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N-Carbamylglutamate (NCG) has been shown to enhance arginine synthesis and improve growth performance in animals. However, the effect of NCG on body fat deposition remains unknown. This study examined the effects of NCG on body fat deposition and evaluated the potential mechanisms involved. Rex rabbits (3 months old) were assigned to one of four dietary groups and supplemented with NCG at the following different concentrations in a feeding trial that lasted 67 d: 0 (control), 0·04, 0·08, and 0·12 %. NCG supplementation increased serum concentrations of arginine and proline by activating intestinal carbamoylphosphate synthase-І at the posttranscriptional level. Final body weights and growth performance were not affected by dietary NCG levels. However, NCG-treated rabbits had lower perirenal and subcutaneous fat percentages, serum TAG content, and hepatic fatty acid synthase (FAS) activity and increased NO synthase activity and serum levels of NO, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). There were significant positive correlations between TAG content and perirenal fat percentage, as well as FAS activity and perirenal fat percentage, but significant negative correlations between TAG and NO levels, and FAS activity and IGF-1 level in rabbits after NCG treatment. NCG supplementation did not affect hepatic health indicators, except for serum ammonia concentrations, which were decreased in NCG-treated rabbits. Our results suggest that NCG can serve as a dietary supplement to reduce unfavourable fat deposition through inhibiting hepatic lipogenesis in animals since it appears to have no negative effects on growth performance or hepatic health.

Background: Several clinical trials have recently been conducted to elucidate the effectiveness of photofunctionalization. The aim of this review was to systematically analyze the clinical effects of photofunctionalization on implant stability and marginal bone loss (MBL). Methods: An electronic search in four databases and a manual search were conducted in September 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), clinical controlled trials (CCTs), and cohort and case-control studies evaluating the effects of photofunctionalization on implant stability or marginal bone loss (MBL) in humans were included. The methodological quality assessment using RoB 2.0 and the ROBINS-I tool was performed based on different study designs. Results: Seven studies were included for a qualitative analysis, and five of them were chosen for a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that photofunctionalization significantly improved the stability of the implant 2 months after implantation (p = 0.04; MD = 3.48; 95% CI = −0.23 to 6.73) and increased the osseointegration speed index (OSI) (p = 0.007; MD = 2.13; 95% CI = 0.57 to 3.68). However, no significant improvements of implant stability were observed 2 weeks (p = 0.62), 4 weeks (p = 0.31), nor 4 months (p = 0.24) after implantation. The evaluation presented no significant reductions in MBL. Conclusions: Based on the positive effect of photofunctionalization on the rate of establishing implant stability, photofunctionalization may provide an effective and practical strategy to achieve faster osseointegration and reduce the overall healing time. Photofunctionalization appears to improve the implant stability. However, the clinical effect of photofunctionalization on MBL remains unclear due to the shortage of available studies.