Effect of reduced coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinol) supplementation on blood pressure and muscle damage during kendo training camp: a double-blind, randomized controlled study.

AIM: This randomized controlled study was designed to examine the effects of reduced coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinol; CoQ10) supplementation on blood pressure (BP) and exercise-induced muscle damage in kendo athletes during a 4-day kendo training camp. METHODS: In a double-blinded manner, 32 young kendo athletes were randomly assigned to supplement with either placebo or CoQ10 (600 mg) daily for 11 days from 1 week prior to camp to end of camp. BP was measured every morning after waking up during the training camp. Blood samples were taken at 3 time points; 1 week and 1 day prior and upon completion of training camp at 17:30. Statistical analysis was performed by repeated-measures analysis of variance followed by Bonferroni/Dunn post-hoc tests. RESULTS: Before the training camp started, there were no differences in diastolic BP between these groups. However, after kendo training started, diastolic BP in the CoQ10 group was significantly lower than that in the placebo group (P<0.05). Plasma creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin (Mb) concentrations were significantly increased in both groups during the camp (P<0.05), whereas there were no significant differences in CK and Mb between CoQ10 and placebo groups (CK: P=0.82, Mb: P=0.69). CONCLUSION: Oral supplementation with reduced form of CoQ10 (ubiquinol; Kaneka QHTM) showed a significant hypotensive effect in young male kendo athletes during a 4-day kendo training camp, although it did not significantly ameliorate kendo exercise-induced muscle damage.

High temporal and spatial quality petawatt-class Ti:sapphire chirped-pulse amplification laser system.

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) operation with low gain by seeding with high-energy, clean pulses is shown to significantly improve the contrast to better than 10(-10) to 10(-11) in a high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser system that is based on chirped-pulse amplification. In addition to the high-contrast broadband, high-energy output from the final amplifier is achieved with a flat-topped spatial profile of filling factor near 77%. This is the result of pump beam spatial profile homogenization with diffractive optical elements. Final pulse energies exceed 30 J, indicating capability for reaching peak powers in excess of 500 TW.

A novel weekday-on/weekend-off UFT schedule.

In a step toward a clinical trial, the tumor response and survival of a weekday-on/weekend-off schedule of UFT was compared with its conventional daily schedule in a cancer-bearing rat model. The dose-intensive schedule--600 mg of UFT for 5 days followed by 2 drug-free days--amounts to a weekly dose similar to the conventional schedule of 400 mg/day. The weekday-on/weekend-off schedule provided increased survival and significantly greater antitumor activity than the conventional daily schedule, with no difference in adverse reactions. A study was also conducted in human subjects to measure fluorouracil (5-FU) concentrations that identified the pharmacokinetic activity during the 2 drug-free days of the weekday-on/weekend-off schedule. The plasma 5-FU concentration declined markedly after 24 hours, but the concentration in the tumor remained at a relatively high level after 2 days off the drug. A one-year clinical study evaluated the compliance and toxicity of the weekday-on/weekend-off UFT schedule as adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Based on the findings of all these studies, the weekday-on/weekend-off schedule for UFT as adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer can be recommended for a clinical trial.

Evaluation of a surgical gamma probe for detection of 18F-FDG.

Because fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) is an excellent tumor-localizing radio-pharmaceutical, a hand-held radiation detection probe capable of localizing an area with high 18F-FDG uptake would make radioguided surgery possible. In this laboratory study, we investigated the capability of a widely used intraoperative gamma probe with a cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) detector for detection of 18F-FDG. For sensitivity tests, an 0.1- ml 18F-FDG preparation was made to act as a point source with radioactivities of 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0micro Ci (37 kBq, 74 kBq, 111 kBq). Relative transmission across the side wall of the probe and sensitivity at each source-to-probe distance were measured. For simulation studies, 2 l of 18F-FDG solution (0.02micro Ci, 0.74 kBq/ml) served as normal background. One ml of 18F-FDG was prepared to simulate tumors with radioactivities of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4micro Ci (1.85 kBq, 3.7 kBq, 17.4 kBq, and 14.8 kBq). The ratios of the radioactive concentration of tumor to that of the background were 2.5, 5, 10, and 20:1, respectively. The tested gamma probe was shown to be sensitive to 18F. The high-energy annihilation radiation was detected from the side wall of the probe despite application of a supplementary collimator. The count rate decreased markedly as the source-to-probe distance increased, owing to the effects of the inverse-square law. In the simulation studies, the probe detected a considerable amount of background activity. However, the measured count rate increased with the increasing source-to-background ratio. In our setting, the probe was capable of distinguishing the 18F-FDG source from the background when the source-to-background ratio was no less than 5:1. To make a surgical application feasible, however, collimation or shielding against high background radiation is necessary.

