Effects of long-term supplementation of policosanol on blood cholesterol/glucose levels and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase activity in a rat model fed high cholesterol diets.

Policosanol is a well-defined nutraceutical for the management of blood cholesterol levels. The present study examined (i) the effect of policosanol supplementation on blood cholesterol and glucose levels and (ii) changes in hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis using 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) activity in Wistar rats fed high cholesterol diets. The Wistar rats were assigned randomly to high-cholesterol diets (1.25% cholesterol) with or without policosanol (8.0 mg/kg body weight) for 6 weeks. Compared with the control group, dietary treatment with policosanol resulted in a significant decrease of blood cholesterol (p<0.01), blood glucose (p<0.01), triglyceride (p<0.001), and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels (p<0.01) and HMG-CoA reductase activity (p<0.001) in the liver. These results indicate that policosanol decreases blood cholesterol levels by suppressing cholesterol biosynthesis via decrease of HMG-CoA activity. Policosanol has the potential to be developed into an effective dietary strategy for both postprandial hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia.

Effect of supplementation of low-molecular-weight chitosan oligosaccharide, GO2KA1, on postprandial blood glucose levels in healthy individuals following bread consumption.

The effect of chitosan oligosaccharide (GO2KA1) administration on postprandial blood glucose levels of subjects with normal blood glucose levels was evaluated following bread consumption. Postprandial blood glucose levels were determined for 2 h after bread ingestion with or without 500 mg of GO2KA1. GO2KA1 significantly lowered the mean, maximum, and minimum levels of postprandial blood glucose at 30 min after the meal. Postprandial blood glucose levels were decreased by about 25% (from 155.11±13.06 to 138.50±13.59, p<0.01) at 30 min when compared to control. Furthermore, we observed that the area under the concentration-time curve (AUCt) was decreased by about 6% (from 255.46±15.43 to 240.15±14.22, p<0.05) and the peak concentration of blood glucose (C max) was decreased by about 11% (from 157.94±10.90 to 140.61±12.52, p<0.01) when compared to control. However, postprandial the time to reach C max (Tmax) levels were the same as those found in control. Our findings suggest that GO2KA1 limits the increase in postprandial blood glucose levels following bread consumption.

Development and application of a web-based nutritional management program to improve dietary behaviors for the prevention of metabolic syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to develop a Web-based nutritional management program for the prevention of metabolic syndrome and to evaluate how the program affects health-related behaviors and the health status of office workers with metabolic syndrome risk factors. For the pilot test of the Web-based nutritional management program, 29 employees (19 males, 10 females) with more than one metabolic syndrome risk factor participated in the Web-based nutritional management program for 16 weeks. Participants visited the Web site more than two times per week and completed customized assessments of health status, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, dietary habits, food intake, ideal body weight, energy requirements, and exercise. Subjects had a significant decrease in body weight, waist circumference, body mass index (P < .01 in males, P < .05 in females), and body fat (P < .01 in males). The frequency of dietary habits such as eating snacks, eating out, and dining with others decreased, whereas the frequency of intake of foods such as whole grains, seaweed, fruit, and low-fat milk increased after intervention. After 16 weeks, program satisfaction was evaluated using a Web evaluation questionnaire, and most of the participants were highly satisfied with Web site components such as the loading speed, configuration, privacy, design, functionality, and contents.

Determinants of the burden and positivity of family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients in Korea.

OBJECTIVE: Caregivers may experience positive or negative feelings about their role. The study investigated the determinants of the burden and positivity of family caregivers of Korean terminal cancer patients. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted with 139 family caregivers. Determinants of caregiver's burden and positivity were assessed by the Caregiver Reaction Assessment Scale and by three questions based on a previous study, respectively. Two separate hierarchical multiple regression models were used. RESULTS: Each domain of the caregiver's burden and positivity was explained by different factors, with the total explained variance ranging between 14.4-33.6% and 2.6-18.3%, respectively. Caregivers who were unmarried, less educated, and/or had low incomes were more likely to be negatively affected, while those who shared caregiving responsibilities were less prone to negative consequences. Caregivers who were male, religious practitioners, and who perceived a higher burden of schedule disruptions were more likely to have a positive perception of their role, while those who perceived a lack of family support were less likely. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the importance of sharing the caregiving burden with the other family members. Organizing a family meeting can provide an opportunity for other family members to acknowledge the feelings and reactions of the primary caregivers, and can prompt the sharing of caregiving responsibilities.

In vitro and in vivo antihyperglycemic effect of 2 amadori rearrangement compounds, arginyl-fructose and arginyl-fructosyl-glucose.

