All issues
Volume 67 (2014)
- Issue 6 Pages 283-
- Issue 5 Pages 237-
- Issue 4 Pages 171-
- Issue 3 Pages 119-
- Issue 2 Pages 65-
- Issue 1 Pages 3-
Predecessor
Volume 67, Issue 4
Displaying 1-3 of 3 articles from this issue
- |<
- <
- 1
- >
- >|
Review
-
Hiromi Yamashita2014 Volume 67 Issue 4 Pages 171-176
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: August 25, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSAcetate is an endogenous metabolite of fatty acid β-oxidation produced in the liver mitochondria under conditions of starvation. Orally administered acetate is immediately taken up from the intestine and excreted into the bloodstream. The acetate is then absorbed by tissues and activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) by increasing the AMP/ATP ratio. AMPK acts as the key metabolic master switch, and regulates a number of enzymes involved in lipid homeostasis. Treatment with acetate results in a marked reduction of lipid accumulation in adipose tissue, protection against accumulation of fat in the liver, and improves glucose tolerance. It decreases the transcripts of lipogenic genes in the liver, indicating inhibition of lipogenesis in that organ. Furthermore, acetate treatment results in a higher rate of oxygen consumption and a smaller size of lipid droplets in white and brown adipose tissues. These results indicate that acetate is formed endogenously under conditions of starvation and utilized as a biological fuel, wheras acetate taken up under fed conditions has potential to prevent obesity and obesity-linked type 2 diabetes.View full abstractDownload PDF (1386K)
Original Paper
-
Tsuyoshi Chiba, Yoko Sato, Tomoko Nakanishi, Kaori Yokotani, Teruyo Ka ...2014 Volume 67 Issue 4 Pages 177-184
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: August 25, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSFood for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) can have beneficial effects on health when consumers correct their lifestyle appropriately. However, it is not clear whether consumers recognize the characteristics of FOSHU and use it appropriately. To address this issue, a questionnaire investigation was conducted. This revealed that most consumers took FOSHU to maintain their health, although a proportion of them did so for prevention or treatment of disease. FOSHU is appropriately labeled to indicate the correct daily intakes and mode of intake. About 60% of users followed these directions, but 20% did not, and the remainder were unaware of these recommendations. In this situation, only 23.4% of users gained beneficial effects from FOSHU. Secondary analysis showed that 30.2% of users who changed their dietary habit, 17.0% who changed their exercise habit, and 10.1% who did not change anything received beneficial effects from FOSHU. In addition, some users on medication used FOSHU that had similar health claims to medicines. This investigation confirmed the inappropriate usage of FOSHU, especially by patients and individuals on medication. These results suggest that consumers do not understand the characteristics of FOSHU, and should be educated about the appropriate use of FOSHU.View full abstractDownload PDF (741K)
Research Note
-
Atsumi Hayashi, Rumiko Takahashi, Koichi Kimoto2014 Volume 67 Issue 4 Pages 185-191
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: August 25, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of watercress intake on blood pressure and lipid metabolism in rats. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were divided into control and watercress groups, and the latter were fed a 2.5% watercress diet. After feeding for 11 weeks, the systolic blood pressure of the SHRs fed watercress was significantly lower than that of the control SHRs. The antihypertensive mechanism of watercress was then studied using the Magnus method. An aqueous extract of watercress inhibited angiotensin-I-converting enzyme in vascular smooth muscle, and showed weak antagonism towards the AT1 receptor. Ethanol and methanol extracts of watercress showed weak inhibition of voltage-dependent calcium channels and the α-adrenergic receptor. The SHRs fed watercress showed significantly decreased serum levels of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides, and the total cholesterol content of the liver showed a tendency to decrease. Although the watercress-fed SHRs showed significantly high liver triglyceride levels, their serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels remained unchanged. These results suggest that daily consumption of watercress efficiently improves lipid metabolism and lowers blood pressure.View full abstractDownload PDF (982K)
- |<
- <
- 1
- >
- >|