James G. Penland

Dietary calcium and manganese effects on menstrual cycle symptoms.

OBJECTIVEnThis exploratory study was designed to determine whether dietary calcium and manganese affect menstrual symptoms in healthy women.nnnSTUDY DESIGNnTen women with normal menstrual cycles completed the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire each cycle during a 169-day, live-in metabolic study of calcium and manganese nutrition. Women were assigned in a double-blind, Latin-square manner to each of four 39-day dietary periods: 587 or 1336 mg calcium per day with 1.0 or 5.6 mg manganese per day. Responses were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance.nnnRESULTSnIncreasing calcium intake reduced mood, concentration, and behavior symptoms generally (p < or = 0.05), reduced pain during the menstrual phase of the cycle (p = 0.034), and reduced water retention during the premenstrual phase (p = 0.041). In spite of increasing calcium intake, lower dietary manganese increased mood and pain symptoms during the premenstrual phase (p < or = 0.05).nnnCONCLUSIONnDietary calcium and manganese may have a functional role in the manifestation of symptomatology typically associated with menstrual distress.

Adequacy or deprivation of dietary selenium in healthy men: Clinical and psychological findings

Thirty healthy young men were fed diets that provided either 32.6 or 226.5 μg of selenium (Se)/d for 105 d. The high Se diet significantly elevated plasma Se and platelet glutathione peroxidase activity. Selenium balance of subjects consuming the high Se diet was >100 μg/d, whereas subjects on the low Se diet were in approximately zero balance. High dietary Se significantly improved mood; specifically, subjects on the high Se diet improved in the clearheaded/confused, elated/depressed, composed/anxious, and confident/unsure subscores, and total mood disturbance was less in men consuming the high Se diet. These data show that North American men are able to stay in zero Se balance on as little as 24 μg/d. Additionally, they show that psychological function, specifically mood, can be influenced by increasing or decreasing the amount of Se in the diet. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 11:11–27, 1998. Published 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.1

Boron supplementation of peri-menopausal women affects boron metabolism and indices associated with macromineral metabolism, hormonal status and immune function†‡§

A double-blind crossover designed experiment was conducted with 43 peri-menopausal women who were experiencing discomforts associated with menopause. They were given sodium borate capsules containing 2.5 mg of boron for 60 days followed (19 women) or preceded (24 women) by 90 days of receiving a placebo capsule containing lactose powder. Blood was collected weekly after a 12-hour overnight fast. Urine voided in 24 hours was collected three times each week. Because boron is well absorbed and excreted in the urine, urinary boron was used to estimate usual oral intake. Urinary boron excretion during the placebo period indicated that the usual boron intake of peri-menopausal women in the eastern North Dakota area of the United States ranges between 0.34 and 2.33 mg/d with a median of 1.15 mg/d. Usual plasma concentrations range between 0.020–0.067 μg/mL with a median of 0.033 μg/mL. The boron supplementation moderately increased the median plasma boron concentration to 0.052 μg/mL with a range of 0.028–0.075 μg/mL. Boron supplementation resulted in more frequent and severe hot flashes and night sweats in 21 women. However, 10 women reported a reduction in discomforts. The remaining 15 women did not respond negatively or positively to the boron supplementation. Boron supplementation significantly increased white blood cell numbers with a decreased percentage of lymphocytes and increased percentage of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The boron supplementation also affected serum 17β-estradiol, alkaline phosphatase, and thyroxine concentrations, but the effect was influenced by the sequence in which the boron supplement and placebo were given. For example, both serum alkaline phosphatase and triiodothyronine concentrations were noticeably increased by boron supplementation when it followed the placebo period. However, the increase in serum 17β-estradiol concentration with boron supplementation was most marked when the boron was given before the placebo. The findings show that boron is homeostatically controlled and support the hypothesis that boron affects hormone processes, possibly at the cell membrane level, in humans. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 12:251–261, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Association between zinc pool sizes and iron stores in premenopausal women without anaemia

The simultaneous occurrence of Zn and Fe deficiencies in man has been known since the discovery of human Zn deficiency. However, it is not established that low Fe stores per se or Fe-deficiency anaemia infer low Zn status. Therefore our objective was to identify relationships between Zn and Fe status in premenopausal women without anaemia. We also examined the contribution of food frequencies and blood loss to Zn and Fe status. The subjects were thirty-three apparently healthy premenopausal women without anaemia, who were not taking dietary supplements containing Zn or Fe or oral contraceptives. Main outcomes were Zn kinetic parameters based on the three-compartment mammillary model and serum ferritin (SF) concentration; contributing factors were the frequency of consumption of specific foods and menorrhagia. Lower SF was significantly associated with smaller sizes of Zn pools. The breakpoint in the relationship between SF and the lesser peripheral Zn pool was found to be 21.0 microg SF/l. SF also correlated positively with frequency of beef consumption and negatively with bleeding through menstrual pads (BTMP). Similar to SF, the Zn pool sizes correlated positively with frequency of beef consumption, and negatively with BTMP. In summary, Zn pool sizes and Fe stores were highly correlated in premenopausal women. SF concentrations < 20 microg/l suggest an increased likelihood of low Zn status.

