Volume 5, Number 4, Section 2
The 5th
International Symposium on Clinical Nutrition (4-7 Feb 1996)
XI.
Functional foods and health: Time for scientific evidence
65. Functional foods and health
Mark L Wahlqvist
Functional foods may be traditional or novel, but
positioned in the food supply to subserve particular physiological
or pathophysiological purposes beyond those ordinarily expected of
a biologically varied food intake, and of energy intake matching the
energy needs of an apparently healthy, physically active individual.
The stimuli to their development includes new understandings of food-health
relationships, newer (and rediscovery of old) food technologies, pressures
(including ecological) on traditional food supplies, the quest for
health and disease prevention by consumers, and changing demography,
especially that of an ageing population. Perhaps the most active areas
of functional food development are in the fields of athletic performance,
antioxidants and disease prevention; use of vitamin and mineral fortification
of foods for disease prevention; for multifunction phytochemical compounds
from food; and foods with pre- and probiotics. Thus, preventive and
therapeutic opportunities are emerging for specific food component
manipulations. Slower in appreciation and development are the valuable
aggregate and interactive effects of food components where "the
sum is greater than the parts", as evidenced in the Mediterranean
diet and mortality study published by Trichopolous et al in 1995.
66. Chicken extract stimulates haemoglobin
restoration in iron deficiency
Catherine Geissler, Mansour Boroumend-Naini, Masami
Harada, Taeko Jino Koichi Hirai, Yoshihide
Suwa, Takeharu Tanaka , Shuji Iwata
Chicken essence is widely used as a traditional remedy
for several ailments including anaemia. To test this claim for objective
evidence, a series of experiments was carried out in anaemic rats
by supplementing iron deficient diets with either liquid or lyophilised
essence, which contains mainly protein and peptides (83mg/ml) and
free amino acids (3.1mg/ml), very little iron (1mg/ml), and no fat.
Haemoglobin returned to normal significantly more rapidly in rats
supplemented with ad libitum liquid Brand's Essence of Chicken (BEC)
over a period of up to 27 days compared with controls fed only water
in addition to the ad libitum iron deficient diet. Haemoglobin was
also significantly increased after 1 week in animals fed ad libitum
diets supplemented with lyophilised chicken essence than with controls
fed the unsupplemented diet. The effect was greater with supplementation
at the level of 0.2% than at 1% lyophilised essences. The results
indicate that the effects were mediated by increased appetite and
by enhanced availability of food iron. These studies provide objective
evidence for the traditional belief that chicken essence remedies
anaemia.
67. Effects of chicken extract (I):
the recovery from mental fatigue
Hajime Nagai, Masami Harada, Masashi Nakagawa,
Takaharu Tanaka, Bintoro Gunadi, ML Justinus Setiabudi, Jacob LA Uktolseja,
Yo Miyata
Folk wisdom suggests that chicken extract is useful
for recovery from physical and mental fatigue. To explore this question,
the physiological effect of Brand's Essence of Chicken (BEC), a popular
chicken extract used as a traditional remedy, was assessed during
recovery from mental stress. We quantitated the blood levels of stress-related
substances, and examined the task performance and subjects' mood states
during mental workloads. Subjects were 20 healthy male students who
had never tasted BEC. They took two bottles of BEC or a placebo (70ml/bottle)
daily in the morning for 7 days. On the final experimental day, two
mental workload tests were performed: (1) a mental arithmetic test
(MAT; 1600 trials of two or three figure-addition or subtraction for
40 minutes) (2) a short-term memory test (SMT; 20 trials of memorising
9 digit numbers). Blood was collected before and after each workload
task. After the mental workload, the recovery of mean cortisol level
of subjects who consumed BEC was significantly faster than that of
the placebo group. The task performance of subjects performing the
MAT and SMT was also improved with BEC consumption compared with placebo.
According to the profile of mood state questionnaire, subjects felt
more active but less fatigued during the workload when they took BEC
regularly. We conclude that chicken extract has the potential to metabolise
stress-related substances in blood and to promote recovery from mental
fatigue.
