Effects of Short-Term Dietary Change from High-Carbohydrate Diet to High-Fat Diet on Storage, Utilization, and Fatty Acid Composition of Rat Muscle Triglyceride during Swimming Exercise

The purpose was to examine the effects of a 3-day dietary change from a high-carbohydrate (C) to high-fat (F) diet on muscle triglyceride (MTG) storage and utilization during the swimming exercise in rats. Rats were meal-fed on either the F diet or the C diet for 11 days. For an additional 3 days, half of the rats in each group were fed the same diets and the other rats were switched to counterpart diets. On the final day, half of the rats in each group were killed before the exercise and the others were killed after the exercise. Serum concentrations of glucose and free fatty acids (FFA) were higher in the post-exercise groups than in the pre-exercise groups. The tissue glycogen contents were lower in the post-exercise groups. However, the MTG contents and fatty acid (FA) compositions were not influenced by the exercise and dietary change. The F diet increased the FFA concentration and slightly increased the MTG content. Moreover, the dietary FA composition influenced the FA composition of the MTG. These results suggest that the exercise did not affect the contents and FA composition of MTG, but that the F diet had an effect on the MTG contents and FA composition

d-Psicose Inhibits Intestinal α-Glucosidase and Suppresses the Glycemic Response after Ingestion of Carbohydrates in Rats

d-psicose is one of the rare sugars present in small quantities in commercial carbohydrates and agricultural products. In this study, we investigated the effects of d-psicose on the activities of α-amylases and α-glucosidases in vitro, and evaluated the effects of d-psicose on the in vivo postprandial glycemic response using rats. In the in vitro study, d-psicose potently inhibited the intestinal sucrase and maltase, however, slightly inhibited the intestinal and salivary α-amylase activities. Male Wistar rats (6 months old) were administrated 2 g/kg of sucrose, maltose or soluble starch together with 0.2 g/kg of d-psicose or d-fructose. The d-psicose significantly inhibited the increment of plasma glucose concentration induced by sucrose or maltose. The starch-induced glycemic response tended to be suppressed by d-psicose, however the suppression was not significant. These results suggest that d-psicose inhibits intestinal sucrase and maltase activities and suppresses the plasma glucose increase the normally occurs after sucrose and maltose ingestion. Thus, d-psicose may be useful in preventing postprandial hyperglycemia in diabetic patients when foods containing sucrose and maltose are ingested

The 90-day oral toxicity of d-psicose in male Wistar rats

d-Psicose is a rare sugar present in small quantities in natural products. In a previous study, we showed that d-psicose suppresses increase in plasma glucose and reduces body fat accumulation in rats. Based on acute toxicity testing in rats, d-psicose is classified as an ordinary substance (LD50 = 16 g/kg). Elucidating the effects of sub-chronic feeding of d-psicose in rats is essential before it can be utilized as a physiologically functional food. In this study, male Wistar rats (3 weeks old) were fed diets containing 3% d-psicose or sucrose for 90 days. The body weight gain and intra-abdominal adipose tissue weight did not differ between the sucrose and the d-psicose groups. The weights of the liver and kidneys were significantly higher in the d-psicose group than in the sucrose group. However, no gross pathological findings were evident at dietary doses of 3% d-psicose or were correlated with hypertrophy of the liver and kidney. In a clinical chemistry analysis, the erythrocyte and leukocyte courts were significantly higher in the d-psicose group, but that was not considered to be toxicologically significant. Therefore, the present study found no adverse effects of d-psicose in rats fed a diet containing 3% d-psicosefor 90 days

A novel S-sulfhydrated human serum albumin preparation suppresses melanin synthesis

Products of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) stimulate melanin synthesis. Reactive sulfur species (RSS) have been shown to have strong ROS and NO scavenging effects. However, the instability and low retention of RSS limit their use as inhibitors of melanin synthesis. The free thiol at Cys34 on human serum albumin (HSA) is highly stable, has a long retention and possess a high reactivity for RSS. We report herein on the development of an HSA based RSS delivery system. Sulfane sulfur derivatives released from sodium polysulfides (Na2Sn) react readily with HSA. An assay for estimating the elimination of sulfide from polysulfide showed that almost all of the sulfur released from Na2Sn bound to HSA. The Na2Sn-treated HSA was found to efficiently scavenge ROS and NO produced from chemical reagents. The Na2Sn-treated HSA was also found to inhibit melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells and this inhibition was independent of the number of added sulfur atoms. In B16 melanoma cells, the Na2Sn-treated HSA also inhibited the levels of ROS and NO induced by UV radiation. Finally, the Na2Sn-treated HSA inhibited melanin synthesis from L-DOPA and mushroom tyrosinase and suppressed the extent of aggregation of melanin pigments. These data suggest that Na2Sn-treated HSA inhibits tyrosinase activity for melanin synthesis via two pathways; by directly inhibiting ROS signaling and by scavenging NO. These findings indicate that Na2Sn-treated HSA has potential to be an attractive and effective candidate for use as a skin whitening agent

ジョウホウ カデン システム ノ アンゼン ケンショウ

家電製品の発展は組込みシステムの発展の歴史でもあり、システムL81の高機能化と組込みソフトウエアが基盤技術として支えてきた.一方で，家電製品に対するユーザからの利便性への声も大きな役割を果たしてきた.もう一つの基盤技術がネットワーク技術で，家電製品をネットワークに接続することで情報家電と呼ばれるシステムにまで発展させた.本稿では情報家電のこれまでの発展と今後の動向を，提供するサーピスと利用形態に基づき3つの世代に分類して説明する.次に，世代が進むにつれて要求品質で扱うべき内容が広がりを見せてきている実態を紹介する.特に，ネットワークに接続されることによって，システムが援雑化しただけでなく，悪意あるユーザからの攻撃に耐えることが要求される.その上，複数の情報家篭が同時に動かされることから，それらの競合が深刻な問題となりつつある.最後に，代表的な実際の事例研究についても紹介する