Alcohol-induced impairment and enhancement of memory: A test of the interference theory

Many studies have found cognitive deficits related to alcohol consumption. However, few studies have studied cognitive performance when alcohol was administered after the to-be-remembered information was presented with memory testing occurring when participants are once again sober. The present study examined effects of alcohol on cognitive performance using a prose recall task during acute intoxication and a post-trial recall task for prose passages that had been presented before intoxication. Fifty-one men were given either 2.0 g/kg of 100 proof (50% absolute ethanol) vodka or a placebo. In the present study, evidence was found of acute alcohol impairment in prose memory, along with alcohol facilitation of memory on a post-trial task.

Longitudinal study of brain function and depletion of iron stores in individual subjects

Seven men living in a controlled research unit showed decrements in iron stores due to repeated phlebotomy. For each subject, weekly measures of cognitive task performance, electroencephalographic (EEG) power and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were examined in relation to serum ferritin level. No reliable relationships of ferritin level to cognitive performance ability were observed. Some EEG findings appeared similar to previous observations on EEG data and iron status in cross-sectional research. For four of the seven subjects, asymmetries of EEG power in the occipital electrodes appeared related to the decline in iron status over time.

Boron deprivation alters rat behaviour and brain mineral composition differently when fish oil instead of safflower oil is the diet fat source

Abstract Primary objective : To determine whether boron deprivation affects rat behaviour and whether behavioural responses to boron deprivation are modified by differing amounts of dietary long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Research design : Female rats were fed diets containing 0.1 mg (9 μmol)/kg boron in a factorial arrangement with dietary variables of supplemental boron at 0 and 3 mg (278 μmol)/kg and fat sources of 75 g/kg safflower oil or 65 g/kg fish (menhaden) oil plus 10 g/kg linoleic acid. After 6 weeks, six females per treatment were bred. Dams and pups continued on their respective diets through gestation, lactation and after weaning. Between ages 6 and 20 weeks, behavioural tests were performed on 13–15 male offspring from three dams in each dietary treatment. The rats were euthanized at age 21 weeks for the collection of tissues and blood. Methods and procedures : At ages 6 and 19 weeks, auditory startle was evaluated with an acoustic startle system and avoidance behaviour was evaluated by using an elevated plus maze. At ages 7 and 20 weeks, spontaneous behaviour activity was evaluated with a photobeam activity system. A brightness discrimination test was performed on the rats between age 15 and 16 weeks. Brain mineral composition was determined by coupled argon plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Plasma total glutathione was determined by HPLC and total cholesterol and 8- iso -prostaglandin F 2ue700 (8- iso -PGF 2ue700 ) were determined by using commercially available kits. Main outcomes and results : Boron-deficient rats were less active than boron-adequate rats when fed safflower oil based on reduced number, distance and time of horizontal movements, front entries, margin distance and vertical breaks and jumps in the spontaneous activity evaluation. Feeding fish oil instead of safflower oil attenuated the activity response to boron deprivation. In the plus maze evaluation, the behavioural reactivity of the boron-deficient rats fed fish oil was noticeably different than the other three treatments. They made more entries into both open and closed arms and the center area and thus visited more locations. The boron-deficient rats fed fish oil also exhibited the lowest copper and zinc and highest boron concentrations in brain and the highest plasma glutathione concentration. Both boron deprivation and safflower oil increased plasma 8- iso -PGF 2ue700 . Conclusions : Both dietary boron and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids influence rat behaviour and brain composition and the influence of one these bioactive substances can be altered by changing the intake of the other. Brain mineral and plasma cholesterol, glutathione and 8- iso -PGF 2ue700 findings suggest that rat behaviour is affected by an interaction between boron and fish oil because both affect oxidative metabolism and act the cellular membrane level.

Boron as a Dietary Factor for Bone Microarchitecture and Central Nervous System Function

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