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The aim of this study was to clarify the characteristics of lifestyle and health awareness according to dietary diversity in a Japanese worksite population. The participants were 1,312 men and women aged 20 to 63 years who were living in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan during the period 2012-2013. We obtained anthropometric data and information on lifestyle characteristics using a self-administered questionnaire. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and dietary diversity was determined using the Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity (QUANTIDD). The characteristics of lifestyle and health awareness according to quartiles of the QUANTIDD score were assessed using the chi-square test and a general linear model. The higher the QUANTIDD score was, the larger were the proportions of participants who knew the appropriate amount of dietary intake and participants who referred to nutritional component information when choosing and / or buying food. Among participants with higher QUANTIDD scores, the proportion of participants who considered their current diet was good was high in women, whereas the proportion of participants who wanted to improve their diet in the future was high in men. Those results indicate that higher dietary diversity was related to better characteristics of lifestyle and awareness of health.

Rationale Diabetes causes cardiac dysfunction, and understanding of its mechanism is still incomplete. One reason could be limitations in modeling disease conditions by current in vitro cardiomyocyte culture. Emerging evidence suggests that the mechanical properties of the microenvironment affect cardiomyocyte function. Nevertheless, the impact of high glucose on cardiomyocytes cultured on substrates whose stiffness matches that of the heart (approximately 15 kPa) is untested. Objective To test the hypothesis that cardiomyocytes cultured in microenvironments that mimic the mechanical properties of those for cardiomyocytes in vivo may reproduce the pathophysiology characteristics of diabetic cardiomyocytes ex vivo, such as the morphological appearance, ROS accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Methods and results Isolated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were seeded on 15 kPa polyacrylamide (PAA) gels, whose stiffness mimics that of heart tissues, or on glass coverslips, which represent conventional culture devices but are unphysiologically stiff. Cells were then cultured at 5 mM glucose, corresponding to the normal blood glucose level, or at high glucose levels (10 to 25 mM). Cytoskeletal disorganization, ROS accumulation, attenuated mitochondrial membrane potential and attenuated ATP level caused by high glucose and their reversal by a ROS scavenger were prominent in cells on gels, but not in cells on coverslips. The lack of response to ROS scavenging could be attributable to enhanced apoptosis in cells on glass, shown by enhanced DNA fragmentation and higher caspase 3/7 activity in cells on glass coverslips. High-glucose treatment also downregulated GLUT4 expression and attenuated insulin-stimulated glucose uptake only in cells on 15 kPa gels. Conclusion Our data suggest that a mechanically compliant microenvironment increases the susceptibility of primary cardiomyocytes to elevated glucose levels, which enables these

Clinical studies have shown that metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia are associated with increased risk of oral-related diseases, such as periodontitis and Sjögren’s syndrome. Although changes in the immune system are critical in both of these metabolic disorders and oral-related diseases, the mechanism underlying the interaction between these diseases remains largely unknown. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are known to be associated with higher concentrations of free fatty acids in blood. Among free fatty acids, saturated fatty acids such as palmitic acid have been demonstrated to induce inflammatory responses mainly via the innate immune systems, and to be involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes in tissues such as adipose tissue, liver, pancreas, and skeletal muscle. Here, we highlight recent advances in evidence for the potential involvement of palmitic acid in the pathogenesis of periodontitis and Sjögren’s syndrome, and discuss the possibility that improvement of the lipid profile could be a new strategy for the treatment of these diseases.

Objects : Since serum level of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been implicated as a potential biomarker for the early detection of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, we examined how FGF21 serum levels are correlated with metabolic parameters in Japanese subjects. Methods : FGF21 levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Spearman’s correlation and multiple stepwise regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between serum FGF21 and other factors. A Mann-Whitney U test was performed between the normal and high groups for triglycerides and systolic blood pressure (BP) respectively. Results : By univariate correlation analysis, serum FGF21 levels were significantly associated with triglyceride levels, systolic BP, diastolic BP, pulse pressure, body mass index (BMI), age, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, and total cholesterol levels. Multiple regression analysis (adjusted for age, gender, and BMI) showed that serum FGF21 levels were independently and significantly associated with triglyceride levels and systolic BP. Serum FGF21 levels were significantly higher in subjects with high triglyceride levels and high systolic BP compared with those who had normal triglyceride levels and normal systolic BP respectively. Conclusions : This study found that FGF21 levels might be a biomarker for some metabolic disorders associated with metabolic syndrome.