Food systems and their health and economic outcomes are changing rapidly, whether locally, regionally or internationally.1,2,3
This poses particular challenges to clinicians and public health personnel, the two not necessarily or even desirably separate.3,4
The recent International Conference on Clinical Nutrition in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, endeavoured to canvass these issues. It did so in the midst of unprecedented economic growth amongst Chinese speaking peoples. The fact that many of the papers came from these same people signals a new era in Food and Nutrition Science, especially amongst an evolving younger generation of young scientists, clinicians and public health workers.
At the time of the meeting, there was often a lack of appreciation of how the new ideas and lines of enquiry were converging or diverging, being reductionist or integrative, being socially or medically relevant or counter-productive. As it turns out, in these proceedings, relevance and direction, as well as inspiration for the future have emerged and crystallised. The proceedings will stand as a statement and reference point for this shift in the affairs of nutrition science.
There were many papers which set a new direction, amongst them that of Yun-Hwa Peggy Hsieh4 which looked critically at emerging technologies which would affect the food supply with greater or lesser risk. It was inescapable that questions of affordability and sustainability will increasingly influence clinical and public health nutrition.
The conference assembled a relatively young, enthusiastic and participatory audience of food technologists, nutrition scientists, clinicians and public health workers who will form new alliances and change the shape of regional and international nutrition and health.2
Almost a thousand years ago, in the Southern Sung Dynasty, Hangzhou was an innovator in textiles, food and trade, with a reputation for scholarship and leadership.1 We experienced a resurgence of this during October 15-18th 2006 at Zhejiang University and in the City of Hangzhou.
Corresponding Author: Mark L Wahlqvist
Reference
Human serum contains many different antioxidants which may be important in the maintenance of antioxidant status. β-carotene and lycopene are carotenoids with potent antioxidant activity. Carotenoids intake probably protects against cancers and may affect the risk of several chronic conditions. α-tocopherol is well known for its function as antioxidant and in reduction of heart disease and cancer risk. We aimed to establish baseline values for serum β-carotene, lycopene and α-tocopherol concentrations in healthy northeast Thais. Fasting serum β- carotene, lycopene and α-tocopherol levels from 294 subjects aged 23-75 years old in northeast Thailand were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The mean serum β-carotene, lycopene and α- tocopherol levels were 0.53 ± 0.32 μmol/L, 0.57 ± 0.37 μmol/L, and 26.64 ± 14.85 μmol/L respectively. Serum β-carotene and lycopene levels in females (N = 118) were significantly higher than the value for males (N = 176), ie 0.60 ± 0.31 μmol/L versus 0.48 ± 0.32 μmol/L (p = 0.002) for β-carotene and 0.74 ± 0.38 μmol/L versus 0.46 ± 0.33 μmol/L (p<0.001) for lycopene whereas α-tocopherol level in males (28.60 ± 14.34 μmol/L) was signifi- cantly higher than in females (23.72 ± 15.16 μmol/L) (p = 0.006). β-carotene level was positively correlated with α-tocopherol (r = 0.22, p<0.001) and lycopene levels (r = 0.63, p <0.001). The results from this study give the baseline data of serum β-carotene, lycopene and α-tocopherol levels in healthy northeast Thai population and also suggest future study on the relationship of dietary intake.
This study investigated the nutrient composition of ready cooked foods commonly consumed in southern Thai- land. Four samples of fourteen types; eight curry dishes, one sweet and sour curry, a soup dish, one stir-fried curry, one stir-fried dish and two single plate dishes were each purchased from 4 different shops around Hat Yai district. The edible part was blended and analysed for its nutrients content per 100 g edible portion. Cassia curry, Thai noodle salad, Ark shell curry and Fermented fish gut dish were a good source of vitamin B1 (145 μg), vitamin C (2.20 mg), calcium (0.23 g) and iron (6.07 mg), respectively. Moisture, ash, fat, protein and carbohy- drate were high in Mungbean noodle soup (92.6 g), Fermented fish gut dish (4.1 g), Cassia curry (9.9 g), Stingray stir-fried curry (16.7 g) and Thai noodle salad (24.2 g). Results also showed that the main ingredients and cooking process determined the nutritional values of the foods. A new set of 4 samples of Round noodle in southern curry was purchased, each separated into its edible components and nutrient values estimated using the Thai single ingredient databases. Their nutrient content was also calculated using the data of similar food ob- tained from this study. Considerable differences amongst the values from the 2 sets of calculation were ob- served. Problems inherent in using the single ingredient databases were highlighted. This work demonstrates a need to create a food composition database of whole cooked meals ready for serving that reflects real life con- sumption.
Background: Poverty persists at an alarming level in Bangladesh. To reduce extreme poverty and create the foundation for a sustainable livelihood change, BRAC undertook a targeted programme since 2002 named, Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction/Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR/TUP).
Objective: To investigate the impact of the CFPR/TUP programme on food and energy consumption. Design: Two cross sectional surveys on food consumption were conducted, a pre-intervention survey in 2002 and a post-intervention survey in 2004 covering 180 intervention and 193 non-intervention households. Three days’ recall method was administrated in both the survey rounds.
Results: The baseline food consumption survey showed an inadequate food intake in all households, which did not differ between the two groups. At post-intervention, the quality and quantity of food intake improved significantly in the intervention households as compared to baseline. In this group, the consumption of vari- ous food items such as rice, pulse, vegetables, fish, fruit, milk and egg showed significant improvement (p<0.001), particularly, the level of fish consumption doubled in intervention households while in control households it remained almost unchanged (14 g/day to 27 g/day for intervention vs. 11 g/day to 13 g/day for control). Energy intake increased from 1750±650 Kcal/day to 2138±704 Kcal/day in intervention households (p<0.001), whereas no significant change was observed in control households. Percentages of energy from cereals decreased from 85% to 78% in intervention households (p<0.001) while it remained unchanged in control households.
Conclusion: CFPR/TUP programme seems to have direct impact on ultra poor family’s ability to signifi- cantly increase consumption of food and energy.
Modern nutritional science is providing ever more information on the functions and mechanisms of specific food components in health promotion and/or disease prevention. In response to demands from increasingly health con- scious consumers, the global trend is for food industries to translate nutritional information into consumer reality by developing food products that provide not only superior sensory appeal but also nutritional and health benefits. To- day’s busy life styles are also driving the development of healthy convenience foods. Recent innovations in food technologies have led to the use of many traditional technologies, such as fermentation, extraction, encapsulation, fat replacement, and enzyme technology, to produce new health food ingredients, reduce or remove undesirable food components, add specific nutrient or functional ingredients, modify food compositions, mask undesirable flavors or stabilize ingredients. Modern biotechnology has even revolutionized the way foods are created. Recent discoveries in gene science are making it possible to manipulate the components in natural foods. In combination with biofermenta- tion, desirable natural compounds can now be produced in large amounts at a low cost and with little environmental impact. Nanotechnology is also beginning to find potential applications in the area of food and agriculture. Although the use of new technologies in the production of health foods is often a cause for concern, the possibility that innova- tive food technology will allow us to produce a wide variety of food with enhanced flavor and texture, while at the same time conferring multiple health benefits on the consumer, is very exciting.
Background: Food systems are rapidly changing as world population grows, increasing urbanization occurs, consumer tastes and preferences change and differ in various countries and cultures, large scale food production increases, and food imports and exports grow in volume and value. Consumers in all countries have become more insistent that foods available in the marketplace are of good quality and safe, and do not poise risks to them and their families. Publicity about food risk problems and related risks, including chemical and microbiological contamination of foods, mad-cow disease, avian flu, industrial chemical contamination all have made consumers and policy makers more aware of the need of the control of food safety risk factors in all countries.
Objective: To discuss changes in food systems, and in consumer expectations, that have placed additional stress on the need for better control of food safety risks.
Outcomes: Food producers, processors, and marketers have additional food law and regulations to meet; gov- ernment agencies must increase monitoring and enforcement of adequate food quality and safety legislation and coordinate efforts between agriculture, health, trade, justice and customs agencies; and academia must take ac- tion to strengthen the education of competent food legislation administrators, inspectorate, and laboratory per- sonnel for work in government and industry, including related food and food safety research .
Conclusions: Both Government and the food industry must assure that adequate control programs are in place to control the quality and safety of all foods, raw or processed, throughout the food chain from production to final consumption. This includes appropriate laboratory facilities to perform necessary analysis of foods for risk and quality factors, and to carry out a wide range of food science, toxicological and related research.
The food industry in the Asia Pacific region is gigantic in size, and is therefore a key element in the economic de- velopment prospects for the region. It is estimated that in 2000, for example, total expenditure on food and bever- ages in China was worth $US 188.5 billion, second only to that in Japan at $322 billion. Yet it is clear that given the expansion of both populations and incomes in the region this market will expand rapidly over the next few years. Particularly important will be the continued growth of cities and of the share of employment in industrial and service activities. Much of this growth in food purchases will be supplied from local sources, but this will de- mand some fundamental changes in domestic food production systems. There will also be a substantial growth in the food trade, with ever increasing levels of national and regional specialisation. These developments will put in- creasing pressures on quality standards at all levels, with a growing emphasis on food safety, integrity, quality, and nutritional and health impacts. This paper reviews the current status of the food industry and the food trade in the region, and presents some projections for future developments. Particular emphasis is given to policy choices that must be made to ensure that the food system in the region develops in ways that are sustainable and most beneficial to the population as a whole.
Edible fats and fat containing products undergo oxidation, both during production and storage, causing a se- quence of unfavorable changes. Enrichment of lipids with plant polyphenols can profitably influence their oxida- tive stability, additional introduction to human body can also decrease the degenerative diseases morbidity. Two seasons butter quality were analysed: winter and summer season. Oxidative stability of butter was conducted on Rancimat and Oxidograph test conditions (110°C). To evaluate antioxidant activity of different plant extracts lipid samples were enriched with green tea and rosemary extracts, α-tocopherol and BHT at concentration of 0.02%, counted over lipid content. It was found that pure winter butter was more stable than pure butter from summer season in Rancimat test conditions (p<0.05). No statistical differences between samples in Oxidograph test were found. Summer season butter oxidative stability was highest in sample with addition of green tea ex- tract: 71.22h for Rancimat and 81.23h for Oxidograph test. Best antioxidative activity in winter butter showed green tea extract, where induction period was 66.5 h for Rancimat and 64.0 h for Oxidograph test. Also rosemary extract and tocopherol showed strong antioxidative activity, weaker however than green tea extract. BHT, strong synthetic antioxidant showed much lower activity. Study indicated strong antioxidant activity of examined plant extracts in lipid systems.
Oligosaccharides have been credited with many health-promoting functions, which had been identified in many clinical studies, such as promoting the growth of Bifidobacterium in human intestine and balance of intestinal bacteria, modulating the immune response, inhibition of cancer and tumor, stimulation of mineral absorption. In this study the effect of processing unit operations on the levels of soybean oligosaccharides during production of soybean sheet were investigated. The concentrations of oligosaccharide in initial raw soybean were: sucrose 43.05 g/kg, raffinose 7.52 g/kg and stachyose 41.32 g/kg (in dry matter). Oligosaccharide losses in the soaking water, in the first filtrating stage, in the second filtrating stage and finally in the sheet formation stage were 0.68, 10.3, 8.15 and 47.22 g/kg (initial dry soybean) respectively, representing 0.74, 11.21, 8.87 and 51.39% of the to- tal oligosaccharides present in the initial soybeans. The recovery of oligosaccharides in the final soybean sheet from the initial soybean was 27.92%. The loss of soybean oligosaccharides in different processing stages, espe- cially in the by-product, the sweet slurry, was considerable. The loss of oligosaccharides was mainly associated with water/matter removal in production process. The analysis of loss profile implied possible ways to improve the technology for production of oligosaccharides-enriched soy-sheets.
Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites that can be produced in crops and other food commodities both pre- and post-harvest. When ingested, mycotoxins may cause a mycotoxicosis which can result in an acute or chronic disease episode. Chronic conditions have a much greater impact, numerically, on human health globally. Reduced growth and development, immunosupression and cancer are chronic effects that have a higher inci- dence following continual exposure to low level mycotoxin ingestion as is experienced in many developing countries. It has been estimated that 25% of the world’s crops are affected by mould or fungal growth and as sta- ble, natural contaminants of the food chain, mycotoxin reduction requires a multifaceted approach, including farmers, government agencies, food processors and scientists. This can have a significant impact on the cost of food production. International regulatory standards for mycotoxins in food commodities determines the extent of global trade in contaminated commodities.
In order to develop an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the insecticide imi- dacloprid, the anti-imidacloprid polyclonal antibody was produced and the affinity of three different coating anti- gens with the polyclonal antibody was compared. The antigenic determinant in antigen aimming at the polyclonal antibody was raised and analyzed. The standard curve for imidacloprid had been developed. The effects of or- ganic solvents and buffer ionic strength on the ELISA for insecticide were studied and conditions of analysis were also optimized in this research. Experiment result showed that the coating antigen IMMP-OVA ,whose binding ratio was 14:1, had stronger affinity with the anti-imidacloprid polyclonal antibody than IMMB-OVA and IMEB-OVA ; the IC50 value in the standard curve was 995.4ng·mL-1 and the limit of detection (LOD) was 30ng·mL-1; the cross reaction ratios with nitenpyram and acetamiprid were 5.73% and 11.31% respectively.
