Metabolic syndrome, including obesity, glucose intolerance and elevated blood pressure, is related to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have reported the anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects of purple corn extract. We investigated the efficacy of purple corn extract (PC) against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and glucose intolerance, and examined the underlying mechanisms by analyzing expression of proteins and genes involved in glucose regulation and macrophage infiltration. C57BL/6 mice were fed with normal chow diet (ND), or HFD treated with distilled water (DW, control) or PC, for 10 weeks. Although body weights were similar in the HFD-fed groups, we observed a decrease in the liver and epididymal adipose tissue (EAT) weights, and enhanced glucose tolerance test (GTT) results in the PC group, as compared with DW group. Liver showed increased Akt phosphorylation in the PC-treated mice; however, no changes were observed in the EAT, for all groups. In PC-treated mice, decreased macrophage infiltration was seen in the EAT, with a reduced expression of macrophage marker genes. Finally, proinflammatory cytokine gene expressions were decreased by PC in the EAT, and a modest trend for downregulation was observed in the liver. Hence, we conclude that PC may decrease glucose intolerance by increasing the phosphorylation of Akt and reducing the macrophage infiltration into the EAT.

This study was performed to investigate the effects of garlic on uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) transcriptional regulation of UCP2- luciferase transgenic mice fed on a high fat diet to induce obesity. To examine the transcriptional regulation of UCP2, we generated transgenic mice with a UCP2 promoter (-1,830/+30 bp) containing luciferase as a reporter gene. UCP2-luciferase transgenic mice were fed a 45% high-fat diet for 8 weeks to induce obesity. Subsequently, mice were maintained on either a high-fat control diet (TG-CON), or high-fat diets supplemented with 2% (TG-GL2) or 5% (TG-GL5) garlic for a further 8 weeks. Dietary garlic reduced body weight and energy efficiency ratio in the TG-GL5 group, compared to the TG-CON group. Furthermore, garlic supplementation significantly decreased white adipose tissue fat mass and plasma levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and leptin in the TG-GL2 and TG-GL5 groups, compared to the TG-CON group. Specifically, UCP2 promoter activity in metabolic tissues such as liver, white adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle was increased by garlic supplementation. These results suggest that dietary garlic was partially associated with an increase of UCP2 transcriptional activity in metabolic tissues for decreasing obesity.

The study subjects were 302 adult males and females aged more than 20 years living in the metropolitan area of South Korea. This study was conducted to obtain baseline data to establish proper development and marketing strategies by examining the effects of food-related lifestyles on the importance of diet, purchasing behavior towards diet lunch boxes, and their selected attributes such as menu, packaging, and services. With respect to food-related lifestyle, a cluster analysis was performed by using five factors such as convenience factor, health factor, safety factor, taste factor, and economy factor obtained from factor analysis to derive the economy type, the taste and economy type, the convenience type, the safety type, and the health type. As a result, the respondents regarded 'food hygiene (4.59)', 'freshness (4.47)', 'taste (4.28)', and 'nutrient balance (4.19)' as the selected attributes of diet lunch box menus. Moreover, the importance of diet lunch box menus (β=0.179) was increased with increasing safety orientation. 'Shelf life label (4.42)' was the most important selected attribute of diet lunch boxes, followed by 'ingredient label (4.19)', 'nutrition facts label (4.16)', and 'indication of origin (4.15)'. In particular, the importance of packaging for diet lunch boxes (β=0.203) was increased with increasing safety orientation. With respect to the selected attributes of services in purchasing diet lunch boxes, 'provision of personalized menus (4.07)' was the most important, and the importance of services for diet lunch box (β=0.160) was increased with increasing taste and economy orientation. Based on the above results, the respondents gave importance to the selected attributes related to food safety and health such as hygiene and, freshness. In addition, they also placed emphasis on hygiene and safe factors such as shelf life, ingredients, and nutrition facts labels. Therefore, it is considered necessary to develop diet lunch boxes by taking these factors into account. Furthermore, in services for diet lunch boxes, it is considered necessary to establish a service system capable of providing consumers with specialized menu or nutrition counseling according to the food-related lifestyle for their proper health management. Particularly, because consumers place emphasis on both food hygiene and safety, and health, it is considered necessary to thoroughly manage hygiene, safety, and nutrition in menu or packaging so that it is possible to enhance customer satisfaction by considering these selected attributes in greater detail.

