Suppressive response of confections containing the extractive from leaves of Morus Alba on postprandial blood glucose and insulin in healthy human subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The first aim of this study was to clarify the effective ratio of extractive from leaves of <it>Morus Alba </it>(ELM) to sucrose so as to apply this knowledge to the preparation of confections that could effectively suppress the elevation of postprandial blood glucose and insulin. The second aim was to identify the efficacy of confections prepared with the optimally effective ratio determined from the first study, using healthy human subjects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ten healthy females (22.3 years, BMI 21.4 kg/m²) participated in this within-subject, repeated measures study. For the first aim of this study, the test solutions containing 30 g of sucrose and 1.2 or 3.0 g of ELM were repeatedly and randomly given to each subject. To identify the practically suppressive effects on postprandial blood glucose and insulin, some confections with added ELM were prepared as follows: Mizu-yokan, 30 g of sucrose with the addition of 1.5 or 3.0 g ELM; Daifuku-mochi, 9.0 g of starch in addition to 30 g of sucrose and 1.5 or 3.0 g ELM; Chiffon-cake, 24 g of sucrose, starch, and 3.0 or 6.0 g of ELM, and were ingested by each subject. Blood and end-expiration were collected at selected periods after test food ingestion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When 30 g of sucrose with 1.2 or 3.0 g of ELM were ingested by subjects, the elevations of postprandial blood glucose and insulin were effectively suppressed (<it>p </it>< 0.01), and the most effective ratio of ELM to sucrose was evaluated to be 1:10. AUC (area under the curve) of breath hydrogen excretion for 6 h after the ingestion of an added 3 g of ELM significantly increased (<it>p </it>< 0.01). When AUCs-3h of incremental blood glucose of confections without ELM was 100, that of Mizu-yokan and Daifuku-mochi with the ratio (1:10) of ELM to sucrose was decreased to 53.4 and 58.2, respectively. Chiffon-cake added one-fourth ELM was 29.0.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ELM-containing confections for which the ratio of ELM and sucrose is one-tenth effectively suppress the postprandial blood glucose and insulin by inhibiting the intestinal sucrase, thus creating a prebiotic effect. The development of confections with ELM can therefore contribute to the prevention and the quality of life for prediabetic and diabetic patients.</p

Consideration of the validity of glycemic index using blood glucose and insulin levels and breath hydrogen excretion in healthy subjects

AbstractAimAlthough glycemic index (GI) is very important in choosing appropriate foods for patients with diabetes mellitus, GI itself does not provide sufficient information for choosing adequate foods. The validity of GI is considered by measurement of blood glucose and insulin levels, and breath hydrogen excretion, testing several cultivars in the same type food.MethodsTwelve females, 23.8y participated in this within-subject, repeated-measures study. To clarify variations in GI in inter-cultivars of various foods, we examined four white rice and three potato cultivars and three noodle brands. Starchy-foods with a glucose equivalent of 50g were repeatedly and randomly given to each subject. Blood and end-expiration were collected at selected periods.ResultsThe significant difference of GI and insulinemic index (II) was not observed among the four white rice cultivars, though II of one cultivar were smaller than those of other three white rice cultivars. GI of three potato cultivars was relatively small, but the range of II was very large among three cultivars. Moreover, GI did not correspond to II among three noodle brands. AUC-3h-glucose and AUC-3h-insulin scores of white rice and noodle were significantly larger than those for 2h. The amount of breath hydrogen excretion showed a negative correlation to GI of tested foods.ConclusionsWe should recognize that rare foods in which GI does not correspond to II exist in the cultivar of foods used for diet therapy of diabetes mellitus. We propose the addition of other information such as II and breath hydrogen excretion of selected foods

Remote Access Investigation in Japan

Japan introduced the remote access investigation in 2011 to provide for necessary domestic legislation in adopting the Convention on Cybercrime. Since the remote access investigation is supposed to be conducted at the exact moment of search and seizure, it is unclear whether the same investigation may be conducted later. Additionally, if the subjects of this investigation are present in foreign countries, it is also unclear whether law enforcement may remotely access those subjects without permission of the given countries, or whether courts may allow evidence seized by such investigation.Therefore, this article discusses the remote access investigation and recent judgments related to these issues

