Food & Nutrition Research最新文献

Background: Previous research has demonstrated the anti-obesity effects of kimchi in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and mice with diet-induced obesity by assessing the expression of obesity-associated genes. Additionally, recent studies have identified mechanisms involving thermogenesis that support these effects.

Objective: This study aims to further investigate the anti-obesity properties of kimchi, focusing on its impact on thermogenic activity in differentiated T37i brown adipocytes.

Design: The study first evaluated the antioxidant potential of kimchi using total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Optimal differentiation conditions for T37i adipocytes were established before proceeding with evaluations of cell viability, intracellular triglyceride (TG) content, lipid accumulation, and the expression of genes and proteins related to obesity and thermogenesis.

Results: Kimchi maintained over 90% cell viability in T37i adipocytes at concentrations up to 1,000 μg/mL. Efficient differentiation of T37i preadipocytes was achieved using a medium containing 10% calf serum, 2 nM 3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronin (T3), and 100 nM insulin. Kimchi significantly reduced intracellular TG levels and lipid accumulation, compared to the control group, and enhanced the expression of genes and proteins related to thermogenesis while reducing the expression of obesity-related genes.

Discussion: The findings suggest that kimchi exerts its anti-obesity effects by modulating thermogenic and obesity-related pathways in brown adipocytes, which may be partially attributed to its antioxidant properties.

Conclusions: Kimchi shows promise as a preventive measure against obesity by influencing metabolic pathways associated with both obesity and thermogenesis in T37i brown adipocytes.

Background: Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) occurs in elder men globally with high prevalence. Human diet and lifestyle aroused great attention in the prevalence of BPH. Prostate enlargement (PE) is a major symptom of BPH.

Objectives: To elaborate the effect of total diet quality for adults from the United States, we investigated the association between Health Eating Index (HEI)-2015 and the risk of PE in adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted based on NHANES 2001-2008. Participants who reported a PE history were included. We conducted a logistic regression analysis to investigate the association between HEI-2015 and PE.

Results: A total of 4,866 male participants aged 40 and above were enrolled. Compared with Q1 of HEI-2015, no significant differences were found in adjusted models. Higher vegetables intake (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.073; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.015 to 1.134, P = 0.02) and higher total dairy intake (OR = 1.034; 95%CI 1.009 to 1.061, P = 0.01) were significantly related with higher risk of PE.

Conclusions: There was no significant difference between HEI-2015 and PE after full adjustment. Total vegetables and dairy product might be associated with higher risk of PE and needed further validation.

Background: We have developed a digital semi-quantitative food frequency and lifestyle questionnaire, the DIGIKOST-FFQ, based on the validated paper-based NORDIET-FFQ.

Objective: The study aims to investigate the reproducibility of the DIGIKOST-FFQ and to compare the DIGIKOST-FFQ against the NORDIET-FFQ for the adjusted questions for intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, meat, and dairy products.

Design: Participants were recruited from May to September 2021 through a random sample from the National Population Register and advertisements on Facebook in Norway. In the reproducibility study, the DIGIKOST-FFQ was completed twice by the participants, 1-2 months apart. In the comparison study, the DIGIKOST-FFQ was completed 1-2 months prior to the NORDIET-FFQ.

Results: In the reproducibility study, 317 individuals were included. For 12 out of 16 food groups there were no significant differences in intake estimations between the first and second DIGIKOST-FFQ administrations. A small but significant median difference was observed for fruits (6 g/day) and vegetables (24 g/day). Correlations were satisfactory for all items (r = 0.60-1.00), and in the cross-classification 85% of the participants were classified into the same or adjacent quartile for all items. The comparison study included 81 individuals. Compared to the NORDIET-FFQ a significant median difference was observed for fruits 29 g/day, vegetables 36 g/day, whole grains -10 g/day, and red meat -11 g/day, but not for fish, processed meat, or dairy products.

Conclusion: The DIGIKOST-FFQ was able to reproduce diet and lifestyle at the group level. An intended difference for the food groups where questions had been adjusted, was observed between DIGIKOST-FFQ and NORDIET-FFQ in the comparison study.

Background: The global prevalence of diabetic heart complication has been on the increase, and some of the drugs that are currently used to treat diabetes mellitus (DM) have not been able to mitigate this complication.

Objective: This study determines the effect of Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) and metformin on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) in fructose/streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic rats and also characterizes using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometry and Fourier Transform Infrared the bioactive compounds in 50% aqueous ethanol extract of Brazil nut.

Design: After inducing type 2 DM, 30 male albino Wistar rats were separated into five groups that comprised of six rats per group, and they were treated as follows: groups 1 (Control) and 2 (Diabetic control) rats received rat pellets and distilled water; group 3 (Diabetic + Brazil nut) received rat pellets and Brazil nut extract (100 mg/kg, orally) dissolved in distilled water, group 4 (Diabetic + metformin) received metformin (100 mg/kg, orally) dissolved in distilled water, while group 5 (Diabetic + Brazil nut + metformin) received oral administrations of Brazil nut (100 mg/kg) and metformin (100 mg/kg) dissolved in distilled water. This study lasted for 6 weeks. The dose of Brazil nut used was selected from our pilot study on the minimum therapeutic dose of different concentrations of Brazil nut extract.