68. Effect of L-anserine existing
in chicken extract on the suppressed haematopoiesis in cancer radiotherapy
and chemotherapy
Harada M Yang Z, Higuchi N, Tanaka T, Iwata S
Purpose: L-Anserine (ANS) is a natural histidine-containing
dipeptide abundantly occurring in animal organisation, especially
in chicken meat, as well as L-Carnosine (CAR). These dipeptides have
recently been studied and known as water-soluble antioxidants in muscle
and brain. There are some work in relation to the protective effects
of CAR against irradiation and chemotherapy, however such effects
of ANS have not been investigated. The purpose of this study is to
examine the effect of ANS on the haematopoietic functions in mice
treated with X-ray irradiation and anti-cancer agent, Cyclophosphamide
(CY).
Method: [Exp-1] 6 Gy X-ray was irradiated once
to C57/BL6 mice on day 0, followed by transplantation of bone marrow
progenitor cells derived from normal mice. On day 8 after administration
of ANS (100mg/kg/day, s.c.) in the treatment group and of 0.9% NaCl
solution (10ug/g/day, s.c.) in the control group, the colonies formed
in spleen was counted as CFU-s of the transplanted haematopoietic
stem cells.
[Exp-2] CY (300mg/kg, i.v.) was administered
to ICR mice on day 0. ANS or 0.9% NaCl solution was administered for
9 days as in Exp-1. The changes of peripheral blood cell numbers,
colony stimulating activity (CSA) in serum, IL-3 productivity in spleen,
bone marrow cell proliferation rate (BMPR) after CY treatment were
compared.
Results & Discussion: [Exp-l] X-ray irradiation
and the subsequent transplantation effectively caused colony formation
in spleen. ANS stimulated the CFU-s significantly (p<0.05) compared
with the control group. [Exp-2] CSA in serum, IL-3 productivity
in spleen, and BMPR were significantly suppressed 24h after CY treatment
and peripheral leukocyte and erythrocyte numbers were decreased. However
ANS treatment markedly enhanced these reduced haematopoietic functions
and promoted the recovery from the decreased numbers of blood cells.
These results indicate that ANS has a potential to protect against
the suppressed haematopoiesis in cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
69. Effect of chicken extract on
the disorder of metabolic functions in mice caused by restraint-stress
Zhi-bo yang Masami Harada, Naoki Higuchi, Takaharu
Tanaka, Shuji Iwata
Restraint-stress caused remarkable changes of metabolic
functions such as glucose tolerance, serum ketone bodies, serum insulin,
serum GOT, and also organ weights. The half-life period of administered
glucose in blood was significantly prolonged and serum ketone bodies
were elevated after loading of the stress. These results suggested
that glucose metabolism was definitely disordered by the stress and
glucose was poorly utilised as an energy source. Significantly elevated
levels of serum GOT and reduced level of serum insulin indicated that
liver and pancreas suffered from the acute damage by the stress. The
half-life of administered glucose in blood which should have been
prolonged by the stress was markedly shortened by administration of
chicken extract. The improved glucose metabolism was well explained
by the grounds that serum insulin level was significantly elevated
and glycogen synthesis in liver was remarkably activated by chicken
extract. There was a trend that serum GOT and ketone body level which
should have been elevated by the stress were halted at lower level
by chicken extract. This study demonstrates that chicken extract improves
the disorder of metabolic functions possibly by the protective effect
on the organ damages caused by restraint-stress.
70. Clinical and biochemical studies
of black meat chicken
Kawalkar Vidyadhar, Bhambal SA
The objective of this study is to investigate the
clinical and nutritional significance of black meat chicken (BMC)
kadaknath (KN) over routine table chicken (RTC) white leghorn. BMC
(KN) possesses a distinctive taste and has special medicinal value
in haemopoietic and nervous disorders in addition to its claim as
aphrodisiac. BMC (KN) is similar to BMC in Guingdong in China are
in great demand. The AOAC (1975) methods and of NIN (1971) India,
were followed. In this study, linoleic acid, in BMC observed as 24%
as against 21% of RTC, claiming its nutritional superiority clinically.