Combinatorial motif analysis of regulatory gene expression in Mafb deficient macrophages

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Deficiency of the transcription factor MafB, which is normally expressed in macrophages, can underlie cellular dysfunction associated with a range of autoimmune diseases and arteriosclerosis. MafB has important roles in cell differentiation and regulation of target gene expression; however, the mechanisms of this regulation and the identities of other transcription factors with which MafB interacts remain uncertain. Bioinformatics methods provide a valuable approach for elucidating the nature of these interactions with transcriptional regulatory elements from a large number of DNA sequences. In particular, identification of patterns of co-occurrence of regulatory <it>cis</it>-elements (motifs) offers a robust approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, the directional relationships among several functional motifs were evaluated using the Log-linear Graphical Model (LGM) after extraction and search for evolutionarily conserved motifs. This analysis highlighted GATA-1 motifs and 5’AT-rich half Maf recognition elements (MAREs) in promoter regions of 18 genes that were down-regulated in <it>Mafb</it> deficient macrophages. GATA-1 motifs and MafB motifs could regulate expression of these genes in both a negative and positive manner, respectively. The validity of this conclusion was tested with data from a luciferase assay that used a <it>C1qa</it> promoter construct carrying both the GATA-1 motifs and MAREs. GATA-1 was found to inhibit the activity of the <it>C1qa</it> promoter with the GATA-1 motifs and MafB motifs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These observations suggest that both the GATA-1 motifs and MafB motifs are important for lineage specific expression of <it>C1qa</it>. In addition, these findings show that analysis of combinations of evolutionarily conserved motifs can be successfully used to identify patterns of gene regulation.</p

Changes in Lymphocyte Phenotypes and Cytokine Production by Surgical Stress in a Rat Small Intestinal Resection Model

Small intestinal resection rats are used widely as a malabsorption model, but the immunological changes are unclear. We examined the changes in systemic and mucosal immune status after a small intestinal resection in rats with a controlled nutritional status. Rats had 60% of their small intestine removed. At 5 days after the surgery, spleen cells and intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) were isolated. The phenotypes of spleen cells and IEL, the production patterns of Th1 and Th2 cytokines, and the proinflammatory cytokine levels in the plasma were measured. CD4+ T cells in the blood and spleen were significantly decreased in the Resection group (p<0.05). In contrast, IEL subpopulations were not different between the two groups. Interferon-γ production from the spleen cells was significantly decreased in the Resection group (p<0.05). Interleukin (IL)-4 production was not different between the two groups. Plasma IL-6 concentrations were significantly elevated in the Resection group 6 h after surgery (p<0.05). In conclusions, small intestinal resection in rats suppressed systemic immunity, and this model is useful as a surgical stress model

Oral human cytomegalovirus prevalence and its relationships with periodontitis and Porphyromonas gingivalis in Japanese adults: a cross-sectional study

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the association between oral human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and periodontitis in Japanese adults. Methodology:&nbsp;In total, 190 patients (75 men and 115 women; mean age, 70.2 years) who visited Hiroshima University Hospital between March 2018 and May 2020 were included. Oral rinse samples were taken to examine the presence of HCMV DNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). P. gingivalis was detected by semi-quantitative PCR analysis. Results: HCMV DNA was present in nine of 190 patients (4.7%). There were significant associations between HCMV presence and the presence of ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with bleeding on probing (BOP) (P&lt;0.01) and ≥6-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (P=0.01). However, no significant relationship was observed between HCMV presence and periodontal epithelial surface area scores. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP was significantly associated with HCMV (odds ratio, 14.4; P=0.01). Propensity score matching was performed between patients presenting ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (i.e., active periodontitis) and patients without ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP; 62 matched pairs were generated. Patients who had ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP showed a higher rate of HCMV presence (9.7%) than those who lacked ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (0.0%). There was a significant relationship between HCMV presence and ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (P=0.03). A significant relationship was found between HCMV/P. gingivalis DNA presence and ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (P=0.03). Conclusions: Coinfection of oral HCMV and P. gingivalis was significantly associated with active periodontitis. Moreover, interactions between oral HCMV and P. gingivalis may be related to the severity of periodontal disease