Breakfast Habits of Some Utah School Children

During the last 10 years, much emphasis has been placed on the importance of breakfast for people of all ages. Nutritionists have pointed out that persons who eat a hearty breakfast show fewer signs of mid-morning fatigue, have or develop better work habits, and do not get as hungry as those who eat little or no breakfast. Many people do not realize the importance of starting the day with a good breakfast. The 12 to 13 hour fast which the body undergoes from the evening meal until breakfast time requires the consumption of an adequate breakfast. Many poor breakfasts may be attributed to either failure to take the time to eat, or to not understanding the necessity of an adequate breakfast. Nationwide surveys report that a large number of adolescents and adults fail to receive the recommended 1/4 to 1/3 of their caloric and nutrient needs at breakfast. A basic breakfast pattern has been developed to aid in planning an adequate breakfast that will supply 1/4 to 1/3 of the calories and other nutrients needed each day. It includes fruit, cereal and/or egg, milk, bread and butter, yet it allows for a wide variation in menus. it is economical and can be easy to prepare. A breakfast of these foods insures one of less morning fatigue and better feeling during the morning and all day long. Studies show that breakfast is the most frequently missed meal. Many of the subjects who did not eat breakfast had a total day\u27s intake that was classified as poor. Eating two meals a day failed to make up for the deficiency in nutrients. Breakfast consumption shows a direct relationship to the diet score, proof of the fact omitting breakfast is a poor start for the day. At the ages when an individual needs a larger intake of calories and nutrients, many times there is an actual decrease in the intake of nutritions food. The adolescents are noted for this inverse relationship between their nutritive needs and their actual intake. Galloway and Wilcox (1954), in a Utah study of school children, found that the breakfast meal did not furnish the recommended 1/4 to 1/3 of the day\u27s allowance of calories and many of the other nutrients. The noon and evening meals furnished a larger percentage of most nutrients to their diets. The number of children in the study by Galloway, et al., (1954) was somewhat limited. To obtain a better picture of Utah school children\u27s breakfast habits, 799 dietary records on file in the Foods and Nutrition Laboratory and 495 records collected this school year (1956-57) were evaluated. The objective of the present study was to determine the adequacy of breakfasts of approximately 1,000 school children

The comparative cytotoxicity of riddelliine in primary mouse, rat and chick hepatocytes

Dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid (DHPA) producing plants commonly poison livestock, wildlife and humans. Poisoning occurs when DHPAs are ingested as feed or food, or when they contaminate medicinal or herbal products. Direct toxicologic comparison of individual DHPAs is essential to estimate their actual health risks. This has been problematic due to varying models and difficulties in DHPA isolation or synthesis. In contrast, the macrocyclic DHPA riddelliine is readily isolated and it has been used as a benchmark to characterize different models of toxicity and carcinogenicity. Following earlier work with immortalized cell lines, the objective of this study was to characterize the effect of riddelliine on primary mouse, rat and chick hepatocyte cultures with the aim of developing a suitable, sensitive model for assessing DHPA-related cytotoxicity. After establishing viable cultures, the hepatocytes were exposed for 24 hours to riddelliine (from 0.1µM to 1.2mM) and cytotoxicity (CT­­50) was estimated using a mitochondrial function assay (MTT). Despite a biphasic response, possibly attributable to a sub-population of resistant chick hepatocytes, chick hepatocyte cultures were highly sensitive (CT50 0.9 µM) to riddelliine cytotoxicity relative to rat (CT50 289 µM) and mouse (CT50 627 µM) hepatocytes. Chick, mouse and rat hepatocyte cytochrome P450 3A4 activities did not correlate with riddelliine-induced cytotoxicity. With further development to utilize the highly sensitive primary chick hepatocytes, this model may be useful to directly compare panels of DHPAs, including rare or difficult to isolate alkaloids

THE ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF STEROIDAL SAPOGENINS IN SWITCHGRASS

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been reported to be hepatotoxic, causing photosensitization in lambs and horses. In this study we show the presence of steroidal saponins in two samples of switchgrass that has been implicated in the poisonings of sheep and horses. After hydrolysis of the saponins, diosgenin was determined to be the major sapogenin in both switchgrass samples. We also confirmed the presence of diosgenin in kleingrass after hydrolysis of saponins extracted from it

Broom Snakeweed Extracts Dosed to Late-Term Pregnant Cattle Do Not Cause Premature Parturition