Swarming alates of termite Macrotermes sp. has been accepted as food among people of Benishangul Gumuz zone in west Ethiopia bordering with Sudan. The preference seems to be for the reproductive caste. We assessed the nutritional composition of nymph and alate of Macrotermes sp. of Ethiopia. The adult contained higher amino acids (31%) compared to nymph (21%). However, the distribution of amino acids in the protein was similar (ap. 4:6 essential to non-essential amino acids). Both stages tend to have high fat contents (50%). Fat supplement could be a possible reason behind the human consumption of termites. Beside the bio-prospection of termite as food or oil source, termite foraging would have important evolutionary biology due to their significant amount of energy-yielding nutrients which could presumably be critical resource for development of larger brained hominines.

There exists strong evidence supporting the co-evolution of central supermassive black holes and their host galaxies; however it is still under debate how such a relation comes about and whether it is relevant for all or only a subset of galaxies. An important mechanism connecting AGN to their host galaxies is AGN feedback, potentially heating up or even expelling gas from galaxies. AGN feedback may hence be responsible for the eventual quenching of star formation and halting of galaxy growth. A rich multi- wavelength dataset ranging from the X-ray regime (Chandra), to far-IR (Herschel), and radio (WSRT) is available for the North Ecliptic Pole field, most notably surveyed by the AKARI infrared space telescope, covering a total area on the sky of 5.4 sq. degrees. We investigate the star formation properties and possible signatures of radio feedback mechanisms in the host galaxies of 237 radio sources below redshift z = 2 and at a radio 1.4 GHz ux density limit of 0.1 mJy. Using broadband SED modelling, the nuclear and host galaxy components of these sources are studied simultaneously as a function of their radio luminosity. Here we present results concerning the AGN content of the radio sources in this eld, while also offering evidence showcasing a link between AGN activity and host galaxy star formation. In particular, we show results supporting a maintenance type of feedback from powerful radio-jets.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of acorn powder and starch on the blood parameters of mice fed a high-fat diet. The moisture, crude ash, crude protein, and crude fat contents of acorns were 37.99±0.37%, 1.61±0.06%, 4.36±0.18% and 3.22±0.15%, respectively. Acorn powder and starch contains antioxidant minerals such as selenium and zinc. The iron content was significantly higher in acorn powder than in acorn starch (p<0.05). The total cholesterol concentration was 148.50±29.72 mg/dL in the high-fat starch diet (HFS) group, while in the high-fat diet (HF) group it was 201.50±39.15 mg/dL (p<0.05). Serum LDL-cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower in the HFS group (50.50±10.79 mg/dL) than in the HF group (62.00±20.85 mg/dL; p<0.05). The serum IL-1β levels in mice were not significantly different between the groups. IL-10 levels were higher in the HFP group than other groups. There is a need for strong recognition that acorns are good ingredients worldwide. It is required to develop various products using acorn powder and starch powder. There is also a need for a strategy to globalize food using acorns.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) extract on the inflammation of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) and blood lipid improvement in hypercholesterolemic mice fed a high cholesterol diet. The lettuce extract (100% ethanol extract) inhibited the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in HUVEC treated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The lettuce extract suppressed the adhesion of THP-1 to TNF-α-treated HUVEC. The lettuce extract decreased the TNF-α-stimulated production of proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein 1. In hypercholesterolemic mice, the lettuce extract reduced serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, while the lettuce extract elevated high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, resulting in the decrease of atherogenic index and cardiac risk factor level. These results suggested that lettuce extract can be an useful resource to show an anti-inflammatory effect and improve lipid metabolism

