Folate absorption in alcoholic pigs: in vivo intestinal perfusion studies

Article Abstract:

Alcoholics commonly develop malnutrition for a variety of reasons, including an inadequate diet and the effects of chronic alcohol consumption. A specific vitamin deficiency frequently found in alcoholics is folate deficiency. While it is known that the alcoholic's diet may be deficient in food sources of folate, intestinal malabsorption may also contribute to a deficiency state. Pigs were used as an animal model of chronic alcoholism to evaluate the intestinal absorption of folate. Over an 11-month period, eight pigs were fed alcohol (ethanol) which accounted for 60 percent of calories consumed, and eight control pigs were fed sugar, representing 60 percent of calories consumed. Blood tests and liver biopsies showed evidence of the high alcohol intakes. The uptake of folate in the jejunum (part of the small intestine) and tissue folate concentrations were similar in the two groups; these functions were apparently not affected by alcohol consumption. However, one pig in the alcohol group showed reduced breakdown of polyglutamyl folate, the main form of folate in the diet; this indicated impaired folate absorption. While only observed in one animal, this phenomenon may represent an early stage of the process leading to folate deficiency in alcoholics. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

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The American Society for Clinical Nutrition as an academic society

Article Abstract:

The address from the president of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition comes at the end of his term and commemorates the 30th anniversary of the society. The society was organized in 1960 by 69 founding members. Over the years the society has grown in size to its current membership of 726 active members and 125 emeritus or associate members. Of this number, two-thirds are physicians, one-third are Ph.D.s and one-sixth hold both degrees. Approximately half of the physicians are board certified in at least one medical specialty. Of these, approximately one-half are internists. This thirty year period has also seen the society grow to its current status of being on the verge of being declared a full academic medical discipline. To this end its official organ, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, has helped document the society's progress. The society has defined its goals for the future as: research, clinical practice, certification, improving standards of nutrition education, and stimulating research in human nutrition and metabolism. The future for the society is to participate actively in securing the full academic recognition of this scientific discipline, including obtaining much needed research funding, and insuring that all American medical schools include human nutrition within their curriculum.

Conferences, meetings and seminars, Medical research, Nutrition, Speeches, lectures and essays, Medical education, transcript, American Society for Clinical Nutrition

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Folate absorption in alcoholic pigs: in vitro hydrolysis and transport at the intestinal brush border membrane

Article Abstract:

Malnutrition is a common consequence of chronic alcoholism. Alcoholics are particularly vulnerable to deficiencies in the vitamin folate. Deficiency may develop from several interacting causes, one of which appears to be impaired absorption in the intestines. The effects of ethanol (alcohol) ingestion on intestinal folate absorption were studied in miniature pigs. For 11 months, six pigs were given ethanol, representing 60 percent of their calories, and six control pigs were given an equivalent amount of sugar. Intestinal absorption was measured at the brush border membrane (lining) of the jejunum, which is one segment of the small intestine. Absorption of the most common form of dietary folate, pteroylmonoglutamate, did not vary in the two groups. However, levels of the enzyme required to break down folate in prior to absorption were reduced by 50 percent in the ethanol-fed group. The inhibition of this enzyme by chronic exposure to alcohol may be an early step in the development of folate malabsorption in chronic alcoholism; this malabsorption may lead to folate deficiency. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

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