OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of fetal undernutrition on the passive mechanical properties of skeletal muscle of weaned and young adult rats. INTRODUCTION A poor nutrition supply during fetal development affects physiological functions of the fetus. From a mechanical point of view, skeletal muscle can be also characterized by its resistance to passive stretch. ...

OBJECTIVE The aim of our study is to determine the effect of a 30-day-period caloric restriction (CR) upon the immune response of rats and the influence of glutamine upon mononuclear cells proliferation and cytokine production. METHODS Male albino Wistar rats were submitted to CR receiving an amount of food equivalent to 50% of the mean amount consumed by the control animals. We measured the ...

The use of insects as food for humans has the potential to substantially reduce undernutrition worldwide. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 805 million people are undernourished, with a total food energy deficit of 67.6 billion kcal/day (84 kcal/day/person). Calculations in this article suggest that this deficit could theoretically be reduced or eliminat...

Much emphasis is placed on the importance of good diet, usually in the context of concern about the health hazards of obesity [1]. Paradoxically, many elderly people are underweight and undernourished, as a result of a combination of age-related physical, social and psychological factors. This so-called 'failure to thrive' [2] or 'anorexia of the elderly' [3] is associated with morbidity and in...

Mucormycosis is a rare but highly invasive opportunistic fungal infection. Gastrointestinal disease although uncommon is highly fatal. We report a case of jejunal mucormycosis in a 24 year old undernourished female with preceding surgical intervention for acute intestinal obstruction of tubercular etiology. On 8th post-operative day, she developed oozing from suture line, prompting e...