METABOLIC AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDERS IN HUMAN ORGANISM DURING PROLONGED STARVATION

Relevance.The number of starving people throughout the world as well as global financial costs related to the development of alimentary-dependent conditions and diseases constantly increase. Intention. To review the scientific literature on the problems of metabolic and pathophysiological disorders caused by longterm starvation in human organism.Methodology.The available domestic and foreign sources of scientific information were studied.Results and Discussion.Paper describes the data on the pathogenesis of prolonged famine, on the endo- and exogenous causes of starvation, on qualitative and quantitative types of starvation, as well as the changes in metabolism of various organs and systems in completely starving organism during all periods of complete starvation (that of emergency, long-term adaptation, and decompensation) with their detailed endocrine-metabolic features. The results of the main research works by the Leningrad physicians who lived and worked in besieged Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War are recalled.Conclusion.The information presented is important for biomedical science and health practice as well, since emergencies can be associated with prolonged starvation of people in the modern world.

Starvation resistance of invasive lace bug Corythucha ciliata (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in China

Food shortage is a prevalent threat to insect survival and successful reproduction in natural settings. An insect species invading new areasmay have a high capacity to survive and adapt to starvation. To test these hypotheses, we assessed the survival time of Corythucha ciliata (Say), in a laboratory under two starvation conditions: complete starvation (no food supplied) and gradual starvation (food provided once and not replenished). Under complete starvation, survival of 3rd to 5th instar nymphs tended to decline steadily, whereas under gradual starvation this process was delayed in the initial stage. The average survival times increased as the instar increased under both conditions (14.0 h, 15.9 h and 24.4 h under complete starvation conditions; 27.8 h, 29.6 h and 33.6 h under gradual starvation conditions). The longest lived individual nymph survived for 49 hours. The results may partially explain the rapid global expansion of C. ciliata.

Starvation Survival Response of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

ABSTRACT The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis auxotrophs to survive long-term starvation was measured. Tryptophan and histidine auxotrophs did not survive single-amino-acid starvation, whereas a proline auxotroph did. All three auxotrophs survived complete starvation. THP-1 cells were also able to restrict the growth of the tryptophan and histidine auxotrophs.

Starvation as a Treatment of Obesity: The Need to Conserve Body Protein

Starvation has successfully been used to treat severe human obesity but may be dangerous due to excessive loss of body protein. Obese humans when starving use fat and spare protein as effectively as those animals that spontaneously undergo prolonged fasting after accumulating large fat reserves. Nevertheless, slow loss of protein during complete starvation may in severely obese persons lead to a cumulative protein loss that leads to sudden death before the fat reserves are depleted.

Renal reabsorption and utilization of hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate in starved rats

Are there increases in the renal reabsorption (R) and utilization (Q) of ketoacids during starvation? R and Q of D-3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate were measured in anesthetized normally fed (C) and 3-day starved (S) rats, using clearance and arteriovenous extraction methods. R was nearly complete in both groups at low filtered ketoacids loads (less than 2mumol/g X min). At higher filtered loads, R of the two ketoacids increased in proportion to their filtered loads (r2 greater than 0.95) but with significantly steeper slopes in the S than in the C group; fractional R of the two ketoacids were significantly higher in the S than in the C animals. Saturable and nonsaturable components for ketoacid reabsorption were evident, but only the nonsaturable component was significantly increased with starvation. Increased R of ketoacids during starvation was in the absence of changes in the initial rates of hydroxybutyrate influx into isolated rat renal brush-border membrane vesicles. Thus the rate-limiting step for ketoacid reabsorption through the nonsaturable pathway may not be located at the luminal membrane of the proximal cells. The increases in R of ketoacids in the S group were associated with simultaneous decreases in the net rates of renal utilization of the two ketoacids. Thus increased renal conservation of ketoacids is a transport and not a metabolic event. Overall, during complete starvation, both the increased R and the decreased renal Q of the ketoacids contribute to increase the availability of these metabolites to other organs.

Heat exchanges of men during caloric restriction in the cold

The ability of men to maintain thermal balance during continuous cold exposure (14 days at 15.6 C, sedentary while nude) was assessed under four regimens of caloric intake: a) adequate, 2,800 kcal/day; b) moderate restriction, i.e., sufficient to maintain weight in a warm environment but without the added calories to support shivering, 2,600 kcal/day; c) marked restriction, 600 kcal/day; and d) complete starvation, 0 kcal/day. Respective weight losses for b, c, and d were 1.8, 8.2, and 12.2% body wt. With 600 and 0 kcal/day there was an impaired ability to maintain rectal temperature; under these conditions the men exhibited rectal temperatures 0.7 C lower than when they were on adequate or nearly adequate caloric intake. The men on complete starvation had the lowest heat production of all groups during later days in the cold; however, the data were too variable to demonstrate a close relationship between depressed core temperature and decreased heat production. It is concluded that marked restriction of calories is associated with depressed core temperatures during prolonged cold exposure, due in part to absence of specific dynamic action. Note: (With the Technical Assistance of Edward B. Green and John A. Vaughan) Submitted on April 30, 1962