Associations between Intake of Folate, Methionine, and Vitamins B-12, B-6 and Prostate Cancer Risk in American Veterans.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. Recent reports suggest that excess of nutrients involved in the one-carbon metabolism pathway increases PC risk; however, empirical data are lacking. Veteran American men (272 controls and 144 PC cases) who attended the Durham Veteran American Medical Center between 2004-2009 were enrolled into a case-control study. Intake of folate, vitamin B12, B6, and methionine were measured using a food frequency questionnaire. Regression models were used to evaluate the association among one-carbon cycle nutrients, MTHFR genetic variants, and prostate cancer. Higher dietary methionine intake was associated with PC risk (OR = 2.1; 95%CI 1.1-3.9) The risk was most pronounced in men with Gleason sum <7 (OR = 2.75; 95%CI 1.32- 5.73). The association of higher methionine intake and PC risk was only apparent in men who carried at least one MTHFR A1298C allele (OR = 6.7; 95%CI = 1.6-27.8), compared to MTHFR A1298A noncarrier men (OR = 0.9; 95%CI = 0.24-3.92) (p-interaction = 0.045). There was no evidence for associations between B vitamins (folate, B12, and B6) and PC risk. Our results suggest that carrying the MTHFR A1298C variants modifies the association between high methionine intake and PC risk. Larger studies are required to validate these findings.

The impact of cropping on wild populations of Saguinus mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis in Peru

A transect census technique was used to estimate the population densities of Saguinus mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis at two sites in Peru. Cropping of these two species had occurred five years before the census at one site and two years before at the other. The populations of S. mystax at both sites had recovered completely from cropping, and the relationship between S. mystax and S. fuscicollis had not been altered at one site and had been reversed in favor of S. mystax at the other. Copyright © 1984 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company

Spider monkey home ranges: A comparison of radio telemetry and direct observation

The ranging patterns of two male and five female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) were studied with the use of radio telemetry in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. The average size of a spider monkey home range was 62.4 hectares; however, range size varied with sex, and, for females, with the presence of a dependent infant. The probability of encountering a radio‐collared spider monkey in a three‐hour search using radio telemetry (0.91) was much greater than using a visual search (0.20), and telemetric data resulted in a larger estimate of mean home range size than did observational data, when all subjects were compared. However, the difference appeared to be owing to the presence of male ranges in the telemetric, but not the observational, data. When the size of home ranges derived from radio‐tracking data for adult females was compared to size of ranges for adult females derived from observations, the results were not significantly different. Adult males had larger home ranges than adult females, thus lending support to the hypothesis that males have adapted to the dispersion of females by occupying a large home range that overlaps the ranges of several adult females. The smallest home ranges were occupied by low‐weight females with dependent infants, perhaps reflecting social and energetic constraints. Copyright © 1988 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company

Consumption of cyanogenic bamboo by a newly discovered species of bamboo lemur

Three species of bamboo‐eating lemurs were found to be sympatric in the southeastern rain forests of Madagascar. Sympatric species generally differ in habitat utilization or diet, but these three closely related bamboo lemurs lived in the same habitat and all ate bamboo. Behavioral observation revealed that they did select different parts of the bamboo, and chemical analyses confirmed that there was a difference in the secondary compound content present in those selections. The growing tips of Cephalostachyum ef uiguieri selected by the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemuraureus) contained 15 mg of cyanide per 100 g fresh weight bamboo while the leaves of C. perrieri selected by the gentle bamboo lemur (H. griseus)and the mature culms of C. cf uiguieri selected by the greater bamboolemur (H. simus) did not contain cyanide. Since each individual golden bamboo lemur ate about 500 g of bamboo per day, they daily ingestedabout 12 times the lethal dose of cyanide. The mechanism by which this small primate avoids the acute and chronic symptoms of cyanide poisioning is unknown. Copyright © 1989 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company