Food culture is most influenced by the locality of its origin, which will have been one of food acquisition and processing by various means. It is generally agreed, and is the basis of much United Nations, especially Food and Agriculture Organisation strategic development policy, that successful agriculture, horticulture and aqua- culture along with fishing, underpin economically viable and healthy communities with their various food cul- tures. We also know that this must be in tandem with maternal literacy and operational health care systems. These elements are best represented on a regional basis. There is a growing consumer interest in knowing where one’s food comes from as a measure of “food integrity”. However, food production alone can be a pre- carious business and relate to a lesser or greater extent to local food culture and to trade, which may be com- plementary or at-odds with each other. Likewise, the local food culture may have its strengths and weaknesses as far as its ability to meet nutritional and health needs is concerned. Local food production may be restricted because of geographical or socio-economic conditions which preclude food diversity, although this may be compensated for by trade. Where food adequacy and diversity is compromised, and soils poor, various macro- nutrient, micronutrient (from animals and plants) and phytonutrient (nutritionally-advantageous food compo- nent from plants) deficiencies may be in evidence. These food system problems may be intertwined with food culture - for example, “rice-based and water-soluble vitamin poor”; “few animal-derived foods like meat, fish, eggs and milk with associated low calcium, vitamin D, Vitamin B12 and long chain n-3 fatty acid intakes”; “low fruit and vegetable intake with limited carotenoids and other phytonutrients”. Geo-satellite surveillance and mapping is identifying such “hot spots”: for regional food problems, as well as hot spots where most of the world’s biodiversity is found (1.4 % of land on earth). On the other hand, regional food culture can confer con- siderable advantage for health and economic development, but does not necessarily do so. The challenge is to respect and retain traditional food knowledge and sustainable food systems, with good governance for food se- curity. There has been a recent awakening of interest and concern about the lack of documentation of traditional and indigenous food cultures which are important not only for their own sake, but for the legacy of food knowl- edge which they can confer on future generations, provided they are not lost. Hence, the value of a special fo- cus on African food cultures (www.healthyeatingclub.org/Africa), including Rift and Nile Valleys and North West African foods, which are the cradles of human food systems and habits. This is the case too with indige- nous foods and food cultures (whether hunter-gatherer or subsistence agriculture); with relatively long-living food cultures in North East Asia, with food cultural distinction and fusion (FHILL and SENECA studies) and with migratory Food Habits. By and large, there is a remarkable resilience and ingenuity of people and their food systems, but monoculture and lack of diversity encourage food system failure.
A lateral-flow assay that could provide visual evidence of the presence of clenbuterol in swine urine was devel- oped. Colloidal gold was prepared and conjugated with anti-clenbuterol monoclonal antibody. Immunochroma- tographic test strips were produced, and then, 210 samples were tested on these strips. Analysis was completed in 10 min. Detection limit was 3 ppb of clenbuterol. Parallel GC-MS data indicated that clenbuterol rapid detection strip had no false negative. The false positive rate was 4.4%. Immunochromatographic strip has great applied value in the food safety field because it possesses benefits of sensitivity, stability, reproducibility, ease of use and inexpensive.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment before cut- ting on respiration rate, ethylene production, electrolyte leakage, firmness, and color in fresh-cut apple fruit. Fresh-cut apple without 1-MCP treatment had a shelf life of 10 days at 2°C and became browning and decay af- ter pro-long storage. However, fresh-cut apple remained fresh-looking even after 14 days at 2°C when fruit were exposed to 1-MCP before cutting. 1-MCP treatment significantly reduced wound-activated respiration rate and ethylene production, maintained firmness during storage. Visible changes in apple skin color do not occur, how- ever,.L and whiteness index (WI) of flesh in intact and fresh-cut apple applied with 1-MCP were higher than those without 1-MCP treatment. Fresh-cut and intact fruit had little changes in electrolyte leakage after 2 days of storage when 1-MCP was pre-applied. The present study indicated that treatment with 1 μL/L 1-MCP for 10 h at 20°C prior to cutting can significantly reduce wound-active responses in fresh-cut apple.
The aim of this study was to improve efficiency of the food aid distribution process of international food relief organizations. An overall objective of this study was to develop a prototype expert system for monitoring and evaluating food aid by international disaster relief organizations. The research identifies data related to monitor- ing and evaluation processes of various international food-aid organizations. It then applies an artificial intelli- gence-based expert system to develop a prototype for those processes. Existing data related to monitoring and evaluation program cycles were obtained. An expert system shell called CLIPS© (National Aeronautics Space Administration) was used to develop a prototype system named Food Aid Monitor, a rule-based expert system, which uses facts and heuristic rules to provide an adaptive feedback regarding monitoring and evaluating proc- esses at various stages of food aid operation. The Food Aid Monitor was evaluated and validated by three expert panels checking the prototype system for completeness, relevancy, consistency, correctness, precision, and us- ability. Finally, the panels indicated a belief that the system could have an overall positive impact on the stages of monitoring and evaluating food aid processes of the food relief organizations.
Tomato fruit is renowned for its high concentration of phyto-nutrients such as lycopene and carotenoids, overall contribution to nutrition and human health. The effect of antisense suppression of ethylene receptor genes LeETR1 and LeETR2 over the quality of tomato fruit was investigated in this paper. During the different stages of ripening, the fruit of antisense transgenic tomatoes of ale1 and ale2, compared to their wild type B1, showed higher total soluble solids, acidity and electrolytes accumulations and color development; lower fruit firmness, fruit viscosity and fruit elasticity. However, no significant difference of Vc content, total sugar, fruit pH value and fruit pigments between transgenic lines and B1 were noticed. ale1 and ale2 showed shortened shelf life. The data suggest that fruit with suppressed LeETR1 and LeETR2 genes expression have stronger ethylene response, which accelerate fruit ripening and greatly altered tomato variety characteristics.
Great attention has been paid to volatile toxic aldehydes like formaldehyde in aquatic products. In order to inves- tigate content of formaldehyde in squid and squid products, a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for determination of formaldehyde. Based on steam distillation and 2,4- dinitrophenylhydrazine derivatization, formaldehyde was analysis by HPLC using ODS-C18 column at UV de- tector (355 nm). Detection limit was 8.92 μg/L in standard solution and 0.18 mg/kg in sample, and recovery was 83.09-103.20%. By this method, the formaldehyde content of squid muscle and viscera, dried squid thread and boiled squid were determined. The results showed that variable formaldehyde levels were observed among four species squid, which was generally far higher in viscera than in muscle of frozen squid. And cooking accelerated the formaldehyde production of squids. The study indicated that the HPLC method, with a better selectivity, pre- cision and accuracy, was available to determine the formaldehyde in squid products with satisfactory results. Formaldehyde level in muscle and products of squid exceeded the formaldehyde limit by the Ministry of Agricul- ture in China.
This paper investigated the efficiency of antioxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB) and extract of green tea (EGT) on the reduction of acrylamide in fried bread sticks and summarized the optimal levels of two additives. Seven ex- perimental groups including a control group were organized for both of additives. Fried bread sticks were made via traditional processing technology. The flour was mixed with different levels (0.002–4.9 g/kg flour) of AOB and EGT, respectively. The acrylamide level in fried bread sticks was determined by liquid chromatography tan- dem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The sensory evaluation was performed in double blind manner. Results showed that nearly 82.9% and 72.5% of acrylamide were reduced when the AOB and EGT addition levels were 1 and 0.1 g/kg, respectively. The elevated inhibitory effects of AOB and EGT on the acrylamide formation were achieved with an increase of additive levels unless the spiking levels of AOB and EGT were greater than 1 and 0.1 g/kg, respectively. Sensory evaluation results showed that the flavor and texture of fried bread sticks proc- essed by AOB and EGT had no significant difference compared to normal food matrixes (p>0.05) when both AOB and EGT addition levels were no more than 1 g/kg. The present study indicated that both AOB and EGT could significantly reduce the acrylamide content generated in fried bread sticks and keep original flavor and crispness of fried bread sticks. This study could be regarded as an important contribution on the reduction of acrylamide by natural antioxidants.
More and more people pay attention to citrinin produced by Monascus, which has nephrotoxic activity in mam- mals. It was reported that pksCT gene is responsible for citrinin biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus. In this pa- per, two DNA fragments in both ends of pksCT were amplified by genomic PCR from fourteen Monascus spp. strains. The PCR products were gained from all of the strains. It is suggested that pksCT gene was highly con- served in different citrinin-producing Monascus strains. A pksCT-replacement vector (pHD106) was constructed to disrupt pksCT with a hygromycin resistance gene as the selection marker, and was transformed into M. auran- tiacus Li AS3.4384. Three transformants (M. aurantiacus PHDS18, PHDS26, PHDS31) were selected from trans- formant selective plates. The targeting fragment D was gained by genomic PCR from PHDS18 and PHDS26 ex- cept PHDS31. The expressing citrinin capacities of PHDS26 was decreased by about 98%, while PHDS18 was reserved the high capacity of producing citrinin, after 10 days of growth on YM medium. The results indicated that PHDS26 is a pksCT-disrupted strain. There are maybe other genes besides pksCT responsible for citrinin bio- synthesis in M. aurantiacus. It is the effective way to solve the problem of citrinin in M. aurantiacus products by constructing replacement vectors to disrupt the genes responsible for citrinin biosynthesis to reduce the capacity of expressing citrinin.
The objective of this study was to examine if polysaccharides from Cassiae Seeds (PCS) can be used as prebiot- ics to improve the intestinal microflora of piglets with an in vitro and an in vivo trial. The in vitro trial was con- ducted to study the dose-response effect of PCS on the growth of E. coli 09 and Lactobacillus with traditional plate count method. The gradient culture mediums, containing 3.2, 1.6, 0.8, 0.4, 0.2, 0.1, 0.05, 0.025 and 0% PCS, were inoculated with E. coli09, Lactobacillus and cecum content, respectively. PCS had no influence on the growth of E. coliO9 from rejuvenation fluid, but inhibited the growth of E. coliO9 from cecum content when the concentration of PCS was higher than 0.1%. Lactobacillus counts were significantly increased with 0.1% PCS or higher (p < 0.05); and the largest increase was found with 0.8% PCS. With the inoculum of cecum content in the medium, Lactobacillus counts increased when the concentration of PCS was 0.4% and 0.8%, whilst E. coli 09 counts decreased. The in vivo trial was carried out to investigate the effect of PCS on the growth of E. coli 09 and Lactobacillus in piglets. Thirty six barrows (average initial BW = 6.5 kg) were randomly divided into 3 groups with 6 each, fed diets supplemented without or with 0.4% or 0.8% PCS. After 14 days, 3 piglets were slaughtered from each group; digesta samples were collected from the ileum, cecum and colon for detection of E.coli 09 and Lactobacillus with plate count method. Samples of the tissue and content of the cecum were taken for detection of caecal microflora profiles with Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) technique. The dietary in- clusion of PCS increased Lactobacillus counts, but reduced E. coli 09 counts in digesta of ileum, cecum and co- lon of piglets. The dietary inclusion of 0.8% PCS significantly increased the number of electrophoresis brands of caecal bacterial microflora in mucosa and content of the cecum (p< 0.05). These results confirmed the dynamic change in the intestinal microfloa profile with the dietary inclusion of PCS in piglets. Thus, PCS can be used as prebiotics to improve the intestinal microflora.
Major chemical compounds in different extracts from tea flowers (Camellia sinensis) were analyzed. Distilled water or 70% ethanol extracts were then fractionated with chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol, respectively. Each extract fraction was tested its scavenging activities on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl free radicals. The results showed that ethyl acetate fraction of ethanol-extract of tea flower (EEA) exhibited the highest quenching activity to hydroxyl radicals (SC50 11.6 μg/ml), followed by ethanol-extract (EE) of tea flower (SC50 19.7μg/ml). Same tea flower extract showed big different scavenging activities on different free radicals. EEA quenched 80% of hydroxyl radicals generated by Fenton’s reaction, however, only 40% of DPPH radical was scavenged in the Fe (II)-H2O2 -luminol system. The contents of flavones, polyphenols and catechins in EE and EEA fractions were higher than those in other fractions. We suggest that the stronger scavenging abilities to free radicals might be due to polyphenols, EGCG, ECG and flavones. However, the water extracts of tea flower and their fractions showed lower antioxidant activity for their inhibitory effect on hydroxyl radicals and DPPH radicals.
The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of antioxidant and prooxidant effects of epigallocate- chin-3-gallate (EGCG) using chemiluminescence analysis. Results showed that EGCG scavenged superoxide radical and H2O2 in a dose dependent manner. EGCG scavenged 50% of superoxide radical at 0.31 mM and scavenged 50% of H2O2 at 0.09 mM, demonstrating that EGCG has a stronger reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity than ascorbic acid. Effects of EGCG on free radical-induced DNA oxidative damage were investigated. EGCG had protective effect on DNA at low concentrations (2-30 mM), but it enhanced the DNA oxidative damage at higher concentrations (>60 mM), exhibiting a prooxidant effect on DNA. EGCG showed a greater reducing power on iron ions, reducing Fe3+ to Fe2+, which accelerates the generation of hydroxyl radical from the Fenton reaction. At low concentrations, ROS scavenging activity of EGCG might predominate over its reducing power and lead to its protective effect on DNA. However, relatively higher reducing power of EGCG at higher concentrations may gradually predominate over its ROS scavenging activity and result in the prooxidant effect of EGCG on DNA.
