Development of critical path for weight loss and examination of the validity

課題番号：2070054

The FTO genotype as a useful predictor of body weight maintenance: Initial data from a 5-year follow-up study

ObjectiveWe examined associations between the fat-mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene (rs9939609) and any weight change over a 5-year period following a 14-week lifestyle intervention among middle-aged Japanese women.Materials/MethodsOne hundred twenty-eight Japanese women (BMI > 25 kg/m2) participated in a 14-week weight loss intervention between 2004 and 2006. Of the participants, 62 consented to the 5-year follow-up measurement session. Of these women, 47 women who achieved a weight loss of at least 10% from their baseline values during the 14-week intervention were included in the analysis. Body weight, body fat, abdominal fat assessed by CT scans, and metabolic risk factors (i.e., blood pressure, lipids, and glucose) were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and at the 5-year follow-up.ResultsDuring the 5-year non-intervention period, increases in body weight, fat mass, total abdominal fat, and subcutaneous abdominal fat were significantly greater in subjects with the homozygous minor allele (AA genotype, n = 4; 8.5%) than in those with the homozygous major allele (TT genotype, n = 31; 66.0%) or heterozygous allele (TA genotype, n = 12; 25.5%). In multiple regression analyses, the variation in rs9939609 was a significant and independent predictor (P < 0.001) for regaining weight during the 5-year follow-up.ConclusionsOur data suggest that Japanese women with the risk allele (AA) of rs9939609 may have more difficulty preventing fat gain from reoccurring after weight loss intervention than women with the other genotypes

Transformation of Natural Zeolites into Highly Active Catalysts by Surface Modifications

Natural zeolites were modified with 1-5N of mineral acid(H₂S0₄, HCl，H₃P0₄) and ammonium salt((NH₄)₂S0₄，NH₄Cl，NH₄N0₃，N H₄F) aqueous solutions followed by calcination at 500⁰C and their catalyticactivities for various acid-catalyzed reaction such as dehydration of 2-propanol，cracking of cumene and nhexane，disproportionation and alkylation of toluene，conversion of methanol，etc. were investigated by use of fixed bed flow reactor. It was revealed that the catalytic activities of natural zeolites for these acidcatalyzed reactions were remarkably enhanced by the modification with these acid and ammonium salt solutions. The cause of enhancement of catalytic activities of natural zeolites by modification with these acid and ammonium salt aqueous solutions was supposed to be due to the increase of surface acidity of natural zeolites by these pretreatmentsIt can be concluded that there is a possibility of usage of modified natural zeolites as highly active catalysts for various hydrocarbon conversions instead of synthetic zeolites