Nutrition
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This study assessed the iron status of Korean male lead workers by measuring the dietary iron intake and biochemical indices, and tested the hypothesis that a high blood lead level is associated with impaired iron function, which results in higher prevalence of iron deficiency when the route of exposure is not the gastrointestinal tract. ⋯ This study confirmed the adverse effects of high blood lead levels on hematologic pathways and the effectiveness of dietary iron intake as a secondary preventive intervention against lead toxicity. To promote health and to prevent toxic effects of lead exposure in Korean lead workers, an adequate intake of dietary iron is strongly recommended.
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Comparative Study
Histopathologic effects of lipid content of enteral solutions after pulmonary aspiration in rats.
We compared the pulmonary histopathologic effects of different enteral formulas with various lipid contents during the subacute period of aspiration in rats. ⋯ The pulmonary histopathologic effects of aspiration of Impact were severe peribronchial inflammatory cell infiltration (greater than aspiration of Biosorb and Pulmocare), abundant alveolar histiocytes, and alveolar edema in comparison with aspiration of saline, even though Impact had the lowest lipid content of all studied formulas. We concluded that the tissue damage occurring after pulmonary aspiration of Impact is more severe than after aspiration of Pulmocare.
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The purpose of this study was to determine whether fructooligosaccharides (FOS) exert an immunomodulating effect on Peyer's patches (PP), the main inductive site of the intestinal immune system. We investigated the effects of FOS in healthy and endotoxemic animals. ⋯ FOS showed an immunostimulating effect on PP lymphocytes under healthy and endotoxemic conditions. Thus it can be concluded that FOS administration affects not only the large intestine but also the main inductive part of the mucosal immune system in the small intestine.
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The intervening effects of nutrition status on school attendance rates among Kenyan middle school pupils were assessed. The study also examined the effects of nutrition status on primary school achievement scores for the eighth-grade class of 1997. ⋯ Prevalence of nutritional stress is a significant educational problem in this population. The association between attendance rate and nutrition status is a function of socioeconomic status. The predictive effect of nutrition status on educational achievement is more evident for girls with poor socioeconomic status.
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We investigated lipid metabolism in hypercholesterolemic rats after replacing casein with different amounts of undialyzed soybean protein fraction. ⋯ These results suggested a dose-dependent reduction in plasma cholesterol when casein was replaced stepwise with UDSP (5% or 10%) as a protein source. The hypocholesterolemic effect might have been due to an increase in total fecal steroid excretion.