Volume 8 of Advances in Nutritional Research deals with several topics of prime current interest in nutritional research, including the role of nutrition in hypertension, in the infections associated with protein-energy malnu­ trition, and in pathological conditions associated with the generation of oxygen radicals in the tissues, as well as with topics of ongoing interest. Recent research indicates that reduction of obesity, of alcohol intake, and of sodium intake by salt-sensitive individuals, are the most effective non­ pharmacological means of reducing high blood pressure. A new approach to therapy for infections caused by protein-energy malnutrition, based on restoration of immunocompetence by administration of thyroid and anti­ glucocorticoid hormones, is presented. Current research into the role of nutrition in modulating tissue damage caused by oxygen radicals generated in various pathologies is reviewed. Two· chapters deal with perinatal nutrition, one with the transfer of nutrients across the placenta and the other with the energy requirements of term and preterm infants. Another dicusses methods of assessing the nutritional status of hospitalized patients. vii Contents Chapter 1. The Transfer of Nutrients across the Perfused Human Placenta ................................... . Joseph Dands 1. Introduction................................. 1 2. Comments on Comparative Placentology . . . . . . . . . . .• . . 1 . 3. The Perfusion Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 3 . . . . 4. Review of Transfer Experiments .................... 3 4.1. Transfer of Glutamic Acid .................... 3 4.2. Transfer of Riboflavin .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . 6 . . . 5. Potentials and Umltations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 9 . . . .References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 10 . . . . . .