This study assessed the diet quality and nutritional status of beneficiaries of Adolescent Girl scheme, a national programme targeted towards their nutrition/health needs. 209 girls (aged 11-21 years) from six rural blocks - Delhi (Alipur, Kanjhawala and Mehrauli), Haryana (Madhosinghana), Rajasthan (Deeg) and Uttar Pradesh (Fatehpur Sikri) comprised the sample. Weight and height were measured and dietary intake data were gathered by one day 24 Hour Recall coupled with Food Frequency approach. Incidence of thinness (‘BMI for age’ <5th percentile) and stunting (‘height for age’ <3rd percentile) was 30.6% and 29.7%. The subjects followed a two- meal pattern and their diets were monotonous and cereal-based. 49.3% of them were found to have energy intake less than 75% of RDA while a substantial proportion of them had inadequate nutrient intake (NAR <0.66) with respect to most of the micronutrients especially iron (84.7%), folic acid (79.4%) and vitamin A (73.2%). The mean daily intake of milk and milk products, pulses, green leafy vegetables, other vegetables and fruits was grossly inadequate meeting only 47%, 36%, 26%, 34% and 3% of the suggested allowances; that of fats/oils and roots/tubers was somewhat adequate meeting 65% and 72% of the allowances while the intake of cereals and sugar was almost adequate revealing a deficit of only 7% and 3%. The study reveals not only a high incidence of under-nutrition but also an inadequate energy/micronutrient intake among the beneficiaries of Adolescent Girl scheme. Therefore, sustained efforts are needed to strengthen the scheme for improving its field-level implemen- tation.
Lotus rhizome powder was extracted with solvents of different polarities. Antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated by a 2, 2’-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and a β-carotene bleaching assay, and compared with that of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and ascorbic acid. Methanol showed the highest extract yield among all of solvents. Although acetone extract had the highest total phenolics content, methanol extract had the highest total phenolics recovery from lotus powder (20.1 mg catechin equivalents/100g lotus powder). Extract of either methanol or acetone demonstrated the highest DPPH scavenging activity at both 66.7 mg/L and 133.3 mg/L. All extracts exhibited higher antioxidant activity coefficient (AAC) than that of ascorbic acid, furthermore, dichloromethane and petroleum extracts had comparable AAC with BHA by the β-carotene bleaching assay. The properties of the extracting solvents significantly affected the yield, total phenolics content and antioxidant activ- ity of lotus rhizome extracts.
Laurencia terpenoid extract (LET) had been extracted from the red alga Laurencia tristicha. The study is to in- vestigate the effects of LET supplementation on DNA oxidation and alkylation damages in mice.Forty healthy kunming mice weighing between18g and 25g were randomly assigned into 4 groups, each consisting of ten ani- mals. The mice were orally intubated respectively for 60 days with the designed concentrations of LET (25, 50,100mg/ kg b.w.) for three exposed groups and salad oil (0.2 ml) for the blank group. Food and water were free for the animals. Mice in the blank and exposed groups were sacrificed after the last treatment and the blood of each animal was quickly taken for further experiments. The spontaneous and oxidized DNA damages of periph- eral lymphocytes induced by H2O2 were analysed by SCGE. O6-Methy-guanine (O6-MeG) was measured by high performance capillary zone electrophoresis. There was no significantly difference in DNA spontaneous damage on peripheral lymphocytes of all the mice. The oxidative DNA damage in the 50 mg/Kg body weight supplement group are 286AU with the oxidation of 10μmol/L H2O2 , significantly lower than the blank group 332AU (p<0.05). The contents of O6-MeG in plasma in the 50mg/kg b.w. and 100mg/kg b.w. supplement group were 1.50μmol/L and1.88μmol/L, significantly lower than that of the blank group, which was 2.89μmol/L(p<0.05). The results from the present study indicated that the LET were rich in terpenoids and safety to be taken orally and it could improve antioxidative and decrease DNA damage effectively.
The ethanol-water extract of A. deliciosa root (EEAD) was fractionated into n-hexane (EEAD-He), ethyl acetate (EEAD-Ea), n-butanol (EEAD-Bu) and aqueous (EEAD-Aq) fractions according to their different polarity and solubility. Among the four extracts, it was found that EEAD-Bu was enriched with oleanolic acid (OLA). The antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of various EEAD fractions and OLA were carefully investigated by the methods of ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA), as well as the model of CCL4-induced liver toxicity in rats. The results showed that the EEAD-Bu had higher in vitro antioxidant and in vivo hepato- protective activities than those of the other types of extracts (p < 0.05). When the CCL4-induced rats were treat- ment with 120 mg/kg EEAD-Bu, the activities of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transanimase (AST) in rat serum decreased 90 % and 81 %, respectively, as compared with those of the CCL4 control rats. Further- more, the lipid peroxidation (MDA) decreased 42 % and glutathione (GSH) increased 114 % in the rats liver homogenate, as compared with those of the control. The results also indicated that the hepatoprotective activity of the EEAD-Bu (at the dose of 120 mg/kg) was higher than that of the reference drug silymarin (at the dose of 60 mg/kg), and OLA acted as an important role in dose-dependent protection against CCL4 hepatotoxicity. The findings indicate that the OLA-enriched EEAD-Bu extract had significant and concentration dependent hepato- protective effect for the carbon tetrachloride induced rat liver injury.
The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effect of chitooligosaccharides prepared by chito- sanase from Pseudomonas CUY8. Antimicrobial activities of different degrees of deacetylation (DD) and po- lymerization (DP) of chitooligosaccharides against various species of bacteria and fungi were measured. The an- timicrobial effects of chitooligosaccharides compared with chitosan and chitosanase were evaluated. Inhibitory diameter of chitooligosaccharides at the concentration of 0.1% with DP 4 was 19 ± 0.20mm, and inhibitory ac- tivity with DD 90% was 79± 2.1%, which were higher than other DP and DD, respectively. The results showed that antimicrobial activities of chitooligosaccharides increased with increase of DD, but decreased with increase of DP. Chitooligosaccharides, chitosan and chitosanase all showed significantly stronger antimicrobial activities against bacteria than fungi (p<0.001). Antimicrobial activities of chitooligosaccharides were significantly higher than that of chitosan (p<0.05), but insignificantly lower than that of chitosanase (p>0.05).
To evaluate the antioxidative activity of the hydrolysates of ovalbumin, the antioxidative activities of the enzy-
matic extracts were evaluated using three different methodologies scavenging assays such as superoxide anion,
hydroxyl radical, and inhibitory oxidation of linoleic acid in vitro, and the activities of SOD, GSH-PX, CAT and
the level of MDA were determined in serum and liver of aged mice induced by G-gal. The results showed that
the hydrolysates had a distinctly inhibitory action to superoxide anion ( O −• ) made by alkaline pyrogallic acid, 2
HO• produced by Fenton reaction, the oxidation of linoleic acid in linoleic acid autoxidation system, and pre-
sented a positive correlation. The inhibition capacity of hydrolysates against O −• and HO• were more than 2
45% and 56% respectively at the concentration 5 mg/mL. And the hydrolysates could significantly (p< 0.01) prevented the activities of SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT against reducing and all three concentrations could signifi- cantly (p< 0.01) decrease the MDA contents in the serum and liver of aged mice induced by G-gal. The antioxi- dative activity of high concentration was similar to that of control group.
The flower of Chrysanthemum Morifolium Ramat. (CM) is a useful food and folk medicine in China. Effects of Chrysanthemum Morifolium extracting (CME) conditions, including extraction temperature, extraction time and the ratio of flower to water on infusion quality were investigated. The extractability, liquor color differences and the major flavonoids of luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and luteolin of various CME methods were evaluated. The results indicated that CME temperature was the most important factors affecting quality of CM infusion. Based on the extractability and chemical compositions, the best CME conditions were the 90~100oC, 20-30min and the ratio of flower to water of 1:40 (w/v). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of Chrysanthemum Morifolium chemical compositions including luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and luteolin was also discussed in the present paper.
The aim of the current study was to explore a novel method for measuring hydration and dissolution kinetics of the pulverized konjac flour (PK flour) from Amorphophallus albus using RVA-3D+ Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA; Newport Scientific Pty Ltd., Australia). The results showed that RVA was a reliable fast technique for determin- ing the hydration curve of PK flour. The test conditions determining the hydration curves were optimized at the concentration of PK flour with 1.0%, test temperature at 30±1 ̊C, stirring speed at 160 RPM (Revolution Per Minute), and test time of 16 min. An empirical exponential model has also been established to describe the dis- solution kinetics of PK flour at the concentration of 1.0%: η = 161.9343·EXP (-2.1522/τ) (R2=0.9762) Where τ is the test time (min); η is the viscosity of the hydration process (RVU) of PK flour. The results also showed that a significant difference among the hydration curves of 1.0% PK flour when dispersed in distilled water and in different concentrations of sucrose aqueous solution.
This study was designed to determine whether combined treatments with soybean isoflavone dosage and moder- ate exercise would exhibit synergistically effects on bone metabolism following the onset of menopause. Fifty 12 wk-old female Wistar rats were assigned to five groups: 1) Sham operated (Sham), 2) ovariectomized (OVX), 3) OVX received soybean isoflavone (OVX-IF), 4) OVX exercised (OVX-EXE) and 5) OVX treated with both soybean isoflavone and exercise (OVX-IF-EXE). All rats were fed a normal diet ad libitum. Daily soybean isoflavone dosage was 50 mg/kg body weight. The vehicle was given in Sham, OVX and OVX-EXE groups. The drugs were all oral administered using a stomach tube. Exercising rats were trained on an uphill treadmill at 20 m/min for 1h/day, 5days/week. The experimental duration consisted of the adaptation periods of 2 weeks and treatment periods of 8 weeks. The results showed that the uterus relative weights in OVX-EXE, OVX-IF and OVX-IF-EXE groups were all lower than those in Sham, they were higher than those in the OVX group. Serum alkaline phosphates (AKP) activitie of OVX was significantly increased as compared to that of Sham (p<0.01). OVX-IF and OVX-IF-EXE respectively decreased the Serum alkaline phosphates activities, as compared to that of OVX (p<0.01). The tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) value of OVX was significantly increased as compared to that of Sham (p<0.05). OVX-IF decreased the TRAP as compared to that of OVX (p<0.05). These results suggest soybean isoflavone and resistance exercise both can restrain ovx-induced bone loss. But their mechanisms may be different.
Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva Linn.) flowers were hot air-dried and freeze-dried after harvest. Antioxidant proper- ties of water and ethanol extracts prepared from these dried flowers were evaluated in terms of total antioxidant activity, reducing capacity, and metal chelating activity. Extracts from daylily flowers exhibited strong antioxi- dant activity. Ethanol was more efficiency to extract antioxidants than water, and freeze-drying preserved higher activities than air-drying. Rutin, (+)-catechin, and gallic acid were identified in the extracts by HPLC, and were highly related to the antioxidant activities. The antioxidant activity was further evaluated by feeding mice with ethanol extract from freeze-dried daylily flowers for 60 days. The results demonstrated that the extract at dosage of 40-225 mg/100 g significantly increased the activity of SOD (superoxide dismutase) and reduced the lipid peroxidation in both blood and liver of rat.
The ingestion of lactobacilli is of great importance for the probiotic effect of host gut Peyer’s patches (PPs) macrophages. The present study is in time focus on the investigation of the factors determining the ingestion of lactobacilli by PPs macrophages. Physicochemical properties of cell surface and adhesive property of nine Lac- tobacillus strains were examined in the present work. The association of the bacteria with PPs macrophage was checked with macrophage monolayers on coverslips. The influence of lactobacilli on macrophages phagocytic capacity was also investigated with a neutral red uptake assay in vitro. The results show that the macrophages could ingest lactobacilli in a strain dependent manner, and the most ingested strain is L. plantarum Lp6 compared to other tested strains, which displayed strain specific enhancement on the phagocytic activity of PPs macro- phages. And there is no correlation between the physicochemical or adhesive properties of the cell surface and the ingestion. The association of L. plantarum Lp6 with PPs macrophage could be decreased by Protease K treatment. Surface proteins of L. plantarum Lp6 could promote the ingestion of fluorescent latex beads by PPs macrophages. In conclusion, the hydrophobicity of the cell surface might not be the key factor determining the association of lactobacilli with PPs macrophages. Cell surface proteins are the media for the binding L. planta- rum Lp6 to macrophages.
Objective:To investigate the health and nutrition status in middle-aged and old people in the urban district of Chongqing City, China in order to provide a rational diet construction for the population.
Method: This investigation was performed in 2004 and 1801 public officials both at post and retired in the urban district of Chongqinging City were enrolled in this investigation. Among them 96.7% were at age of over 40. The investigation was based on questionnaire, physical examination, laboratory biochemical test and bone den- sity measurement.
Result: In the incidences of nutrition-related non-communicable diseases, overweight/obesity accounted for 50.5 %, hyperlipidemia 36.1%, hypertension 30.3%, fatty liver 22.3%, osteoporosis 16.1%, hyperuricemia 12.2%, and diabetes 11.2%, while the incidence of dystrophy is low. Correlation analysis of these diseases demonstrated that the rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, diabetes, coronary heart disease and gallstone were significantly higher in overweight or obesity than in normal-weight people. The rates of hypertriglyceride, hy- percholesteremia, diabetes, hyperuricemia, coronary heart disease, and fatty liver were higher in people with hypertension than in people with normal blood pressure. The rates of hypertension, hypertriglyceride and hyper- cholesteremia, coronary heart disease and fatty liver were higher in diabetes than in non-diabetes people. Conclusion: Our study shows that health and nutrition status of the public officials of Chongqing city is not fa- vourable Overnutrition is the main problem.
