We previously demonstrated that bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) ethanol extract induced apoptosis in HL60 human leukemia cells. To examine the effect of different bitter gourd cultivars on cancer cell growth, we determined the effect of nine bitter gourd cultivars grown in Miyazaki prefecture on the growth of HL60 cells. Although growth inhibitory effect of seed extracts was stronger than that of pericarp or placenta extracts, all the extracts inhibited the growth of HL60 cells at concentrations of 25-200μg/ml. The extracts of pericarp, placenta and seeds of bitter gourds cultivars induced apoptosis in HL60 cells after 24h incubation.
Suppression of inflammatory responses is expected to reduce inflammatory disease and development of cancer. Therefore, we determined the effect of the major bitter gourd cultivar ‘Sadowara 3’ on the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNFα production from RAW264.7 mouse macrophage-like cells. Placenta extract inhibited the TNFα production induced by LPS ; however, it did not have any effect on the growth of RAW264.7 cells. The bitter gourd placenta is suggested to possess the suppressive effect on inflammatory responses.

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The effects of polyphenol compounds isolated from young rice plants (Oryza sativa) on IgE-mediated degranulation of rat basophilic leukemia RBL-2H3 cells were investigated.
Five polyphenol fractions were obtained by solid-phase extraction column chromatography (SPE) followed by reversed-phase HPLC from water extract of dried young rice plants. LC-MS/MS analysis indicated that these fractions contained flavone-C-glycosides, three of which were determined to be neocarlinoside (6-C-β-D-glucopyranosyl-8-C-β-L-arabinopyranosylluteolin), carlinoside (6-C-β-D-glucopyranosyl-8-C-α-L-arabinopyranosylluteolin) and isoorientin-2”-O-β-glucopyranoside by the NMR analysis. LC-MS/MS analysis of another fraction suggested the presence of an isomer of neocarlinoside or carlinoside. The fifth fraction appeared to consist of two compounds that had a C-glycoside, an O-glycoside and an organic acid bound to aglycone. The polyphenol-rich SPE fraction and the five HPLC fractions inhibited the degranulation of RBL-2H3 cells. The five HPLC fractions inhibited the degranulation in similar dose-dependent manner regardless of the kind of sugar bound to the aglycone and the presence of organic acid ester. Removal of polyphenols from the SPE fraction significantly decreased the degranulation inhibitory activity. These results suggested that the inhibitory activity should be derived from polyphenols.

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The thermal behavior of actomyosin from the porcine skeletal muscle under various heating conditions including retort processing was examined. The physical properties (breaking energy, modulus of elasticity and water release rate) of the heat-induced gels of actomyosin decreased with increasing heating temperature or heating rate. The microstructure of the gel exhibiting lower physical property values had an aggregated-type structure, whereas the microstructure of the gel exhibiting higher physical property values had a strand-type structure as determined by scanning electron microscopic observation. It was considered that low physical property values of retorted gel of actomyosin were dependent on the network formation producing aggregated-type microstructure. This consideration was also strongly supported by the results of image analysis on microstructure of actomyosin gels under various heating conditions. The denaturation behavior of the actomyosin and components of the heat-induced gel of actomyosin were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry, sodium sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and western-blot analyses. The results suggested that the aggregated-type microstructure induced by retorting was caused by a shift in the denaturation transition temperatures of myosin to higher temperatures, an increase of the denaturation energy of myosin, and in gel formation of a large protein complex composed of myosin and actin.

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To examine the immunoregulatory activity of a chrysanthemum flower (CF), Shiranui Himekiku (Chrysanthemum indicum×Erigeron annuus), we studied the effect on tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) production by a mouse macrophage-like cell line RAW264.7. The production of TNF-α was enhanced upon treatment with CF water extract. We tried to characterize the active component of this crude extract. To determine whether polyphenols are involved in the promotive effect of TNF-α production by CF extract, we prepared a polyphenol-excluded CF extract. This exclusion did not affect the CF's ability to promote the release of TNF-α. Generally, it has been suggested that polyphenol be dissolved in an alcoholic solvent. We dissolved the CF extract in methanol and were able to separate the extract into both soluble and insoluble fractions. The activity to enhance the release of TNF-α was observed only in the methanol-insoluble fraction. These results imply that the bioactive compounds may not be polyphenols. Next, we examined the effect of heat stability on the CF extract. Boiled-water extract of CF maintained its activity to promote the TNF-α production, indicating that the active component in CF extract is heat-stable. Based on this result and the fact that the UV-Vis absorption spectrum of CF extract did not exhibit the typical features of proteins, it was suggested that the active compound may not be a protein. In order to purify the substance enhancing TNF-α secretion, we subjected the methanol-insoluble fraction of the boiled-water extract to size-separation gel-filtration chromatography. The obtained chromatogram detected carbohydrate, one of the major compounds of chrysanthemum, as a candidate for the active substance other than polyphenol and protein. The promotive effect of TNF-α production was observed in only one fraction that contained carbohydrates with the molecular weight over 66,000Da. These results suggest that polysaccharide in the CF extract enhances the production of TNF-α by RAW264.7 cells.

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The effects of lighting conditions during the growing period of broccoli (Brassica oleracea, italica group) sprouts on their activity to modulate IL-7 and TGF-β production by intestinal epithelium were investigated. Broccoli sprouts were grown under various LEDs (16/8h light/dark period) for 3 days after they were grown under a fluorescent light with a16/8h light/dark photoperiod for 3 days. We examined the effects of the extracts from leaves and stalks of the secretion of IL-7 and TGF-β from Caco-2 cells, which are used as in vitro models of intestinal epithelium. The results suggested that aspects of lighting conditions, such as the wavelength of light and the photoperiodic cycle, affect the activity to modulate IL-7 and TGF-β secretion by the intestinal epithelium.

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The effects of dried skipjack soup stock on 11 healthy adults, who were engaged in VDT work, were investi-gated by a single open study in which the stock was given orally for 4 weeks. The critical fusion frequency (CFF) and subjective symptoms were investigated in 11 workers working with computers over 4 hours daily, 5 days weekly.
Improvements were obtained in CFF and subjective symptoms at Week 4. A questionnaire-based assessment showed that intake of dried skipjack soup stock improved the subjective symptoms of visual fatigue that developed after the task. The CFF after the intake of dried skipjack soup stock was significantly lower than before intake. The effect of dried skipjack soup stock was influenced by the initial state of the flicker frequency.
The findings of this study raise the possibility that CFF and subjective symptoms improve after the intake of dried skipjack soup stock in VDT workers.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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