Racemic all-trans-3-hydroxyretinal (3-OH-RAL) (1) was converted by a reaction with (-)-camphanic acid chloride (CpCl) into a diastereomixture of camphanates (2a) and (2b) which was separated by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to give two esters (2a) and (2b) in pure state, respectively. Saponification of (2a) and (2b) independently afforded optically active (3S)- and (3R)-3-OH-RALs (3a) and (3b), respectively, whose absolute structures were determined by circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Racemic 3-OH-RAL was separated to two peaks by HPLC using chiral column (ChiraSpher, Merck). Cochromatographywith authentic specimens (3a) and (3b) showed that the peak with ashort retention time corresponded to (3R )-isomer and the other to (3S).

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To clarify the relationship between the pattern of diet intake and circadian rhythm in man, we measured body temperature and urinary excretions at 4-h intervals over a 24-h period in 18 patients who were in vegetative states and had been receiving total enteral nutrition (TEN) for at least 4 weeks. One group of patients was given a liquid diet intraduodenally and continuously throughout a day (continuous TEN), whereas the two other groups received their daily enteral feeding during a restricted time of day, either in the daytime from 0800h to 2000h (diurnal TEN) or in the nighttime from 2000h to 0800h (nocturnal TEN). In the diurnal TEN group, there was a clear body temperature rhythm with a peak at 2000h, whose pattern was similar to the well-established body temperature rhythm in normal subjects. The nocturnal TEN group also showed a temperature rhythm, but the peak appeared at 0400h. The continuous TEN group did not show any consistent body temperature rhythms. These effects of the schedule of TEN were quite similar to those on the circadian cortisol rhythm reported previously (J. Nutr. Sci. Vitaminol., 35, 639-647, 1989). In contrast to the body temperature rhythm, the rhythm of urinary excretions of water, sodium and potassium was little influenced by the schedule of TEN, showing a normal pattern with more excretions during the daytime in every group. Essentially the same effects were confirmed in a patient who received the three schedules of TEN in rotation for 5 weeks of each schedule. In conclusion, the timing of diet intake remarkably modifies the 24-h rhy-thms of body temperature and adrenocortical activity in man, as in laboratory animals, while it has no effect on the urinary excretion rhythm.

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The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of dietary medium and long chain triglycerides (MCT and LCT) on fat deposition and fatty acid composition of adipose tissues of rats. Twen-ty-seven Wistar strain male rats were divided into three groups and fed semisynthetic experimental diets: Basal (AIN 76), MCT (basal+C_8:0 10%), LCT (basal+corn oil 10%). Feed intake was measured every day and body weight was measured once a week. At the beginning, 4th and 8th week of experimental feeding, 3, 12, 12 rats were slaughtered, respectively. Liver, perirenal and epididymal adipose tissue pads were weighed and their fatty acid composition was determined. Chemical composition of wholebody carcass was measured. Body weight gain was greater in rats fed the LCT diet than in rats fed the basal and MCT diets. Feed intakes were decreased in rats fed the MCT and LCT diets compared to that of the basal group. Subsequently, when compared to the basal group rats, feed efficiencies in rats fed the MCT and LCT diets were improved at the level of 6 and 14% for 4 weeks, and then 17 and 24% for 8 weeks, respectively. The weight of perirenal and epididymal adipose tissue pads tended to be larger in rats fed the MCT and LCT diets than in the basal group, although not significant. There were not significant differences in wholebody composition among the three groups. But it appeared that in rats fed the MCT diet, moisture content tended to be decreased and crude protein content increased compared to the LCT group rats. Fatty acid composition of the rats fed the LCT diet showed a good reflection of dietary fatty acid composition. Unlike LCT, little of medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) itself were incorporated into liver or adipose tissues. However, it seems that fat deposition of the MCT group was accomplished not by incorporation of dietary fatty acids but by de novo fatty acids synthesis.

