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Purpose: Few epidemiological studies have assessed the relationship between the traditional Japanese dietary pattern and longitudinal changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors among Japanese people. We designed a 3-year longitudinal study of 980 subjects living in Japan to evaluate how the Japanese dietary pattern is related to longitudinal changes in well-recognized risk factors for cardiovascular disease among apparently healthy Japanese adults. Methods: Dietary consumption was assessed via a validated food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis was used to derive three major dietary patterns-'Japanese,' 'sweets-fruits-cooked wheaten food,' and 'Izakaya (Japanese Pub)' from 39 food groups. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, the mean (95 % confidence interval) for the change per year in diastolic blood pressure for men, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure for women related to the 'Japanese' dietary pattern factor score tertiles were 0.89 (0.10, 1.68), 2.25 (0.19, 4.31), and 0.75 (−1.00, 2.50) for the lowest tertile, 0.77 (−0.02, 1.56), 1.01 (−1.13, 3.15), and 0.44 (−1.38, 2.26) for the middle tertile and − 0.04 (−0.81, 0.72), −0.48 (−2.52, 1.56), and −0.77 (−2.51, 0.96) for the highest tertile (trend P value = 0.03, <0.01, and 0.04, respectively). A significant detrimental relationship was found between the 'Izakaya (Japanese Pub)' pattern factor score tertiles and the longitudinal change in serum triglyceride concentration only in men (trend P value = 0.02). Conclusions: Greater adherence to a traditional Japanese diet was independently related to a decreased change every year in diastolic blood pressure in men and women and in systolic blood pressure in women over a 3-year follow-up period. The findings suggest that the 'Japanese' dietary pattern appeared to be related to a fall in blood pressure, which might have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease. A randomized trial is required to clarify the underlying mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Body weight in young growing and young adult animals was reduced by a high dietary density of whey protein concentrate; however, it is unclear whether dietary proteins similarly affect body weight in aging animals. Here, we examined whether whey protein or whey peptide ingestion suppressed body fat accumulation and affected protein expression and phosphorylation in skeletal muscle in aging mice. Methods: Twenty-six male senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6) mice were assigned randomly to three dietary treatment groups: 18.7 % casein control (CON), 18.7 % whey protein (WPR), and 18.7 % whey peptide (WPE). After 28 weeks of treatment, skeletal tissues were dissected and weighed for analysis. Western blotting was performed to examine the expression of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) in quadriceps muscles. Results: Body (CON: 47.6 ± 2.2 g, WPR: 48.2 ± 2.7 g, WPE: 38.3 ± 2.0 g) and relative white adipose tissue (CON: 38.5 ± 3.5 mg/g, WPR: 43.8 ± 4.0 mg/g, WPE: 21.1 ± 4.4 mg/g) weights were lower in the WPE group compared with the other two groups ( p < 0.05), and no significant differences were observed between the CON and WPR groups. The relative weights of tibialis anterior muscle (CON: 1.04 ± 0.04 mg/g, WPR: 0.97 ± 0.03 mg/g, 1.23 ± 0.05 mg/g) and gastrocnemius muscle (CON: 3.02 ± 0.12 mg/g, WPR: 2.92 ± 0.15 mg/g, WPE: 3.65 ± 0.18 mg/g) were higher in the WPE group compared with the other groups ( p < 0.05). The phosphorylation of AMPK (WPR: 1.03 ± 0.11, WPE: 1.36 ± 0.12; fold change from control) and ACC (WPR: 1.08 ± 0.07, WPE: 1.18 ± 0.05; fold change from control) in WPE was higher than in CON ( p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the expression levels of ATGL among the three groups. Conclusions: These data suggest that a normal (or moderate excess) dietary density of whey peptide attenuates body fat accumulation via upregulation of fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle in aging mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Coffee and green tea consumption may be associated with circulating adipokines, but data are inconsistent, scarce or lacking. We examined the association of coffee and green tea consumption with serum adiponectin, leptin, visfatin, resistin and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) among a Japanese working population. Methods: The authors analyzed data ( n = 509) from a cross-sectional survey among Japanese workers aged 20-68 years. Serum adipokines were measured using a Luminex suspension bead-based multiplexed array. Coffee and green tea consumption was assessed using a validated diet history questionnaire, and caffeine consumption from these beverages was estimated. Multiple regression analysis was performed with adjustment for potential confounding variables. Results: Coffee consumption was significantly, inversely associated with leptin and PAI-1 ( P for trend = 0.007 and 0.02, respectively); compared with subjects consuming <1 cup per day, those consuming ≥4 cups per day had 13 and 10 % lower means of leptin and PAI-1, respectively. Similar associations were observed for caffeine consumption ( P for trend = 0.02 for both leptin and PAI-1). Additionally, we noted a significant positive association between coffee consumption and adiponectin in men ( P for trend = 0.046), but not in women ( P for trend = 0.43, P for interaction = 0.11). Moreover, there was a positive association between coffee consumption and resistin in current male smokers ( P for trend = 0.01), but not in male non-smokers ( P for trend = 0.35, P for interaction = 0.11). Green tea consumption was not associated with any