Effects of olive oil in SAMP8 mice

Background : Mediterranean diets have been linked to a reduced risk of cancer, vascular illnesses, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Olive oil is the primary fat source in the Mediterranean diet ; however, only a few studies have investigated the effect of olive oil on aging. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether consumption of olive oil significantly influences aging and memory in senescence-accelerated mouse-prone 8 (SAMP8). Methods : SAMP8 and senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) mice were fed either 7% soy oil or 1% olive oil and 6% soy oil during a six-month study period. Reduction in memory in passive avoidance learning was examined after two months from the initiation of the experiment. Results : The weight of organs including the liver, kidney, spleen, and fat tissue changed significantly and memory performance was reduced in SAMP8 than in SAMR1 mice. There were no significant differences in SAMP8 and SAMR1 mice; however, blood triglyceride level decreased significantly in SAMP8 mice fed on olive oil. Conclusions : These results suggest that consuming olive oil may not have a protective role in aging and memory recall, but beneficial effects may be related to improvement in lipid metabolism

Taste receptor genes and renal function

Dysgeusia is not only associated with zinc deficiency but also with certain drugs or diseases, including diabetes and renal failure. It often lowers the patient’s quality of life and hinders access to proper nutrition. The underlying mechanism is unclear and there is a lack of awareness among patients. Here, we focused on lingual taste receptor gene expression in diabetes and elucidated the relationship between taste receptor gene expression and renal function. Forty-seven patients with diabetes and 10 healthy subjects (control group) were enrolled. Lingual foliate papillae were scraped and the derived cDNA was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Dysgeusia was assessed using SALSAVE®. All statistical analyses were performed using JMP® software 13. The expression of T1R1 and T1R2 was significantly upregulated in type 2 diabetes patients as compared with that in healthy subjects (P < 0.01) but did not change in type 1 diabetes patients. T1R3 expression positively correlated and Scnn1 expression negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate, suggesting that altered taste receptor gene expression could reflect impaired renal function. Thus, alterations in T1R3 and Scnn1 expression in diabetes correlated with renal function. Taste receptor gene expression dysregulation could indicate dysgeusia associated with impaired renal function in patients with diabetes

Understanding of nutrition problems and managements in the elderly by analyzing its obesity

The shift of Japanese eating habits from salty and grain-based consumption with low animal protein to a diet with a variety of lipids and animal products after Second World War has significantly reduced the rate of infections and cerebral bleeding. On the other hand, the increase in life-style related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes has become a serious problem in our country. However, it is difficult to discuss the nutrition of the elderly in a stereotype because of the diversity in physical and psychological feature. Although there are many important issues that require discussions encompassing broad aspects in taking high protein diet as a main topic, it may be possible to consider a question in the aspects of body weight or body composition in the elderly. In this section, we discuss the ‘secret key’ in nutrition to health for the aged

ヒマン トウニョウビョウ コクフク オ モクテキ トシタ シボウ サイボウ ケンキュウ ノ ジッセン ト エイヨウガク ケンキュウ エノ テンカイ

White adipose tissue（WAT）is the main storage site for excess energy as triacylglycerides within specialized lipid-laden mature adipocytes. The expansion of WAT during the development of obesity can occur through increases in cell number（adipocyte hyperplasia）and in cell size（adipocyte hypertrophy）. Adipocytes are derived from preadipocytes which can proliferate throughout life to increase WAT mass. In addition, adipocyte cell death observed within pathologically expanding adipose tissue is also one of the important factors that contribute to the pathophysiological consequences of obesity. The objective of this review is to discuss the precise contribution of adipocyte life cycle to the pathogenesis of obesity and obesity-related disease and to indicate substantial progress in our lab concerning our knowledge of bioactive components in functional foods and their links to obesity

UCP1-dependent and UCP1-independent metabolic changes induced by acute cold exposure in brown adipose tissue of mice

