No abstract

No abstract

Fruits and vegetables contain high quantity of essential vitamins, antioxidants (vitamin C, carotenoids, flavonoids), minerals, fibers and water. Health professionals recommend to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day since people who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases in which an increased oxidative stress is potentially implicated (cardiovascular diseases, cancers…). However, more precisions should be given in order to clarify what does it really mean 5 servings with respect to the quantity, the choice, the colour and the variability of these aliments. Moreover, only a few data are available about the impact of such a diet on the oxidative stress status of an individual (plasma concentrations in antioxidants and markers of oxidative stress). The present paper was to summarize the most significant studies about this matter.

Plasma insulin and blood sugar variations were investigated during oral (OGTT) and intravenous (IVGTT) glucose tolerance tests in 10 patients aged 32 to 41 and 10 Patients aged 48 to 60 who had suffered a myocardial infarction at least three months previously. The results obtained in each group of patients were compared with those of ten normal subjects of corresponding age. The respective influences of age and cardio-vascular disease on the pattern of the plasma insulin and blood sugar responses to the glucose load were dissociated on the basis of analysis of variance.-Advancing age was associated with a rise in the mean blood sugar level during OGTT and a lowering of the glucose assimilation coefficient during IVGTT, but it was not accompanied by a significant change in the plasma insulin levels during either of the two tests.-Cardiovascular disease was associated with an augmentation of the mean blood sugar level during OGTT, but also with a prolonged and excessive response in plasma insulin. During IVGTT the glucose assimilation coefficient and the plasma insulin variations were not statistically different in the patients with a previous myocardial infarction and in the normal subjects.-The previous occurrence of a myocardial infarction is thus associated with a hyperinsulinism during OGTT, but not after a rapid stimulation as realized during IVGTT. The nature of the gastrointestinal factors involved in the genesis of this hyperinsulinism remains a matter of conjecture.

COMMENTS 535 metabolism of sulfate-conjugated neutral steroids in normal and pathologic ovarian tissue comparable to those observed in the metabolism of some free neutral steroids.