Intra-arterial and intravenous chemotherapy for the treatment of malignant glioma. Preliminary results

Twenty-one patients with malignant glioma were treated with cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II (CDDP II) 60-90 mg/m2 intra-arterial (I.A.) bolus on day 1 and Carmustine (BCNU) 100 mg/m2 intravenously (I.V.) on days 1 and 2. Three patients received additional Aziridinylbenzoquinone (AZQ) 7 mg/m2 (I.V.) on days 1 and 2. At the time of this treatment, seven patients had local recurrence after previous surgery and radiotherapy. Nine patients had subtotal tumor resection or biopsy, one patient had macroscopic tumor resection, and four patients had no previous surgery because of medical contraindication. Six patients received five or more courses of I.A. and I.V. chemotherapy. Five of these patients showed complete remission (CR) and one had a partial remission (PR) by brain computerized tomography (CT scan). Another 15 patients treated with two to four courses of I.A., and I.V. chemotherapy showed eight partial responses (PR), and seven showed no changes (NC) by brain CT scan. Five patients died with disease. Patients who achieved CR also received radical radiotherapy for remission consolidation. Sixteen patients are still alive; five patients are off treatment, four of these with no evidence of disease (NED), one alive with disease (AWD); and the remaining 11 patients are still on treatment. Toxicity, symptomatic neurological recovery, disease stabilization, and causes of death will be discussed.

Influence of the mother's weight and socioeconomic status on the fatty acid composition of human milk

The influences of the maternal diet and of the mothers' nutritional and socioeconomic status on the fatty acid composition of human milk have not yet been fully elucidated. Fatty acids from capric (8:0) to docosahexaenoic (22:6w3) acids were determined in 209 samples of human milk obtained from voluntary donors. Samples were classified according to the time of lactation and in relation to the socioeconomic status and to the weight of the lactating women. Capric and lauric acid increased in mature milk while palmitic and stearic acids decreased. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of the w6 and w3 series with more than 18 carbon atoms also decreased from colostrum to mature milk. However, the ratio w3 PUFA/w6 PUFA remained unaltered. Oleic acid decreased in milk from mothers of a medium and low socioeconomic status who consumed almost exclusively seed vegetable oils. The mother's weight did not influence the fatty acid composition of her milk.

Urinary 3-methylhistidine derivative as indicator of nutrients intake in low-birth-weight infants

Urinary excretion levels of N-methylhistidine derivatives and N-methylhistidine/creatinine ratios were studied in a group of 20 small for date newborns, 10 premature infants and 8 normal infants, at birth and at one week of life. All infants were fed with an adapted milk formula supplying 2.8 g protein/kg body weight. 1-methyl and 3-methylhistidine urinary excretion were increased in all groups of infants from birth to the 7th day of life. Creatinine and N-methyl derivatives/creatinine ratios were also significantly increased at one week of life. The two ratios showed a higher level in small for date and premature infants than in normal infants at birth which continued relatively increased at one week of life. 3-methyl-histidine/creatinine ratio appears as a useful indicator of the turnover rate of muscular proteins in low-birth-weight infants.

A sequence downstream of AAUAAA is required for rabbit beta-globin mRNA 3'-end formation

The sequence AAUAAA, found 11-30 base pairs (bp) upstream of the poly(A) site of most non-histone eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs) forms an essential part of the recognition site for 3'-end processing of the primary transcript. However, the sequence AATAAA is found in transcribed regions of genes and is differentially utilized in genes containing multiple copies of the sequence within the 3'-noncoding region, suggesting that the hexanucleotide alone does not comprise a complete recognition site. Therefore, it seems likely that additional sequences are required to form a complete recognition site for 3'-end formation. We have investigated the sequence requirements for mRNA 3'-end formation using the rabbit beta-globin gene as a model system. Here we demonstrate that an additional sequence 3' to AAUAAA is required for the correct 3'-end formation of rabbit beta-globin mRNA.

[Free amino acids of various lacteal formulas used in Spain]

A comparative study has been made upon free amino-acids in human milk, cow's milk and some infant formulas commercialized in Spain. The contents of free amino-acids in human milk is significantly increased when compared to those of raw of UHT sterilized cow's milk and to those of infant formulas. The concentrations of alanine are significantly lower in cow's milk and in infant formulas compared to human milk. The same occurs with branched chain amino-acids, glutamic acid, serine, threonine and taurine. On the contrary, the levels of free cysteine are significantly higher in cow's milk and in infant formulas. The concentrations of free amino-acids determined in different infant formulas on sale in Spain are rather similar between each others, being the cuantitative pattern very different from that determined in human milk.

[Free amino acid content of human milk in Spain]

The concentrations of free amino-acids have been determined in 54 samples of human milk: 18 in colostrum, 18 in transition milk and 18 in mature milk, all of them taken from women in the Eastern part of Andalucía. The amino-acids have been determined through high pressure ion-exchange chromatography and fluorimetric detection. Glutamic acid is the major free amino-acid, representing 21-52% of the total amount of these components in human milk. Its level increase significantly with advancing lactation. Taurine represents 14-19 of total free amino-acids in human milk, remaining its levels practically unchanged during the whole lactation. The fact that the major content of essential free amino-acids in present in human colostrum could suppose a contribution of these substances which are directly absorbable during a period of life when the nutritional requirements of the neonate are incremented.

