Cancer prevention is one of the most urgent problems in the field of public health worldwide. The methanol extract of watercress ( Nasturtium officinale) inhibits 12-O-tetradecaonoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced ear edema in mice. The extract also exhibits marked antitumor activity in in vivo two-stage carcinogenesis test in mice using 7,12-dimethylbenz[α]anthracene as an initiator and TPA as a promoter. From the active fraction of the methanol extract, sitosterol 3-O-glucopyranoside (1) was isolated and identified. This compound was evaluated for its inhibitory effects on TPA-induced inflammation (1 µg/ear) in mice, and had a 50% inhibitory dose of 299 nmol/ear. These results indicate that watercress extracts are useful in cancer prevention.

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Objective: Adequate periconceptional intake of folic acid decreases the risk of neural tube defects of infant. The present study aimed to investigate the awareness of nursing students about the importance of folic acid intake for the prevention of neural tube defects. Design: Questionnaire survey. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire regarding the importance of folic acid intake for the prevention of neural tube defects was distributed to 423 nursing students of Tohoku University and Tohoku Fukushi University. Results: Among the 408 respondents (response rate; 96.5%), 129 (31.6%) nursing students were aware that folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, grade 3-4 (odds ratio = 11.779, 95% confident interval = 5.739-24.177) were associated with the awareness of the importance of folic acid intake among nursing students. Of 129 nursing students who recognized the importance of folic acid intake, 52 (40.3%) and 11 (8.5%) recognized that women should begin folic acid intake before conception and should take about 400μg of folic acid per day during pregnancy respectively. Conclusion: About 30% of nursing students recognized that folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects and many did not know the details of the effective intake for the prevention of neural tube defects. Therefore, more aggressive promotion of the awareness of the importance of folic acid intake among nursing students is warranted.

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Objectives: We studied the effects of the fish oil (FO) diet given to obese Zucker (fa/fa) fatty rats on the serum and liver lipids concentrations, serum oxidative stress and antioxidant levels using diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) test and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) test. Methods: The Zucker fatty rats of 5weeks male were fed with diet for 4 weeks. The experimental diets were used normal diet or high cholesterol diet (HC). The fatty rat were fed with diet containing 10% Lard, 10% FO, 10% Lard+HC, 10% FO+HC. It was measured the concentrations of serum and liver lipids, serum d-ROMs and BAP. The d-ROMs and BAP were measured using Free Radical Elective Evaluator. The liver tissue were stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin staining that was observed with light microscopy Results: Although there were no difference in the both d-ROMs and BAP value among the diet, the d-ROMs value was tend to decrease and the BAP value was tend to increase in the FO group. The concentration of liver total cholesterol and triglyceride were decreased in the FO+HC group compared to the HC group. The number of fat droplet in the liver tissue were decreased in the FO group. Conclusion: Since the fat droplets was decreased in the FO group, it can be considered that fat accumulation was reduced to relieve oxidative stress in vivo. Thus, fish oil is expected to inhibit the oxidative stress in fatty rats.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the health-related Quality of Life (QOL) of women and the effects of “fruits granola” on women’s health. It was based on an Internet questionnaire survey on QOL (using a QOL questionnaire for women that was prepared by LSTT Co., Ltd.) of 3,460 subjects who answered questions concerning physical and mental matters. It also had 165 subjects, 108 of whom had mild constipation and 57 of whom did not, consume fruits granola freely for a period of time and then compared their QOL before and after consumption. The results of the screening survey showed significantly higher scores in all categories among women who did not have constipation than women who did. Additionally, the mental QOL score was significantly higher among women who had the habit of eating fruits granola. Moreover, the overall QOL score significantly increased after consumption of fruits granola. These results suggest that consumption of fruits granola may be effective in improving women’s QOL.

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In order to evaluate the oral environment of nine subjects taking lactobacillus products (soybean lactobacillus fermentation extract:EX), I observed the changes in the number of oral bacteria, the periodontal pocket, and the amount of saliva. After two months of intake, while there were no significant differences observed in the total bacterial count, pathogenic bacteria were reduced or maintained at a low level and improvement was observed in the periodontal pocket.

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