study, women of reproductive age received ethinylestradiol plus dienogest or ethinylestradiol plus norethisterone acetate as oral contraceptives (OC). 2-OHE1 and 16-OHE1 were measured by enzyme immunoassay in 8 h night-urine collected before and after 3 months of hormone administration. With HRT, that is, estradiol valerate or estradiol valerate plus dienogest, the ratios before treatment were 0.47 and 0.60; after 3 months, they were 0.54 and 0.52, respectively. There were no significant differences. With oral contraception, that is, ethinylestradiol plus dienogest or norethisterone acetate, the ratios before administration were 0.62 and 0.68, vs. 0.31 and 0.54 after 3 months, respectively. The ratio after ethinylestradiol and dienogest was significantly lower after treatment. HRT and OC in the estrogen-progestin combinations tested did not impose any negative effects on estradiol metabolism--they did not elicit a higher D-ring metabolism, which is considered to increase breast cancer risk.     

Carbon starvation mediated changes in carbohydrate metabolism inNeurospora crassa

Carbon starvation conditions were found to increase the activities of gluconeogenic enzymes such as malic enzyme, cytosolic malate dehydrogenase and isocitrate lyase along with proteases and inhibition in glucose catabolic enzymes such as G6P dehydrogenase and FDP aldolase inNeurospora crassa     

Influence of menstrual cycle and oral contraceptives on tolerance to uncompensable heat stress

In this study we examined the influence of menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptive use on thermoregulation and tolerance during uncompensable heat stress. Eighteen women (18-35 years), who differed only with respect to oral contraceptive use (n = 9) or non-use (n = 9), performed light intermittent exercise at 40 degrees C and 30% relative humidity while wearing nuclear, biological and chemical protective clothing. Their responses were compared during the early follicular (EF, days 2-5) and mid-luteal (ML, days 19-22) phases of the menstrual cycle. Since oral contraceptives are presumed to inhibit ovulation, a quasi-early follicular (q-EF) and quasi-mid-luteal (q-ML) phase was assumed for the users. Estradiol and progesterone measurements verified that all subjects were tested during the desired phases of the menstrual cycle. Results demonstrated that rectal temperature (Tre) was elevated in ML compared with EF among the non-users at the beginning and throughout the heat-stress trial. For the users, Tre was higher in q-ML compared with q-EF at the beginning, and for 75 min of the heat-stress exposure. Tolerance times were significantly longer during EF [128.1 (13.4) min, mean (SD)] compared with ML [107.4 (8.6) min] for the nonusers, indicating that these women are at a thermoregulatory advantage during the EF phase of their menstrual cycle. For the users, tolerance times were similar in both the q-EF [113.0 (5.8) min] and q-ML [116.8 (11.2) min] phases and did not differ from those of the non-users. It was concluded that oral contraceptive use had little or no influence on tolerance to uncompensable heat stress, whereas tolerance was increased during EF for non-users of oral contraceptives.     

Phenol induced changes in the carbohydrate metabolism of the Indian catfish Heteropneustes fossilis

Synopsis The Indian catfish Heteropneustes fossilis when subjected to a high sublethal concentration of 26 mg 1^–1 phenol (0.8 of the 96-h LC50 value) for 3, 6, 12, 48 and 96 h elicited muscle glycogenolysis at all time intervals and hepatic glycogenolysis at 3, 6 and 12 h. Hyperglycemia was observed at 3, 6 and 12 h post exposure to phenol. Blood pyruvate content was increased markedly at 3 h. Hyperlacticemia occurred at 3, 6 and 12 h, but hypolacticemia resulted at 48 and 96 h. The results are discussed in relation to acute stress syndrome.     

Haemostasis and oral contraceptives

Selected hemostasis parameters were assayed in 131 women ingesting different kinds of oral contraceptives and 36 control women. No differences were noted in the plasma levels of fibrinogen, antithrombin III, prekallikrein, alpha 2 antiplasmin, fibrinopeptide A, platelet factor 4 and beta-thromboglobulin. Protein C and plasminogen levels were significantly higher in pill users (p less than 0.001, p less than 0.01) and fibronectin levels were lower (p less than 0.05). Canonical correlation, performed between clinical parameters and hemostasis data, revealed a negative correlation between antithrombin III levels and family history for thromboembolic diseases. A positive correlation was noted between fibrinogen and fibronectin levels in obese OC users. The data suggest that women taking OCs are not in a state of "hypercoagulability."