A mathematical model for determining the Yin Yang nature of fruits was established in our previous study. The objective of this study was to validate the mathematical model using animal experiments. One hundred and twenty Wistar II female rats were randomly divided into five diet groups: A, B, C, D and E that were adminis- tered with saline solution, hot Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tonic, cold TCM tonic, hot (Yang) formu- lated mineral solution and cold (Yin) formulated mineral solution, respectively. The consumption of drinking wa- ter of rats in each group was determined during a feeding period of 21 days. On the last day of the experiment, the lingual superficial structure of the rats was examined, which is a practice in traditional Chinese medicine to diagnose Yin-yang symptoms, and blood samples were collected from the rats to determine serum thrombocytin (5-HT) and thyrotrophic hormone (TSH) and plasma noradrenaline (NE). The diet D group, administered with the Yang mineral solutions demonstrated the same trend as the diet B group fed with hot TCM tonic (hot control), while the diet E group administered with the Yin mineral solutions has the similar trend as diet C group fed with cold TCM tonic (cold control). It was concluded that the diet D had Yang nature, whereas the diet E had Yin na- ture. The results from current study confirmed the findings from the previous study that the Yin-Yang nature of the fruits could be determined by the ratio of copper, iron and magnesium content using the mathematical model.
The aim of this study was to determine the content and/or composition of protein, peptide, amino acid, lipid and fatty acid in bacterial douchi (BD) made by different pure starter fermentation. Protein content of BD3, BD5, BD7 and BD8 was significantly higher than that of autoclaved soybean (AS). Lipid content of BD1, BD5 and BD6 was also significantly higher than that of AS. Predominant amino acids were glutamic acid (11.3-15.2%), proline (11.2-14.5%), aspartic acid (8.7-10.0%), leucine (9.2-10.0%) and alanine (7.4-8.9%). BD had EAA7 and EAA9 values of 34.4-36.4% and 40.5-41.7% respectively. Threonine with the amino acid score of 61-85 was the limiting amino acid. Triacylglycerol (82.4-88.2%) was the most abundant lipid in BD, followed by phospholipid (9.6-16.4%) and phytosterol (1.2-2.9%). Major fatty acids were palmitic (10.6-11.3%), oleic (20.5-21.9%), li- noleic (54.2-55.6%) and α-linolenic acid (8.2-9.1%). The ratio of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to n-3 PUFA ranged from 6.1 to 6.7. Amino acid nitrogen and trichloroacetic acid soluble protein increased from 0.2% (AS) to 1.8% (BD8) and from 1.3% (AS) to 4.0% (BD7) at the highest level respectively. Peptides with molecu- lar weight ≤ 2000Da accounted for at least 75% of total peptide. Bacterial fermentation of soybean increased amino acid nitrogen and trichloroacetic acid soluble protein except BBDC6, decreased molecular weight of 100- 500 and increased 500-1000 and 2000-5000 peptides. Composition of lipids, fatty acids, and amino acids were no significant change after soybean bacterial fermentation.
Apisimin is one of the functional peptides from royal jelly. The aim of this study was to analyze and in vitro ex- press a new gene encoding Acc-apisimin-2 from Chinese honeybee (Apis cerana cerana) in Escherichia coli. Ninety-six clones containing apisimin expressed sequence tag (EST) were identified from 8568 effective ESTs of the cDNA library of Chinese honeybee worker heads. The coding region of the matured peptide from one clone containing Acc-apisimin-2 gene was sub-cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-4T-2. The recom- binant vector then was transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) for expression. The expression product was analyzed with SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The total length of the Acc-apisimin-2 cDNA was 379 bp, containing an open-reading frame (ORF) of 237 nucleotides encoding a 78 amino acid residue precursor. The Acc-apisimin-2 gene shared 100% homologies with Am-apisimin from A. mellifera, but 93% and 91% homologies with Aci- apisimin from A. cerana indica and the previously reported Acc-apisimin-1 sequence (AY278991) on a nucleo- tide level, respectively. The GST-Acc-apisimin-2 fusion protein expressed in the recombinant vector was about 31 kDa in size and accumulated up to about 22.1% of the total bacterial proteins. About 50% of the recombinant protein was soluble. The fusion protein purified through affinity chromatography was cross reactive with GST an- tibody, which confirmed the successful expression of GST-Acc-apisimin-2.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether Portulaca oleracea(PO) extracts have hypoxic neuroprotec- tive effects and if so, by what mechanism. After being orally administrated with the PO extracts or distilled wa- ter for seven days, adult male BALB/c mice were adapted to a normobaric low oxygen environment (10% oxy- gen and 90% nitrogen) for different time and then were sacrificed. The mouse cortices were used for histological analysis by hematoxylin and eosin (H-E staining). The activities of pyruvate kinase (PK), phosphofructokinase (PFK), lactic acid (LD) and the level of lactate dehydroenase (LDH) and ATP were detected, and the mRNA and protein levels of EPO in the cortices were analyzed. PC-12 cells and primarily cultured nerve cells were used for 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The degree of LDH in the cell culture medium was tested. The results showed that the PO extracts enhanced the EPO mRNA and protein ex- pression in the mouse cortices. Compared to the control group, the mouse in the group treated with the PO ex- tracts by 1 g/d had significantly higher activities of PF, PFK, LDH and higher levels of ATP in the cortices, es- pecially under the hypoxic environment for 24 hours. Histological analysis indicated that the extracts lessened the inflammation damage of the mouse brain. MTT assay results showed the PO extracts or the herb-containing serum raised the viability of the cells under the tested hypoxic conditions and decreased the degree of LDH in the culture medium in a dose-dependent manner. We thus demonstrated that the PO extracts had protective ef- fects on hypoxic nerve tissue.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sea buckthorn procyanidins (SBPC) on healing of acetic acid-induced lesions in the rat stomach and its possible mechanism. The sea buckthorn procyanidins (SBPC) were extracted with 60% alcohol/H2O from sea buckthorn bark and purified by macropore adsorption resin column, with a purity of >96%. The chemical character of SBPC was analyzed by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS). Chronic gastric ulceration was induced by injecting acetic acid into the subserosa of stomach. Different concentrations of SBPC were orally administrated to gastric ulcers rats. After treatment 7d and 14d, rats were sacrificed respectively. The healing of the acetic acid induced ulcerations was measured by ulcer index (UI). The level of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in plasma was determined; the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) around ul- cer was detected by immunohistochemical method. SBPC was found to reduce the size of the ulcers at day 7 and 14 in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the control, the UI of SBPC group was significantly lower (p< 0.01) and the level of EGF in the plasma of SBPC group increased significantly (p< 0.01), meanwhile the ex- pression of EGFR and PCNA around ulcer in high-dose SBPC stomach were enhanced (p< 0.05). The results im- plied that SBPC plays an important role in healing of acetic acid-induced gastric lesions possibly by the accelera- tion of the mucosal repair.
Irradiation leads to immunosuppression, hemopoiesis injury as well as sub-health of human being. The protec- tive and therapeutic effects of cuttlefish ink on hemopoiesis in 60Co γ radiated model mice were investigated. One hundred and twenty female ICR mice aged 6 weeks (20-24g) were randomly divided into five groups: the control group, the model group, and the low, medium, high dosage groups. The mice in different groups were orally administered normal solution (N.S.) or cuttlefish ink of different dosage daily for 40 days. Hemopoiesis impaired model was induced by 60Co γ irradiating with lethal dose of 8.0 Gy. The number of bone marrow nu- cleated cells (BMNC), colony-forming unit in spleen (CFU-S), colony-forming unit of granulocyte and mono- cyte (CFU-GM), peripheral blood pictures and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in serum have been meas- ured. Compared with model group, the decrease of BMNC, CFU-S, CFU-GM, peripheral leukocytes and SOD activity in serum in 60Co γ irradiated mice of cuttlefish ink feeding groups were resisted significantly (p<0.05 or p<0.01). Moreover, the restoration of those indices was promoted significantly (p<0.05 or p<0.01). The cuttle- fish ink showed no significant effect on peripheral erythrocytes, thrombocytes and hemoglobin. The results showed that cuttlefish ink had significant effects on granulopoiesis. The mechanism underlining these effects may be that the increase of antioxidant level in mice, the improvement of bone marrow haematopoietic microen- vironment and the inducement of cellular factors promoted the proliferation and differentiation of CFU-S and CFU-GM and thus enhance the defensive system of organism.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of lycopene on the vascular endothelial function and the ex- pression of inflammatory agents in hyperhomocysteinemic rats. Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats weighed 145- 155g were on a commercial rat chow diet for seven days, and then were randomized into five groups: normal control group (NC) fed with AOAC diet and four hyperhomocysteinemic groups fed with AOAC diet plus 3% L-methionine. Four hyperhomocysteinemic groups were daily supplemented with 0 (HC), 10 mg/kg (HL1), 15 mg/kg (HL2), 20 mg/kg (HL3) lycopene dissolved in corn oil respectively by intragastric administration for 12 weeks. At the end of experiment, their blood and abdominal aortas were collected after etherization. Serum lev- els of Hcy were determined by HPLC, nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) by chromatometry, en- dothelin-1 (ET-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) by ELISA. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and oil red staining were used to analyze ab- dominal aortas histologically. Moderate hyperhomocysteinemia was induced in hyperhomocysteinemic groups. Serum level of NO was lower and ET-1 was higher in HC rats than in NC, NL2 and NL3 rats (p<0.01). There was no difference of serum NOS activity among five groups. There were some foam cells and depositions of lipochondria in aortic tunica intima in HC and HL1 rats, which were not found in HL2 and HL3 rats. Serum lev- els of VCAM-1, MCP-1, IL-8 were higher in HC rats than in NC, NL1, NL2 and NL3 rats (p<0.01). The present study indicated that lycopene exerts an antiatherogenic effect by inhibiting the expression of inflammatory agents in hyperhomocysteninemic rats.
The aim of this study is to investigate the cell reparative effects of Mormordical Charantia Linn. boiling water extract (MCE) on the HIT-T15 Hamster Pancreatic β- cells. Furthermore, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activ- ity of MCE was determined. 0.02% MCE (w/v) achieved the highest cell proliferation rate of 45.6% (p<0.01) on alloxan damaged HIT-T15 cells while 0.2% MCE increased the proliferation of the normal cells by 35.4% (p<0.05). The high molecular weight fraction of MCE (MHMF, MW>3 kDa) showed the stronger effects in re- pairing alloxan damaged cells (cell proliferation rate=32.1%, p<0.05) than that of the low molecular weight frac- tion (MLMF, MW≤3 kDa), while the latter showed the higher activity on increasing insulin secretion of normal or damaged cells. 2%MCE and MLMF showed the highest SOD activities, 19.74 NU/mL and 19.84 NU/mL, but they failed to improve the proliferation rate of alloxan damaged cells. These results indicated MCE has signifi- cant repairing effects on HIT-T15 cells against superoxide anion radicals, which did not correlate to MCE’s SOD activity. It was hypothesized that the different fractions of MCE may make different contributions to MCE’s cell repairing activity and its ability of stimulating insulin secretion.
The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical and economic validity of perioperative immunonutrition and effect on postoperative immunity in patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Immunonutrition diet supplemented two or more of nutrients including glutamine, arginine, ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and ribonucleic acids. A meta-analysis of all relevant clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. The trials compared pe- rioperative immunonutrition diet with standard diet. We extracted RCTs from electronic databases: Cochrane Li- brary, MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCI and assessed methodological quality of them according handbook for Coch- rane reviewer in June 2006. Statistical analysis was performed by RevMan4.2 software. Thirteen RCTs involving 1269 patients were included. The combined results showed that immunonutrition had no significant effect on postoperative mortality (OR =0.91, p= 0.84). But it had positive effect on postoperative infection rate (OR =0.41, p<0.00001), length of hospital stay (WMD=-3.48, p<0.00001). Furthermore, it improved immune function by in- creasing total lymphocytes (WMD=0.40, p<0.00001), CD4 levels (WMD=11.39, p<0.00001), IgG levels (WMD=1.07, p=0.0005) and decreasing IL6 levels (WMD=-201.83, p<0.00001). At the same time, we did not found significant difference in CD8, IL2 and CRP levels .There were no serious side effects and two trials found low hospital cost. In conclusion, perioperative diet adding immunonutrition is effective and safe to decrease postoperative infection and reduce length of hospital stay through improving immunity of postoperative patients as compared with the control group. Further prospective study is required in children or critical patients with gas- trointestinal surgery.
Most of the current researches on immune function of fungus polysaccharides were based on individual compo- nent. Only a few studies were involved in the mixture of proprietary compounds from different species of edible fungi. The main objective of this study was to evaluate mice’s immune effects of the mixed polysaccharides (ratio 1∶ 0.5∶ 0.5) extracted from Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidium and Grifola frondosa. Kunming mice weighted 20±2 g (10 mices/group) was treated for 30 consecutive days with polysaccharides compounds, which were added to basal diet at three concentrations: 0.17, 0.33 and 1.00 g/kg body weight. Then the NK cells’ activi- ties, ratio thymus/body and spleen/body, macrophage’s activities, hemolysis, and delayed hypersensitivity (DTH) were determined by standard methods. Polysaccharides compounds at the concentrations of 0.33 and 1.00 g/kg body weight significantly increased the thymus and NK cells activities (p <0.01), as well as the ability of macro- phages to phagocyte latex particles and the activity of macrophages (p <0.05). The hemolytic test and DTH of the tested groups had no remarkable difference compared to that of the control group (p >0.05). The results indicated that the mixed polysaccharides compounds could enhance the cell immune of the mice.
