The modified MNA-SFs represent a valuable tool for rapid and reliable nutritional screening.

No abstract

The high prevalence of nutritional risk highlights the importance of regular screening of nursing home residents. The MNA identified nearly all residents with low BMI, WL and LI. The close association between nutritional risk and functional impairment requires increased awareness for nutritional problems especially in functionally impaired residents, to early initiate nutritional measures and thus, prevent further nutritional and functional deterioration.

The molecular basis of the positive association between apoE4 genotype and CVD remains unclear. There is direct in vitro evidence indicating that apoE4 is a poorer antioxidant relative to the apoE3 isoform, with some indirect in vivo evidence also available. Therefore it was hypothesised that apoE4 carriers may benefit from a-tocopherol (a-Toc) supplementation. Targeted replacement mice expressing the human apoE3 and apoE4 were fed with a diet poor (0 mg/kg diet) or rich (200 mg/kg diet) in a-Toc for 12 weeks. Neither apoE genotype nor dietary a-Toc exerted any effects on the antioxidant defence system, including glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase activities. In addition, no differences were observed in mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation. a-Toc concentrations were modestly higher in plasma and lower in tissues of apoE4 compared with apoE3 mice, with the greatest differences evident in the lung, suggesting that an apoE4 genotype may reduce a-Toc delivery to tissues. A tendency towards increased plasma F 2 -isoprostanes in apoE4 mice was observed, while liver thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances did not differ between apoE3 and apoE4 mice. In addition, C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were reduced in apoE4 mice indicating that this positive effect on CRP may in part negate the increased CVD risk associated with an apoE4 genotype.Apolipoprotein E polymorphism: Oxidative stress: a-Tocopherol: C-reactive protein ApoE is a polymorphic multifunctional protein with three common isoforms in man (E2, E3 and E4). ApoE3 is the wild type and most common isoform, while apoE4 carriers account for about 25 % of the Caucasian population (1) . Presence of the apoE4 allele is associated with a 40-50 % higher risk of CVD (2) and apoE4 is the major known genetic risk factor for maturity-onset Alzheimer's disease (3) . Although traditionally apoE has been classified as a mediator of lipoprotein metabolism and the increased CVD risk was attributed to higher LDL-cholesterol in apoE4 carriers (4,5) , accumulating experimental evidence indicates that apoE is multifunctional and exerts many lipoprotein-independent activities in a wide range of tissues, including liver, macrophages and the brain. Among the putative functions, apoE is thought to act as an antioxidant, with in vitro assays indicating that it may do so in an isoformdependent manner (apoE4 , apoE3 , apoE2) (6) . We have previously reported in a cell-culture model that macrophages expressing apoE4 demonstrate increased oxidative stress (7) and a pro-inflammatory response following stimulation (8) . Even though the differential antioxidant properties of apoE isoforms in vitro are convincing, there are limited in vivo data which show direct effects of apoE isoforms on markers of oxidative status. Nevertheless, it was observed that apoE4 carriers are more vulnerable to damage induced by tobacco smoking than non-apoE4 carriers (9,10) and that in individuals with cholesterol levels . 5·6 mmol/l, apoE4 carrier...

No abstract