family members and health-related behaviors

The aim of this study was to clarify the associations of family members living together with health-related behaviors in Japanese young workers. The participants were 300 men and women aged 20-39 years in 2015 who had a job. A web-based self-administered questionnaire on status of partnering and parenting, number of family members living together, dietary habits, drinking habit, smoking habit, self-rated health, employment status, working time and commuting time was conducted through Internet. Multiple logistic regression analysis and general linear models were used to assess the association of family members living together with health-related behaviors. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval, p-value) for current drinking in unmarried participants living with their parents compared to unmarried participants living alone was 0.35 (0.13-0.93, p=0.036). The adjusted means of frequency of breakfast skipping and frequency of eating out showed a trend for inverse associations with the presence of a partner and children. However, those associations disappeared after adjustment for age of youngest child. The findings suggest that the presence of parents might affect drinking behavior and that age of youngest child living together might affect the frequency of breakfast skipping in young Japanese workers

ノビレチンは17型ヘルパーT細胞の分化調節により、実験的自己免疫性脳脊髄炎の発症を抑制する

Multiple sclerosis is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that targets the myelin antigen in the central nervous system. Nobiletin is a dietary polymethoxylated flavonoid found in citrus fruits. In this study, we investigated how nobiletin affects the disease state and immune responses to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice. Nobiletin was administered orally from 14 days before immunization until the end of the experiment, and clinical scores were determined. The production levels of interleukin-17A and interferon-γ were measured in a culture supernatant of splenocytes stimulated with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein. In addition, flow cytometric analysis was performed to examine the effect of nobiletin on T cell differentiation in vitro. Admin­istration of nobiletin significantly decreased the clinical score and interleukin-17A production in splenocytes. Furthermore, in vitro analysis showed that nobiletin significantly suppressed Th17 cell differentiation and interleukin-17A production in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggest that nobiletin attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis severity through modulation of Th17 cell differentiation

Polymethoxyflavonids and T helper 17 cells

We examined the effects of polymethoxyflavonoids (PMFs) on T helper (Th) 17 cell differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Five different PMFs including nobiletin (NOB), sudachitin (SUD), demethoxysudachitin, heptamethoxyflavone and natsudaidain were used for the in vitro study, and effects of those flavonoids on Th17 responses were investigated. NOB and heptamethoxyflavone significantly suppressed the proliferation response, but SUD, demethoxysudachitin and natsudaidain did not suppress the proliferation response. All of the five flavonoids decreased IL-17A production. Mice with experimentally induced autoimmune encephalomyelitis were used as an in vivo Th17 differentiation model. We focused on two flavonoids, NOB and SUD, and examined the effects of those flavonoids. NOB significantly suppressed Th17 cell proliferation and cytokine responses, but SUD only decreased proliferation responses. The results suggest that the suppressive effect of NOB on Th17 response in vivo is stronger than that of SUD

validity of dietary diversity

The validity of dietary variety score (DVS) using a short-form questionnaire has not been investigated using dietary diversity based on a quantitative distribution of consumed foods in older Japanese. We examined the association between DVS and objective dietary diversity using a Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity (QUANTIDD) based on the quantitative distribution of foods consumed by older Japanese community dwellers. The subjects were 65 older Japanese community dwellers aged 60–79 years. We used two kinds of scores for assessment of dietary diversity. At first, dietary diversity was determined using DVS calculated from answers to a questionnaire about frequencies of intake of 10 food groups. Second, dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day dietary record with photographs, and dietary diversity was determined using QUANTIDD. The relationships between DVS and QUANTIDD were assessed using partial correlation coefficients controlling for confounders. The correlation coefficient between DVS and QUANTIDD was moderate (r = 0.212-0.458). After controlling for confounders, those correlation coefficient between DVS and QUANTIDD remained moderate. The findings suggest that there was a moderate relationship between DVS and QUANTIDD, and DVS using a short-form questionnaire may be useful for assessing dietary diversity in older Japanese community dwellers