A dose-finding study of lenograstim (glycosylated rHuG-CSF) for peripheral blood stem cell mobilization during postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Lenograstim/Breast Cancer Study Group.

BACKGROUND: The optimum dose of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization after disease-oriented, conventional-dose chemotherapy remains unknown. METHODS: A multicenter dose-finding study of glycosylated G-CSF (lenograstim) for the mobilization of PBSCs following adjuvant CAF chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil) was performed in 38 patients with postoperative breast cancer. Each 10, ten and eight patients were sequentially allocated to one of the three dose groups (2, 5 and 10 micrograms/kg, respectively) of lenograstim. Lenograstim was administered subcutaneously (s.c.) daily from day 8 to the day of the last apheresis and CD34+ cells and colony-forming units-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GMs) in peripheral blood were measured serially. Additionally, 10 patients who received adjuvant CAF chemotherapy alone also participated in the study, as a control. RESULTS: Lenograstim was well tolerated up to 10 micrograms/kg, except for one patient given 10 micrograms/kg who developed transient grade 3 hepatic enzyme elevation. The peak levels of CD34+ cells and CFU-GMs in peripheral blood showed dose-response relationships. The median peak CD34+ cells for the 0, 2, 5 and 10 micrograms/kg dose groups were 5.4, 34.3, 55.0 and 127.6 cells/microliter, respectively, and those of CFU-GMs for the 0, 2, 5 and 10 micrograms/kg dose groups were 0.01, 0.33, 1.32 and 3.30 CFU-GMs/microliter, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the previous reports suggesting that a pre-apheresis number of 40-50 CD34+ cells/microliter in peripheral blood is highly predictive for achievement of more than 2.5 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg in a standard apheresis procedure of 10 litres, the optimum dose of lenograstim for PBSC mobilization following CAF chemotherapy in patients with postoperative breast cancer is 5 micrograms/kg/day s.c.

Prenatal dexamethasone treatment does not prevent alterations of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis in steroid 21-hydroxylase deficient mice.

A major difficulty in the clinical management of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is adjustment of glucocorticoid doses to suppress ACTH and androgens without causing iatrogenic hypercortisolism. The possibility that structural alterations of the adrenal or a dysfunction of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis caused by glucocorticoid deficiency during fetal life contribute to this problem was studied in 21-hydroxylase deficient mice caused by deletion of the cytochrome P-450 21-hydroxylase gene. Homozygotes showed about 200-fold elevations in plasma progesterone, hyperplastic adrenal cortices lacking zonation, and structural alterations of adrenocortical mitochondria. Histochemical studies showed increases in hypothalamic CRH messenger RNA (mRNA) and immunoreactive (ir) CRH, and pituitary POMC mRNA in homozygous mice. VP mRNA levels in PVN perikarya were normal, but irVP in parvicellular terminals of the median eminence was increased in homozygotes. Prenatal dexamethasone treatment (0.5 to 2 microg/day) prevented the increases in CRH mRNA, whereas dexamethasone only partially decreased POMC mRNA levels, and had no effect on serum progesterone levels. The data suggest that intrauterine glucocorticoid deficiency in CAH causes hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-corticotroph axis and insensitivity to glucocorticoid feedback. These studies in 21-hydroxylase deficient mice may provide new insights on the mechanism, clinical manifestations and management of some types of human CAH.

Swimming stress that causes hyperglycemia increases in vivo release of noradrenaline, but not acetylcholine, from the hypothalamus of conscious rats.

