Methods wasting, muscle

E. Toxicity Most of the toxic effects of the giucocorticoids are predictabie from the effects already described. Some are life-threatening and include adrenal suppression (from suppression of ACTH secretion), metabolic effects (growth inhibition, diabetes, muscle wasting, osteoporosis), salt retention, and psychosis. Methods for minimizing these toxicities include local appU-... 

The need for protein in the diet was demonstrated early in the nineteenth century, when it was shown that animals which were fed only on fats, carbohydrates and mineral salts were unable to maintain their body weight and showed severe wasting of muscle and other tissues. It was known that proteins contain nitrogen (mainly in the amino groups of their constituent amino acids section 6.4.1), and methods of measuring total amounts of nitrogenous compounds in foods and excreta were soon developed. 

Thiamin is the least stored of all the vitamins. The adult human body contains approximately 30 mg. Of the thiamin stored in the body, about 80% is thiamin pyrophosphate, about 10% is thiamin triphosphate, and the remainder is thiamin monophosphate. The liver, kidneys, heart, brain, and skeletal muscles have somewhat higher concentrations than the blood. If the diet is deficient, tissues are depleted of their normal content of the vitamin ini to 2 weeks, so fresh supplies are needed regularly to provide for maintenance of tissue levels. Body tissues take up only as much thiamin as they need with the need increased by metabolic demand (fever, increased muscular activity, pregnancy, and lactation) or by composition of the diet (carbohydrate increases the need for thiamin, while fat and protein spare thiamin). Because thiamin is water soluble, most of the vitamin not required for day-to-day use is excreted in the urine. This means that the body needs a regular supply, and that unneeded intakes are wasted. With a well-balanced diet, approximately 0.1 mg is normally excreted every 24 hours. However, the amount excreted in the urine decreases as the intake becomes inadequate and increases as the intake exceeds body needs because of this, the most widely used biochemical method to assess thiamin status in individuals is the measurement of the vitamin in the urine. 

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