We analyzed information provided by diet-related programs of comprehensive programming channels and the relationship between composition of professional panelists and quality of provided information. We selected 82 items among eight programs by MBN, JTBC, and TV chosun. All 82 items provided information about food & nutrition and health & disease, but only 32 items (39.0%) and 35 items (42.7%) provided information on food culture and food safety, respectively. Among the food ingredients, phytochemicals (81.7%) were the most frequently mentioned, and the contents of functional ingredients occupied a large part. The inappropriate information on programs were broadcast on an average of 1.2 episodes per program, and the most pointed out item was information that could confuse viewers with drugs (29.3%). Among the professional panelists, medical doctors (38.9%) and Oriental medicine doctors (16.6%) had the highest number of appearances, and professors of food & nutrition constituted only 7.1%. However, the increase in the number of appearances of professors showed a positive effect on the quality of program information. Contents focused on balanced nutrient intake and dietary culture of Korea should be increased rather than focusing on the function of each nutrient in comprehensive programming channels.

Lipoxygenase(LOX) 결핍 콩(05C4 및 LS, LOX2,3-free)과 일반콩(태광, LOX1,2,3-present)으로 제조된 된장의 급이가 고지방-콜레스테롤 식이성 흰쥐의 체내 지질성분 및 항산화 효소계에 미치는 영 향을 알아보고자 하였다. SD계 흰쥐는 정상군, 고지방-콜레스테롤 급이군(HFC), 고지방-콜레스테롤 식이+5% 된장 분말 급이군[HFC+D1, 태광된장; HFC+D2, 05C4된장; HFC+D3, LS된장)으로 구분하여 5주간 사육되었다. In vitro에서 된장의 콜레스테롤 흡착활성은 4mg/mL 농도에서 LS된장이 태광된장 에 비해 1.5배 높았다. 식이효율은 정상군에 비해 대조군에서 유의적으로 높았으며, LS된장 급이군 (HFC+D3)은 대조군에 비해 유의적으로 감소되는 경향이었다. Rö hrer 및 T.M.지수와 체지방 함량은 대조군에 비해 된장 급이군에서 모두 유의적으로 감소되었으며, 특히 Lee지수 및 BMI는 LOX 결핍콩 된장 급이군에서 유의적으로 감소되었다. 혈청 총 지질 및 중성지방 함량은 대조군에 비해 된장 급이군 에서 유의적으로 감소되었으나, 총 콜레스테롤, HDL-, LDL-콜레스테롤 및 심혈관질환 위험지수는 LS 된장 급이군만 유의적인 감소를 보였다. 혈청 AST 및 ALT 활성은 HFC+D1 및 HFC+D2간에는 유의차 가 없었고, HFC+D3은 HFC+D1 및 HFC+D2에 비해 유의적으로 낮은 수준이었다. 간 조직에서 총 지 질 함량은 HFC+D3이 대조군에 비해 약 25.2%의 감소되었으며(p<0.05), 중성지방 및 총 콜레스테롤 함량은 HFC+D2 및 HFC+D3이 대조군에 비해 유의적인 감소를 보였다. 분변 중의 중성지방 함량은 된 장 급이군 모두 대조군에 비해 26.2~40.3%의 증가를 보였으며(p<0.05), 총 콜레스테롤 함량은 LS된장 급이군만 유의적으로 증가하였다. 간 조직 중 SOD 활성은 대조군에 비해 05C4 및 LS된장 급이군에서 유의적으로 증가하였으며, catalase 및 GSH-px 활성은 된장 급이군 모두 대조군에 비해 유의적으로 증가하였다. UDPGT 활성은 된장의 급이 시 정상군과 유사한 수준으로 증가되었으며, 특히 LS된장 급 이군은 정상군에 비해 유의적으로 증가하였다. 따라서 LOX 결핍 콩으로 제조된 된장은 체내 지질 개선 및 항비만 활성에 긍정적인 도움이 될 것으로 판단된다.