Highly added sugar diets have been associated with various health problems such as dental caries, dyslipidemia, obesity and poor quality of life. Unfortunately, sugar consumption, especially sucrose, has increased continu- ously worldwide. The purpose of the study was to examine sources of sugar consumption and amount of added sucrose consumed in Thai undergraduate students. This study was carried out at Khon Kaen University, Thai- land, between the years 2004-2005. A complete 3-day record of items and amounts of sweet consumption were obtained from 202 individuals - 38 male and 164 female students. Added sucrose content of each sweetened food and drinks referred to in the record was determined by an enzymatic method. Mean intakes of sucrose were calculated from the sucrose content. The average of sucrose consumption in all subjects was 69±38 g/day, ranged from 4 to 182 g/day or 17 teaspoons of added sucrose per day. This amount accounted for 13.8% of total daily energy intake. There was a record of 337 kinds of sweetened foods and drinks found. The major source of added sucrose consumption was sweetened beverage, which was consumed 118 g/day averagely, or 60% of daily sugar consumption. Intake of sucrose per day in both male and female was not statistically difference, neither among different BMI groups. Intake of added sugar in the students was higher than the recommendation of the World Health Organization. These data would be helpful in a health promotion campaign aimed at a reduction of sugar consumption in Thai undergraduate students.
Actinidia macrosperma (AM) is a medicinal plant in China and has been well known for its activities against cancers, especially of lung, liver and digestive system. The immunomodulatory effects of AM aqueous extract were examined using S180-bearing mice. Young adult (20 ± 2 g) ICR mice inoculated with S180 cells were di- vided randomly into six groups: S180-bearing control group, normal control group, positive control group (Gin- seng Radix Rubra 2000 mg/kg) and 50, 100, 250 mg/kg AM treatment groups. Each group consisted of ten mice. Body and tumor weights were obtained after 12 consecutive days, and their humoral, cellular and nonspecific immune functions were also determined by relative assays. The results showed that the aqueous extract of AM was lack of significant inhibit on transplantable sarcoma S180, with a inhibit rate of 1.5%–14.8% (dose at 250 mg/kg was the best), but significantly increased the overall immune functions (especially at 100 and 250 mg/kg). The immunomodulatory effect was dose-dependent in a nonlinear fashion with the optimal dose of 100 mg/kg. The AM-induced antitumor effects were at least partially indirect and were associated with the modulation of immune functions.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and certainly the major cause of disability in the world. WHO has esti- mated that between 1990 to 2020 the world will witness an increase in stroke mortality of 78% in woman and 106% in man. Much of this increase will be in developing countries which are witnessing rapid change in lifestyle and nu- trition, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidemia, Homocysteinemia, and alcohol are the most significant modifiable risk factors of stroke. Of these, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, hyperlipidemia, homocysteinemia and alcoholism are obviously affected by lifestyle and nutrition. However, whilst epidemiology studies have noted an association of nutritional practice with stroke risk, further research is needed to show how nu- tritional interventions can be effective in stroke prevention.
Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) plays a crucial role in the regulation of blood pressure as well as cardiovas- cular function. ACE catalyzes the conversion of angiotensin I to vasoconstrictor angiotensin II, and also inactivates the antihypertensive vasodilator bradykinin. Inhibition of ACE mainly results an overall antihypertensive effect. Food protein-derived peptides can have ACE-inhibiting properties and thus may be used as a novel functional food for pre- venting hypertension as well as for therapeutic purposes. In the present study, rice protein was hydrolyzed by prote- ase Alcalase for 2 h and the resulted hydrolysate was determined for ACE inhibitory activity in vitro. The antihyper- tensive effect of rice protein hydrolysate was also investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The Alca- lase-generated hydrolysate showed strong in vitro ACE inhibitory activity with the IC50 value of 0.14 mg/ml. A sig- nificant decrease in systolic blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats was observed following single oral administration of this hydrolysate at a dose of 600 mg/kg of body weight. A potent ACE inhibitory peptide with the amino acid sequence of Thr-Gln-Val-Tyr (IC50, 18.2 μM) was isolated and identified from the hydrolysate. Single oral administration of Thr-Gln-Val-Tyr at a dose of 30 mg/kg of body weight also significantly decreased blood pres- sure in SHR. These results suggest that in vitro ACE inhibitory activity and in vivo antihypertensive activity could be generated from rice protein by enzymatic hydrolysis. The rice protein hydrolysate prepared with Alcalase might be utilized to develop physiologically functional food with antihypertensive activity.
Background: Angiotensin І-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide has good effect on blood pressure regu- lation. Therefore, research to find and develop safer, effective and economical ACE inhibitors is necessary for the prevention and remedy of hypertension. So food-derived ACE inhibitory peptides isolated from food or from en- zymatic digestion of food proteins are the safe and efficient substitution for human health.
Objective: To investigate the effect of rice dreg enzymatic hydrolysates as an anti-hypertensive in vivo with spontaneous hypertension rats (SHRs).
Design: The once-oral administration experiments with rice dreg hydrolysates peptide (RDHP) in different doses were conducted using 6 weeks old spontaneous hypertension rats as the test model. Twenty five SHRs were ran- domized into five groups according to blood-pressure level. The group A is blank control group, the group B positive control group (Captopril), the group C (1.0 mg/kg), the group D (RDHP 10 mg/kg) and group E (RDHP 50 mg/kg). The administration approach is to fill in stomach by mouth. The blood pressure value was observed for each group. The long term oral administration design was conducted for one month. Twenty four SHRs were randomized into 3 groups. The first group is the blank control, the second group is low dose (RDHP 10 mg/kg) and the third group is high dose (RDHP 20 mg/kg). In administration period, blood pressure was measured for once a week.
Outcomes: The once-oral administration animal experiments showed that the blood pressure of SHR drop was 11 mmHg, 17 mmHg, 26.00 mmHg, 17 mmHg at a dosage of 1 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg hydrolysates and 1 mg/kg captopril, respectively, after 1h administration. The results of long-term oral administration indicated that the blood pressure drop was 17 mmHg, 26 mmHg in 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg, respectively after 30 days admini- stration. RDHP not only promoted the growth of SHR, but also had no adverse effect on heart rate.
Conclusions: The present study indicated the inhibitory peptides from rice dreg hydrolysate had significant anti- hypertensive action and no other side effects by oral administration in SHR.
The aim of this study is to isolate, characterize, and identify the bioactivity of an angiogenesis inhibitor derived from the Dasyatis akajei cartilage. By guanidine hydrochloride extract, refrigerated centrifugation, ultrafiltration, 20%-80% acetone precipitation, dialysis and refrigerated desiccation, the DCGE (Dasyatis akajei cartilage gua- nidine hydrochloride extract) of molecular weights from 3 kDa ~300 kDa was obtained from the Dasyatis akajei cartilage. DCAI (Dasyatis akajei cartilage angiogenesis inhibitor) from 20%-30% acetone precipitation of DCGE was found to have the strongest angiogenesis inhibitory effect. Protein quantification of DCAI shows the main components were proteins with about 73.5% weight of the total DCAI. The bioactivity of the DCAI was investi- gated by inhibiting the formation of the blood vessels of the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The ratio between the vascular area and the non-vascular area (VA/ NVA) in sampling point was used for quanti- tative analysis of the inhibitory effect of DCAI, which can be obtained by computer image analysis system (CIAS). Compared with the control group, the sampling point of the DCAI group had significantly lower VA/ NVA. A large area of blood vessels in sampling point was significantly faded and the vascular structure was blurred with broken branches accompanied by the decreased density of vessels. The inhibitory effect with same dosage of DCAI is about ten times higher than that in the positive control group (chondroitin sulphate group) and the effect increases with the concentration of DCAI. The results from the present study indicates that the DCAI from Dasyatis akajei cartilage has an angiogenesis inhibitory effect, and there is also a positive correlation be- tween the concentration and the inhibitory effect.
The aim of this study was to investigate the hypolipidemic effect of the total flavonoids from mulberry leaves (MTF) in hyperlipidemic mice. The total flavonoids have been isolated from mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves and purified by macroporous resins. After that, the content of MTF is 581.7 mg g-1 in dried product. The hypol- ipidemic effect of MTF has been evaluated in triton WR-1339 (400 mg kg-1) induced hyperlipidemic mice. The beneficial effects of MTF on serum lipid levels are more significant at 12h post MTF administration than at 6h. The levels of TG, TC and LDL-C were remarkably reduced to 388, 257 and 189 mg 100 ml-1 in MTF (30 mg kg- 1) and triton WR-1339 treated mice, compared with 540, 464 and 299 mg 100 ml-1, respectively, in group treated by triton WR-1339 only. The ratios of HDL-C/TC and HDL-C/LDL-C were increased to 0.42 and 0.57 post MTF (30 mg kg-1) administration, whereas these two ratios at the low levels of 0.33 and 0.52, respectively, in the reference group. These findings support a serum a lipid-favourable activity for mulberry leaf flavonoids.
Black rice and its pigment fraction have shown anti-atherogentic activities in several animal models, but whether their beneficial effects will recur in humans remains unknown. The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of black rice pigment fraction (BRF) supplementation on selected cardiovascular risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Sixty patients with CHD aged 45 - 75 years were recruited from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China and randomly divided into two groups. In the test group, the diet was supplemented with 10 grams of BRF derived from black rice for 6 months; While in the placebo group, the diet was supplemented with 10 grams of white rice pigment fraction (WRF) derived from white rice. At baseline, plasma antioxidant status and the levels of inflammatory biomarkers and other measured variables were similar between two groups. After 6 months’ intervention, compared to WRF supplementation, BRF supplementation greatly enhanced plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (p=0.003), significantly reduce plasma levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) (p=0.03), soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) (p=0.002) and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (p=0.002) in the test group . No significant changes were observed in plasma total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity, lipids level and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) between two groups. These results may suggest that BRF could exert cardioprotective effects on patients with CHD by improving plasma antioxidant status and inhibiting inflammatory factors.
The aim of this study was to explore the mechanism of 3-methoxy puerarin on decreasing the cerebral ischemia- reperfusion injury in rats. Before the model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was made, the rats in one group (3-methoxy puerarin group, 3-MP group) were pretreated with 3-methoxy puerarin (100mg/kg) by gavage- ing two times per day for seven days. At an hour before operation, the rats in the 3-MP group were additionally given 3-methoxy puerarin by gavageing once. The level of prostacyclin (PGI2) and the expression of endothelin-1 (ET-1) mRNA in cerebral tissue, the activity of plasma tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) were measured. Cerebral tissue pathologic changes were also observed. The levels of PGI2 in cerebral tissue and the activity of plasma t-PA in 3-MP group were significantly higher than those in the group of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI group) (p<0.01). The activity of plasma PAI and the expres- sion of ET-1 mRNA in cerebral tissue in 3-MP group were significantly lower than those in CIRI group (p<0.01). The cerebral tissue pathologic changes were significant in CIRI group, which were significantly ameliorated in the 3-MP group. The study showed, in the rat model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, 3-methoxy puerarin can not only increase the level of PGI2 in cerebral tissue and the activity of plasma t-PA, but also inhibit the activ- ity of plasma PAI and the expression of ET-1 mRNA in cerebral tissue. Those findings might be the mechanisms behind the protecting effects of 3-methoxy puerarin on the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.
The aim of this study was to explore the effect of gastrodin on the level of amino acids in the striatum in the rats of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. 30 male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the group of pseudo-operation (normal control group, NC group), the group of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI group), and the group of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury treated with gastrodin (G group). Cerebral ische- mia-reperfusion injury was induced through middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). 10 minutes before the operation, the rats in the G group were injected with gastrodin (50mg/kg) intraperitoneally once. The rats in the CIRI and NC group were injected with the same volume of 10% propylene glycol normal saline intraperitoneally once. The levels of glutamic acid (Glu), aspartic acid (Asp), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), taurine (Tau) in stria- tum in the rats of the 3 groups were measured with the method of microdialysis-HPLC techniques. The ratio of Glu to GABA was calculated. The volume of cerebral infarction was quantified. This study showed that gas- trodin can decrease the volume of cerebral infarction, ameliorate the cerebral injury in the rats of cerebral ische- mia-reperfusion. The mechanisms might be that gastrodin can improve the level of amino acids in striatum.
The aim of the study was to evaluate whether laiju extract (LJE) from Semen Raphani and Flos Chrysanthemi has an anti-hypertensive effect in renal hypertensive rat (RHR) and spontaneous hypertensive rat (SHR). LJE was prepared by extracting dried Semen Raphani and Flos Chrysanthemi with 70% ethanol. RHR and SHR models were prepared by standard methods. Forty RHRs and 40 SHRs were randomly divided into high LJE (300 mg/kg), moderate LJE (200 mg/kg), low LJE (100 mg/kg) and saline control four groups (n=10), respectively. Compared with saline control, blood pressure was significantly lowered at 6 and 5 hours in high and moderate LJE respec- tively in both RHR and SHR groups. However, blood pressure was significantly lowered at 2 and 3 hours in low LJE in both RHR and SHR groups, respectively. Compared with saline control, blood pressure remained signifi- cantly lower in SHR in all dosage groups with a single daily dose for 28 days of study. LJE has potential in the prevention management of hypertension. Further studies are needed to identify the active chemical constituents and mechanisms of action of LJE.
