The relation between visceral adipose tissue accumulation and biochemical tests in university students.

We evaluated the visceral adipose tissue accumulation in university students in Okayama prefecture, Japan. Fifty-eight Japanese university students (10 men and 48 women, age 18.4 +/- 0.6 years)were enrolled in this study. Fat distribution was evaluated by visceral fat (V) and subcutaneous fat (S) areas measured with computed tomography (CT) scanning at umbilical levels. Anthropometric parameters,i.e., height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and body fat percentage; blood examination; and blood pressure (BP) were also measured. In 58 subjects, the V area was 23.4 +/- 21.0 cm(2) and the S area was 122.5 +/- 57.9 cm(2). V areas were significantly correlated with hepatic enzymes, uric acid, triglyceride, and BP in men, while they were weakly correlated with hepatic enzymes, triglyceride, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women. Correlation coefficients between V areas and clinical parameters were comparatively higher than those between other body composition parameters,i.e., S areas, weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and clinical parameters. The present study suggests that visceral adipose tissue accumulation is important for hepatic enzymes, uric acid, triglyceride, and BP in university students.</p

コウレイシャ ノ タメ ノ ハン テイリョウテキ ショクモツ セッシュ ヒンド チョウサホウ ノ シサク

Background and Objectives : According to Willett, the semi quantitative food frequency questionnaires (SQFFQ) have become the primary method for measuring dietary intake in epidemiological studies. Today, the same portion size used in adults and the elderly at SQFFQ. However, the portion size for the elderly is not the same for adults. We think the dietary intake for the elderly shows smaller portion size than adults for most foods. So we measured habitual use of portion size among the healthy elderly at 84 food items. We investigated nutrient intake for the elderly by nutrition survey wchich surveyed three season\u27s (early summer, fall, winter) duplicated method. Then we developed a SQFFQ for the elderly from their common foods consumption. The SQFFQ format became eight grades for the frequency and five grades the food consumption. To estimate the validity, newly developed of SQFFQ was compared with the three season\u27s duplicated method. Results and Conclusions : As for the validity, the relative difference between SQFFQ value and the duplicated method value was small. The relative difference of principal nutrients (energy, protein, and fat) were less than 5%, and vitamins A, B_1 and B_2 were 20-10%. Especially, there were significant correlations (p<0.01) between SQFFQ and duplicated method for intakes of vitamin B_1, dietary fiber, calcium and potassium. And there were significant correlations (p<0.05) between SQFFQ and duplicated method for the intakes of energy and vitamin B_2. These results suggest that our developed SQFFQ for a dietary survey that consists of 84 foods items, particularly are reliable for dietary assessment in healthy elderly people

Heat stability of catalase activity in the blood and liver of acatalasemic mice Part 1. Heat stabilty of catalase activity after administration of phenylhydrazine hydrochloride subcutaneously

In order to investigate the heat stability of catalase in immature and mature erythrocytes of normal, acatalasemic and heterozygous hypocatalasemic mics, phenylhydrazine hydrochloride (PHZ) was administered to these mice at a dose of 40 μg/g of body weight subcutaneously daily for 3 days Anemic blood rich in reticulocytes was obtained 2 days after final injection. Thermostability of catalase in the non-anemic and anemic bloods was compared and the following results were obtained. 1. Specific catalase activity (catalase activity/amount of hemoglobin; PU/g Hb) in anemic blood from acatalasemic mice was significantly higher than that in non-anemic blood. Specific catalase activity in anemic blood from normal mice was a little higher than that in non-anemic blood from normal mice. 2. The residual catalase activity in the hemolysate after heat treatment was compared with that from before treatment in which hemolysate containing catalase was incubated at 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50 °C for 10 minutes in a water bath. At any temperature, catalase activity in immature red blood cells of normal and acatalasemic mice was more stable with heat than that inmature red blood cells. 3. In mormal mice, the T(50) (the temperature at which 50 % of the catalase activity remained after heat treatment) in anemic normal blood was statistically higher than that in non-anemic blood. In the acatalasemic mice, the T(12.5) (the temperature at which 12.5 % of the catalase activity remained after heat treatment) in anemic blood was statistically higher than that in non-anemic blood

Heat stability of catalase activity in the blood and liver of acatalasemic mice Part 2. Heat stabilty of catalase activity and changes in the serum enzyme activities after oral administration of ethyl chlorophenoxy isobutyrate

Normal and acatalasemic mice were fed 0.5% clofibrate (CPIB) for 70 days and variations of catalase activity and thermal stability of liver catalase were investigated. 1. The specific catalase activity (catalase activity/g liver weight) in the liver of mice which received CPIB compared to that of controls was calculated. The specific catalase activity was in 2.2 normal mice and 1.2 in acatalasemic mice. A significant increase of activity was recognized in normal mice but not in acatalasemic mice. 2. The specific catalase activity in the blood of mice which received CPIB to that of control was determined. The specific catalase activity was 1.3 in normal mice and 1.1 in acatalasemic mice. A significant increase was not observed in either kind of mice. 3. The heat stability of catalase in the liver of normal or acatalasemic mice which received with CPIB was higher than that of normal or acatalasemic mice which did not received CPIB. 4. Increased levels of ALP and ChE activities and decreased levels of GOT activity and TG concentration were observed in the normal or acatalasemic mice which received CPIB, compared to control mice. 5. Isozyme of ALP were determined by electrophoresis. Increased ALP in the plasma of normal and acatalasemic mice was thought to be derived from liver ALP

Psychosocial Determinants of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in a Japanese Population

There is limited evidence in Japan regarding the psychosocial determinants of fruit/vegetable intake. We performed a cross-sectional study of people aged 18 years or older in four regions of Japan; 2308 (men: 1012, women: 1296) individuals who completed the questionnaires were included. We found that 24.8% of people were aware of the current recommendations for vegetables and 13.2% for fruit and that “ability to design meals” and “availability when eating outside of the home” were the most important factors related to self-efficacy and barriers to fruit and vegetable intake, respectively. People with high self-efficacy (OR: 3.16; 95% CI: 2.17, 4.60 for fruit; OR: 4.52; 95% CI: 3.08, 6.64 for vegetables) were more likely to consume more fruit and vegetables. People with high scores on attitude (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.24) and social support (OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.11, 2.27) were more likely to consume more fruit. People with high perceived barriers (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.98) were less likely to consume fruit. This study suggests a need to increase the general population’s awareness of the fruit and vegetable intake recommendations; facilitating positive attitudes, self-efficacy, and social support for individuals and strengthening the ability of individuals to design meals with more vegetables and fruit might be useful intervention programs