The EFA of dietary fats participate in vascular homeostasis through
the synthesis of prostaglandins. BMC protein content 91.94% on DM
basis is of interest comprising of EAA. It is enigmatic that the concentration
of cholesterol 184.75mg/100g in BMC meat was significantly lower (P<0.01)
than that of RTC meat 218.12mg/100g, in spite of significantly (P<0.01)
higher blood cholesterol 352.37mg/dL in BMC than RTC 253.12 mg/dL.
The rate of synthesis of cholesterol in the liver is inversely related
to the supply of dietary cholesterol which may be regarded as homeostasis
mechanism. Blood cholesterol has its role as predisposing agent in
human cardio-vascular disorder. Thus it is of immense interest to
choose foods which are richer in adequate proteins, low in cholesterol
and their fat possesses higher degree of unsaturation in terms of
linoleic acid, which possibly postpone the hazards of atherosclerosis.
71. The health effects of tea polyphenols
in China
Gu Jingfan
Tea polyphenols (TP) isolated from green tea has been
produced industrially and its health effects have been demonstrated:
(1) Antioxidative-TP is able to scavenge O2,
OH, 1O2 and protect bio-macromolecules against
free radicals and to inhibit membrane lipid damage induced by gas-phase
cigarette smoke and maintain membrane fluidity, to guard conformation
of protein evoked by Cr6+, and to protect DNA damage induced
by g irradiation. They are also able to protect
myocardium or brain from reperfusion damage by inhibiting lipid peroxidation,
increasing SOD activities and accelerating repair of mitochondria.
(2) Anticarcinogenic-TP can inhibit growth of human
cervical and lung cancer cell line in vitro, inhibit tumour growth
and increase cellular immune function in mice bearing Ehrlich ascitic
carcinoma or Sarcoma 180. They can also block synthesis of nitroso
compounds in vitro and decrease NPRO excretion in men. TP is effective
in inhibiting mutagenesis induced by MMC, and EGCG reduces TPA- induced
skin mouse oncogene expression. When TP are given to patients, serum
immunoglobulins are increased, and WBC also increased during the first
course of chemotherapy.
(3) Antiaging-TP can increase SOD and GSH- Px activities
in mice and decrease LPO and LF amount. The span and L50 Of houseflies
fed on TP are prolonged. In hyperlipidaemic rats fed on TP, serum
TC and TG decreased while HDL-C increased The TC - lowering effect
is also observed in patients. TP also improve RBC deformability, decrease
plasma fibrinogen and reduce in vitro thrombosis formation.
(4) Bacteriostatic - TP have a wide antimicrobial
spectrum, dose-effect relation, good selection and no drug tolerance.
TP can inhibit activities of human rotavirus and cloned HIV-1 RT in
vitro. TP can lower extracellular glucan synthesis and decrease caries-inducing
ability of bacteria.
72. Functional foods and health:
time for scientific evidence - red wine
Hiroshige Itakura, Kazuo Kondo
Many epidemiological studies suggest that red wine
consumption results in low incidence of coronary heart disease. Red
wine contains high concentrations of polyphenolic substances and these
have been implicated as the source of the increased serum antioxidant
capacity of red wine drinkers. Considerable evidence suggests that
oxidatively modified low density lipoproteins (LDL) have an important
role in the development of atherosclerosis. We established the assay
method for detecting susceptibility of LDL oxidation by measuring
conjugated diens formed with 2.2-azobis (4-methoxy- 2.4 dimethylvaleronitrile:
V-70).
Changes of susceptibility of LDL oxidation by drinking
red wine were measured in healthy males. After 14 days drinking of
red wine showed to prolong the lag phase of LDL oxidation in vitro.
The functional substances in red wine may be oligomer of polyphenols.