An imbalance between oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity has been proposed to play an important role in the development and progression of chronic diseases in the elderly. The present study was carried out to investi- gate correlation between the serum antioxidants (lycopene and α-tocopherol) and malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of oxidative stress in the healthy Thai elderly. The 207 healthy subjects aged 60-91 years old (72 males and 135 females) in Khon Kaen province, Thailand were enrolled in this study. They were interviewed by ques- tionnaires about smoking habit. Serum lycopene and α-tocopherol levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). MDA was measured by thiobarbituric assay. Serum lycopene and α-tocopherol levels in the elderly were 0.27 μmol/L (95% CI = 0.23-0.31) and 22.10 μmol/L (95% CI = 20.99-23.22), respec- tively. Males had significant lower serum lycopene and α-tocopherol levels than females (p<0.01). Of 72 males, 31.94% are current smokers whereas 1.4% of 135 females are current smokers. Current smokers had signifi- cantly lower serum lycopene (0.17 ± 0.11 μmol/L) than current non-smokers (0.28 ± 0.27 μmol/L) (p=0.04) but level of α-tocopherol had non significance (p=0.21). Moreover, the current smokers had higher malondialdehyde level (1.55 ± 0.10 μmol/L) than the current non-smokers (1.35 ± 0.04 μmol/L) (p=0.09). Thus, dietary antioxi- dant supplementation from local fruits and vegetables may have a beneficial role in the prevention of chronic diseases at high-risk oxidative stress such as smoking in these elderly.
It has been reported that plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations decrease when animals are fed with chitosan, but the mechanism is unclear. Four wk old male SD (Sprague-Dawley) rats were fed a commercial rat diet (cho- lesterol-free diet, negative control, NC), cholesterol-enriched diet containing 5% of chitosan (CH) or cholesterol- enriched diet containing 5% of cellulose (CE) and 5% of lard for 12 weeks. We would investigated the effects of chitosan on plasma and liver cholesterol levels, liver weight, bile acids concentrations of fecal and hepatic LDL receptor mRNA expression. The results showed that chitosan could decrease levels of total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in plasma (p<0.05), and TC, total triglyceride (TG) in liver (p<0.05), and increase fecal bile acids excretion (p<0.05), but the levels of TG and HDL-C in plasma was unchanged (p>0.05). In addition, the result of RT-PCR test showed that saturated fat and cholesterol fed could significantly induce the reduction of LDL receptor mRNA levels, while chitosan could increase hepatic LDL receptor mRNA levels.
This study suggested that chitosan improve lipid metabolism by regulating TC and LDL-C by upregulating of he- patic LDL receptor mRNA expression, increasing the excretion of fecal bile acids.
Globally, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an epidemic, severe and fatal disease. Along with the etiological factors of human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV+) and decreased immunity, there are a number of other risk factors including opportunistic infection, malnutrition, wasting syndrome, and oxidative stress. The nutritional problems have been shown to be significant and contribute to health and death in HIV+/AIDS patients. Weight loss, lean tissue depletion, lipoatrophy, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and the hyperme- tabolic state each increase risk of death .The role of nutrition and how oxidative stress is involved in the patho- genesis of HIV+ leading to AIDS is reviewed. Studies consistently show that serum antioxidant vitamins and minerals decrease while oxidative stress increases during AIDS progression. The optimization of nutritional status, intervention with foods and supplements, including nutrients and other bio-active food components, are needed to maintain the immune system. Various food components may be recommended to reduce the incidence and severity of infectious illnesses by forms of bio-protection which include reduced oxidative stress due to reac- tive oxygen species which stimulate HIV replication and AIDS progression. Probiotics or lactic acid bacteria and prebiotics are sometimes given on the presumed basis that they help maintain integrity of mucosal surfaces, im- prove antibody responses and increase white blood cell production. People with HIV+/AIDS can be informed about the basic concepts of optimal nutrition by identifying key foods and nutrients, along with lifestyle changes, that contribute to a strengthened immune system. Moreover, nutritional management, counseling and education should be beneficial to the quality and extension of life in AIDS.
Diarrhea, micronutrient deficiencies and HIV/AIDS are major public health problems in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was aimed to investigate serum levels of vitamin A in diarrheic pa- tients with and without HIV co-infection compared to healthy controls. Two hundred eleven diarrheic patients (110 HIV infected), 87 apparently healthy controls and 41 asymptomatic HIV seropositive blood donors who visited the University of Gondar Hospital, in Gondar, Ethiopia were included. Stool samples were examined for enteropathogens following the standard procedures. Serum vitamin A levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Shigella species were isolated from 8.5% of the patients while intestinal parasites were detected in 32.2% without significant difference by HIV serostatus. The mean±SD serum vitamin A in diarrheic patients with (0.82±0.59 μmol/L) and without (0.84±0.54 μmol/L) HIV co-infection and in asymptomatic HIV infected blood donors (0.96±0.52 μmol/L) was significantly lower than that in healthy controls (1.52±0.71 μmol/L), p<0.001. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD, serum retinol < 0.70 μmol/L) was observed in 52.7% and 45.5% of diarrheic patients with and without HIV co-infection, respectively. About 13% of healthy controls and 29.3% of asymptomatic HIV infected blood donors were deficient in vitamin A. The levels of serum vitamin A were not associated with the presence of intestinal parasites or Shigella species. The findings demonstrate that VAD is a severe public health problem among diarrheic patients in Gondar, Ethiopia. Intervention programmes involving health and nutrition education and supplementation of vitamin A might help in reducing morbidity in such patients.
The World Health Organization estimates that around one billion people throughout the world are overweight and that over 300 million of these are obese and if current trends continue, the number of overweight persons will increase to 1.5 billion by 2015. The number of obese adults in Australia is estimated to have risen from 2.0 million in 1992/93 to 3.1 million in 2005. The prevalence of obesity has been increasing due to a convergence of factors - the rise of TV viewing, our preference for takeaway and pre-prepared foods, the trend towards more computer-bound sedentary jobs, and fewer opportunities for sport and physical exercise. Obesity is not only linked to lack of self esteem, social and work discrimination, but also to illnesses such as the metabolic syndrome and hyperinsulinaemia (which increases the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver), cancer, asthma, dementia, arthritis and kidney disease. It has been estimated that the cost of obesity in Australia in 2005 was $1,721 million. Of this amount, $1,084 million were direct health costs, and $637 million indirect health costs (due to lost work productivity, absenteeism and unemployment). The prevalence cost per year for each obese adult has been estimated at $554 and the value of an obesity cure is about $6,903 per obese person. Government efforts at reducing the burden remain inadequate and a more radical approach is needed. The Australian government, for example, has made changes to Medicare so that GPs can refer people with chronic illness due to obesity to an exercise physiologist and dietitian and receive a Medicare rebate, but so far these measures are having no perceptible effect on obesity levels. There is a growing recognition that both Public Health & Clinical approaches, and Private & Public resources, need to be brought to this growing problem. Australian health economist, Paul Gross, from the Institute of Health Economics and Technology Assessment claims there is too much reliance on health workers to treat the problem, especially doctors, who have not been given additional resources to manage obesity outside a typical doctor's consultation. Gross has recommended that further changes should be made to Medicare, private health insurance, and workplace and tax legislation to give people financial incentives to change their behaviour because obesity should not just be treated by governments as a public health problem but also as a barrier to productivity and a drain on resources. A Special Report of the WMCACA (Weight Management Code Administration Council of Australia) (www. weightcouncil. org) on the “Health Economics of Weight Management” has been published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition in September 2006. This report explores the cost benefit analysis of weight management in greater detail.
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) plays a key role in the metabolic syndrome. Easy detection of VAT could be an important tool to increase understanding of the metabolic syndrome. To study the relationship between the area of the inferior part of the perirenal fat (AIPPF) and anthropometric, imaging and cardiovascular risk factors of metabolic syndrome, seventy two subjects with metabolic syndrome were recruited including 44 men and 28 women (age:26-68 yr). Each subject underwent ultrasound detection of AIPPF, intraabdominal fat thickness and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to calculate abdominal VAT (MRI VAT). Anthropometric and cardiovascu- lar risk factors were also evaluated. AIPPF measured by ultrasonography demonstrated excellent reproducibility. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that AIPPF has the best sensitivity for women, specificity for men and accuracy of the various measures to predict visceral obesity (MRI VAT value ≥ 110 cm2) for both gen- ders. AIPPF was related to MRI VAT, ultrasound measured intraabdominal fat, waist circumference, the ratio of waist and hip circumferences (of men), body mass index and the main cardiovascular risk factors of metabolic syndrome. Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis suggested that MRI VAT affected AIPPF independent of other investigated obesity indices. This study showed that AIPPF could be applied as an easy and reliable imag- ing indicator of visceral obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in the metabolic syndrome.
The extracts of Eriobotrta japonica leaves with the 3H-glucose uptaking activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes were separated by TLC for two times. On the basis of UV-vis spectral, NMR and MS data, corosolic acid was identi- fied as activity components. Moreover, the effects of corosolic acid on carbohydrate metabolism and differentia- tion of 3T3-L1 adipocytes was studied. The results showed that 3H-glucose uptaking rate in different concentra- tions of corosolic acid (15μmol/L ,30μmol/L ,and 45μmol/L )group were increased to 108.1%, 112.2% ,118.6%, respectively, compared to control group (without corosolic acid) (p<0.01). Corosolic acid suppressed the differ- entiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and down-regulated the expression of PPAR-γ and C/EBP-α mRNA (p<0.01, vs control group). Corosolic acid promotes the 3H-glucose uptaking, suppresses the differentiation and down- regulates the expression of PPAR-γ and C/EBP-α mRNA in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of weight reduction program and to develop recommenda- tions for the therapeutic program conducted under sanatorium conditions, taking into consideration the composi- tion of the diet and the share of macrocomponents in the negative energy balance. Investigations were conducted during 12 stays at a sanatorium, lasting for 24 days, with the program of body weight reduction. The study in- cluded 174 obese adolescents aged 12 - 16 years. The nutritive value of 288 daily rations was established on the basis of daily menus. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) during therapy was assessed by 24-hour heart rate monitoring. The body composition (fat mass FM, fat free mass FFM, body cell mass BCM, total body water TBW) were measured using bioelectrical impedance before and during therapy as well as six month later. Weight reduction program consisted of low energy diet (5.47MJ/24h) and physical exercises. TDEE of individu- als staying at the sanatorium considerably (p<0.001) exceeded energy intake from the diet, which was mani- fested in changes of body weight and body composition of adolescents during the therapy. Six months after ther- apy at the sanatorium no statistically significant changes were recorded in the mean FFM, BCM and TBW con- tents. These results made it possible to establish optimum recommendations concerning low-energy diet and the degree of negative energy balance and their interrelations, determining the maximization of fat mass losses at the simultaneous minimization of lean body mass losses.
Obesity is a major health problem worldwide; it is associated with more than 30 medical conditions and is a leading cause of unnecessary deaths. Adipose tissue not only acts as an energy store, but also behaves like an endocrine organ, synthesising and secreting numerous hormones and cytokines. Angiotensin II (ANG II) is the biologically active component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). The RAS is present in adipose tissue and evidence suggests that ANG II is intimately linked to obesity. Indeed, ANG II increases fat cell growth and dif- ferentiation, increases synthesis, uptake and storage of fatty acids and triglycerides and possibly inhibits lipolysis. Evidence obtained using genetically modified animals has shown that the amount of body fat is directly related to the amount of ANG II, i.e., animals with low levels of ANG II have reduced fat stores while animals with ex- cessive ANG II have increased fat stores. In humans, epidemiological evidence has shown that body fat is corre- lated with angiotensinogen, a precursor of ANG II, or other components of the RAS. Furthermore, blocking the production and/or actions of ANG II with drugs or natural substances decreases body fat. The decrease in body fat caused by such treatments predominantly occurs in abdominal fat depots and appears to be independent of energy intake and digestibility. Clearly, ANG II has an important role in the accumulation of body fat and the possibility exists that treatment of obesity will be enhanced by the use of natural or synthetic substances that in- terfere with ANG II.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a post-weaning isocaloric hyper-soybean oil diet on later obesity and explore the underlying mechanisms. In the present study, newborn male Wistar rats were weaned on d 24, divided into CON (control), HC and HSO groups. CON was assigned to AIN-93G diet (a hyper- carbohydrate diet, for short HC diet) during the entire experiment. HC and HSO were fed with HC and isocaloric hyper-soybean oil (HSO) diet for 3 wk respectively, fed with HC diet for 2 wk successively, finally adminis- trated high fat diet (HF) for 6 wk to induce obesity. On 3,5,11wk, the body weight, body fat content, blood glu- cose, blood lipid, serum insulin and leptin levels and obesity-related gene (CPT-1, FAS, UCP2, UCP3) expres- sion levels in rats were detected. It was shown that body weight, body fat content, blood glucose and blood lipid, serum insulin and leptin levels in HSO were down-regulated on 3 and 5wk, therefore were significantly reduced on 11wk vs. HC. The CPT-1, UCP2, UCP3 gene expressions were up-regulated but FAS were down-regulated persistently in HSO. The study indicated that an early isocaloric HSO diet may reduce later obesity risk and re- duce blood lipid and glucose abnormalities in adulthood via persistently influencing insulin and leptin sensitivity and permanent regulation of obesity-related gene expressions.