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Studies were made on whether body weight loss in patients with muscular dystrophy is due to reduced intake and/or abnormal expenditure of energy. For this, food intakes and various physiological variables were surveyed in totals of 310 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) of 11 to 29 years old and 28 patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) of 30 to 47 years old. Energy and protein intakes, expressed on a unit body weight basis, in DMD patients were comparable to, or higher than the allowances for age-matched healthy controls, whereas those in LGMD patients were 92 and 94% respectively of these allowances. The basal metabolic rate (BMR), expressed as kcal/kg/day, of DMD patients of all ages was higher than that of controls, the difference increasing with age, and being about 20 to 30% higher than that of controls in older patients with DMD. The BMR of LGMD patients was nearly normal. The maintenance requirements of conven-tional dietary protein in DMD and LGMD patients were 1.26 and 0.84g/kg/day, respectively. These values were about 68 and 12% higher than the normal adult value (0.75g/kg/day), indicating decreased protein utiliza-tion and increased protein catabolism. Daily excretion of urinary 3-methylhistidine (3MH) per unit muscle mass (μg/mg creatinine) by MD patients was significantly higher than that by controls, indicating in-creased degradation of muscle protein. The BMR, maintenance protein requirement and 3MH excretion of DMD patients suggest that DMD is a hypercatabolic disease. Comparison of the energy and protein intakes with the allowances estimated in consideration of increased requirements showed deficiencies of energy and protein in DMD patients. Thus, we conclude that the underweight of the DMD patients resulted from nu-trient deficiencies due to hypercatabolism, despite their considerably high intakes of energy and protein, expressed as per kg body weight. These deficiencies were confirmed by demonstrating decreased concentrations offree essential amino acids, particularly branched chain amino acids, in their serum. The values of variables of LGMD patients were intermediate between those of DMD patients and control subjects.

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Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy are so malnourished that energy supplementation is crucial. Their degree of energy deficiency was assessed as difference between their energy intake and their energy allowance, which were deduced from easily measured parameters. A significant, negative relationship was found between the basal metabolic rate (BMR) (Y, %, BMR/standard BMR) and body weight (X, %, body weight/standard body weight) in the patients, from which the formula for the BMR was deduced to be Y=-1.116X+174.5 (n=202, r=-0.72, p<0.001). Thus, it is possible to estimate the energy allowance for individual patients by a factorial procedure from the presumed BMR and a factor for physical activity. In addition, their energy intake was calculated from a constant protein-energy % (14.6%) in their diet and nitrogen intake which was deduced from a significant positive correlation between their nitrogen intake (Y, mg/kg/day) and their nitrogen excretion in 24 h urine samples (X, mg/kg/day). This correlation conformed to the equation Y=1.053X+32.4 (n =267, r=+0.76, p<0.001). The validities of the above predictions for energy intake and allowance were examined by plotting the degree of energy deficiency (% ratio of presumed intake/ presumed allowance) against the concentrations of retinol binding protein, prealbumin and transferrin in the serum, because rapid turnover proteins are sensitive to energy deficiency. Significant positive correla-tions were obtained with both variables, suggesting that these predictions were valid.

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Relation between the activity of liver microsomal mixed-function oxidase system and dietary protein level was investigated in rats using purified whole egg protein, i.e. free from limiting amino acids. The animals were given either a diet containing 0, 5, 10, 20 or 40% of protein (experiment 1) or a diet containing 5, 10, 15 or 20% of protein (experiment 2) for 16 days. In experiment 2, half of the rats of each group were intraperitoneally injected sodium phenobarbital (PB) to induce the mixed-function oxidase system. The cytochrome P-450 content plateaued even at 5% level of dietary protein in experiment 1 and in the PB-untreated groups of experiment 2. However, it showed the highest value at 15% protein level in the PB-treated groups of experiment 2, indicating a shift of the response peak to a higher protein level due to an increase in protein requirement. Cytochrome P-450 reflected most specifically the dietary protein levels when the enzyme system was induced by PB. The 15% protein level, equivalent to 14.1 protein calories %, is a little higher than the optimal dietary level of whole egg protein ever obtained by usual nutritional indices.