adipokine. Conclusions: Higher consumption of coffee and caffeine but not green tea was associated with lower serum levels of leptin and PAI-1 in Japanese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Nutritional control has been proposed as a potential therapy for slowing the senescence of immune function and decreasing mortality. This study investigated whether sesamin could modify host defense systems and extend the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Methods: Nematodes were fed standard food (the bacterium Escherichia coli strain OP50) supplemented with various doses of sesamin/γ-cyclodextrin inclusion compounds starting from young adulthood. The mean lifespan, muscle function, lipofuscin accumulation, protein carbonyl content, and stress resistance of the worms were examined. Then, C. elegans mutants harboring loss-of-function lesions in longevity- and host defense-related signaling pathways were supplemented with sesamin to identify the genes involved in the longevity effects. Results: Worms supplemented with sesamin displayed higher locomotion and prolongevity and produced offspring at levels similar to unsupplemented control animals. The growth curves of nematodes were similar to those of controls, suggesting that sesamin did not induce prolongevity effects through dietary restriction. Notably, sesamin made the worms more resistant to infection by Legionella pneumophila and more resistant to oxidative stressors such as paraquat and hydrogen peroxide and prolonged the lifespan of a mev- 1 mutant that produces abundant superoxide anions. However, the accumulation of protein carbonyls and lipofuscin was similar in sesamin-exposed and control worms, suggesting that sesamin is unlikely to work simply as an antioxidant. Sesamin supplementation failed to extend the lifespan of loss-of-function mutants of daf-2, daf- 16, pmk- 1, and skn- 1. Conclusions: Sesamin enhances the host defense of C. elegans and increases the average lifespan via activation of both skn- 1 (encoding a component of the p38 MAPK pathway) and daf- 16 (encoding a component of the IGF-1 pathway). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Faster eating is positively associated with body mass index in apparently healthy Japanese populations. In the present study, we examined the associations between self-reported rate of eating and visceral and subcutaneous fat areas in apparently healthy middle-aged Japanese men. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of men who participated in health checkups in Japan. We removed participants who were diagnosed with metabolic diseases by the time of their health checkups. A total of 320 subjects aged 30-64 years (mean ± standard deviation, 47.4 ± 8.6 years) were selected. We compared the associations between rate of eating and various clinical parameters including visceral and subcutaneous fat areas, using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), which was adjusted by age and lifestyle factors such as alcohol intake, energy intake, smoking, and physical activity. Multivariate logistic regression analyses (MLRA) were performed with visceral fat area (cm) as the dependent variable and independent variables that included self-reported rate of eating. Results: Tukey's multiple test following ANCOVA showed that self-reported rate of eating was positively associated with visceral fat area (cm), but not with subcutaneous fat area (cm). MLRA showed that the odds ratio of rate of eating for visceral fat area in tertile (T) 3 (>100 cm) compared with T1 (≤70 cm) was 1.99 (95 % CI 1.40-2.90, P < 0.01), and the association remained after adjustment for the subcutaneous fat area. Conclusions: The present results show that self-reported faster eating is positively associated with visceral fat accumulation, independently of subcutaneous fat accumulation, in apparently healthy Japanese men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim was to investigate both individual and synergistic effects of quercetin-3- O-β-glucoside (Q3G) and fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on indices of metabolic syndrome and plasma total cholesterol level with potential mechanisms of action. Methods: Five groups of rats were fed a dextrin-based diet as the normal reference group, or sucrose-based (S) diets with 0.3 % Q3G, 5 % FOS, or 0.3 % Q3G + 5 % FOS (Q3G + FOS) for 48 days. Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) were conducted on days 0, 14, 28, and 45, and adipose tissue and aortic blood were collected on day 48. Effects of Q3G and FOS on portal GLP-1 secretion were separately examined using rats after ileal administration. Results: Abdominal fat weight reduced in FOS-fed groups. Blood glucose levels of the Q3G + FOS group at 60 min in OGTT and HOMA-IR (0.25 ± 0.03 vs 0.83 ± 0.12 on day 45) were clearly lower in the Q3G + FOS group than in S group throughout the experimental period. Muscle Akt phosphorylation was enhanced only in the Q3G group. The plasma quercetin was largely increased by FOS feeding on day 48 (18.37 ± 1.20 with FOS, 2.02 ± 0.30 without FOS). Plasma total cholesterol levels in the Q3G + FOS group (3.10 ± 0.12, P < 0.05 on day 45) were clearly suppressed compared to the S group (4.03 ± 0.18). GLP-1 secretion was enhanced in Q3G + FOS group than in Q3G or FOS group. Conclusion: Q3G + FOS diet improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and total cholesterol level with increasing GLP-1 secretion and a higher level of blood quercetin. Q3G + FOS may reduce the risk of T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The effect of an AA deficiency on catecholamine biosynthesis in adult mice in vivo is unknown. Therefore, we quantified catecholamine and the expression of catecholamine synthetic enzymes in the adrenal