Pyrraline [epsilon-(2'-formyl-5'-hydroxymethyl-pyrrolyl)-L-norleucin] belongs to the group of AGEs (advanced glycation end-products) formed in the final stage of the Maillard reaction in foods and in vivo. As it is generally accepted that AGEs are pathophysiologically relevant in aging and in diseases such as diabetes and uraemia, physiological consequences resulting from the ingestion of dietary AGEs are discussed, but balance studies for well defined AGEs are still lacking. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of nutrition on the urinary excretion of pyrraline. After the first day without dietary restrictions, seven healthy volunteers were asked, starting on the morning of day 2, to ingest a diet virtually free of Maillard compounds (i.e. no cooked or roasted foods, no bakery products, no coffee, etc.). Dietary control was stopped on the morning of day 5. We collected 24 h urine samples for these 5 days, which were analysed for free pyrraline by reverse-phase HPLC with UV detection at 297 nm. We found that urinary excretion of free pyrraline was directly affected by the composition of the diet, decreasing from 4.8+/-1.1 mg/day on day 1 to levels of 1.6, 0.4 and 0.3 mg/day on days 2, 3 and 4 respectively, followed by a significant increase to 3.2+/-1.4 mg/day on the 5th day. The results of this work prove, for the first time, that urinary excretion of pyrraline is strongly dependent on its dietary intake. Thus the influence of nutrition should be taken into consideration in studies directed to the physiological role of glycation compounds.

In an endoscopic population screening study for colorectal polyps among 200 men and 200 women, 50-59 years of age, 215 polyps less than 5 mm in diameter were left in situ for the present 2-year follow-up examination. The attendance rate was 102 of 106 (96%) for polyp patients and 77 of 90 (86%) in the control group. Of 194 polyps, 143 (74%) in the 102 polyp-bearing individuals were recovered for histological evaluation and 57 polyps were registered as new. Ninety-nine (50%) of the polyps were hyperplastic, 45 (23%) were adenomas, and 45 (23%) were mucosal tags. Both growth and regression of polyps were registered. Regression was commoner in the distal part of the rectum than in the proximal part or distal sigmoid colon. Growth was similar for recovered adenomas and hyperplastic polyps, whereas mucosal tags more often showed diminution in size. No polyp had reached a size of more than 5 mm in 2 years, and no case of severe dysplasia or carcinoma was registered. The estimated total polyp mass more than doubled both for adenomas and hyperplastic polyps. It is concluded that the time interval between initial examination with removal of polyps 5 mm or larger in diameter and the first follow-up examination may safely be set at 2 years.

The cardiac findings in eight patients, two of whom were female, with total lipodystrophy (Berardinelli‐Seip's disease) are reported. One of them had the acquired form of the disease. Four patients died at a mean age of 32 years. As far as we know, at least three of them most likely died for cardiac reasons, one shortly after recovering from an attempted suicide. All eight patients had hypertrophic hearts, mostly with deranged diastolic, but also systolic, function. One had pulmonary hypertension. We conclude that generalized lipodystrophy is a serious disease with cardiac affection leading to cardiac dysfunction and early death. There is no specific cardiac treatment, and the treatment should be according to the general guidelines for patients with hypertrophic, dysfunctioning hearts.

Poor yield of polyps at follow-up, slow growth of in situ polyps, and no clinical CRC among screenees after 10 years provides support to infrequent or no colonoscopic follow-up after initial polypectomy in individuals with otherwise average risk of CRC.

We apply the continuous delayed feedback method of Pyragas to the experimental control of chaos in the peroxidase-oxidase (PO) reaction. Unstable periodic 1' and l2 orbits embedded in the chaotic PO attractor were stabilized in CSTR experiments. The stabilization is demonstrated by a minimum in the experimental dispersion function and by the equality of the delay time z and the period of the stabilized attractor. In model calculations we compare the Pyragas method with the discontinuous control method by Ott, Grebogi, and Yorke (OGY). Experimental noise reduces the control efficiency of the OGY method much more severely than that of the Pyragas method precluding the experimental stabilization of unstable periodic orbits by the OGY method in the present PO system.