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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3441. Advisers: Paul S. Cooke; William G. Helferich. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-102) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3441. Advisers: Kelly A. Tappenden; J. Lee Beverly. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

The Wheat Bran Fiber (WBF) trial was a double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial in which participants were randomized to receive a cereal fiber supplement of either 2.0 or 13.5 g/day to determine whether the high-fiber supplement could decrease the risk of recurrent colorectal adenomas. No effect of the supplement was observed. However, there are several issues in the WBF trial that remain to be explored, including whether there were non-supplemental dietary changes throughout the course of the study, and whether baseline fiber intake or the amount of fiber consumed by participants during the trial were associated with adenoma recurrence. With regard to changes in nutrient intake, no significant differences were found between the high-fiber and low-fiber groups at any of the three time points. Therefore, data from the two treatment groups were combined to assess longitudinal change during the study. Participants significantly decreased their fat intake during the trial, but the intake of most micronutrients was increased. With regard to food groups, the number of servings of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products did not change appreciably, while servings from the fat and meat groups were significantly decreased. The intake of cereals, breads and crackers increased significantly, possibly due to the addition of the cereal supplement to the diet. Furthermore, it is likely that the increase in micronutrient intake can be attributed to the consumption of the study supplement. The next issue was whether baseline fiber intake was associated with risk of adenoma recurrence. No association was found between the amount of fiber consumed at baseline and adenoma recurrence, nor did baseline fiber intake modify the effect of treatment group. Finally, it was important to determine whether the amount of fiber consumed during the WBF trial, regardless of treatment group, was associated with adenoma recurrence. There were no significant associations between amount of.

Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection resulting from the inhalation of spores from the soil-borne organism, Coccidioides immitis . Historical and contemporary literature cite weight loss and fatigue in patients, but these clinical symptoms have not been quantified. The first goal of this study was to describe nutritional changes throughout the infection course utilizing longitudinal data from 117 patients from the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System. Subjects were categorized into groups according to weight and visceral protein status. The level of nutritional deficit was associated with the severity and duration of infection. Although patients varied greatly, as reductions in body mass index (BMI) and percent ideal body weight occurred, infection severity worsened. Serum prealbumin and weight loss were positively correlated with clinical score. The second goal was to quantify coccidioidomycosis-related fatigue to document severity. The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) was utilized to measure the fatigue experienced by 48 coccidioidomycosis patients and 20 healthy controls. A mean FSS score of 4.796 ± 1.91 was found in patients, indicative of severe fatigue. Compared to healthy controls, patients are significantly more fatigued (p < 0.0001). This severe fatigue is not related to infection duration, severity or patient demographics, however as weight declines, fatigue worsens. The third goal was to ascertain potential cytokine-related mechanisms associated with weight loss or fatigue manifested in coccidioidomycosis. Samples of serum, control blood, and blood incubated with coccidioidal antigen were analyzed for levels of TNF-alpha and leptin were via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cytometric bead array via flow cytometry was utilized to measure TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 values in blood incubated with antigen. Results were related to weight status (BMI) and fatigue severity (FSS score). A possible relationship between leptin and fatigue in blood incubated with antigen occurred. Serum leptin and leptin in blood incubated with antigen were positively related to BMI. In blood incubated with antigen, TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-2 levels were positively related to BMI.

Recent US statistics indicate continued increased incidence of many chronic diseases. The prevalence of these chronic diseases could be reduced if Americans would modify their eating habits to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) intake to the minimum recommended level of five servings daily. Educational strategies to change eating behavior would benefit from a greater understanding of sociodemographic and psychological factors related to dietary behavior. A secondary analysis of data collected from 361 older uninsured women participating in a controlled trial of diet and physical activity change conducted from 1998 to 2000 was completed to assess differences between Mexican Americans (MA) and non-Hispanic whites (NHW) in overall nutrient intake. Acculturation and the ability to accurately identify Stage of Change were examined and related to FV intake. Significant differences in energy, total fat, total carbohydrate, total protein, alcohol, total monounsaturated fatty acids, total polyunsaturated fatty acids, soluble dietary fiber, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, total vitamin E, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, selenium, and legume servings a day were found between MA and NHW. Low acculturated MA and NHW had a comparable intake of FV. In contrast, more acculturated MA had a significantly lower intake of FV. Acculturation, education, smoking status, and stages of changes were the most significant predictors of baseline FV intake while only acculturation and backward movement through stages of change predicted change in FV consumption over time based on repeated measure analyses. The implications of these research findings are that nutrition interventions to increase FV consumption should be aimed at factors that are predictive of behavior change. In particular the differences by acculturation and stage of change underscore the need for tailoring educational intervention for greater impact. Given the small sample of our study, the findings need to be interpreted with caution. Policy inference can be suggested from this research, but further research is needed before implementation and changes of nutrition policy recommendations.