[Lipid profile in low birth weight neonates, small for gestational age]

Serum triglycerides, cholesterol, lipoproteins and fatty acids has been determined in 11 normal infants (RN) and 20 small for date newborn infants (SFD) at birth, before feeding, and at one week of life. All infants were bed with a milk formula (Maseda adaptado ) according with ESPGAN recommendations. Serum triglycerides are significantly increased in SFD after one week of feeding (p less than 0.01). Serum cholesterol in SFD show no differences in relation to normal infants. VLDL are significantly increased in SFD ab birth (p less than 0.01) reaching normal values after one week of feeding. After delivery SFD infants show a low serum level of linoleate (C18:2 omega 6) (p less than 0.05), linolenate (C18:3 omega 3) (p less than 0.02) and eicosadienoate (C20:2 omega 6) (p less than 0.02). No differences are observed in arachidonate (C20:4 omega 6). At one week after feeding no differences are observed in serum fatty acids between SFD and normal infants.

Serum and urine amino acid patterns during the first month of life in small-for-date infants

Prenatal nutrition is impaired in small-for-gestational-age infants. Serum amino acids may show some biochemical features related to the nutritional state of these children. We have carried out a study on serum and urine amino acids in 12 small-for-date infants (SFD) and 14 healthy newborns from birth to 1 month of life. SFD infants showed a high serum level of alanine and decreased concentrations of branched chain amino acids, aspartate, cystine and tryptophan at birth. The results are compatible with a protein malnutrition state. Levels of serum amino acids in SFD infants showed no differences in relation to normal infants after 1 month of rehabilitation with a diet consisting of an adapted milk formula.

Changes in serum albumin, transferrin and amino acid indices during the first month of life in small-for-date infants

Total serum proteins, albumin, albumin/globulin ratio, and plasma-free amino acids have been determined in 12 small-for-date infants and in 14 normal infants at birth, at 1 week and at 1 month after birth. All infants were fed ad libitum with an adapted infant formula providing 1.9 g protein and 74 kcal/100 ml. Total serum proteins and albumin but not transferrin were low at birth in small-for-date infants, reaching normal values after 1 week of feeding. Serum globulins were low from birth to 1 week in small-for-date infants but they were normal after 1 month. Values for classical amino acid malnutrition indices suggest a state of protein-energy malnutrition which disappeared after 1 week of feeding.

Role of renal gluconeogenesis in the maintenance of glycaemia after L-tryptophan administration to rats

The time-course of liver and kidney gluconeogenesis after L-tryptophan administration has been studied. Two and half hours after injection of L-tryptophan (0.5 g/kg body wt) a 97% inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis in starved rats was observed. Twelve hours later, the inhibition remained 35%. Hepatic glycogen was almost completely depleted (97%) in fed rats after 5 hours. At this time there was a severe hypoglycaemia in fed and 48 h starved rats which gradually disappeared with time, the values going back to normal after 12 hours. Tryptophan treatment was associated with a significant increase in renal gluconeogenesis in fed and 48 h starved rats with a maximum at 5 h (165% and 190% respectively). When hepatic gluconeogenesis was constantly inhibited in fed rats by periodic injection (every 4 h) of L-tryptophan, renal gluconeogenic ability remained increased throughout the experiment while blood glucose concentrations did not change. These observations suggest that kidney contributes to maintain glycaemic homeostasis under these conditions of liver gluconeogenesis impairment.

The structure of the human zeta-globin gene and a closely linked, nearly identical pseudogene

DNA sequencing studies indicate that only one of two closely linked human embryonic alpha-like globin genes, zeta (zeta), encodes a functional polypeptide. The other is a pseudogene (psi zeta) that differs by only 3 bp in the protein coding sequence, one of which converts the codon for amino acid 6 into a chain termination codon. Both zeta-globin genes differ from all other alpha-like genes thus far reported in that they contain large introns consisting, in part, of simple repeat sequences. Intron 1 of each gene contains a variation of the repeat sequence ACAGTGGGGAGGGG, while intron 2 contains the repeat sequence CGGGG. Comparison of the human zeta- and alpha-globin gene sequences reveals that the embryonic and adult alpha-like genes began to diverge from each other relatively early in vertebrate evolution (400 million years ago). In contrast, the beta-like embryonic globin gene, epsilon (epsilon), is the product of a much more recent evolutionary event (200 million years ago). Thus, even though the temporal and quantitative expression of zeta- and epsilon-globin genes must be coordinately controlled during development, their evolutionary histories are clearly distinct.

[Selective inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis gy tryptophan administration]

The levels of quinolinic acid in liver and kidney and the gluconeogenic capacity in these tissues were determined in rats treated with tryptophan. The administration of this aminoacid produced a high increase in the hepatic quinolinic acid concentrations fed and 48 h. starved rats. On the contrary, only slight variations in the concentrations of renal quinolinic acid were observed. The highest value raised in these conditions was three times lower than Ki of the quinolinic acid for the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. These results suggest that tryptophan administration originates a selective inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis.

Acid-soluble nucleotides of human milk at different stages of lactation

The acid-soluble ribonucleotides of human milk were measured by enzymic and ion-exchange chromatographic procedures at different stages of lactation. Human colostrum and milk contained CMP, AMP, GMP, UMP, GDP-mannose, UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine, UDP-N-acetyl-galactosamine, UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, UDP and other minor nucleotides. Cytidine and adenosine derivatives were present in relatively higher amounts than in milk from ruminant species. The nucleotide concentration decreased with advancing lactation. Human milk at 3 months of lactation contained about 10 mumol/100 ml nucleotides, which represented about 75% of the amount of nucleotides present in human colostrum. Human milk did not contain orotic acid. The UDP-glucose/UDP-galactose ratio was constant during lactation and was similar to that of milks from ruminant species.