glands of senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30)/gluconolactonase (GNL) knockout (KO) mice placed in an AA-deficient state. Methods: At 30 days of age, mice were divided into the following 4 groups: AA (−) SMP30/GNL KO, AA (+) SMP30/GNL KO, AA (−) wild type (WT), and AA (+) WT. The AA (+) groups were given water containing 1.5 g/L AA, whereas the AA (−) groups received water without AA until the experiment ended. In addition, all mice were fed an AA-depleted diet. Catecholamine levels were measured by a liquid chromatographic method. Tyrosine hydroxylase, dopa decarboxylase, dopamine β-hydroxylase, and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase mRNA expression levels were measured with the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine β-hydroxylase protein levels were quantified by Western blot analysis. Results: In the adrenals of AA (−) SMP30/GNL KO mice, noradrenaline and adrenaline levels decreased significantly compared to other three groups of mice, although there were no significant differences in dopamine β-hydroxylase or phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase mRNA content. Moreover, there was no significant difference in their dopamine β-hydroxylase protein levels. On the other hand, AA depletion did not affect dopamine levels in adrenal glands of mice. Conclusion: An AA deficiency decreases the noradrenaline and adrenaline levels in adrenal glands of mice in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Elevated circulating activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a marker for liver injury, and the lifestyle of a higher rate of eating in healthy and preclinical subjects are associated with increased risk of obesity and diabetes. In this study, we examined the associations between self-reported rate of eating and circulating ALT activity in middle-aged apparently healthy Japanese men. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 3,929 apparently healthy men aged 40-59 years (mean ± SD age, 49.2 ± 5.8 years; BMI, 23.5 ± 2.8 kg/m) who participated in health checkups in Japan. We analyzed their clinical serum parameters and lifestyle factors, including self-reported rate of eating. Associations between self-reported rate of eating and liver injury markers [ALT, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GTP), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)], other clinical parameters or lifestyle factors were determined using analysis of variance followed by Tukey's test. Multivariate logistic regression analyses (MLRA) were performed with ALT activity as the dependent variable and independent variables that included self-reported rate of eating. Results: MLRA showed that ALT activity showed trends for higher self-reported rate of eating after adjustment for age, energy intake, and smoking status. The association between ALT activity and self-reported rate of eating disappeared after adjustment for BMI. Conclusion: The results of this study show that ALT activity is positively associated with self-reported rate of eating in middle-aged apparently healthy Japanese men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although previous studies suggested that higher low-fat dairy consumption lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, the mediating factors are not well understood. Higher baseline adiponectin levels are related with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. This study evaluated whether low-fat dairy is related with adiponectin in apparently healthy adults. Methods: We investigated a cross-sectional ( n = 938) and one-year longitudinal ( n = 759) relationship between low-fat and whole-/high-fat dairy (both including cow's milk and yogurt) and adiponectin. Dairy consumption was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Serum adiponectin was measured by using a specific sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In the cross-sectional analysis, the geometric means (95 % confidence intervals [95 % CIs]) of log-transformed adiponectin related with the low-fat dairy categories were 7.27 (6.80-7.77) for the lowest category, 7.67 (7.09-8.31) for the middle category, and 8.40 (7.73-9.13) for the highest category ( p < 0.001) after adjustment for potential confounders (including all lifestyle factors). In the longitudinal analysis, repeated-measures ANCOVA adjusted for confounding factors showed a significant time-by-categories (categories of low-fat dairy) interaction in the change of adiponectin. In contrast, no significant relationship was found between the whole-/high-fat dairy categories and adiponectin. Conclusions: This study has shown that higher consumption of low-fat dairy, but not of whole-/high-fat dairy, is related with higher levels of adiponectin and with the change of adiponectin level at the one-year follow-up. These results suggest that the consumption of low-fat dairy may have a beneficial effect on serum adiponectin levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is assessed based on the presence of risk factors that include dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension and obesity. In this study, we assessed the risk of MetS using principle component (PC) analysis of MetS diagnostic parameters and examined whether the resulting eigenvalues are associated with the circulating concentrations of inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6] and a marker for insulin sensitivity (adiponectin) in middle-aged Japanese men without treatment for metabolic diseases. Materials: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 308 Japanese men without treatment for metabolic diseases aged 40-69 years who participated in health checkups in Japan. We calculated the PC1 score from the following MetS diagnostic