Objective: We conducted a clinical study to investigate the effects of a combination of wooden interior and indirect lighting in the bedroom on improving sleep quality and attenuating fatigue. Design: Eleven healthy male subjects, whose Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were ≥ 6, participated in a 3-way crossover trial. Subjects rested from 21:00 to 22:00 under a combination of wooden interior and indirect lighting, indirect lighting, or direct lighting, went to bed at 22:00, and awoke at 6:00. We evaluated sleep quality by the St. Mary's Hospital Sleep Questionnaire (SMHSQ), autonomic nervous function by the Active Tracer, sleepiness and fatigue sensation by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and performance by the Advanced Trail Making Test (ATMT). Results: The combination of wooden interior and indirect lighting improved early morning awakening, nocturnal awakening, and satisfaction with sleep according to the SMHSQ, activated the parasympathetic nerve system at bedtime according to the Active Tracer, and attenuated sleepiness and fatigue sensation at the time of awakening according to the VAS; moreover, it improved work performance according to the ATMT. Conclusion: These results show that the combination of wooden interior and indirect lighting produces a suitable bedroom environment that improves sleep quality and attenuates fatigue.

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Objectives: To analyze the effect of human placental extracts (HPEx) on hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. Methods: The hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, namely, HLE and Huh-7, were used. The cells were subjected to a growth assay using the formazan dye method; the effect of combination treatment with sorafenib and HPEx was also assessed. The preventing normal cell damage effect of HPEx was analyzed by virtual therapy where possible; the experimental protocol was constructed on the basis of pre- and post-sorafenib treatment data. Cytotoxicity was measured by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Results: HPEx caused significant dose-dependent suppression in the growth of HLE and Huh-7 cells. These tumor cells were significantly suppressed by combination treatment with HPEx and sorafenib. In addition, HPEx potentiated sorafenib sensitivity against tumor cells, and significantly prevented sorafenib-induced cytotoxicity in primary cultured rat hepatocytes under all designed experimental conditions. Specifically, pre-treatment with HPEx had a greater effect than post-treatment with HPEx. Conclusion: HPEx suppresses tumor cell growth, potentiates sorafenib efficacy, and has a preventing normal cell damage effect; this triple functionality of HPEx makes it a useful agent for liver cancer therapy.

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In the recent aging society, many strategies against cerebral diseases including dementia are needed. As hand massage treatments promote blood flow for muscle fatigue and other disorders, ultrasonic vibration may promote cerebral blood flow. A novel, long wavelength ultrasonic vibration device with high permeation (less than 30 kHz, 2 mW/cm2) was applied to investigate cerebral blood flow before and after the frontal or occipital trans-cranial irradiation. In this study, the frontal or a mixture of the frontal and the occipital irradiation were conducted respectively on Xe gas X-ray CT, and SPECT experiments in healthy adults who did not have any excluding criteria. From the results, we confirmed that the low mill watt ultrasonic vibration emitted by the device promoted cerebral blood flow.

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Kaempferia parviflora rhizome is used in traditional folk medicines for the treatments of various symptoms in Thailand since ancient times. Several types of methoxyflavones were identified from that plant and the functions of some of those were reported. We determined that five kinds of methoxyflavones (5-hydroxy-3,7,3’,4’-tetramethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-3,7,4’-trimethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-7,4’-dimethoxyflavone) were included the following treatments of K. parviflora rhizome. The 80 %ethanol extract of that were adsorbed resin, removed 70 % ethanol elution and the rest adsorbed materials were eluted with 99.5 % ethanol. The safety of that five methoxyflavones mixture was evaluated. We performed a 28-day repeated dose of oral toxicity test and a mouse micronucleus test. The former results showed no significant toxicity on body weight, blood analyses, organ weight, blood biochemical analyses. The latter results showed negative, believed that the sample has no mutagenicity for living bodies.

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Objective: We previously reported the immune-enhancing behavior of fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from Gagome kombu (GKF), both in vitro and in animal studies. In the present study, we evaluated the immune efficacy and safety of GKF in healthy Japanese adults. Methods: In this randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study, 30 subjects who ingested GKF (200 mg/day) or placebo for 4 weeks were enrolled. For evaluation of efficacy, phytohemagglutinin-stimulated cytokine production in whole blood cells was measured. For evaluation of safety, blood chemistry analysis, hematological analysis, and urinalysis were conducted. Results: Almost all cytokine production decreased in samples from the placebo group during the test period. Ingestion of GKF for 4 weeks significantly suppressed the decrease in production of the T helper 1 (Th1)-type cytokines interferon-γ and interleukin-12 as well as the Th1:Th2 ratio. There were no adverse clinical changes in blood analysis and urinary analysis, and no serious symptom was observed. Conclusion: These results indicate that GKF is a useful and safe food ingredient to support immune function.

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Safety and effectiveness of powered food made from Agaricus blazei Murill was evaluated by a randomized human study. 45 healthy subjects were divided into 3 groups in sequence: control, 1 pack and 3 packs/day-administered groups. Each group had 15 persons. They had each packs for 28 days, and followed, in every two weeks, by the evaluation with CTCAE v3.0, QOL (SF36-v2), and biochemical examinations including liver/lung/kidney function, insulin resistance and NK activity and high-sensitivity CRP. None of them had adverse events nor biochemical/lung abnormal examinations. 1 and 3 packs-administered groups improved their QOL, high-sensitivity CRP and NK activity in a dose-dependent manner. These results ascertained safety, and effectiveness of the powdered food made from Agaricus blazei Murill against presymptomatic disorders including metabolic syndrome.

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In this study, we found human placental extract (HPEx) has urease inhibitory activity. In addition, HPEx was biochemically or chemically treated and fractionated to obtain the enzyme digested (EHY) and acid hydrolyzed (AHY) fractions. The inhibitory activity of EHY was lower than that of HPEx, whereas the inhibitory activity of AHY increased 2.4 fold. Furthermore, Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis indicated that type of inhibition of AHY showed mixed.

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