Abstract
Potent therapeutic actions of dietary manipulations and food factors on nephritis and cancer were evaluated using in vivo and in vitro disease models. In rats with glomerulonephritis, dietary manipulations of amino acids-fortified low-protein diets reduced proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia and hyperlipidemia without severe protein malnutrition. A cysteine derivative from cabbage, S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide, suppressed hypercholesterolemia in response to hepatoma (AH109A) growth by upregulating cholesterol catabolism. Fish oil suppressed hyperlipidemia secondary to glomerulone-phritis and presence of hepatoma. Screening of food factors with the potential to suppress the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells was conducted using in vitro assay systems in which AH109A cells were employed as model cancer cells. Food factors such as catechins from teas, curcumin in turmeric, and astaxanthin in crustaceans were effective in suppressing hepatoma proliferation and/or invasion. The antioxidative properties of these food factors were suggested to be involved in their anti-invasive activities. Both advantageous and disadvantageous aspects of in vivo and in vitro disease models were discussed in evaluating the therapeutic actions of food factors.