Dietary diversity and healthy lifestyle

The aim of this study was to clarify the characteristics of lifestyle and health awareness according to dietary diversity in a Japanese worksite population. The participants were 1,312 men and women aged 20 to 63 years who were living in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan during the period 2012-2013. We obtained anthropometric data and information on lifestyle characteristics using a self-administered questionnaire. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and dietary diversity was determined using the Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity (QUANTIDD). The characteristics of lifestyle and health awareness according to quartiles of the QUANTIDD score were assessed using the chi-square test and a general linear model. The higher the QUANTIDD score was, the larger were the proportions of participants who knew the appropriate amount of dietary intake and participants who referred to nutritional component information when choosing and / or buying food. Among participants with higher QUANTIDD scores, the proportion of participants who considered their current diet was good was high in women, whereas the proportion of participants who wanted to improve their diet in the future was high in men. Those results indicate that higher dietary diversity was related to better characteristics of lifestyle and awareness of health

Validation of a dietary balance score

This study assessed the validity of dietary balance scores (DBSs) by investigating the association between DBSs and nutrient adequacy (NA) in two Japanese populations. The participants were 65 community-dwelling Japanese from Tokushima Prefecture and 2,330 community-dwelling Japanese from Aichi Prefecture. Based on food frequency questionnaires or 3-day dietary records, we obtained 18 food groups. The NA score integrates nine beneficial nutrients and two nutrients that should be limited. We calculated four different DBSs: DBS1 consisted of five food groups (score range : 0–20), DBS2 consisted of nine food groups (score range : 0–36), DBS3 consisted of eight food groups (score range : 0–32), and DBS4 consisted of 10 food groups (score range : 0–40). Both the Spearman rank correlation coefficient with NA and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) for the nine beneficial nutrients were then estimated to test the performance of each DBS in predicting nutrient intake. The results showed that DBS1 and DBS4 were positively correlated with NA, while the AUC-ROC showed that DBS4 could moderately discriminate individuals with adequate intake levels of all nine nutrients. These findings suggest DBSs (especially DBS4) are useful in assessing dietary balance in middle-aged and older community-dwelling Japanese

SUDACHITIN IS A SAFE ANTICANCER ADJUVANT TARGETING THE TME

Sudachitin is a polymethoxylated flavone found in the peel of Citrus sudachi, a unique specialty citrus fruit in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Previous reports have demonstrated that sudachitin has anti‑inflammatory and metabolic regulatory activities. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have explored whether sudachitin can act as an antitumor therapeutic agent by regulating metabolic functions in the tumor microenvironment. In the present study, cell proliferation and cytotoxicity assays were used to determine whether sudachitin inhibited the in vitro growth of liver cancer and pancreatic carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma and colorectal cancer cells and to compare its toxicity against normal fibroblasts and induced cancer‑associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Using lactate assays and reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR, the effects of sudachitin on glycolysis in CAFs were investigated. The effects of CAFs on malignant tumor cells were evaluated in vitro using cell proliferation, wound healing and invasion assays. As result, sudachitin inhibited various types of tumor cells with different half‑maximal inhibitory concentrations. Treatment with 50 µM sudachitin for 48 h suppressed tumor and CAFs proliferation but was not cytotoxic against normal fibroblasts. This dose also inhibited glycolysis in CAFs and, thus, diminished their pro‑tumorigenic activities. Overall, the present study revealed that sudachitin has promise as a safe and widely available natural antitumor adjuvant

Decreased expression of MHC class II and cathepsin E in dendritic cells might contribute to impaired induction of antigen-specific T cell response in NC/Nga mice

NC/Nga (NC) mice are an animal model for human atopic dermatitis. We found that induction of antigen (Ag)-specific T cell response is diminished in ovalbumin (OVA)- immunized NC mice. Ability of Ag presentation in NC mouse dendritic cells (DCs) was significantly weaker than that in BALB/c and DBA/2 mouse DCs. Expression levels of MHC class II molecules and cathepsin E in NC mouse DCs were significantly lower that those in BALB/c and DBA/2 mouse DCs. These results indicate that low expression levels of MHC class II and cathepsin E might contribute to the defect in induction of Ag-specific T cells in NC mice