BACKGROUND Ketogenic diets are used therapeutically to treat intractable seizures. Clinically, it appears that the maintenance of ketosis is crucial to the efficacy of the diet in ameliorating seizures. To understand how ketosis and seizure protection are related, a reliable, noninvasive measure of ketosis that can be performed frequently with minimal discomfort is needed. OBJECTIVE The objec...

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) has become an increasingly dangerous, illicitly marketed substance with numerous potential health hazards. 1-8 GHB was originally developed as an anesthetic but was withdrawn as a result of unwanted side effects.4 Marketed for the treatment of narcolepsy and alcohol withdrawal, it was used illicitly as a growth hormone and fat-burning drug by body builders. It has al...

The main objective of the present study is to assess and improve fermentation conditions produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), such as homopolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), from renewable inexpensive industrial waste by wild type Cupriavidus necator. Untreated residual glycerol, a byproduct generated biodiesel industry, was used...

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, is an intracellular parasite of eukaryotic cells. In the environment, it colonizes amoebae. After being inhaled into the human lung, the bacteria infect and damage alveolar cells in a way that is mechanistically similar to the amoeba infection. Several L. pneumophila traits, among those the Dot/Icm type IVB protein secretion ...

We have developed a highly sensitive and specific method for quantification of salivary 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 3-hydroxyisobutyrate (3HIB), 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyrate (3HMB) and 2-hydroxybutyrate (2HB), which could be new non-invasive biomarkers for catabolic pathways of fatty acids/ketogenic amino acids, valine, leucine, and methionine/threonine/α-ketobutyrate, respectively. The four hydroxy...

OBJECTIVE An integrated sensor-augmented pump system has been introduced that interrupts basal insulin infusion for 2 h if patients fail to respond to low-glucose alarms. It has been suggested that such interruptions of basal insulin due to falsely low glucose levels detected by sensor could lead to diabetic ketoacidosis. We hypothesized that random suspension of basal insulin for 2 h in the ov...

OBJECTIVE We examined whether ingestion of medium-chain triglycerides could improve cognition during hypoglycemia in subjects with intensively treated type 1 diabetes and assessed potential underlying mechanisms by testing the effect of beta-hydroxybutyrate and octanoate on rat hippocampal synaptic transmission during exposure to low glucose. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 11 intensiv...

INTRODUCTION Benzodiazepine treatment of life-threatening gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) withdrawal is frequently unsatisfactory. Animal studies suggest strongly that treatment with GABA(B) agonists, such as baclofen, will be a more effective strategy. METHODS A case report from the medical intensive care unit (ICU) of the university tertiary care hospital. RESULTS A 61-year-old woman was admi...

Case A 35-year-old man with no significant medical history presented to a university ED complaining of anxiety. tremors and insomnia. The patient denied use of common street drugs or tobacco. He admitted to social weekend alcohol consumption, but had not been drinking during the preceding 2 weeks. His vital signs were: temperature 37.2OC, pi~lse 105/min. respirations 161 min. blood pressure 148...

The divalent cation ionophore A23187 has been used to examine the steady state kinetics of energy-dependent Ca2+ uptake with /3-hydroxybutyrate as oxidizable substrate, and these results have been compared to the kinetic parameters obtained with succinate as the available energy source. The kinetics are sigmoidal with the free Ca*+ concentration at half-maximal respiratory stimulation (K,,,,) e...