본 연구는 여름철 낙동강 하구역 해빈 쇄파대에서 누치 유어의 출현양상, 위내용물 조성, 체장과 주야간 위내용물 조성의 차이를 조사하였다. 시료는 2014년 주야간에 낙동강 하구역 해빈 쇄파대의 2개 정점에서 지인망으로 8월에 채집된 67개체를 이용하였다. 여기서 채집된 개체의 체장은 5.1에서 9.7 cm의 범위를 보였다. 누치는 단각류를 주로 섭식하는 육식성으로 어류였으며, 그 외 어류와 갯지렁이류 그리고 새우류 등을 부가적으로 섭식하였다. 누치는 크기에 따라 식성변화를 보여, 가장 작은 크기군(< 6.4 cm SL)의 개체들은 단각류를 주로 섭식하였던 반면, 체장이 증가할수록 단각류 대신 어류의 비중이 증가하였다. 주야에 따라서는 주간에는 단각류와 갯지렁이류를 주로 섭식하였고, 야간에는 어류를 주로 섭식하였다

In this study, we analyzed the biochemical factors in lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaf, stem, and yeonjabang and their effects on serum factor levels in mice fed a high-fat (HF) diet. The loutus leaf showed 9.47±0.30% moisture content, 8.25±0.39% ash, 21.45±1.25% crude protein, and 2.21±0.13% crude fat content; the lotus stem showed 11.84±0.43% moisture, 10.21±0.64% ash, 17.55±0.92% crude protein, and 4.16±0.23% crude fat content; and the lotus yeonjabang showed 11.86±0.50% moisture, 6.81±0.51% ash, 18.71±1.02% crude protein, and 3.95±0.15% crude fat. Blood triglyceride levels were higher in the HF group (146.43±38.81 mg/dL), and lower in the HF+yeonjabang groups (98.00±17.18 mg/dL). In particular, blood triglyceride levels were significantly lower in the groups that had 10% dry yeonjabang powder added to the high-fat diet. The inclusion of excessive high-fat diet increased concentrations of serum insulin and leptin. Serum leptin concentrations were highest in the HF group mice (3.00±1.35 ng/dL), whereas they were significantly lower in the HF+yeonjabang groups by 1.34±0.52 ng/dL (p<0.05). Thus, addition of dry yeonjabang powder to the high-fat diet was more effective in regulating the levels of serum triglycerides and leptin in mice. Additional studies would help in the development of yeonjabang as a functional food.

Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an acute-phase response protein in the liver, and SAA1 is the major precursor protein involved in amyloid A amyloidosis. This amyloidosis has been reported as a complication in chronic inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, lupus, and Crohn's disease. Obesity is also associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation and sustained, elevated levels of SAA1. However, the contribution of elevated circulating SAA1 to metabolic disturbances and their complications is unclear. Furthermore, in several recent studies of transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing SAA1 that were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for a relatively short period, no relationship was found between SAA1 up-regulation and metabolic disturbances. Therefore, we generated TG mice overexpressing SAA1 in the liver, challenged these mice with an HFD, and investigated the influence of elevated SAA1 levels. Sustained, elevated levels of SAA1 were correlated with metabolic parameters and local cytokine expression in the liver following 16 weeks on the HFD. Moreover, prolonged consumption (52 weeks) of the HFD was associated with impaired glucose tolerance and elevated SAA1 levels and resulted in systemic SAA1-derived amyloid deposition in the kidney, liver, and spleen of TG mice. Thus, we concluded that elevated SAA1 levels under long-term HFD exposure result in extensive SAA1-derived amyloid deposits, which may contribute to the complications associated with HFD-induced obesity and metabolic disorders.