Total lipid and lipoperoxide level in the liver was elevated significantly when the rats were fed for 10 weeks on high fat diet containing 40% corn oil. After the feeding, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (S-GPT) was also significantly elevated, suggesting some damage in the liver.
To know some of the nature of this liver damage, carnitines (D- and L-) and pantetheine were supplemented to this high fat diet. Although carnitine supplementation depressed significantly the rise in lipoperoxide level during the experimental period, it did not depress the rise in total lipid for more than 7 weeks. Pantetheine supplementation also reduced the rise in lipoperoxide after 10 weeks of the feeding, but could not reduced the rise in total lipid level at all. No S-GPT elevation was seen at the end of 10 weeks supplementation experiments.
It was concluded that elevation in lipoperoxide level in the liver had more intimate relation than the rise in total lipid to the liver damage indicated by the elevation of S-GPT induced by high fat diet feeding.

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Compositions of duck eggs of six breeds (Spot billed duck, Call duck, Khaki, Muscovy, Pekin andPhilippine) and the electrophoretic patterns of their yolks were compared.
The ratio of yolk/white were 0.53-0.67, the highest in Muscovy and the lowest in Pekin and much higher than those of hen's eggs. The chemical composition of egg white showed no difference among six breeds, but that of Muscovy yolk was very different from the other five breeds, higher in protein and lower in lipid. Duck eggs contained more sodium and potassium in white and more calcium and phosphorus in yolk, similar to hen's egg. Magnesium and calcium content of Muscovy yolk were much higher and potassium and sodium contents in Spot billed duck and Call duck were much lower than the others. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic patterns of these duck egg yolks showed 22 bands and Muscovy yolk showed a quite different pattern from the others.

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In previous report, we demonstrated that PPD skin reaction in rats were converted negative by malnutrition. As the delayed cutaneous-hypersensitivity response is considered to be composed of “sensitization” stage with antigen and “recognition” stage of the test antigen, we analysed the effect of malnutrition on the PPD skin reactivity in “sensitization” and “recognition” stage.
The rats were divided into 8 groups. Four groups were fed 0.5% protein diet (malnourished group) and the left were fed 18% protein diet (control group) for 8 weeks respectively. After that, diet transferred 0.5% protein groups to 18% protein diet and 18% protein groups to 0.5% protein diet.
All the rats were “sensitized” with heat killed tubercle bacilli before diet transfer and PPD was injected after diet transfer at various nutritional stages. Skin reactions were read 24 hours after PPD injection and this stage is considered as “recognition” of the antigen.
All the rats sensitized with tubercle bacilli in malnourished state showed positive PPD reaction when the nutritional state of the rats recovered at the recognition stage after diet transfer. However sixty percent of the rats in the group of not enough recovered nutritionally showed negative, suggesting that the recognition stage are affected by nutritional state. From these results, it is most probable that recognition stage is affected by malnutrition and the sensitization was not affected.

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Fractionation of wheat germ and trefoil seed, by the procedure including chromatography on an ion-exchange column and on an activated alumina column, and high-voltage paper electrophoresis, produced with the yield of vitamin B₆ ranging 10 to 20% faintly yellowish residues, which unanimously yielded vitamin B₆ on hydrolysis. The results of acid hydrolysis together with chemical and gas chromatographic analyses have shown that it consists of an equimolar amount of pyridoxine and glucose; the glycosidic linkage involved is susceptible to β-glucosidase. These results together with other consideration allowed to deduce its structure as pyridoxine-β-glucoside, which has been previously identified as one of major bound forms of vitamin B₆ in rice bran.
Nutritional availability of the bound vitamin B₆ was investigated with the bound vitamin preparation from rice bran administered either by oral ingestion (equivalent to 30μg of pyridoxine per rat every day for 2 weeks) or by intravenous injection (equivalent to 60μg of pyridoxine per rat in two doses) to male albino rats fed ad libitum a vitamin B₆-deficient diet. The livers and erythrocytes of the animals were assayed for vitamin B₆-dependent enzymes, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase and cystathionase. When the bound vitamin was orally ingested, the two enzyme activities in both livers and erythrocytes increased to essentially same levels as attainable by the ingestion of pyridoxine hydrochloride. On contrary, when parenterally administered, it was less significantly effective as compared to pyridoxine hydrochlaride. Hence, pyridoxine-β-glucoside occurring in cereals as one of major bound forms of vitamin B₆ appears as such not adequately available in vivo but to be rendered available in the intestine.