73. Health benefits of the mushroom
Ganoderma lucidum
Kraisintu K
The fruit body of Ganoderma lucidum (Leys.
ex. Fr.) Karst has a history of more than 2000 years and has also
been regarded as a panacea for all types of diseases. This is due
to the demonstrated efficacy as a remedy to treat hepatopathy, chronic
hepatitis, leucopoenia, diabetes, anorexia and cancer. As the yield
of wild Ganoderma is very low, today, it is being produced
on a large scale for pharmacological and clinical studies by artificial
cultivation and submerged fermentation.
The fruit body of G. lucidum contains sterols,
fungal lysozyme, acid protease, soluble proteins, amino acids, polypeptides,
saccharides, lactones, alkaloids and polysaccharide.
Research and Development Institute, Government Pharmaceutical
Organization, has conducted extensive research on various aspects
of G. lucidum since 1989 in order to explore further
and possibly exploit the claimed therapeutic effects of this mushroom.
The research activities involve the extraction of Ganoderic acid B,
one of the chemicals found in the fruit body and known to have hypocholesterolaemic
activity. The effective components in G. lucidum are extracted
and standardised. Parallel to this, pharmaceutical technologists develop
precise methods for quality analysis and suitable modes of administering
which best conform to the demand for stability, tolerance and simplicity
of dosage. Mycelia cultures grown in pilot-scale fermentations were
also investigated.
The results of the pharmacological and toxicological
tests provide us with important indications about the effects, dosage
and therapeutic scope of our products. It is then a matter of testing
results on patients in a broad spectrum of trials.
74. Garlic in health promotion and
disease prevention
Robert I-San Lin PhD
Scientific evidence strongly supports the beneficial
effects of garlic in the following three areas: cardiovascular protection,
anticancer, and antifungal, in addition to some lesser important benefits.
On the cardiovascular front, garlic preparations, particularly aged
garlic extract (AGE), have been shown to suppress cholesterol and
fatty acid synthesis in the liver (and probably in other tissues)
and eicosanoid synthesis in the platelet, to inhibit platelet aggregation
and adhesion, to attenuate smooth muscle activation, to retard intimal
cellular proliferation, and to enhance fibrinolysis. Platelet adhesion
initiates a chain of events that eventually lead to atherosclerotic
development and/or thrombosis. Excessive liver cholesterol and triglyceride
synthesis leads to increased serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels,
which in turn enhance lipid deposition in the atherosclerotic plaques
and expedite atherosclerotic development. Enhanced platelet's aggregative
activity is associated with the consumption of certain modern diets
and can directly increase the risk of an occlusion. Cellular proliferation
is a key factor in the development and growth of the atherosclerotic
mass. Smooth muscle activation is an important pathological mechanism
of ischaemia, and myocardial infarction. Enhanced fibrinolytic activity
can reduce the severity of an occlusion. Thus, these properties of
garlic can provide synergistic and substantial protection against
occlusive cardiovascular diseases; even though most of the protective
attributes of garlic are minor or subtle, except the anti-platelet
attributes.
On the cancer front, garlic can inhibit the formation
of nitrosamines in the stomach, enhance liver detoxification of chemical
carcinogens, protect the DNA against carcinogen-DNA adducts formation.
Through these mechanisms garlic exerts its anticancer effect. Aged
garlic extract has also been shown to have a moderate suppressive
effect on the proliferation of cultured neoplastic cells. Thus, it
might have a value as an adjuvant in the treatment of certain type
of cancer, if the active principles can be delivered to the cancer
mass to reach the effective concentrations. These anticancer attributes
are consistent with the epidemiological observations that populations
with high garlic consumption have lower cancer mortality rate than
their low garlic consumption counterparts.
Laboratory studies and clinical applications have
also demonstrated that garlic has a moderate, albeit short lived,
antifungal effect. However, clinical application of garlic to fungal
infection is presently limited to topical and/or contact applications.
Application of garlic to systemic fungal infections is, in general,
less effective, mainly due to the rapid inactivation/excretion of
the active principles.