parameters: body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose, diastolic blood pressure, triacylglycerol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. We compared the relationship between PC1 scores and other clinical parameters, including IL-1β, IL-6 and adiponectin, by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analyses and Jonckheere-Terpstra test. Results: The associations for most clinical parameters were higher with the PC1 score than with other MetS diagnostic parameters. Homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance, an index of insulin resistance, showed stronger associations with PC1 score than with MetS diagnostic parameters. Significant associations for IL-1β, IL-6 and adiponectin were observed with the PC1 score, BMI and triacylglycerol; these associations were higher with the PC1 score than with BMI and triacylglycerol. Conclusions: The present results show that the PC1 score is closely associated with parameters of MetS, inflammation and insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Orally administered bovine lactoferrin (bLF) exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on hepatitis and colitis animal models. To investigate the mechanism underlying the action of bLF, we explored the expression of inflammation-related factors in the intestine of a hepatitis mouse model after the oral administration of bLF and in several human intestinal cell lines treated with bLF. Methods: The effects of bLF on the expression of interleukin-11 (IL-11) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) in the intestinal mucosa of a hepatitis mouse model as well as in cell cultures of human intestinal epithelial cells, myofibroblasts, and monocytes were examined using the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Epithelial cells and myofibroblasts were also cocultured using transwells. bLF transport, and IL-11 and BMP2 induction, as well as the interactions between the two cell types, were then analyzed after bLF treatment. Results: In vivo, oral bLF administration increased the production of IL-11 and BMP2 in intestinal specimens. In vitro, bLF only stimulated the production of IL-11 in human intestinal myofibroblasts; i.e., it had no effect on BMP2 production in any cell type. In the transwell cocultures, bLF passed through the epithelium and directly stimulated IL-11 production in the myofibroblasts on the basolateral side. The IL-11 produced in the myofibroblasts subsequently acted protectively on the epithelial cells of the coculture. Conclusions: bLF upregulated the activity of anti-inflammatory factors, such as IL-11, in the intestine of a hepatitis mouse model and human intestinal myofibroblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Plasma folate concentrations are suggested to be negatively associated with body mass index (BMI, kg/m), although these findings are controversial. Our objective was to evaluate the association of BMI with blood folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations. Methods: We measured plasma and erythrocyte folate and plasma tHcy concentrations in 434 healthy adults (343 women and 91 men; mean age of 63.8 ± 10.7 [SD, range 23-88] years), who participated in a 2007 population-based survey in western Japan. Results: The overall mean plasma and erythrocyte folate and tHcy were 21.6 (±11.0, SD) nmol/L, 844 (±291) nmol/L and 11.6 (±3.9) μmol/L, respectively. The mean BMI was 22.8 (±3.0; 15.6-33.3) kg/m, and only 72 subjects (17%) had BMI > 26.0 kg/m. Mean plasma folate decreased as BMI increased ( p-trend < 0.01), whereas mean erythrocyte folate and plasma tHcy were similar regardless of BMI ( p-trends = 0.49 and 0.28, respectively). Conclusion: Our data indicate that the interpretation of plasma folate concentrations to assess folate nutritional status is complicated by BMI, although the impact of BMI on plasma folate was relatively small. It is important to take this association into account for the selection of subjects for future large-scale studies. The mechanism of this inverse association between BMI and plasma folate concentrations should be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Coffee is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Numerous epidemiological studies have reported a significant inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, but the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Therefore, we conducted an epidemiological study to clarify the relationship between coffee consumption and adiponectin levels in Japanese males. We also evaluated whether green tea consumption affected adiponectin levels. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study. The subjects were 665 male employees in Japan. Coffee consumption was assessed, using a self-administered questionnaire, as the number of times per week and cups per day respondents drank, and subjects were grouped into four levels (non, 1-5 times/week, 1-2 cups/day and ≥3 cups/day). Results: The means of adiponectin levels were positively associated with coffee consumption. A dose-response relationship was found between coffee consumption and circulating adiponectin levels. The relationship remained significant after adjustment for potential confounding factors ( P for trend <0.05). However, green tea consumption was not significantly associated with adiponectin levels ( P for trend = 0.90). Conclusions: We not only revealed that habitual coffee consumption is associated with higher adiponectin levels in Japanese males but also found a dose-dependent association between coffee consumption and adiponectin levels. Therefore, our study suggested that coffee components might play an important role in the elevation of adiponectin level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]