Broom snakeweed [Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britton and Rusby] and threadleaf snakeweed [G. microcephala (DC.) A. Gray] are found on many rangelands in western North America. Snakeweeds are generally unpalatable; however, animals will graze them when other forage is not available and there are field reports that pregnant cows that graze snakeweeds may abort calves. Subsequent feeding studies using fresh cut snakeweed, ground and gavaged into pregnant cattle have failed to reproduce abortions, though it was evident that at high doses snakeweed quickly damaged the rumen microflora resulting in severe rumen atony, bloating and acidosis. We report here an attempt to solvent extract the snakeweeds, mix the extracts with ground alfalfa hay, and test the extracts for abortifacient activity in late-term pregnant cattle. The dosed extracts again appear to be unable to reproduce snakeweed induced abortions in cattle. Extracts from snakeweed chemotype 1 plant appear to be quite toxic to the rumen and caused complete rumen stasis after 2-3 days. In contrast, cattle receiving chemotype 2 extracts were able to tolerate over twice the dosage as that given for chemotype 1 extracts. We conclude that broom snakeweed plants are unlikely to be directly responsible for cattle abortions observed in cattle grazing snakeweed infested rangelands. It is more likely that cattle may be affected by rumen toxicity and/or might suffer from poor nutritional factors given the lack of quality forage that might be available on rangelands with high snakeweed infestation

North American Hard Yellow Liver Disease: An Old Problem Readdressed

Hard yellow liver disease or fatty cirrhosis periodically affects cattle, sheep, goats, pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) and whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) within several Texas counties in the United States. Clinically it presents as chronic liver disease with progressive hepatic necrosis and fibrosis, icterus and liver failure. The damaged livers are yellow and many have multiple firm, often gritty foci that are scattered throughout all lobes. Early investigations included feeding studies using potential toxic plants, climate and forage studies, infectious disease surveys and various mycotoxin studies and analyses. None have definitively reproduced the disease or identified the inciting cause. However, the problem continues and recent outbreaks have allowed the collection of additional frozen tissues, and numerous paraffin tissue blocks and slides for additional studies. The objectives for this work are to evaluate and compare the microscopic changes, special histochemical studies, microbial and fungal surveys and chemical assays for dehyro-pyrrolizidine alkaloid (DHPA) metabolites of these additional cases with historical reports. These bovine livers had a spectrum of lesions including lipid degeneration and necrosis, eosinophilic granulomatous hepatitis, focal follicular lymphoid proliferation and chronic fibrosing hepatitis with dystrophic mineralization. No pyrrolizidine alkaloid metabolites were detected in any of the livers and select special stains did not reveal any fungal, bacterial or parasitic etiologies. The lack of findings and mixed histologic presentation suggest that this syndrome is a collection of chronic diseases probably of various etiologies. Earlier animal surveillance work is needed in endemic areas to better understand the etiology and pathogenesis of this syndrome

Comparative toxicity of selenium from seleno-DL-methionine, sodium selenate, and Astragalus bisulcatus in pigs

Selenium is an essential micronutrient, although ingestion in excess in pigs can cause disease conditions including neurological dysfunction and chronic skin and hoof lesions. Controlled feeding trials in growing swine, using the same Se content in feed sources, resulted in higher concentrations (p 0.05) of Se in blood and organs of pigs fed seleno-DL-methionine compared with those receiving Astragalus bisulcatus or sodium selenate. Clinical signs of Se toxicity including neurological signs of paralysis were more severe and occurred sooner in the A. bisulcatus group than in the sodium selenate or seleno-DL-methionine groups. All five pigs fed A. bisulcatus developed neurological signs of paralysis, and in four the signs occurred within 5 days of the start of treatment. Four of five pigs fed sodium selenate also developed paralysis, but this occurred 4 to 21 days after treatment began. The fifth pig in the group developed signs of chronic selenosis. Two of five pigs fed seleno-DL-methionine developed paralysis on 9 and 24 days, respectively, and the remaining three developed chronic selenosis. Selenium fed to pigs in three forms [plant (A. bisulcatus), sodium selenate, or seleno-DL-methionine] resulted in neurological dysfunction and lesions of symmetrical poliomyelomalacia. These were most severe in the A. bisulcatus group, which also had polioencephalomalacia. Although seleno-m-methionine caused the greater increase in tissue and blood Se concentrations, this did not correlate with severity of pathological changes, since animals fed A. bisulcatus developed more severe and disseminated lesions

Selenium poisoning in cattle (Chapter 74)

Selenium is readily absorbed by all plants. However certain soils contain selenium in amounts and forms that render some plants toxic to animals, plants have been divided into two groups according to their ability to accumulate selenium: (i) primary selenium-accumulators or indicator plants, which include species of the Astragalus, Haplopappus and Stanleya genera. These plants accumulate low molecular weight, water soluble organic compounds and selenate (Anon., 1980) to give selenium levels of 50 to several thousand mg kg-1; and (ii) non-accumulator plants which include grasses, shrubs, small grains, alfalfa and some forbs. These plants usually accumulate less than 50mg kg-1 (generally 5-12mg kg-1) selenium as organic forms in plant proteins. Selenium poisoning in livestock most frequently involves these non-accumulator plants