75. Anti-HIV activity of acid polysaccharides
from Rooibos tea in vitro
Masatoshi Nakano, Yoshiko Itoh, Hideki Nakashima
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a life
threatening and debilitating disease caused by human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) infection. The extract of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis)
suppressed the HIV-induced cytopathic effect using HIV (HTLV-IIIb)
infected MT-4 cells, and cytotoxicity was extremely low. The active
substances, acid polysaccharides, were extracted with 1% sodium hydroxide
from Rooibos tea leaves, but not Japanese tea leaves (Camellia
sinensis var. sinensis). The acid polysaccharides from
Rooibos tea suppressed the HIV-infected cytopathicity. Its 50% effective
concentration (EC50) was 12-67 ug/mL, while 50% cytotoxic
concentration (CC50) was higher than 1.0mg/mL. The acid
polysaccharides were composed of 27% of reducing sugar, 42% of neutral
sugars and 21% of uronic acid. The acid polysaccharides from Rooibos
tea were treated and degradated with I N HCl at 75°C for 3-5 hours.
The degradated substances, which were oligosaccharides composed of
two to three residues containing uronic acid, also suppressed the
HIV-induced cytopathic effect. LD50 of the crude alkaline
extracts from Rooibos tea was higher than 1.2g/kg body weight, which
is the maximal concentration of the solubility. Rooibos tea is a healthy
beverage in Japan. From these results, HIV infection may be suppressed
by daily intake of Rooibos tea extracts.
76. N-nitrosamine-lowering effect
of a Chinese beverage in rubber workers
Liu Yi, Liang Xujun
The incidence of cancer is high in rubber workers.
N-nitrosamines compounds (NNC) are carcinogens and come from rubber
vapour. The purposes of this study was to determine the NNC concentration
in blood and urine of rubber worker and to decrease the NNC concentration.
The method of determination of NNC was a gas chromatography-thermal
energy analyser (GC-TEA). The results showed that: the concentrations
of NDMA and NMOR in rubber vapour were 5.9-58.6ug/M3 and
2.1-5.7ug/M3 respectively; the concentrations of NDMA,
NMOR and NDEA in urine (x±SD ug/8h) were 3.71±2.82, 0.94±0.71, 0.32±0.44,
respectively; the level of NDMA in blood was highly correlated with
the level of NDMA in urine (r=0.686). After drinking a Chinese beverage
which was composed of Chinese traditional herbs, antioxidants, and
a Chinese fruit juice, the concentration of NDMA, NMOR and NDEA in
urine of rubber workers was decreased by 44.5%-67.6%, 58.0%-73.6%
and 44.6%-89.7%, respectively. Thus it is possible to lower the levels
of NNC in rubber workers.
77. The anti-free radical and T-cell
enhancement effects of longan pulp extract in mice
Wang Huiqin, Ma Zhongjic, Xin Dong, Wang Shu, Shen
Jiaqin, Zhang Hongwei
The longan pulp is one of Chinese traditional herbs
and foods. The purpose of this study is to determine the anti-free
radical and immuno-enhancement effects of longan pulp extract in vitro
and in vivo in mice. The results showed that the LPO products in 36
samples of mouse nomogenous liver which were added with different
concentration extract of longan pulp have been inhibited by 44.5%-49.6%.
The 38 mice were fed the different concentration extract of longan
pulp by stomach -feed for 21 days, the LPO (nmol/g liver) Were decreased
by 15.7%-22.9%, the SOD (u/g Hb) were increased by 6.3%-6.5%, The
GSH-Px (enzyme activity unit) in whole blood were increased by 17.2%-49.3%.
The T-cell in thymus were increased by 52.9%-105.0%, the T-cell in
inguinal node were increased by 51.4%-62.8%, While the weights of
thymus and spleen were no obvious change. This results show that the
longan pulp extract has anti-free radical and T-cell enhancement effects.
78. Predicting body composition from
anthropometry in healthy Thais
N Piaseu, S Komindr, B Ongphiphadhanakul, V Pattamakom,
R Sirisriro, R Rajatanavin, G Puavilai
Body composition changes in various physiological
and pathological processes. Simple anthropometry may be as useful
as more sophisticated measures for predicting fat and lean body mass.
