BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests that a low carbohydrate (LC) diet may be equally or more effective for short-term weight loss than a traditional low fat (LF) diet; however, less is known about how they compare for weight maintenance. The purpose of this study was to compare body weight (BW) for participants in a clinical weight management program, consuming a LC or LF weight maintenance die...

Autonomic nervous system control in subjects with vasovagal syncope is controversial. In the present study, we used short-term spectral analysis to evaluate autonomic control in subjects with recurrent vasovagal syncope. We assessed the ability of spectral indices of HR (heart rate) variability to predict tilt-test responses. A series of 47 outpatients with recurrent vasovagal syncope and with ...

BACKGROUND Head-up tilt testing (HUT) plays a pivotal role in the management of vasovagal syncope (VVS). Heart rate variability (HRV) is a well-known method used for noninvasive evaluation of autonomic nervous system activity. However, different results have been obtained in studies that have evaluated the HRV response to HUT in patients with VVS. METHODS One hundred fourteen patients with re...

The transcription factors LF-A1 and LF-B1 are required for the cell-specific expression of the human alpha 1-antitrypsin gene in hepatocytes. We report here the purification and preliminary characterization of LF-A1. This protein, purified to homogeneity from calf liver nuclei by site-specific DNA affinity chromatography and reverse-phase HPLC, has a molecular mass of 40 kDa. Binding sites of L...

Lactoferrin (Lf) is an iron-binding multi-functional glycoprotein which has numerous physiological functions such as iron transportation, anti-microbial activity and immune response. In this study, different in silico approaches were exploited to investigate Lf protein properties in a number of mammalian species. Results showed that the iron-binding site, DNA and RNA-binding sites, signal pepti...

We studied heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in four male subjects before, during, and after 16 days of spaceflight. The electrocardiogram and respiration were recorded during two periods of 4 min controlled breathing at 7.5 and 15 breaths/min in standing and supine postures on the ground and in microgravity. Low (LF)- and high (HF)-frequency ...

The analysis of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) variability is currently used to investigate the mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular control; therefore, we assessed whether an impairment of 24-h BP and HR profiles and sympathovagal interaction modulating cardiovascular function was present in patients with thalassemia major (TM) in preclinical phase of heart disease. Nine beta-tha...