Pre-intermediate care unit (IMC) and IMC period flowchart of intensive care unit (ICU) patients

GW, general ward; LOS, length of stay; N*, number of admissions; N**, number of readmissions.<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Changes in hospital costs after introducing an intermediate care unit: a comparative observational study"</p><p>http://ccforum.com/content/12/3/R68</p><p>Critical Care 2008;12(3):R68-R68.</p><p>Published online 15 May 2008</p><p>PMCID:PMC2481456.</p><p></p

Amino-acid concentrations and NO production in murine jejunal tissue.

<p>(A) L-Citrulline supplementation (LPS-Cit) increased tissue citrulline concentration compared to the LPS-Ala, LPS-Arg and control groups (P<0.001) (B) Arginine concentrations were significantly reduced in the LPS-Ala group compared to the control group (P<0.05). Interestingly, this concentration was not increased by L-Arginine supplementation (LPS-Arg), whereas this concentration was significantly increased by L-Citrulline supplementation (LPS-Cit group; P<0.01). (C) Ornithine levels increased in the LPS-Ala treated group compared to the control group (P<0.05) and increased further upon L-Citrulline supplementation (P<0.0001 relative to the control group and P<0.05 relative to the LPS group). (D) In the jejunum, prolonged endotoxemia resulted in a significant decrease in NO production (measured as pmol mono-nitrosyl-iron complexes (MNIC)/mg wet tissue) compared to control (P<0.05). NO production was significantly improved in the LPS-Arg and LPS-Cit group compared to the LPS group (P<0.0001 and P<0.05 respectively).</p

Representative live images of the microcirculatory measurements in jejunal villi with SDF imaging.

<p>(A) Representative live image of the jejunal microcirculation in a control mouse. (B) Representative live image of the jejunal microcirculation in a LPS-Ala treated mouse which shows only perfusion of the larger vessels. (C) Representative live image of a LPS-Arg treated mouse which shows a comparable perfusion pattern as the LPS-Ala treated mouse. (D) Representative live image of a LPS-Cit treated mouse, which’s shows more small perfused vessels per villus.</p

Experimental set up of the prolonged endotoxemia model.

<p>Mice were fitted with a jugular vein cannula at t = 0 d. After 4 days (t = 4 d) an 18hours continuous infusion with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) was started, which was combined during the last 6 hours with an infusion of Citrulline (Cit), Arginine (Arg) or an isonitrogenous quantity of the placebo Alanine (Ala). After completing the treatment, sidestream dark-field (SDF) imaging was used to quantify the microcirculation in the jejunal villi or Nitric Oxide (NO) spin trapping with iron-diethyldithiocarbamate (DETC) complexes to measure NO production <i>in vivo</i>.</p

Amino-acid concentrations in plasma.

<p>(A) Citrulline plasma concentrations increased after L-Citrulline supplementation (LPS-Cit) compared to all other groups (P<0.0001). (B) Plasma arginine concentrations were significantly reduced in the LPS-Ala group compared to the control group (P<0.05), whereas this concentration was significantly increased by L-Arginine or L-Citrulline supplementation (LPS-Arg and LPS-Cit group) compared to both other groups (P<0.001). (C) Plasma ornithine levels increased in the LPS-Ala treated group compared to the control group (P<0.05) and increased further upon L-Arginine or L-Citrulline supplementation.</p

Phosphorylated eNOS and iNOS protein levels in murine jejunal tissue.

<p>(A) The degree of phosphorylation of eNOS protein (expressed in arbitrary units, AU) was higher in the LPS-Cit group than in the LPS-Ala and LPS-Arg group (P<0.05). (B) The iNOS protein concentration changed in an opposite detection, with significantly lower levels in the control (P<0.05) and LPS-Cit group (P<0.01) than in the LPS-Ala and LPS-Arg group. (C) Representative examples of expression of phosphorylated eNOS (Ser 1177), iNOS and beta-actin by Western blot analysis.</p

Mixed muscle protein synthesis and muscle tissue enrichments.

<p>Muscle protein synthesis rates (FSR) based on plasma L-[ring-²H₅]-phenylalanine (A), and L-[1-¹³C]-phenylalanine (B) protein bound muscle protein enrichments (MPE). Values represent means ± SEM. * Indicates a significant difference compared to basal values, <i>P</i><0.05. ^# Indicates a significant difference compared to basal values, <i>P</i><0.05.</p

Flowchart of participants.

<p>Flowchart of participants.</p

Subjects’ characteristics.

<p>Values are expressed as means ± SEM. HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin; OGIS, Oral Glucose Insulin Sensitivity.</p><p>Subjects’ characteristics.</p

Outline of study protocol.

<p>Outline of study protocol.</p