The effects of acute swimming stress (10 min) on noradrenaline release from the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH; consisting of the ventromedial and dorsomedial hypothalamus) and acetylcholine release from the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) were investigated in freely moving rats by using in vivo microdialysis techniques. Serum glucose, noradrenaline and adrenaline concentrations were also determined. Acute swimming stress produced significant hyperglycemia, with increases in serum noradrenaline and adrenaline concentrations. The release of noradrenaline from the MBH was significantly stimulated during the swimming stress. On the other hand, the swimming stress has no significant effect on the release of acetylcholine from the LHA. These findings support the idea that hypothalamic noradrenergic neurons play an important role in the sympathoadrenal hyperglycemic response to stressful stimuli. Moreover, it is suggested that hypothalamic cholinergic neurons are not involved in the responses of serum glucose, noradrenaline and adrenaline concentrations to swimming stress.

Effects of vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) on atherosclerosis and blood coagulation in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

Gamma-Carboxyglutamic acid (Gla)-containing protein, synthesized in the presence of vitamin K, has been found in atherogenic plaques, but the pharmacological effect of vitamin K on atherosclerosis is unclear. We examined whether vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) could affect the progression of both atherosclerosis and hypercoagulability in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Vitamin K2 in daily doses of 1, 10 and 100 mg/kg was given with a 0.5% cholesterol diet for 10 weeks to 8 rabbits each. The plasma levels of total-cholesterol in the vitamin K2-treated groups were clearly lower than that of the hypercholesterolemic control group. The excessive dose of vitamin K2, even at the high dose of 100 mg/kg/day for 10 weeks, did not accelerate the progression of atherosclerosis and did not promote the coagulative tendency in the rabbits. In contrast, the vitamin K2 treatment (1 to 10 mg/kg/day) suppressed the progression of atherosclerotic plaques, intima-thickening and pulmonary atherosclerosis, the increase of ester-cholesterol deposition in the aorta, and both the elevation in plasma factor X level and increase in Hepaplastin test value in the rabbits. These results indicate that the pharmacological dose of vitamin K2 prevents both the progression of atherosclerosis and the coagulative tendency by reducing the total-cholesterol, lipid peroxidation and factor X activity in plasma, and the ester-cholesterol deposition in the aorta in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

Clinical and biochemical aspects of thiamine treatment for metabolic acidosis during total parenteral nutrition.

We encountered six cases of total parenteral nutrition (TPN)-associated lactic acidosis during the 6-y period of 1988-1993. The patients were characterized by severe disease of the digestive organs, minimal food intake before surgery, and postoperative TPN with no food intake and with no vitamin supplements. Within 4 wk of TPN, they developed hypotension (< or = 80/60 mmHg), Kussmaul's respiration, and clouding of consciousness, as well as abdominal pain not directly related to the underlying disease. Routine laboratory examinations revealed no acute aggravation in hepatic, renal, or pancreatic functions. Arterial blood gas analysis showed pH < or = 7.134 and base excess < or = -17.5 mmol/L. Additional laboratory examinations revealed serum lactate > or = 10.9 mmol/L, serum pyruvate > or = 159 mumol/L, and lactate/pyruvate ratio > or = 0.029. None of the patients responded to sodium bicarbonate or other conventional emergency treatments for shock and lactic acidosis. After the first case, we suspected that thiamine deficiency might be responsible for this pathologic condition, Serum thiamine was proved to be < or = 196 nmol/L in 5 patients. Thiamine replenishment at intravenous doses of 100 mg every 12 h resolved lactic acidosis and improved the clinical condition in 3 patients. This article includes a review of 11 relevant reports published from 1982-1992 and a discussion of the biochemical mechanism of onset of thiamine deficiency-associated lactic acidosis. We emphasize the needs (1) to supplement TPN with thiamine-containing vitamins for the patients whose food intake does not meet nutritional requirements; (2) to monitor the patients routinely measuring serum thiamine concentration and erythrocyte transketolase activity during TPN; and (3) to intravenously replenish using high-dose thiamine simultaneously with the manifestation of signs and symptoms of lactic acidosis.

[A case of advanced gastric cancer with liver metastasis with no recurrence and long survival].

A 61-year-old male was admitted after detecting gastric lesion by gastrography in a medical health examination. The patient was diagnosed as Borrmann 2 advanced gastric cancer with remarkable intraperitoneal lymph node metastasis and liver tumor of lateral segment. Relative non-curative gastrectomy was performed with combined partial hepatectomy. The liver tumor measured 1.5 x 1.5 cm and was intraoperatively diagnosed as metastasis of gastric cancer. Mitomycin C 26 mg was given intravenously on the day of operation and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 150 mg/day orally since postoperative 14th day as adjuvant chemotherapy. The administration of 5-FU was continued for 5 years. As a result of such combination therapy, the patient still has had no recurrence 8 years following operation.