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Characteristics of the starch isolated from faba bean (Vicia faba L., var. minor) were examined.
By the light and scanning electron microscopic observations, it showed clearly the starch granules were ellipsoid in their shapes, and the length of longer axis were between 15μ and 40μ with an average 23.8μ.
The X-ray diffraction pattern of the starch was similar to that of broad bean starch, and from this pattern, the starch can be classified into the C-spectrum group according to the classification by Katz. The shape of Brabender's amylogram of the starch was similar to that of broad bean starch and the gelatinization temperature was 70°C. The amylose content of the starch was found to be approximately 22.1% by the colorimetric iodine method and 29.9% by the potentiometric iodine-titration method. The digestibility of the starch by pancreatic α-amylase or by the extract of rat small intestine was higher than that of broad bean starch.

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Head space volatiles and steam distilled volatiles of Funazushi were studied by GLC and GC-MS analyses.
Four carbonyls (acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, methyl ethyl ketone, acetoin), seven alcohols (ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, sec-butyl alcohol, isoamyl alcohol, furfuryl alcohol, β-phenylethyl alcohol), five acids (acetic, propionic, isobutyric, n-butyric, isovaleric acid), four esters (ethyl caproate, ethyl lactate, ethyl myristate, ethyl palmitate) and two hydrocarbons (n-pentadecane, n-heptadecane) were identified.
Of these 22 aroma substances, ethyl alcohol, acetic acid, n-butyric acid, β-phenylethyl alcohol and ethyl lactate were principal aroma components of Funazushi.

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Three series of experiments were performed to investigate the effects of the level (10%, 18%, 27% and 36% casein) of protein intake and group housing on growth and longevity of rats. Experiment I, Effect of the level of protein intake on growth and longevity; Experiment II, Effect of group housing on growth and longevity; and Experiment III, Effect of the level of protein intake on the activities of some hepatic enzymes.
The following results were obtained.
(1) In the early growth stage, 27% casein group showed the highest growth rate, followed by 36%, 18% and 10% groups in this order. But the differences due to various diets practically diminished after 20 weeks of age.
(2) Higher protein efficiency ratio was found in males than that in females.
(3) When longevity of rats was evaluated, animals fed higher protein diets (18%, 27% and 36% casein) survived longer than those fed a low protein diet (10% casein). But the maximal longevity was essentially the same in all the groups. Group housing exerted no effect on longevity.
(4) Observations of macroscopic pathological lesions at death revealed that most of the animals had lesions in the lung. The incidence of mammary tumor and hypophysial abnormalities appeared to be greater in the groups fed higher (27% and 36%) casein diets.
(5) Female rats, fed a 10% casein diet, under dense (6 animals per cage) population consumed less food and showed less growth than the corresponding animals individually housed. Animals, fed a 27% casein diet, under dense population developed mammary tumor earlier than the corresponding isolated animals.
(6) With aging, the level of serum gamma globulin rose and the A/G ratio was decreased concomitantly.
(7) Within the first couple of weeks after birth, serum alkaline phosphatase appears to originate from organs other than small intestine. With aging, the activity of the enzyme gradually decreases and changes to small-intestinal origin.
(8) Catalase, ATPase and alkaline phosphatase activities in the liver were found to be unchanged with respect to age, sex or the level of protein intake of the animals. Hepatic histidase activity in female rats, however, showed progressively smaller inducibility by a high protein diet with aging. These results do not support M.H. Ross's contention that one can predict life expectancy of rats by simply assaying these several hepatic enzymes.

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Castrated female rats were subcutaneously injected with 17β-estradiol (100μg/rat/day). After 2 weeks of the treatment, various tissues were excised for minerals (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mg, Na, K and Ca) and metalloenzymes (alkaline phosphatase and tryptophan pyrrolase) assays. Estrogen reduced the rate of the weight gain and resulted in increments of liver and uterus weights. A significant increase in contents of most of minerals in liver and uterus was the most striking finding in the treated, compared to the control, animals. Despite the result that estrogen depressed the Zn levels in brain, liver and kidney, the activity of alkaline phosphatase, a metalloenzyme containing Zn, of brain was not affected, while that of liver and kidney was increased with estrogen. Although the reduction of Fe concentration of liver was observed, the activity of tryptophan pyrrolase, one of Fecontaining metalloenzyme, of that tissue was not affected by the chronic treatment of 100μg estradiol. From the results of this investigation, there seems to be no direct relationship between the changes in Zn and Fe levels and their metalloenzyme activities with estrogen treatment.

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