This is an investigation of the effects of a shift from a well-balanced mixed diet to a lacto-vegetarian diet on the mutagenic activity in urine and feces. The participants were 20 normal-weight, non-smoking subjects (4 men and 16 women, mean age 44 years, range 27-61 years). The fecal samples were assayed for direct-acting mutagens with the fluctuation test for weak mutagens and the urinary samples were assayed with the same assay but with a metabolic activation system, a so-called S9 fraction. The switch from a mixed diet to a lacto-vegetarian diet was not a shift from a so-called high to a low risk diet for colon cancer but rather from a 'medium high risk diet' to a 'low risk diet', even though there were significant changes in nutrients and food components between the two diets. There was a decrease in fat (P = 0.009) and protein intake (P = 0.04) and an increase in total carbohydrate (P = 0.001), fiber (P = 0.001), calcium (P = 0.006) and vitamin C intake (P = 0.019). Among the food preparation methods the use of frying decreased (P = 0.02) and the habit of eating a new vegetable meal increased (P = 0.05). Three months after the dietary shift the concentration of fecal direct-acting mutagens decreased significantly (P less than 0.05), though the total mutagenic activity excreted in feces per 24 h was not different between the two diet periods. Both the concentration and the total amount of promutagens in the urine were decreased after 3 months on the lacto-vegetarian diet. The decrease in fecal mutagenic activity might be explained by a higher fiber intake, which leads to higher water content in feces and thereby a dilution of fecal mutagenic compounds.
Out of the total number of 434 horses that underwent colic surgery, small intestine was operated in 195 (44.9%) patients, caecum in 10 (2.3%) horses, large colon surgery was performed in 196 (45.2%) cases and small colon surgery in 14 (3.2%) horses. In 12 patients (2.8%) two different parts of the gastrointestinal tract were affected simultaneously, one horse suffered from peritonitis, torsion of the uterus developed in two mares and three animals had negative surgical findings. Of 434 horses, 371 (85.5%) survived. After small intestinal surgery, 159 patients (81.5%) recovered from anaesthesia and were discharged home as well as seven horses (70%) after caecal surgery, 175 horses (89.3%) after large colon surgery and 14 horses (100%) following small colon surgery. 75 out of 103 horses (72.8%) were discharged home after the small intestinal resection and 89 of 98 horses (90.8%) with small intestinal problems where no resection was needed. In total, 43 of the patients that underwent one surgery did not survive the immediate postoperative period. The most frequent lethal complications in horses following the small intestinal surgery included peritonitis (five horses) and paralytic ileus (four horses) and in horses with large colon problems it was typhlocolitis (six cases). Relaparotomy was indicated in 41 of 434 horses (9.4%) that recovered from colic surgery. 21 out of the 41 (51.2%) relaparotomised colic patients were released from the clinic. All successfully repeated surgeries were carried out to overcome primary small intestine ileus problems, and in 14 of these cases (66.7%) resection and anastomosis were performed. The most common finding, diagnosed in 9 of 21 reoperated horses, was paralytic ileus. Of 20 relaparotomised horses that did not survive, three animals were lost after the introduction of anaesthesia, nine horses were euthanised after the abdominal cavity revision, one horse did not recover after the surgical procedure and seven horses did not survive the postoperative period. In 15 of 20 dead horses, the cause of the first surgical intervention was small intestinal ileus, in other four horses there was a large colon problem and in the last patient, it was a stomach disease. In 13 of 15 (86.7%) horses with small intestinal problems and in three of four (75%) patients with large colon disease, either resection or bypass was performed. In the remaining four non-surviving horses of 20 relaparotomised ones, peritonitis and/or adhesion formation was diagnosed at the second surgery, in three horses anastomosis complications were the main problem. Peritonitis or paralytic ileus led to death or euthanasia in four of seven horses that recovered after relaparotomy.
This investigation studied the effects of a shift from a mixed diet to a lactovegetarian diet on some cancer-associated bacterial enzymes in human feces (beta-glucuronidase, beta-glucosidase, and sulphatase). Three months after the shift to the lactovegetarian diet, there was a significant decrease in beta-glucuronidase, beta-glucosidase, and sulphatase activities per gram feces wet weight (p less than 0.05, less than 0.05, and less than 0.001, respectively). In contrast, glucuronide and glucoside hydrolysis remained unchanged per gram dry weight, although sulphatase activity was still significantly lowered when expressed this way (p less than 0.01). However, the fecal excretion increased significantly (p less than 0.05). Part of the explanation for the decreased enzyme activities is obviously a dilution effect, because much of the increased fecal weight after the shift in diet was associated with a higher water content. The higher water content was probably due to a higher fiber intake (p less than 0.001). Thus, the results in this paper indicate that a change from a mixed diet to a lactovegetarian diet leads to a decrease in certain enzyme activities proposed to be risk factors for colon cancer.
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