During the heat processing of raw ginseng to produce red ginseng, amino acid derivatives such as arginyl-fructose (AF) and arginyl-fructosyl-glucose (AFG) are formed at high levels, through amadori rearrangement, the early step of Maillard reaction, from arginine and glucose or maltose, respectively. However, very limited information is available about the effect of the structural difference between AF and AFG on various biological activities. This is the first report of the mode of action and effect of AF and AFG on the type 2 diabetes management related inhibition of postprandial hyperglycemia in vitro and in animal model. In our previous study, standards AF and AFG were chemically synthesized and in this study their inhibitory activities against rat intestinal α-glucosidases and porcine pancreatic α-amylase were investigated in vitro. The IC(50) value of the in vitro inhibitory activity of AF and AFG on rat intestinal sucrase was high and in similar levels (6.40 and 6.20 mM, respectively). Additionally, a mild pancreatic α-amylase inhibitory activity was observed, with IC(50) values 36.30 and 37.60 mM for AF and AFG, respectively. The effect of AF and AFG on the postprandial blood glucose increase after meal was investigated in Sprague Dawley rats fed on starch or sucrose meals. Both amadori compounds significantly reduced the postprandial blood glucose levels after starch or sucrose loading. These results indicate that AF and AFG, Maillard reaction products, may have antidiabetic effect by suppressing carbohydrate absorption in the gastrointestinal level, and thereby reducing the postprandial increase of blood glucose.

Dietary source of vitamin B(12) intake and vitamin B(12) status in female elderly Koreans aged 85 and older living in rural area.

Recently, we found and analyzed vitamin B(12) in some Korean traditional plant foods which had not reported, yet. This study was to investigate vitamin B(12) intake and its dietary sources and the vitamin B(12) status in the very old elderly Koreans. We measured serum vitamin B(12) level and estimated the amounts of vitamin B(12) intake from different dietary sources in female elderly Koreans aged 85 and over who had consumed a relatively low animal traditional diet for the whole life. The average age of the subjects (n = 127) was 98.0 years (85-108 years). The assessment on energy and nutrient intake involved a one-day 24-hour recall, and serum vitamin B(12) concentration was measured by radioimmunoassay. Overall diet pattern was not different between the 85-99 yr-old group and centenarians, except centenarians were taking more dairy product. The average ratio of plant food to animal food consumption was 87.5:12.5 in weight. The average vitamin B(12) intake of our subjects was 3.2 microg/day, and 52.7% of subjects consumed under estimated average requirement, 2.0 microg/day. On dietary source, 67.3% of dietary vitamin B(12) was from meat, eggs and fishes and 30.6% was from plant foods, such as soybean-fermented foods, seaweeds, and kimchi. The average serum vitamin B(12) concentration was 450.5 pg/mL, and low serum vitamin B(12) (< 200 pg/mL) was found in 9.6% of subjects. Dietary vitamin B(12) intake was significantly lower in subjects with low serum vitamin B(12) (0.79 microg/day) than those with normal serum vitamin B(12) (3.47 microg/day). There were no significant difference in vitamin B(12) intake and its dietary sources and serum vitamin B(12) level between the 85-99 yr-old group and centenarians. In conclusion, several plant-origin foods including seaweed, soybean-fermented foods, and kimchi, may contribute significantly to good vitamin B(12) status in very old elderly Koreans.

Discovery of novel sources of vitamin b(12) in traditional korean foods from nutritional surveys of centenarians.

Human longevity can be explained by a variety of factors, among them, nutritional factor would play an important role. In our study of Korean centenarians for their longevity, the apparent nutritional imbalance in the traditional semi-vegetarian diet raised a special attention, especially on vitamin B(12) status, supplied by animal foods. Interestingly, we found that the prevalence of vitamin B(12) deficient Korean centenarians was not higher compared with those from Western nations with animal-oriented traditional foods. We assumed that there might be some unveiled sources for vitamin B(12) in the Korean traditional foods. Screening of vitamin B(12) contents has revealed that some traditional soybean-fermented foods, such as Doenjang and Chunggukjang, and seaweeds contain considerable amounts of vitamin B(12). Taken together, it can be summarized that the traditional foods, especially of fermentation, might be evaluated for compensation of the nutritional imbalance in the vegetable-oriented dietary pattern by supplying vitamin B(12), resulting in maintenance of health status.

Kidney bean husk extracts exert antitumor effect by inducing apoptosis involving AMP-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.

In this study, we investigated the molecular basis of Korean kidney bean husk extract, with emphasis on its ability to control intracellular signaling cascades of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) responsible for inducing antitumor activities in colon cancer cells. Recently, the evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase, AMPK, has emerged as a possible target molecule of tumor control. We investigated the effects of Korean kidney bean husk extract on apoptosis regulation and the activation of AMPK. Korean kidney bean husk extract exhibited a series of antitumor effects such as cell death and apoptotic body appearance. These antitumor potentials were accompanied by the increase in p-AMPK and p-Acc as well as antitumor proteins p53 and p21. The stimulation of AMPK by this extract was blocked with the synthetic AMPK inhibitor Compound C at 10 micromol/L, and the combined treatment of Compound C and the AMPK activator AICAR (5-aminoimiazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranoside) showed that Compound C could inhibit the activation of AMPK at the concentration of 20 micromol/L. In conclusion, the ability of carcinogenesis control by Korean kidney bean husk extract with high potency suggests its value as an antitumor agent in colon cancer therapy.

Effects of cotreatment of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and H2O2 on apoptotic regulation via AMP-activated protein kinase-cyclooxygenase-2 signals.