Background: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a site of metabolic thermogenesis mediated by mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and represents a target for a therapeutic intervention in obesity. Cold exposure activates UCP1-mediated thermogenesis in BAT and causes drastic changes in glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism; however, the relationship between these metabolic changes and UCP1-mediated thermogenesis is not fully understood. Methods: We conducted metabolomic and GeneChip array analyses of BAT after 4-h exposure to cold temperature (10 °C) in wild-type (WT) and UCP1-KO mice. Results: Cold exposure largely increased metabolites of the glycolysis pathway and lactic acid levels in WT, but not in UCP1-KO, mice, indicating that aerobic glycolysis is enhanced as a consequence of UCP1-mediated thermogenesis. GeneChip array analysis of BAT revealed that there were 2865 genes upregulated by cold exposure in WT mice, and 838 of these were upregulated and 74 were downregulated in UCP1-KO mice. Pathway analysis revealed the enrichment of genes involved in fatty acid (FA) β oxidation and triglyceride (TG) synthesis in both WT and UCP1-KO mice, suggesting that these metabolic pathways were enhanced by cold exposure independently of UCP1-mediated thermogenesis. FA and cholesterol biosynthesis pathways were enhanced only in UCP1-KO mice. Cold exposure also significantly increased the BAT content of proline, tryptophan, and phenylalanine amino acids in both WT and UCP1-KO mice. In WT mice, cold exposure significantly increased glutamine content and enhanced the expression of genes related to glutamine metabolism. Surprisingly, aspartate was almost completely depleted after cold exposure in UCP1-KO mice. Gene expression analysis suggested that aspartate was actively utilized after cold exposure both in WT and UCP1-KO mice, but it was replenished from intracellular N-acetyl-aspartate in WT mice. Conclusions: These results revealed that cold exposure induces UCP1-mediated thermogenesis-dependent glucose utilization and UCP1-independent active lipid metabolism in BAT. In addition, cold exposure largely affects amino acid metabolism in BAT, especially UCP1-dependently enhances glutamine utilization. These results contribute a comprehensive understanding of UCP1-mediated thermogenesis-dependent and thermogenesis-independent metabolism in BAT

PET/CTを用いたマウス骨格筋インスリン抵抗性の評価

Measuring glucose uptake in the skeletal muscle in vivo is an effective method to determine glucose metabolism abnormalities as the skeletal muscle is the principal tissue responsible for glucose disposal and is a major site of peripheral insulin resistance. In this study, we investigated the pathological glucose metabolism dynamics of the skeletal muscle of C57BL/6J mice in a noninvasive and time-sequential manner using positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), an imaging technique that uses radioactive substances to visualize and measure metabolic processes in the body, with [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). FDG-PET/CT imaging revealed that insulin administration and exercise load significantly increased FDG accumulation in the skeletal muscle of C57BL/6J mice. FDG accumulation was lower in the skeletal muscle of 14-week-old db/db diabetic model mice exhibiting remarkable insulin resistance compared to that of 7-week-old db/db mice. Based on the continuous observation of FDG accumulation over time in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice, FDG accumulation significantly decreased in 17-week-old mice after the acquisition of insulin resistance. Although insulin-induced glucose uptake in the skeletal muscle was markedly attenuated in 20-week-old DIO mice that had already developed insulin resistance, exercise load effectively increased FDG uptake in the skeletal muscle. Thus, we successfully confirmed that glucose uptake accompanied by insulin administration and exercise load increased in the skeletal muscle using PET-CT. FDG-PET/CT might be an effective tool that could noninvasively capture the chronological changes of metabolic abnormalities in the skeletal muscle of mice

Nutrition in metabolic syndrome : with recent topics

Metabolic syndrome is a pathological condition with hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, or hypertension resulting in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Factors that affect visceral fat accumulation and weight gain include not only physiological factors such as heredity, constitution, and age, but also behavioral factors and environmental factors. Eating behavior and eating environment are critical for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome. In this report, we will discuss about recent topics of nutrition in metabolic syndrome, especially association with macronutrients such as carbohydrate, fatty acids and protein. In recent years, several publications have determined the benefit of low carbohydrate diet on obesity and diabetes, and the American Diabetes Association has also recommended low carbohydrate diet, Mediterranean diet, and a diet mainly consistent with vegetables and plants. There have been many reports that the effect of carbohydrate restriction has not only the weight loss effect but also reduces risk factors such as cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease. Fanelli et al . recently have shown that half of US adults with diabetes have less than the recommended daily intake of protein, which may lead to poor dietary quality. Diabetic patients with low protein intake had significantly lower dietary nutrient density and １２．５％ higher carbohydrate intake, whereas diabetic patients with daily protein intake meeting the recommended amount have shown that the overall quality of the diet was high and almost met the recommended daily amount of vegetables, whole grains, dairy products and added sugars. Therefore, in addition to the prevention of metabolic syndrome, protein is important for treatment of metabolic syndrome and higher QOL. Nutritional research needs further development to deal with metabolic syndrome