In this study bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) was validated as a field method for measuring short-term, small changes in hydration status by comparing extracellular water change (ΔECW) estimated by BIS with a criterion method (bromide dilution), dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and body weight (BW). A secondary aim was to compare BW to bromide dilution as a method for estimating acute ΔECW. Finally, BIS was compared to DXA and single frequency bioimpedance analysis (SF-BIA) instruments to assess acute hydration effects on body composition estimates. During dehydration, no significant differences were found between bromide and BIS measures of ΔECW. The ΔECW measured by DXA (DXA-ΔECW) and BW (BW-ΔECW) was significantly different from bromide-estimated ΔECW (Br-ΔECW), but not from BIS estimates (BIS-ΔECW). During rehydration, there were no significant differences between Br-ΔECW and the other methods. When using BW as the reference, results were more consistent in that BW-ΔECW was significantly correlated with both BIS-ΔECW and DXA-ΔECW regardless of hydration status. These findings suggest that bromide may not be an appropriate criterion method for estimating short-term changes in hydration status. Regardless of hydration status, BIS provided accurate measures of fat-free mass (BIS-FFM) and fat mass (BIS-FM) that were comparable to, or better than, estimates by SF-BIA. At baseline and after dehydration BIS-FFM had the highest correlation with DXA estimates (DXA-FFM), although two SF-BIA instruments (Bio-Resistance Body Composition Analyzer from Valhalla Scientific and The Body Comp Scale from American Weights & Measures) produced good estimates of FFM. Rehydration appeared to affect the accuracy of FFM measurements by BIS and SF-BIA as evidenced by lower, more moderate correlations to DXA-FFM. Phase-dependent effects on percentage body fat (%BF) estimates were also apparent. In contrast, all methods performed reasonably well for estimates of FM, regardless of hydration status. In summary, BIS provides accurate estimates of ΔECW compared to either bromide dilution or BW, especially in the direction of dehydration. BIS also provides accurate estimates of FFM and FM regardless of hydration status. Further study of bromide dilution as a criterion measure is needed to validate its use in measuring ΔECW during acute shifts in hydration.

Bile acids have been implicated by epidemiologic evidence as causative agents in colon cancer. Previous studies have indicated that the bile acids damage DNA. However, the conjugated forms of bile acids (eg. tauro conjugates) have not been tested for interaction with DNA. The present study compared the DNA-damaging ability of unconjugated and conjugated bile acids using the E. coli SOS test system. The E. coli tester strain was incubated with the bile acids and conjugated bile acids. Both cell survival and induction of the SOS response was measured. Among unconjugated bile acids, deoxycholate, chenodeoxycholate, and lithocholic acid were confirmed as DNA damaging agents by a decrease in surviving fraction and increase of the fraction of blue colonies undergoing SOS induction with increasing doses. Cholate, however, did not cause DNA damage by these criteria. Among the conjugated bile acids, taurochenodeoxycholate caused as much DNA damage as chenodeoxycholate. Taurodeoxycholate caused DNA damage, but had less of an effect than deoxycholate. Taurocholate and taurolithocholate failed to show a DNA damaging effect.

The objective of this study is to assess the effects of pure β-carotene supplementation in the lactating mothers on serum β-carotene and retinol levels of their breast-fed infants. Data for this study is taken from a nutritional intervention trial conducted in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Forty five healthy, lactating mothers and their infants participated. During the intervention trial, all of the mothers took 30 mg of pure β-carotene capsules with their morning meal for three alternate days (a total of 90 mg) in the week-long trial. The mothers provided 10 milliliter of breast milk per sampling and 5 milliliter of blood per draw. Two milliliter of blood was collected from each infants during the trial. β-Carotene and retinol concentrations were quantitated in the breast milk and in the serum samples using high-performance-liquid-chromatography (HPLC). Results of the t-test confirmed that the supplementation of β-carotene to the lactating mothers has a significant effect on their breast-fed infants' serum retinol concentrations. This is reflected in the increased levels (by a ∼10 fold) of infants' serum retinol concentrations. It is also observed that there is a statistically significant increase of the β-carotene levels in the maternal breast milk and serum samples due to this β-carotene supplementation. A similar increase of retinol levels in the maternal blood samples is observed. In addition, a modest correlation between the retinol concentrations of post-supplemented maternal breast milk and the post-supplemented serum of infants, equal to or less than four months of age, is also observed. This dose-response relationship suggests that a regular supplementation of β-carotene to the lactating mothers might help their breast-fed children in harnessing the long term beneficial effects of vitamin A. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)