Background: Twenty-five years ago, China introduced sweeping reforms in the structure of its rural economy, family planning program, and financial accountability within enterprises and service sector organizations. A rapid rise in economic productivity has resulted in continuing increases in income and changes to the traditional Chinese diet.
Objective: The aim of this study is to examine how the social and economic transformation of China affects die- tary patterns and nutritional status of people.
Design: The data from a prospective study, China Health and Nutrition Survey, begun in 1989 and followed up in 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2004. The population used in this study included 5000 subjects aged 18-45 from 4280 households in nine provinces. Dietary intakes were measured using a combination of the weighing method and three consecutive 24-h recalls. All other data were directly measured or obtained by in-depth interviews. Result: The average consumption of all animal source foods except milk and eggs increased by 34g per capita per day, while the average intake of cereals decreased by 130g per capita per day. The proportion of animal source protein increased greatly and fat contributed an increasing proportion of energy. However, vitamin A and calcium intake did not increase from their low levels of intake during this period. Child height and weight in- creased and were linked with a decline in under nutrition. For example, the prevalence of overweight increased from 11.4% to 22.8% in women and from 6.4% to 25.1% in men in the same period, climbing much faster than before. The rapid shift in diet and obesity linked with social and economic changes in China continues unabated. Conclusions: In association with the economic reform, the dietary pattern changed rapidly in these years.
The total amount and location of fat deposition are important factors in the development of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. To date there have been no reported studies of ethnic and gender differences in body com- position and fat distribution patterns in Japanese and Australian young adults. The aim of this study was to as- sess body composition of young Japanese and Australian Caucasian adults using whole-body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and anthropometry to examine body fat deposition patterns. Body composition of 45 Japanese males and 42 Australian Caucasian males living in Australia (aged 18-40 years) and 139 Japanese fe- males living in Japan (aged 18-27 years) were measured using whole-body DXA scanning and anthropometry. Differences in relationships between BMI and waist circumference (WC), sum of skinfolds (ΣSF) and %BF ob- tained from DXA were assessed using multivariate analyses. Distinct gender and ethnic differences (p<0.05) in bone density and waist circumference were observed but no gender differences in BMI and bone mineral content and no ethnic differences in sum of skinfolds and %BF. Both Japanese males and females showed a greater %BF at given BMI, WC and ΣSF values (p<0.05). The results indicate differences in relationships between %BF and anthropometric measures in young Japanese compared to Caucasians and the importance of population-specific cut-off points for these indices. These findings also have implications for the development of chronic disease and further research, including studies in other Asian countries, is recommended.
The aim of this systematic review was to quantify the efficacy of L-carnitine (LC) and/or L-acetyl-carnitine (LAC) in nutrition treatment for male infertility according to present clinical evidence. Biomedical databases were searched to collect related clinical trials and nine relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The quality of the RCTs was assessed based on their performance in randomization, blinding, and allocation concealment. The meta-analysis compared LC and /or LAC therapy to placebo treatment found significant im- provement in pregnancy rate (OR = 4.10, 95% CI (2.08, 8.08), p < 0.0001), total sperm motility(WMD = 7.43, 95% CI (1.72, 13.14), p = 0.04, forward sperm motility (WMD = 11.83, 95% CI (0.49, 23.16), p = 0.04) and atypical sperm cell (WMD = -5.72, 95% CI (-7.89, -3.56), p < 0.00001). However, no significant difference was found in the sperm concentration (WMD = 5.69, 95% CI (-4.47, 15.84), p = 0.27) and semen volume (WMD = 0.28, 95% CI (-0.02, 0.58), p = 0.07). In conclusion, the administration of LC and/or LAC may be effective in improving pregnancy rate and sperm kinetic features in patients affected by male infertility. However, the exact efficacy of carnitines on male infertility needs to be confirmed by further investigations.
The brain is a lipid-rich organ containing mostly complex polar phospholipids, sphingolipids, gangliosides and cholesterol. These lipids are involved in the structure and function of cell membranes in the brain. The glyc- erophospholipids in the brain contain a high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) derived from the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid. The main PUFA in the brain are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, all cis 4,7,10,13,16,19-22:6) derived from the omega 3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and arachi- donic acid (AA, all cis 5,8,11,14-20:4) and docosatetraenoic acid (all cis 7,10,13,16-22:4), both derived from the omega 6 fatty acid, linoleic acid. Experimental studies in animals have shown that diets lacking omega 3 PUFA lead to substantial disturbances in neural function, which in most circumstances can be restored by the inclusion of omega 3 PUFA in the diet. In the past 10 years there has been an emerging interest in treating neuropsy- chological disorders (depression and schizophrenia) with omega 3 PUFA. This paper discusses the clinical stud- ies conducted in the area of depression and omega 3 PUFA and the possible mechanisms of action of these PUFA. It is clear from the literature that DHA is involved in a variety of processes in neural cells and that its role is far more complex than simply influencing cell membrane properties.
Obesity resides upstream of the constituents of metabolic syndromes such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipi- demia, and arteriosclerosis. Postprandial hyperlipidemia is also implicated in atherogenesis. Therefore, factors that influence the body adiposity and the magnitude of postprandial hyperlipidemia have been intensively inves- tigated. Diacylglycerol (DAG) oil, which is defined to contain DAG 80% (w/w) or greater in the present presen- tation, is an edible oil with similar taste and usability compared with conventional edible oil rich in TAG. Safety of DAG has been widely evaluated and listed as a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) substance by US FDA. The aim of this review was to summarize the metabolism and nutritional functions of DAG based on the data from scientific journals and conference publications. Effect of DAG ingestion on postprandial elevations of se- rum lipids was investigated in several dosages, food formula, and in subjects in various conditions. Postprandial triglyceride in serum and the chylomicron fraction are significantly smaller after DAG consumption compared with TAG with a similar fatty acid composition in healthy subjects, and was remarkably reduced in subjects with insulin resistance. Long-term DAG ingestion in controlled diet or free-living condition significantly decreased body adiposity and improved type II diabetic complications. A single dose DAG consumption significantly in- creased fat oxidation as compared to eucaloric TAG ingestion. DAG oil consumption might be beneficial in re- ducing the risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, visceral obesity, postprandial hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) in artificial feeds on the growth and quality of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) raised in cages. Two diet formulas with dietary CLA were developed, and a diet without of CLA served as a control. The effects of CLA (2% and 4%) on average daily gain per tail (DGT), feed conversion ratio (FCR), muscle lipid, and lean body mass (LBM) for a 60-day period were evaluated. The results from two independent experiments revealed that diets with 4% CLA significantly improved DGT and FCR (p<0.05). Muscle lipid significantly reduced as increase of CLA content in diets (p<0.01), correspondingly, the LBM significantly increased (p<0.05). This study demonstrates that CLA supplemental diet could be used to improve growth and quality of large yellow croaker raised in cages.
A total of twenty-three Australian Bass Strait scallops, Pecten fumatus processed by three different cooking methods: steam, battered and deep-fry, and pan-fry were analysed to determine the total lipid and health- benefiting n-3 PUFA contents. Fry process resulted in a significantly higher lipid content (p<0.05) with 1.98g/100g being found in deep-fried and 1.78g/100g in pan-fried scallops while 1.31g/100g was recorded in the fresh control group (p<0.05). A higher concentration of α-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3), total n-6 PUFA and li- noleic (LA, 18:2n-6) were also observed in fried scallops (p<0.05). The two main n-3 LC-PUFA were ei- cosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) and their concentration also var- ied depending on the cooking methods. Pan-fried scallops showed a higher concentration of EPA, DHA and total n-3 PUFA while steamed scallops had a higher concentration of DHA only (p<0.05). The ratio of n-3/n-6 PUFA was markedly lower in both fried groups than in control and steamed scallops (p<0.0001). Three frozen samples were also examined and no significant variations in the lipid profiles have been observed after 22 days. The variation of lipid profiles reflects mainly the uptake of vegetable oil components and loss of water during cooking process. Scallops represent a good source of n-3 LC-PUFA with the concentration ranging from 312.4 mg/100g in fresh scallops to 522.1mg/100g in pan-fried scallops.
High energy-intake is a major factor revolved in type 2 diabetes. A number of animal models have been adopted for studying the type 2 diabetes, but they differ greatly from human type 2 diabetes. The objectives of the present study are to set up a suitable animal model, which is similar to the human type 2 diabetes, and then to understand possible molecular mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Twenty five-week-old Wistar male rats were ran- domized into four groups. One group was fed with basal diet (BD) whereas the others consumed high-energy diet (HD) of 20% sucrose and 10% lard. Four weeks later, BD and one of HD were sampled. Other groups continued to consume HD, but one of them was treated by one injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (30mg/kg body weight). After another four weeks, all were sacrificed. Changes in body weight were recorded, and levels of glucose, TG, TC, LDL in serum were analyzed by standard methods. Moreover, expressions of genes related to energy me- tabolism in liver, muscle and fat were measured by real-time RT-PCR. HD had no notable differentiation with BD on bodyweight and serum indices, but it altered gene expressions in a tissue-specific manner. Two receptors of adiponectin, leptin, PPARγ, UCP2 mRNA levels in fat were up regulated, whereas most of them were down regulated in liver. STZ treatment induced symptoms of diabetes, and the gene expression mentioned above exhib- ited changes in both tissue- and gene-specific manners. The results suggest that a combination of low dose STZ and high-energy intake can effectively induce type 2 diabetes by altering the related gene expressions in major metabolic tissues.
Objective: Through an interventional study in the metabolic syndrome, evaluate the feasibility of the standard nutritional intervention.
Design: Select metabolic syndrome patients from people who received a health check in our hospital and ran- domly allocate them into four groups. The standard interventional group received both the nutritional interven- tion and health education; the simple interventional group only received the nutritional intervention; the simple health educational group only received health education; the control group did not receive any intervention measure. Examine the related index of the metabolic syndrome of each group before and half a year after the in- tervention: waistline, blood pressure, triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose etc. K-W test and Chi-square test, Bonferroni correction was used in our study.
Outcomes: The index of the metabolic syndrome was significantly different for each of the four groups before and after intervention (p<0.05). Relative to the control group the total index for the standard nutritional interven- tional group and for, the simple health education group was significantly different, but there was no difference for the other indices (p>0.05) between the standard nutritional interventional group and simple nutritional inter- ventional group, except that the waistline difference (p<0.005) showed statistical significance.
Conclusion: The standard nutritional intervention is an effective strategy for patients with the metabolic syn- drome.
Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seeds have previously been shown to have hypoglycemic and hypocho- lesterolemic effects on type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and experimental diabetic animals. The Trigonella foenum-graecum extract has now been investigated for its effects on general properties, blood glucose and blood lipid, and hemorheological parameters in experimental diabetic rats. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were administrated by oral intragastric intubation separately with low dose (0.44 g/kg.d), middle dose (0.87 g/kg.d), high dose (1.74 g/kg.d) of Trigonella foenum-graecum extract, and Metformin HCl (0.175 g/kg.d) for 6 weeks. Compared with diabetic group, rats treated with Trigonella foenum-graecum extract had an increase in body weight and a decrease in kidney /body weight ratio (p<0.05). Compared with diabetic group, rats treated Trigonella foenum-graecum extract had lower blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, total cholestrol and higher higher-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). The plasma viscosity, whole blood viscosity of high shear rate (200 s -1) and low shear rate (40 s-1), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, whole blood reduction viscosity and platelet conglutination were significantly reduced in diabetic rats treated with high and middle doses of Trigonella foenum-graecum extract, but not in those treated with low dose of Trigonella foenum-graecum extract. It may be concluded that Trigonella foenum-graecum extract can lower kid- ney /body weight ratio, blood glucose, blood lipid levels and improve hemorheological properties in experimen- tal diabetic rats following repeated treatment for 6 weeks.
Prunella vulgaris L. (Labiatae) has been reported to have a wide range of health benefits in oriental medicine. This study for the first time is to examine the antihyperglycemic effects of P. vulgaris in streptozotocin (STZ) - induced diabetic ICR mice (STZ diabetic mice). The effects of P. vulgaris L. aqueous-ethanol extract (PVE) on blood glucose, exogenous insulin sensitivity and plasma insulin levels were investigated. In four doses of extracts from the spikes of P. vulgaris, extract at dose of 100 mg/kg significantly suppressed the rise in blood glucose af- ter 30 min in the acute glucose tolerance test. Furthermore, this dose was applied in the fellow experiments. A significant decrease in blood glucose levels was observed after treatment of PVE. A combination of PVE and glibenclamide produced a greater effect in blood glucose level than using glibenclamide or PVE alone. PVE en- hanced and prolonged the antihyperglycemic effects of exogenous insulin on STZ diabetic mice. Plasma insulin levels were increased with glibenclamide treatment in STZ diabetic mice, whereas such effect was not observed with PVE. These results indicated that P. vulgaris enhances the antihyperglycemic effects of exogenous insulin without stimulating insulin secretion, indicating that insulin sensitivity is increased in STZ diabetic mice. Abbreviations: STZ = Streptozotocin; PVE = Prunella vulgaris L. aqueous-ethanol extract; NEFA = Non esteri- fied fatty acids; b.w. = Body weight
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduces body fat reserves, and reduces atherogenesis and type II diabetes in ani- mal experiments. It has been reported that CLA have isomeric-specificity, such as c9, t11 CLA with anticancer activity. The antiproliferative effects of two isomers of CLA (c9, t11-CLA, t9, t11-CLA) and their mixture on the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2 were investegated in this paper. Caco-2 were incubated in serum- free medium. The antiproliferative effects of different concentrations (0, 25, 50, 100, 200μmol/L) of linoleic acid (LA) , c9, t11-CLA, t9, t11-CLA (the purity of LA and CLA was 96%) and a mixture of c9, t11-CLA and t9, t11- CLA (1:1 v/v) on caco-2 in various action time (1d, 2d, 3d, 4d) were tested in the present study. The antiprolif- erative effects of four substances in the same concentration and with the same action time were compared. All substances tested could inhibit Caco-2 cell proliferation. The higher anti-proliferation activity in the four materi- als is the mixture of CLA, then is t9,t11-CLA, c9,t11-CLA, and linoleic acid respectively. The activity is closely related to treatment time and concentration. The isomer t9, t11-CLA itself was found to have antiproliferative ac- tivity.