Starvation reduces norepinephrine activities in both hypothalamus and heart in rats.

Norepinephrine (NE) activities in both hypothalamus and heart were simultaneously assessed in rats after food-deprivation for 2 days. The technique of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was employed for the analysis of NE and its primary neuronal metabolite, 3,4-dehydroxyphenylethylene glycol (DHPG), and the ratio of DHPG to NE was used as an index of NE activity. Hypothalamic DHPG/NE ratio was significantly decreased by fasting and was completely reversed by a single day of refeeding. These changes in hypothalamic DHPG/NE ratio were parallel to those in cardiac DHPG/NE ratio. Supporting the concept in which hypothalamic NE neurons play an important role in modulating the sympathetic outflow, it is suggested the decrease in hypothalamic NE activity contributes to the reduction in cardiac NE activity during fasting.

[Pharmacokinetic, bacteriological, and clinical studies on SY5555 in children].

Pharmacokinetic, bacteriological and clinical studies on SY5555 were performed in children. The results were as follows: 1. A total of 15 patients considered to have bacterial infections were treated with SY5555. Each dose, 5 mg/kg, was orally administered 3 times daily, for 4-11 days. Clinical efficacies of SY5555 in 13 patients with bacterial infections (1 with pneumonia, 2 with bronchitis, each 1 with maxillary sinusitis, 2 with otitis media, 5 with pharyngitis, 1 each with gastroenteritis and pyelonephritis) were evaluated as excellent in 10 patients and as good in 3 patients with an efficacy rate of 100%. Two patients with viral infection and malignant lymphoma were not evaluated. Thirteen causative strains in 7 species were found in 10 patients. Streptococcus pneumoniae in 1/3, Haemophilus influenzae in 2/2, Streptococcus pyogenes 4/4, Salmonella spp. in 1/1, Escherichia coli in 1/1 were eradicated. Only one patient developed mild diarrhea as an adverse reaction. Another patient showed elevated GPT (glutamate pyruvate transaminase). The abnormality was mild and the patient recovered after the cessation of SY5555 administration without specific treatment. 2. MICs of SY5555 were examined against 33 clinical isolates. SY5555 has low MICs against Enterococcus faecalis and other Gram-positive cocci. 3. Pharmacokinetic studies Peak plasma concentrations of SY5555 was 1.15 micrograms/ml at a dose level of 4.9 mg/kg orally administered at fasting. Based on the above results and the broad spectrum of the anti-bacterial activities, SY5555 appears to be a promising antibiotics that is usable as a single agent for the primary therapy of respiratory tract infections, skin soft tissue infections and urinary tract infections in children.

Adrenocorticotropin and growth hormone secretions after intracerebroventricular administration of neostigmine in rats: their relationships to hypothalamic monoaminergic neuronal activities.

Serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and growth hormone (GH) concentrations were assessed simultaneously with hypothalamic neuronal activities of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and serotonin (5-HT) 60 min after the third cerebroventricular administration of neostigmine (a cholinesterase inhibitor) in awake rats. Serum ACTH and GH concentrations were significantly increased and decreased, respectively. Neostigmine caused significant increases in hypothalamic NE and DA activities and a significant decrease in hypothalamic 5-HT activity. The reciprocal changes of serum ACTH and GH concentrations were similar to those of hypothalamic NE and 5-HT activities. Multiple regression analyses with stepwise procedure revealed that hypothalamic NE and 5-HT activities were respectively significant determinants of serum ACTH and GH concentrations. Apart from the direct influence of neostigmine on ACTH and GH secretions, it is suggested that the changes in hypothalamic monoaminergic activities play an important role in modulating ACTH and GH secretions following the administration of neostigmine.

Effects of menatetrenone on the decrease in calcium balance induced by vitamin K-deficient diet and sodium loading in rats.

