The Effects of Adlay Tea Intake on Immune Homeostasis and Vascular Endothelial Function in Healthy Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group Comparative Study.

Excessive immune response and inflammation are associated with an increased risk of various diseases. In particular, excessive myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in neutrophils causes inflammatory reactions and lifestyle-related diseases. Adlay has a long history of being used as a traditional Chinese medicine. Polyphenols present in adlay seeds are expected to have the effect of suppressing excessive immune and inflammatory responses. Here, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled study was conducted to evaluate the suppressing effects of adlay seeds extract on excessive immune responses. One hundred and twenty adults participated in the study and they were equally divided into an adlay tea intake group and a placebo group. MPO activity was significantly elevated in the placebo group after 8-wk ingestion, while no significant change was observed in the adlay group. Vascular endothelial functions improved in the adlay group, especially in subjects over 40 y old. These results indicate that adlay tea intake may suppress an excessive immune and inflammatory responses, and improve arterial stiffness. Since caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid detected in adlay tea are known to inhibit MPO activity, these polyphenols may be the major functional molecules. Collectively, adlay tea is considered to have a preventative effect against lifestyle-related diseases through improving vascular endothelial function by effects to maintain immune homeostasis of the contained polyphenols. This trial was registered at University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000032263).

Identification of Factors Necessary for Enabling Technology-Based Dietary Record Surveys: A Qualitative Focus Group Interview with Japanese Dietitians.

Weighed food records together with an in-person interview approach constitute the most basic methods used to estimate energy and nutrient intakes in dietary surveys. In the background of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, the need for non-face-to-face dietary surveys using information and communication technology (ICT) is increasing. We aimed to evaluate ICT-based dietary record surveys and identify factors that may enable this survey method to become more widely used in the future. We conducted a non-face-to-face survey of dietary records of 44 Japanese individuals, maintained by dietitians using dietary photography and video conferencing services. We conducted a focus group interview with the six dietitians who conducted that survey. Their opinions on the factors necessary to popularize ICT-based dietary survey method were analyzed. In the focus group interview, dietitians highlighted fewer restrictions on time and place as positive aspects. Negative aspects included insufficient skills to operate computers, difficulty in hearing, and understanding facial expressions using ICT. We identified three main factors for enabling widespread use of ICT-based dietary record survey: individual skill, device and technology, and social environmental factors. This suggests that a comprehensive approach is necessary for popularizing the use of ICT in dietary surveys.

Detection of the reaction intermediates catalyzed by a copper amine oxidase.

To reveal the chemical changes and geometry changes of active-site residues that cooperate with a reaction is important for understanding the functional mechanism of proteins. Consecutive temporal analyses of enzyme structures have been performed during reactions to clarify structure-based reaction mechanisms. Phenylethylamine oxidase from Arthrobacter globiformis (AGAO) contains a copper ion and topaquinone (TPQ(ox)). The catalytic reaction of AGAO catalyzes oxidative deaminations of phenylethylamine and consists of reductive and oxidative half-reactions. In the reduction step, TPQ(ox) reacts with a phenylethylamine (PEA) substrate giving rise to a topasemiquinone (TPQ(sq)) formed Schiff-base and produces phenylacetaldehyde. To elucidate the mechanism of the reductive half-reaction, an attempt was made to trap the reaction intermediates in order to analyze their structures. The reaction proceeded within the crystals when AGAO crystals were soaked in a PEA solution and freeze-trapped in liquid nitrogen. The reaction stage of each crystal was confirmed by single-crystal microspectrometry, before X-ray diffraction measurements were made of four reaction intermediates. The structure at 15 min after the onset of the reaction was analyzed at atomic resolution, and it was shown that TPQ(ox) and some residues in the substrate channel were alternated via catalytic reductive half-reactions.