Results: STZ administration induced insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, loss of weight, dyslipidemia, oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, alteration of mammalian target of rapamycin, mitogen-activated protein kinase, heart function markers (creatine kinase MB, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate amino transaminase), and heart histology of the diabetic control, which was ameliorated after treatment with Brazil nut and metformin, but their combined treatment was better than the single treatments.

Conclusion: This study shows that Brazil nut contains several bioactive compounds that support its biological properties as well as its candidature as a complementary therapy to metformin in mitigating cardiac complications arising from DM in rats.

Background and objective: LN19183 is a proprietary, synergistic combination of Citrus aurantifolia fruit rind and Theobroma cacao seed extracts that increased resting energy expenditure (REE) in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese rats. The objective of this study was to validate the thermogenic potential of LN19183 in obese Sprague Dawley (SD) rats and to assess its clinical efficacy in a proof-of-concept, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over human trial.

Methods: In the rat study, HFD-fed obese rats were supplemented with either HFD alone or with 45, 90, or 180 mg LN19183 per kg body weight (BW) for 28 days. In the human study, 60 overweight adults (male and female, aged 20-39 years) were randomized. Subjects took LN19183 (450 mg) or a matched placebo capsule on two consecutive days in phases one and two of the study, separated by a 10-day washout period. In each phase, on day 1, REE at pre-dose, 60-, 120-, and 180-min post-dose, and on day 2, metabolic rates at pre-dose and post-dose during and 20 min after exercise were measured using indirect calorimetry.

Results: In rats, LN19183 significantly increased REE, reduced BW gain and fat masses, and increased fat and carbohydrate metabolism marker proteins including beta 3 adrenergic receptor (β3-AR), phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in the liver, and serum adiponectin levels. Furthermore, LN19183-supplemented human volunteers increased (P < 0.05, vs. placebo) the metabolic rates at rest and with exercise; their fat oxidation was increased (P < 0.05, vs. placebo) at rest and 20 min post-exercise. The groups' systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), heart rates (HR), and safety parameters were comparable.

Conclusion: These observations suggest that LN19183 is a thermogenic botanical composition with no stimulatory effects on BP and HR.

Background: Uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate (IS) induces vascular inflammation, a crucial event in renal failure, and vascular complications in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In endothelial cells, IS increases the production of inflammatory cytokines partially via the activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and several food flavonoids have been reported to act as antagonists of AhR.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether antagonistic flavonoids can attenuate IS-induced inflammatory responses in vascular endothelial cells in vitro and renal failure in vivo.

Design: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) pretreated with the flavones apigenin, chrysin, or luteolin were stimulated with IS. Expression levels of genes involved in AhR signaling, inflammatory cytokine production, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were analyzed. Uninephrectomized mice were orally administered chrysin and received daily intraperitoneal injections of IS for 4 weeks.

Results: In HUVECs, IS upregulated the mRNA expression of AhR-targeted genes (CYP1A1 and AhRR), and genes involved in inflammation (NOX4, MCP-1, IL-6, and COX2) and monocyte invasion/adhesion (ICAM1). All three flavones attenuated the IS-induced increase in the expression of these mRNAs. They also suppressed the IS-induced nuclear translocation of AhR and intracellular ROS production. Furthermore, IS-induced phosphorylation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was inhibited by treatment with these flavones. The results of in-vivo experiments showed that administration with chrysin attenuated the elevation of blood urea nitrogen levels and AhR-target gene expression and the pathological impairment of renal tissues in mice, regardless of higher serum levels of IS.

Conclusions: Natural food flavones antagonizing AhR exerted protective effects against IS-induced inflammation through the inhibition of the AhR-STAT3 pathway in HUVECs. Moreover, chrysin ameliorated IS-induced renal dysfunction in a mouse model of CKD. These flavonoids could be a therapeutic strategy for vascular inflammation in CKD.

ackground: Lung cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer globally, has the highest incidence and mortality rates in Taiwan. It can be divided into two types. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 85% of lung cancers, which is further divided into adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell lung cancer accounting for approximately 40%, 25%, and 15% of NSCLC cases, respectively. Small cell lung cancer accounts for approximately 15% of lung cancers. Early systemic therapy NSCLC was based on chemotherapy, and immunotherapy is currently under development. Fucoidan, from brown seaweed extracts, shows promise in mitigating radiation-induced lung fibrosis in animal studies, suggesting its potential as an adjuvant for radiation therapy-related lung fibrosis in lung cancer patients. However, the clinical utility of such adjuvant therapy in lung cancer treatment remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oral administration of oligo-fucoidan on the survival rate, quality of life, and immunity of patients with lung cancer.

Methods: Subjects with Non-small cell lung cancer aged between 20 and 80 were collected from outpatient clinics, divided into control group (n = 7): conventional therapy and fucoidan group (n = 13): received conventional therapy+ oral supplementation of oligo-fucoidan (550 mg × 4 tablets). Data were collected before the study, at weeks 4, 12, and 24 during the study, and to collect 20 ml of peripheral blood, for analysis biochemical data, liver and kidney function, lymphocyte population, inflammation cytokines, and using EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire to assess quality of life.