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ObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionThis study aimed to investigate the effects of a long-term intervention with β-lactolin, a tetrapeptide (sequence: glycine-threonine-tryptophan-tyrosine) derived from milk, on cognitive performance in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted. We recruited 48 participants aged 50 years or older with the Japanese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-J) score of 24–28 and a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score of 0.5. Participants were administered β-lactolin (1.8 mg daily) or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary outcomes were the MMSE-J and the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J) scores for cognitive function.A total of 422 individuals were screened, 48 of whom were included in this study. The MMSE-J and MoCA-J scores showed no significant differences between the groups. In the intra-group comparison of the MoCA-J delayed recall score, a significant difference was observed in the β-lactolin group after 12 and 24 weeks of intervention (p = 0.0256, p = 0.0175, respectively). Furthermore, the subgroup analysis stratified for females only showed a significant difference in MoCA-J total score in the β-lactolin group after 24 weeks of intervention (p = 0.0253).β-lactolin intake does not significantly improve cognitive function in MCI in an inter-group comparison; nevertheless, the MoCA-J delayed recall score was significantly improved in the β-lactolin group. The number of participants was lower than planned, limiting the confirmation of the effectiveness of β-lactolin on MCI. This report demonstrated the effect size of β-lactolin intervention in MCI, contributing insights for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Selenium deficiency in patients with gastrointestinal diseases treated with long-term central venous nutrition is a clinical problem. Only injectable selenium is approved in Japan, and oral selenium preparations are prepared in hospitals from reagents, but their efficacy and safety are unknown. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study investigating the relationship between selenium administration and oral selenium formulations and adverse events. Results: In this study, 239 selenium-treated cases and 220 selenium-untreated cases adjusted for patient background were selected as a reference group. The median (interquartile range, IQR) age was 1.3 (0.4–4.4) and 1.3 (0.3–4.5) years, respectively; gastrointestinal diseases were most common in 110 (46.0%) and 104 (47.3%) cases. The median (IQR) duration of treatment or observation with oral selenium was 446 (128–1157) and 414 (141–1064) days, respectively. The median (IQR) dose per body weight at the maintenance dose was 2.6 (1.7–3.9) μg/kg, and the median (IQR) serum selenium concentration at the maintenance dose was 8.5 (7.0–10.6) μg/mL within the upper tolerated dose limit and approximately the reference range. There was no difference in selenium dose, serum selenium concentration, or serum-selenium-concentration-to-dose ratio (C/D ratio) for adverse events. The incidence of adverse events was compared with that of patients not treated with selenium. Conclusions: An oral selenium preparation administered below the upper tolerated dose limit can be used effectively and safely in pediatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark-germinated angiosperm seedlings develop chloroplast precursors called etioplasts in cotyledon cells. Etioplasts develop lattice membrane structures called prolamellar bodies (PLBs), where the chlorophyll intermediate protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) forms a ternary complex with NADPH and light-dependent NADPH:Pchlide oxidoreductase (LPOR). The lipid bilayers of etioplast membranes are mainly composed of galactolipids, which play important roles in membrane-associated processes in etioplasts. Although etioplast membranes also contain 2 anionic lipids, phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG), their roles are unknown. To determine the roles of PG and SQDG in etioplast development, we characterized etiolated Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants deficient in PG and SQDG biosynthesis. A partial deficiency in PG biosynthesis loosened the lattice structure of PLBs and impaired the insertion of Mg2+ into protoporphyrin IX, leading to a substantial decrease in Pchlide content. Although a complete lack of SQDG biosynthesis did not notably affect PLB formation and Pchlide biosynthesis, lack of SQDG in addition to partial PG deficiency strongly impaired these processes. These results suggested that PG is required for PLB formation and Pchlide biosynthesis, whereas SQDG plays an auxiliary role in these processes. Notably, PG deficiency and lack of SQDG oppositely affected the dynamics of LPOR complexes after photoconversion, suggesting different involvements of PG and SQDG in LPOR complex organization. Our data demonstrate pleiotropic roles of anionic lipids in etioplast development. Negatively charged phospholipid and sulfur-containing glycolipids facilitate internal membrane formation and synthesis of chlorophyll intermediates in chloroplast precursors of dark-grown seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]