Cratoxylum formosum Dyer is consumed throughout the year as food and medicine in Thailand. It contains large amounts of chlorogenic acid and quinic acid derivatives. The antioxidative activity of the extract was studied in refined soybean oil coating on rice crackers without any seasoning. They were stored in accelerated oxidation conditions at 40°C, 80% relative humidity (RH) in the dark for 18 days. The oxidative state of each sample was monitored by analyzing of the peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as well as by odor analysis by quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA). The C. formosum extract was more effective than α-tocopherol due to metal ions present in the crackers, which resulted in α-tocopherol being less effective as an antioxidant. Sensory odor attributes of rice crackers were related more closely to TBARS than to PV values by linear regression analysis. The present study indicated that C. formosum extract was a promising source of a natural food antioxidant and was effective in inhibiting lipid oxidation in rice crackers.
There has been considerable interest in the role of carotenoids in the chemoprevention of cancer. However, the protective effect of carotenoids on breast cancer has been inconclusive. To investigate whether intake of lyco- pene, α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and lutein/zeaxanthin is inversely associated with breast cancer risk, a case-control study was conducted in China during 2004-2005. The cases were 122 female patients aged 24-87 years with histopathologically confirmed breast cancer. 632 healthy women age-matched were randomly recruited from outpatient clinics. Habitual dietary intake and lifestyle were collected by face-to-face interview using a validated and reliable food frequency questionnaire. The USDA nutrient composition database was used to calculate intake of the specific carotenoids. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), accounting for age, locality, education, body mass index, smoking, passive smoking, physical activity, number of children breastfed, menopausal status, oral contraceptive use, biopsy-confirmed benign breast diseases, family history of breast cancer, and total energy intake. Compared with the highest versus lowest quartile of intake, the adjusted ORs were 0.26 (95% CI 0.14-0.46) for lycopene, 0.38 (95% CI 0.21-0.71) for β-carotene, 0.43 (95% CI 0.23-0.82) for β-cryptoxanthin, and 0.37 (95% CI 0.20- 0.68) for total carotenoids, with statistically significant tests for trend. There was no association with breast can- cer for α-carotene and lutein/zeaxanthin. It is concluded that higher intake of lycopene, β-carotene and β- cryptoxanthin is associated to a lower risk of breast cancer among Chinese women. More research to examine the relationship between carotenoids and breast cancer risk is warranted.
The aim of this study was to determine the anti-tumor effect of vegetables and fruits ferment liquid (VFFL) in human hepatoma-22(H22)-bearing mice. Mice bearing H22 were randomly divided into four groups, that is a control group and three VFFL groups (16.7, 33.3 and 66.6 ml/kg). Inhibition rates of tumor, thymus and spleen index were observed. The apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and the apoptotic body was observed under an electron microscope. A survival study was performed on the same model for the duration of 60 days. For this survival study, the mice were divided into five groups, which included a control group, three VFFL groups (16.7, 33.3 and 66.6 ml/kg) and a CP group. Tumor inhibition rates for VFFL16.7, 33.3 and 66.6ml/kg were 25.7%, 35.0 % (p<0.05) and 49.1 % (p<0.01) respectively at 30d, increasing in proportion to the concentration of VFFL given. Thymus and spleen indices of the VFFL groups were also higher than that of the control group. The apop- totic rates in VFFL 16.7, 33.3 and 66.6 ml/kg groups were 20.5%, 24.0% and 15.8% respectively, while it was only 6.82% in control group. In particular, the apoptotic body in the 66.6 ml/kg group exhibited typical apoptotic characteristics, e.g., condensation of nucleus, chromatin fragmentation, and shrinkage of cytoplasm. For the sur- vival study, the mice in the VFFL 66.6ml/kg group exhibited significantly extended survival rates compared with the mice in the control group (p<0.05). This study concludes that VFFL possesses anti-tumor properties, which it exhibits by inducing apoptosis and prolonging life in H22 tumor-bearing mice.
Lutein and zeaxanthin have various activities such as antiage-related macular degeneration, anticataract, antican- cer and cardiovascular diseases risk lowing, etc.; however, few studies have been reported on the role of free hy- droxyl groups in the antitumor effects of lutein and zeaxanthin. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of lu- tein and zeaxanthin di-acetylation derivatives has been investigated. The lutein and zeaxanthin were purified from corn protein residues and structurally modified by di-acetylation, which was characterized with UV/visible and HPLC/MS spectroscopy. The anti-proliferative effects of di-acetylated lutein or zeaxanthin on the human mouth epithelial cancer line KB cell were compared with controls of their original counterparts. Results showed that the anti-tumor activities of the di-acetylation of lutein and di-acetylation of zeaxanthin decreased signifi- cantly (p<0.05) at 50 μmol/L. Also the related IC50 dose was increased after di-acetylation. It was suggested that the hydroxyl groups contribute to the anti-tumor activity of lutein and zeaxanthin.
Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in developed countries and is increasing in the developing world. Its long latency and geographical variation suggest the possibility of prevention or postponement of onset by dietary modification. To investigate the possible joint effect of lycopene and green tea on prostate cancer risk, a case-control study was conducted in Hangzhou, China, with 130 prostate cancer patients and 274 hospital con- trols. Information on tea and dietary intakes, and possible confounders was collected using a structured ques- tionnaire. The risk of prostate cancer for the intake of tea and lycopene and their joint effect were assessed using multivariate logistic regression models. Prostate cancer risk was reduced with increased consumption of green tea. The protective effect of green tea was significant (odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI: 0.06-0.35) for the highest quar- tile relative to the lowest after adjusting for total vegetables and fruits intakes and other potential confounding factors. Intakes of vegetables and fruits rich in lycopene were also inversely associated with prostate cancer risk (odds ratio 0.18, 95% CI 0.08-0.39). Interaction analysis showed that the protective effect from tea and lycopene consumption was synergistic (p<0.01). This study suggests that habitual drinking tea and intakes of vegetables and fruits rich in lycopene could lead to a reduced risk of prostate cancer in Chinese men. Together they have a stronger preventive effect than either component taken separately. This is the first epidemiological study to in- vestigate the joint effect between tea drinking and lycopene intake.
Breastfeeding is the foundation of good nutrition and provides the basis for health throughout the life span. The WHO and the Chinese Ministry of Public Health recommend exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age. The practice of giving pre-lacteal feeds may interfere with the establishment of good breastfeeding practices and is contrary to the principles of Baby Friendly Hospital accreditation. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of prelacteal feeds in a hospital in Hangzhou and the influence of this practice on breastfeeding at discharge. A longitudinal study of infant feeding was conducted in Hangzhou, China and a total of 638 mothers were recruited and interviewed while in hospital. The questionnaire included full details of infant feeding meth- ods and factors likely to influence the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse factors influencing breastfeeding on discharge. In Hangzhou almost all babies are born in hospi- tal, the median length of stay was 5.6 days and 77% of births were by caesarian section. In 26% of births the in- fants were given formula, water or milk as their first feed. At the time of discharge from hospital 91% of infants were receiving some breastmilk, but only 36% of mothers were exclusively breastfeeding. Breastfeeding on dis- charge from hospital was inversely related to giving prelacteal feeds (OR 0.115, 95% CI 0.055-0.238). While in hospital just over one quarter of infants received prelacteal feeds and these infants had a lower rate of breastfeed- ing on discharge.
The aim of this study was to document the introduction rates of complementary foods to infants in the Han, Uy- gur and other ethnic groups living in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, PR China. A longitudinal study of infant feeding practices was undertaken using a random sample that included all of the ethnic groups in the region. Mothers were randomly recruited and interviewed in hospitals and maternal and child health institutes in the region. A total of 1219 mothers (578 Han, 360 Uygur and 281 from ‘other minority’ groups), who delivered babies during 2003 and 2004, were recruited. After discharge they were contacted at approximately monthly in- tervals during the first six months of their infant’s life to obtain details of feeding practices. The overall intro- duction rates of water, cow’s milk and solid food in Xinjiang were, respectively, 23%, 2% and 6% before dis- charge and 76%, 39% and 78% at six months. The rates were different between ethnic groups. Uygur mothers were most likely to feed water to their babies, with introduction rates of 57% before discharge and 95% at six months, while the corresponding rates were 6% and 77% for Han and 12% and 52% for other minority groups. Mothers from Uygur and other minorities introduced cow’s milk earlier than Han mothers. Uygur mothers also introduce solid foods earlier (10% pre discharge and 91% by six months) when compared to Han (3% pre dis- charge and 85% by six months) and other minorities (4% pre discharge and 48% by six months). The pattern of introduction of complementary foods in this region does not follow internationally recognized practices, suggest- ing the need for further education of health professionals and parents.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of perinatal protein malnutrition on brain derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentration in brain tissue and spatial learning and memory performance in young rats. Nine pregnant Wistar rats were assigned into three groups. Rats in one group were fed with a control diet containing 20% pro- tein. Rats in remaining two groups were fed with a diet containing 6% protein from gestation day eight and day 15 respectively till four weeks after birth. At four weeks of age, the rat pups were evaluated for spatial learning ability using Morris Water Maze (MWM) task. At the end of the behaviour tests, rat pups were sacrificed and the brain tissue samples were collected for measurement of total protein and BDNF concentrations. It was found that rat pups fed the low protein diet had lower body weight and slightly lighter brain compared to the control pups. Total protein levels in hippocampus and cerebral cortex were significantly lower in malnourished pups than the controls. The concentration of BDNF in the hippocampus was also significantly lower in rat pups suffered pro- tein malnutrition from early pregnancy than in the controls. MWM tests showed that perinatal protein depriva- tion, particularly from early pregnancy, significantly impaired learning and memory ability. The results of the present study indicate that perinatal protein malnutrition had adverse influence on spatial navigation and brain BDNF levels in rats. The decreased hippocampal BDNF concentration might partially contribute to the poor learning memory performance in the protein deprived rats.
Background: Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause many birth defects and developmental disabilities. There is considerable information available for pregnant women regarding the dangers of drinking alcohol dur- ing this time. Postpartum many women enter the period of lactation, which can last for several months to years. However information regarding safe levels of alcohol consumption during lactation is limited despite potential harmful effects on infant development and maternal lactational performance.
Methods: A descriptive study using qualitative methods. Data was collected in focus groups interviews con- ducted from February 2004 to December 2005. Women eligible to participate in the focus groups were currently breastfeeding or had been breastfeeding within the previous 12 months.
Results: Seventeen women aged 28 to 41 years participated in postpartum focus groups. The mothers were largely unaware of the effects of alcohol on breastfeeding performance and the development of the infant. The majority of the women in the focus groups expressed concern at the lack of information available regarding ‘safe’ alcohol consumption practices during lactation and reported being more diligent during pregnancy with regard to abstaining from alcohol.
Conclusion: There is a variable level of knowledge regarding consuming alcohol and breastfeeding among Aus- tralian mothers. The majority of participants were aware of the recommendations regarding alcohol during preg- nancy and felt that a similar level of information was required to provide direction and support during lactation.
Diet rich in polyphenols may be important factor in preventing cardiovascular, neoplastic diseases and slowing down the aging processes. Because tea (Camelia sinensis) is most popular beverage containing relatively large amounts of polyphenols, it could be tremendously important source of polyphenolic constituents in human diet. However, there has been no data on the tea extracts use in particular everyday snacks. Objective of the study was to investigate potential use of tea polyphenol extracts in jelly candies, its taste, colour, consistency and general consumer’s acceptance. Sensory analyses were conducted on two kinds of sweat jellies, with gelatin and agar used as thickening agents. As polyphenol source green and black tea extracts (Camellia sinensis) were used at concentration of 1.0% and 1.5%. Total polyphenol content in jellies ranged between 245.9-1256.5 mg/100g of candies and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) strong antioxidant content ranged between 3.2-170.1 mg/100g of candies. Sensory analyses included evaluation of overall appearance, colour, taste, aroma, consistence (ho- mogenicity, clot presence) and clarity of jellies. Comparison of two thickening agents resulted in better proper- ties of gelatin jellies according to its quality: colour, clarity, consistence, taste and aroma (p<0.05). It was found that agar containing jellies were not so clear and aromatic as compared with gelatin (p<0.05). Colour and overall appearance was also much more acceptable by the consumers in gelatin jellies. According to tea extract used it was found that ethanol extracts resulted in lower acceptance for overall acceptance and consistency (p<0.05). Present study indicated that tea polyphenols extracts were accepted by consumers as food product constituents, and might be an interest of wider usage as food components.