Metabolic bone disease in lion cubs at the London Zoo in 1889: the original animal model of rickets

In 1889 Dr. John Bland-Sutton, a prominent London surgeon, was consulted about fatal rickets in over 20 successive litters of lion cubs born at the London Zoo. He evaluated the diet and found the cause of rickets to be nutritional in origin. He recommended that goat meat with crushed bones and cod-liver oil be added to the lean horsemeat diet of the cubs and their mothers. Rickets were reversed, the cubs survived, and subsequent litters thrived. Thirty years later, in classic controlled studies conducted in puppies and young rats, the definitive role of calcium, phosphate and vitamin D in prevention and therapy of rickets was elucidated. Further studies led to identifying the structural features of vitamin D

Taurine and the renal system

Taurine participates in a number of different physiologic and biologic processes in the kidney, often reflected by urinary excretion patterns. The kidney is key to aspects of taurine body pool size and homeostasis. This review will examine the renal-taurine interactions relative to ion reabsorption; renal blood flow and renal vascular endothelial function; antioxidant properties, especially in the glomerulus; and the role of taurine in ischemia and reperfusion injury. In addition, taurine plays a role in the renal cell cycle and apoptosis, and functions as an osmolyte during the stress response. The role of the kidney in adaptation to variations in dietary taurine intake and the regulation of taurine body pool size are described. Finally, the protective function of taurine against several kidney diseases is reviewed

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Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47830/1/467_2004_Article_BF00862507.pd

The RIVUR Voiding Cystourethrogram Pilot Study: Experience with Radiologic Reading Concordance

Published cohorts of children with vesicoureteral reflux placed on antibiotic prophylaxis differ in baseline characteristics and methodology. These data have been combined in meta-analyses to derive treatment recommendations. We analyzed these cohorts in an attempt to understand the disparate outcomes reported

Predictors of Antimicrobial Resistance among Pathogens Causing Urinary Tract Infection in Children

To determine which children with urinary tract infection (UTI) are likely to have pathogens resistant to narrow-spectrum antimicrobials

Antimicrobial Resistance and Urinary Tract Infection Recurrence

The Randomized Intervention for Children with Vesicoureteral Reflux (RIVUR) trial found that recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI) with resistant organisms were more common in the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis (TSP) arm. We describe factors associated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) resistance of rUTIs in RIVUR

Theobald Palm and His Remarkable Observation: How the Sunshine Vitamin Came to Be Recognized

The seminal discovery that sunlight was important in the prevention of nutritional rickets was made in 1890 by Theobald A. Palm, a medical missionary who contrasted the prevalence of rickets in northern European urban areas with similar areas in Japan and other tropical countries. He surmised that exposure to sunlight prevented rickets. Over the next 40 years his observation led to an understanding of ultraviolet irradiation and its role in vitamin D synthesis. This opened a new era of appreciation for the curative powers of the sun and “the sunshine vitamin”. While Palm’s observations were in some ways obscure, they had a potent effect on the development of photobiology

Development and Impact of an Intervention to Boost Recruitment in a Multicenter Pediatric Randomized Clinical Trial

Our primary objective was to develop and evaluate an intervention to increase recruitment in a multi-center pediatric randomized clinical trial (RCT). Our secondary objective was to assess the impact beyond 120 days