Cellular Injury of Cardiomyocytes during Hepatocyte Growth Factor Gene Transfection with Ultrasound-Triggered Bubble Liposome Destruction

We transfected naked HGF plasmid DNA into cultured cardiomyocytes using a sonoporation method consisting of ultrasound-triggered bubble liposome destruction. We examined the effects on transfection efficiency of three concentrations of bubble liposome (1 × 106, 1 × 107, 1 × 108/mL), three concentrations of HGF DNA (60, 120, 180 μg/mL), two insonification times (30, 60 sec), and three incubation times (15, 60, 120 min). We found that low concentrations of bubble liposome and low concentrations of DNA provided the largest amount of the HGF protein expression by the sonoporated cardiomyocytes. Variation of insonification and incubation times did not affect the amount of product. Following insonification, cardiomyocytes showed cellular injury, as determined by a dye exclusion test. The extent of injury was most severe with the highest concentration of bubble liposome. In conclusion, there are some trade-offs between gene transfection efficiency and cellular injury using ultrasound-triggered bubble liposome destruction as a method for gene transfection

Enhancement of peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence intensity by surfactants and its application to detect detergent.

Enhancement of peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (PO-CL) intensity by a surfactant in the H(2)O(2)/bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate (TCPO)/rhodamine B system was described. The effects of 15 surfactants were evaluated by comparing the ratio of a relative CL intensity (RCI) with surfactant to that of the blank in each system. In preliminary study, H(2)O(2)/imidazole-HNO(3) buffer/TCPO/rhodamine B system was used to study the effects of surfactants on PO-CL intensity. Fourteen surfactants reduced the CL intensity at the 2% concentration, where their relative CL intensities ranged from 0.6 to 93.5%. Some of these phenomena may be caused by a notable change of pH that was occurred by adding the surfactant. Additionally, enhancement of PO-CL intensity was studied by using system (1) H(2)O(2)/TCPO/rhodamine B and (2) H(2)O(2)/imidazole-HNO(3) buffer/TCPO/systems. In the system 1, the favorable enhancement of CL intensity (ranged from 124 to 472%) was observed with 9 surfactants at the 0.5% concentration. This result suggested that several surfactants might play a role as a catalyst in the PO-CL reaction. There was no tendency to enhance CL intensity among the surfactant types. In the system 2, the enhancement of CL intensity was also observed by adding with 11 surfactants, which might be mainly caused by the fluorescent impurities of surfactants used. Furthermore, detection of detergent commercially available was applied by using the system 1

Relationship between Orthodontic Expertise and Perception of Need for Orthodontic Treatment for Mandibular Protrusion in Japan

The aims of this study were to investigate how the Peer Assessment Rating (PAR index) predicts the perceived need for orthodontic treatment of mandibular protrusion in Japanese subjects, and to elucidate whether the perceived need for treatment was affected by the ratersʼ orthodontic expertise. The subjects were 110 dental students and 32 orthodontists. We showed them casts of 10 untreated mandibular protrusion cases and gave them a questionnaire in which they had to describe their perceptions of the orthodontic treatment needs using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS). The PAR index was used for cast evaluation. The PAR index scores showed significant correlations with the VAS scores. In casts with a low PAR score, there were no differences in the VAS scores between orthodontists and students. In casts with a PAR score greater than 23, the orthodontists perceived a significantly greater treatment need than did the students;for scores of 22, 28, and 29, students who had received orthodontic treatment themselves were more likely to perceive the treatment need. The PAR index is a good clinical predictor for assessing the perceived treatment needs for mandibular protrusion. Perception of the need for orthodontic treatment for mandibular protrusion depended on the degree of orthodontic expertise in Japanese subjects