Colorectal cancer displays elevated cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression, and several studies have suggested that COX-2 expression is associated with parameters of aggressive colon cancer. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a sensor of cellular energy status, and recent studies indicate that AMPK activation strongly suppresses cell proliferation in nonmalignant cells as well as in tumor cells. As a metabolic sensing signal, AMPK is involved in cancer cell apoptosis. In HT-29 colon cancer cells, the regulation of COX-2 expression by treating with TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate), low-level H(2)O(2), high-level H(2)O(2), and finally the combinations of TPA and low H(2)O(2) or high H(2)O(2) was investigated. We found that COX-2 expression levels with treatment reacted as follows: with TPA alone > TPA and low H(2)O(2) > low H(2)O(2) > high H(2)O(2) > TPA and high H(2)O(2). COX-2 regulation by these agents was accompanied by the alteration of AMPK control. The apoptotic bodies were detected as follows: high level of H(2)O(2) > TPA > low level of H(2)O(2). The present findings suggest that both COX-2 stimulators (TPA and H(2)O(2)) might have differential effects on COX-2 and AMPK regulation and further apoptotic regulation.

Antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antitumor effects of pine needles (Pinus densiflora).

Pine needles (Pinus densiflora Siebold et Zuccarini) have long been used as a traditional health-promoting medicinal food in Korea. To investigate their potential anticancer effects, antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antitumor activities were assessed in vitro and/or in vivo. Pine needle ethanol extract (PNE) significantly inhibited Fe(2+)-induced lipid peroxidation and scavenged 1,1-diphenyl- 2-picrylhydrazyl radical in vitro. PNE markedly inhibited mutagenicity of 2-anthramine, 2-nitrofluorene, or sodium azide in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 or TA100 in Ames tests. PNE exposure effectively inhibited the growth of cancer cells (MCF-7, SNU-638, and HL-60) compared with normal cell (HDF) in 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. In in vivo antitumor studies, freeze-dried pine needle powder supplemented (5%, wt/wt) diet was fed to mice inoculated with Sarcoma-180 cells or rats treated with mammary carcinogen, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA, 50 mg/kg body weight). Tumorigenesis was suppressed by pine needle supplementation in the two model systems. Moreover, blood urea nitrogen and aspartate aminotransferase levels were significantly lower in pine needle-supplemented rats in the DMBA-induced mammary tumor model. These results demonstrate that pine needles exhibit strong antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antiproliferative effects on cancer cells and also antitumor effects in vivo and point to their potential usefulness in cancer prevention.

Distributions of ACE and APOE polymorphisms and their relations with dementia status in Korean centenarians.

BACKGROUND: Genetic polymorphisms of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) have been reported to be associated with human longevity and dementia in the elderly. However, whether such putative longevity genes exert the same effects on different ethnic groups living in different environments is not well known. METHODS: We investigated the distributions of the ACE and APOE genotypes and their relations with dementia status in Korean centenarians by cross-sectional study. A total of 103 centenarians (13 men and 90 women, mean age 102.4 +/- 2.6 years) were included in this study. The allele frequencies of the genes were compared with those of two control groups: 7232 apparently healthy adults (4100 men and 3132 women) of mean age 48.5 +/- 9.6 years for the ACE genotyping, and 6435 adults (5008 men and 1427 women) of mean age 50.7 +/- 7.9 years for the APOE genotyping. The dementia status of the centenarians was assessed by clinical psychologist using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score. RESULTS: The frequencies of genotypes and alleles of the ACE and APOE genes of the centenarians were not significantly different from those of the control groups. There was a lack of association between presence of the D allele on the ACE gene and dementia status. However, the frequency of the epsilon4 allele of the APOE gene was significantly higher in centenarians with dementia than in centenarians without definitive dementia (9.1% versus 1.5%, p <.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that neither the ACE nor the APOE gene is significantly associated with longevity in the Korean population, but that the APOE epsilon4 allele is still related with dementia even at age 100 and older.

Aspartate modulates the ethanol-induced oxidative stress and glutathione utilizing enzymes in rat testes.

In order to develop a preventive strategy against ethanol-induced oxidative damages on various tissues and organs, we have examined the protective effect of aspartate on the pathogenesis of testes in the ethanol treated animals. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were given ethanol in an amount of 36% of total calories via Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet for 6 weeks without or with aspartate (2 mM in the diet). The control group was pair-fed the diet containing isocaloric dextrin-maltose instead of ethanol. The pathogenesis of testes at post- 6 weeks of experiments were carried out by histochemistry and biochemical parameters for oxidative stress such as the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and the activities of glutathione utilizing enzymes were also examined. Chronic ethanol administration resulted in the increased amount of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the testes, which was significantly lessened by concurrent aspartate treatment (p < 0.05). In addition to this, liver function test indicated by alkaline phosphatase activity in serum showed that the ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity was significantly ameliorated by aspartate administration. And the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutathione transferase in testis cytosol were decreased in the ethanol treated rats (p < 0.01 and < 0.005, respectively). These data suggest that aspartate may attenuate the ethanol-induced oxidative tissue damage in rat testes possibly through a redox-related protective effect on peroxidation.