The effects of menatetrenone (2-methyl-3-tetraprenyl-1,4-naphthoquinone, MK-4) on calcium balance were studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Experiment 1: Rats in metabolic cages that were fed a vitamin K-deficient diet and injected daily with latamoxef (100 mg/kg, i.p.) were either treated or untreated with MK-4 for 7 days. Daily food intake, urine volume and feces weight were determined, and calcium concentration in these samples was measured. Calcium balance was calculated as the difference between calcium intake and urinary and fecal calcium excretion. Cumulative calcium balance in the vitamin K-deficient group treated with latamoxef was lower than that in normal rats; this balance was significantly improved by MK-4 (1 and 10 mg/kg, s.c.) administered for 7 days. Experiment 2: Rats were fed a vitamin K-deficient diet containing 4.6% sodium chloride for 6 weeks. MK-4 was administered as a dietary supplement. Forty-eight-hour calcium balance, determined once a week, was significantly reduced compared with that of normal rats after 3 and 5 weeks; the balance was restored dose-dependently by MK-4 administration (1 and 10 mg/kg). Experiment 3: Rats were subjected to the same experimental conditions as experiment 2 for 6 weeks, and intestinal calcium transport was determined using an everted gut-sac technique. Calcium transport was reduced by the high sodium, vitamin K-deficient diet, and this reduction was restored by MK-4 administration (10 mg/kg). These results suggest that MK-4 improves the reduced calcium balance by increasing intestinal calcium absorption in these rats.

Hyperbaric oxygen combined with nicardipine administration accelerates neurologic recovery after cerebral ischemia in a canine model.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of combined therapy--hyperbaric oxygenation with nicardipine administration--for neurologic recovery after complete cerebral ischemia. DESIGN: Randomized, prospective, controlled, unblinded, study, with 14-day postischemic observation. SETTING: Laboratory of the Department of Anesthesiology, Tohoku University School of Medicine. SUBJECTS: Nineteen healthy mongrel dogs (mean weight 10.4 kg) divided randomly into two groups-ten dogs in the untreated group and nine dogs in the treated group. INTERVENTIONS: Fifteen minutes of complete global cerebral ischemia was achieved by occlusion of the ascending aorta and the caval veins. Dogs in the treated group each received a 0.01-mg/kg bolus injection of nicardipine immediately after the reestablishment of circulation, followed by a 0.03-microgram/kg/min continuous infusion of nicardipine for 3 days and hyperbaric oxygen therapy with 3 atmospheres absolute pressures in an FIO2 of 1.0 for 1 hr at 3, 24, and 29 hrs after ischemia. Neurologic recovery was evaluated based on the survival time and rate, the Electroencephalogram (EEG) Score (1 = normal, 5 = isoelectric), and the Neurologic Recovery Score (100 = normal, 0 = brain dead) over a 14-day postischemic period. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Neurologic Recovery Scores of the treated group were always higher than those scores of the untreated group throughout the 14-day period. The best Neurologic Recovery Score was 83.1 +/- 5.3 in the treated group and 46.9 +/- 5.2 in the untreated group (p < .01). The numbers of dogs that recovered to a Neurologic Recovery Score of > 85 (assessed as almost normal) was five of nine in the treated group and none of ten in the untreated group (p < .01). Recovery of EEG over 14-day period was better in the treated group. The survival rate and the predicted survival rate were 78% and 13.6 days in the treated group and 30% and 9.0 days in the untreated group, respectively (p < .04 for the survival rate and p < .05 for the survival time). CONCLUSION: Combined therapy, using hyperbaric oxygenation with nicardipine administration, given after 15 mins of complete global cerebral ischemia, accelerates neurologic recovery in dogs.

Effects of menatetrenone on prednisolone-induced bone loss in rats.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of menatetrenone, a vitamin K2 with 4 isoprene units, on prednisolone-induced bone loss. Three experiments were performed in rats which received menatetrenone as a dietary supplement. In experiment 1, a soluble form of prednisolone, dissolved in drinking water, was administered to rats at 7 mg/kg/day for 9 weeks. The length, dry weight, and bone density of femurs and tibiae, as well as urinary gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) content, were significantly lower in the prednisolone-control group than in the intact group. Menatetrenone (17 mg/kg/day) significantly inhibited the decrease in these bone parameters, especially in tibiae, and completely inhibited the decrease in urinary Gla content. In experiments 2 and 3, prednisolone (10 mg/kg), dissolved in cottonseed oil, was given to rats intramuscularly three times a week for 4 and 10 weeks, respectively. In experiment 2, bone length, bone strength and calcium content in the femur were reduced by 4-week prednisolone treatment. These reductions were significantly improved by menatetrenone (21 mg/kg/day). In experiment 3, 10-week prednisolone treatment reduced bone length and the calcium and hydroxyproline content of the femur. Menatetrenone (0.4, 10, and 50 mg/kg/day) significantly inhibited the reduction of calcium content in the femur. These results suggest that menatetrenone may inhibit the bone loss induced by corticosteroid treatment.