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Anthropometric data, nutrient intake data, and blood biochemical parameters were analyzed for 66 elementary school children living in Tokyo, Japan, and their nutritional status was evaluated focusing on three problems: (1) zinc nutriture and growth, (2) anemia with iron deficiency, and (3) lipid nutriture and obesity. The subjects' mean energy and protein intakes met the recommended levels for Japanese children. However, their zinc intake levels were inadequate at 7.2, 8.3, and 8.5mg in grades 2 (mean age: 8yr), 4 (10yr), and 6 (12yr), respectively. Mean serum zinc concentration was 0.82±0.15 μg/ml; the percentages of sub-jects who showed serum zinc concentration lower than 0.68μg/ml, the lower limit of the normal serum zinc concentration, were 28.6, 15.4, and 5.0% in grades 2, 4, and 6, respectively. These serum zinc concentrations indicated the existence of marginal zinc deficiency in some children, particularly in grade 2, though it was not severe enough to retard growth. Their iron intake levels (8.2, 10.2, and 10.2mg for grades 2, 4, and 6, respectively) in combination with the proportion of iron intake from animal foods (37%) were judged to be adequate because no children showed serum ferritin, serum iron, or transferrin saturation levels lower than the criteria levels recommended for iron deficiency. Moreover, no definitely anemic children were found. Daily lipid intakes were 65.7, 74.5, and 78.3 g in grades 2, 4, and 6, respectively, and the mean percentage of energy intake from lipid to total energy intake, 32%, exceeded the levelrecommended. Mean serum total cholesterol concentrations and the percentage of subjects with elevated cholesterol levels (≥200mg/dl) were high compared with the reported values. Means of the body mass index (BMI) and Rohrer Index (RI) for the subjects were slightly higher than Japanese standards. With these parameters for obesity, triglycerides and atherogenic index were positively correlated and HDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol percentage to total cholesterol were negatively correlated.

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(1) We investigated the trophic effect of pectin on the intestinal mucosa injured by formyl methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), a chemoattractant produced by the intestinal bacterial flora. (2)We first demonstrated that oral administration of FMLP for 7 days reduced the disaccharidase activities and increased the permeability, measured by fluorescein-isothiocyanate-conjugated dextran, of rat small intestine. (3) After 7 days of FMLP administration, rats were divided into fiber-free group which was given liquid elemental diet (Elental^®) and the pectin group which was given Elental supplemented with 2.5% pectin. (4)After 3 days of feeding (Day 3), the maltase activities of the pectin group was significantly greater than that of the fiber-free group and than that ofthe initial level just after the 1 week administration of FMLP. At Day 7, there was no difference of maltase activity between the two groups. The sucrase activity of the pectin group was also significantly greater than that of fiber-free group at Day 3. (5) Plasma enteroglucagon was significantly increased in the pectin group. We conclude that pectin-supplemented diet promoted the recovery of disaccharidase activities in the FMLP-injured intestinal mucosa which may be mediated by enteroglucagon.

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The effects of milk and skim milk intake on serum lipids, apoprotein levels and fatty acid composition were investigated in post-menopausal females. After a 25-day intake of 200ml/day of whole milk, the milk group had increased HDL and LDL cholesterol levels, with a slight decrease in the proportion of 18:0 fatty acids in the phospholipid fraction. The skim milk group, which had consumed 20g/day of skim milk for 25 days, showed no changes. After intake of 400ml/day of whole milk for 29 days, LDL, HDL and total cholesterol concentrations were even more increased and the VLDL-phospholipid concentration was decreased, with significant increases in apoA-I, apoA-II and apoB concentrations. In the skim milk group, consuming 40g of skim milk per day for 29 days, total cholesterol, atherogenic index, HDL-triglyceride concentrations were decreased and HDL-phospholipid, apoA-I and apoA-II concentrations were increased. Daily skim milk consumption, which is effective in preventing osteoporosis, and careful selection of foods should be recommended for Japanese postmenopausal women who consume more than 200ml/day of whole milk.

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In amaranth grains (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. and Amaranthus cruentus L.), there were two albumin (Alb) fractions, Alb-1 and Alb-2; Alb-1 was extracted with water or 0.5M NaCl, and Alb-2 was extracted with water after extracting Alb-1 and globulin. The amount of Alb-2 comprised about 30% of the total albumin and globulin content. Little or no measurable protein corresponding to the amaranth Alb-2 was extracted from seeds of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa L.), or barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Sekitorisai-1). That the globulin/albumin ratio (G/A) in amaranth grains has been conflicting among investigatiors probably accounts for the consideration of Alb-2 during extraction. We here report the revised G/A ratio of 0.3-0.4.

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The effect of intraperitoneally administered nucleoside-nucleotide on the recovery from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain 8985N infection was studied in mice. Mice fed nucleic acid-free 20% casein diet were administered intraperitoneally with a nucleoside-nucleotide mixture or with saline (control group) daily for 30 days. On the tenth day on this treatment, mice were challenged with the bacteria. The survival rates were 25% and 72% for the control and nucleoside-nucleotide groups, respectively. The recovery of the survived mice from the infection was confirmed by the increment of body weight and the reduction of the bacteria in the organs. The results show the effectiveness of the intraperitoneal administration of the nucleoside-nucleotide mixture for the recovery from the MRSA strain 8985N in-fection in mice.

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