A few prediction equations have been developed but they may be population-specific
and needed to be validated. The objectives of the present study were
to construct prediction equations for assessing fat mass and lean
body mass from anthropometry in Thais and compare their accuracies
to results obtained by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and
those of the commonly used equations.
Subjects consisted of 102 men and 165 women aged 20-80
years. Fat mass and lean body mass were determined by DEXA (Lunar
DPX-L). Anthropometric measurements were performed by standard methods
and included triceps skinfold (TSF), biceps skinfold (BSF), subscapular
skinfold (SSF), suprailiac skinfold (SISF), height (HT), weight (WT),
waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC). Prediction equations
for fat mass and lean body mass were derived by stepwise multiple
regression analyses and tested in a separated validation group consisted
of 51 men and 78 women.
The regression equations for the prediction of body
composition were as follow:
- In men: fat mass = 0.51TSF + 0.24WC + 0.32HC -
41.54
- lean mass = -0.44BSF - 0.49SSF + 0.8WT - 0.21WC
+ 21.42
- In women: fat mass = 0.18TSF - 0.16HT + 0.39WT
+ 0.1WC + 0.27HC - 14.6
- lean mass = -0.18TSF - 0.13BSF + 0.14HT + 0.57WT
- 0.08WC - 0.25HC + 13.82
When tested in the validation group, our prediction
rules were highly correlated to those measured from DEXA in both men
(fat mass, r = 0.94, P < 0.001; lean body mass, r = 0.94, P <
0.001) and women (fat mass, r=0.95, P < 0.001; lean body mass,
r = 0.85, P < 0.001). Although the commonly used prediction rules
for body composition using anthro-pometric data were able to predict
fat mass reasonably well in both men (r= 0.87, P < 0.001) and women
(r = 0.92, P < 0.001), the prediction of lean body mass was not
as accurate (men, r = 0.73, P < 0.001; women, r=0.54, P < 0.001).
Comparing the squares of error of prediction, the predictions using
our population-specific equations were significantly better than those
of the commonly used equations in terms of fat mass in women (6.1±10.9
vs 11.6±26.8 kg2, P < 0.05) and lean body mass in both
men and women (men, 6.2±10.8 vs 599.1±185.3 kg2, P <
0.001; women, 4.4±7.1 vs 246.9±96.7 kg2, P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Predictions of body composition from
anthropometric data in our study are highly correlated to the measurements
by DEXA. Previously reported prediction equations for body composition
are population-specific and needed to be validated when used in different
populations.
79. Bone mineral density of healthy
Thai adolescents
Suthutvoravut U, Charoenkiatkul S, Sirisriro R,
Pattamakom V, Mahachoklertwattana P, Intaramarn C, Rojroongwasinkul
N, Chongviriyaphan N, Rajatanavin R
The purposes of this study are to determine bone mineral
density (BMD) of healthy Thai adolescents living in Bangkok and to
evaluate its relating factors. BMD at AP L2-L4 vertebra, femoral neck,
midshaft and distal forearm were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
in 110 healthy Thai adolescents (66 males, 44 females), aged 15.0-18.2
years, whose weight and height were normal. Most (98%) of them were
in puberty stage IV-V. Females had no significant change of BMD at
all sites over age. In males, distal forearm BMD increased while vertebral
BMD Z-score decreased with advancing age. Female weight for age Z-score
and body mass index (BMI) had positive correlation with BMD at all
sites except distal forearm which did not correlate with the former.
Male weight for age Z-score and BMI positively correlated with BMD
at midshaft forearm and femoral neck. Height for age Z-score did not
correlate with BMD. At the ages of 16 and 17 years, males had greater
BMD than females with the same puberty stages. Milk consumption was
positively related to BMD at forearm and femoral neck.
Conclusion: BMD values of a group of healthy Thai
adolescents in puberty stage IV-V were measured. Determinants were
sex, age, weight for age, BMI and milk consumption.
Copyright © 1996 [Asia Pacific Journal
of Clinical Nutrition]. All rights reserved.
Revised:
January 19, 1999
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