[Pharmacokinetic, bacteriological and clinical studies on S-1108 in children].

Pharmacokinetic, bacteriological and clinical studies on S-1108 were performed in children. The results were as follows: 1. A total of 11 patients were treated with S-1108. Each dose was 3 mg/kg, orally administered 3 times daily for 4-14 days. The clinical efficacies of S-1108 in 10 patients with bacterial infections (1 with bacteremia, 4 with pneumonia, 1 with acute maxillary sinusitis, 1 with scarlet fever and 2 with streptococcal pharyngitis) were evaluated as excellent in 8 patients and as good in 2 patients with an efficacy rate of 100%. Only one patient with staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome due to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) who received gamma-globulin was not evaluated. Fourteen causative strains of 5 species were found in 10 patients. Three strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae out of 5, 2 of 3 Branhamella catarrhalis strains, none of Staphylococcus aureus and all 3 strains of Streptococcus pyogenes were eradicated. No adverse reaction was observed in any of the 11 patients. 2. MICs of S-1108 against 5 clinically isolated S. pneumoniae from cases of infections were examined. All of them were relatively highly resistant to penicillins. S-1108 was compared with cefteram pivoxil, cefpodoxime proxetil, cefaclor and cefixime, and it showed better antibacterial activity or than other cephems. 3. Double peaks were obtained in plasma levels of S-1108 orally administered at a dose of 3 mg/kg at 30 minutes after meal and were 1.03 microgram/ml and 0.74 microgram/ml at 1 and 4 hours after administration, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of menatetrenone on bone loss induced by ovariectomy in rats.

The effects of menatetrenone, a vitamin K2 homologue, on bone loss induced by ovariectomy in rats were studied in 3 experiments. Menatetrenone was given as a dietary supplement. In experiment 1, at 2 weeks postovariectomy, menatetrenone (10 mg/kg/day given for 2 weeks) inhibited the decrease in bone density of the femoral metaphysis induced by the ovariectomy. In experiment 2, menatetrenone (3 or 30 mg/kg/day given for 6 months) inhibited the decrease in bone strength of the femur and the decrease in calcium and hydroxyproline content of the femoral diaphysis at 6 months postovariectomy. In experiment 3, menatetrenone treatment, at 30 or 100 mg/kg/day for 6 months, protected against the decrease in bone strength and calcium and hydroxyproline content in the bone loss model induced by ovariectomy and calcium-deficient diet. These findings suggest that menatetrenone protects against the bone loss induced by ovariectomy.

[The effect of soluble fiber dietary supplement on constipation in 3 patients with dysphagia who suffered from cerebral infarction with special reference to serum diamine oxidase activity].

Dietary supplement with soluble fibers was given to 3 patients with stroke and dysphagia and obtained improved defecation condition. These clinical effects of soluble fibers should reduce the burden of the patients and families. Long-term inaction of the gastrointestinal tract or continuation of supplementary diet without fibers will induce atrophic intestinal mucosa and abnormal intestinal function. The addition of dietary soluble fibers into supplementary diet can improve the atrophy of the intestinal mucosa and the decline in function of the intestine, constipation and meteorism. The serum diamine oxidase activity, which is regarded as a parameter of intestinal mucosal atrophy, increased with the improvement of constipation and meteorism after addition of dietary soluble fibers. We think that dietary soluble fibers are necessary, especially for the patients who have low diamine oxidase activity. The measurement of serum diamine oxidase activity should be an effective method to evaluate intestinal mucosal atrophy and estimate dietary fibers. We selected a supplementary diet, Enrich-SF, which contains Fibaron, a kind of soluble fiber, galactomannan purified from guar, because this canned supplementary diet has only one kind of soluble fiber. Some consider that soluble fibers are fermented to short-chain fatty acids in the intestinal tract, and improve the disordered bacterial flora in the intestine, resulting in more regular intestinal function. Attention should be paid to dietary fibers in cases of long-term tube feeding.