To examine the association of plant-based food intakes with CVD and total mortality among Japanese. In the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk, 25 206 men and 34 279 women aged 40-79 years, whose fruit, vegetable and bean intakes were assessed by questionnaire at baseline in 1988 -90, were followed for 13 years. Deaths from total stroke, stroke subtypes, CHD and total CVD, according to the International Classification for Diseases 10th Revision, were registered. During 756 054 person-years of follow-up, there were 559 deaths from total stroke, 258 from CHD, 1207 from total CVD and 4514 from total mortality for men, and for women, 494, 194, 1036 and 3092, respectively. Fruit intake was inversely associated with mortality from total stroke (the multivariable hazard ratio (HR (95 % CI)) in the highest v. lowest quartiles ¼ 0·67 (0·55, 0·81)), total CVD (HR ¼ 0·75 (0·66, 0·85)) and total mortality (HR ¼ 0·86 (0·80, 0·92)). Vegetable intake was inversely associated with total CVD (HR ¼ 0·88 (0·78, 0·99)). Bean intake was inversely associated with other CVD (HR ¼ 0·79 (0·64, 0·98)), total CVD (HR ¼ 0·84 (0·74, 0·95)) and total mortality (HR ¼ 0·90 (0·84, 0·96)). Further adjustment for other plant-based foods did not alter the association of fruit intake with mortality from total stroke, total CVD and total mortality, but attenuated the associations of vegetables and beans with mortality risk. In conclusion, intakes of plant-based foods, particularly fruit intake, were associated with reduced mortality from CVD and all causes among Japanese men and women.

gamma-Glutamyl carboxylation, a reaction essential for the activity of vitamin K-dependent proteins, requires the concerted actions of gamma-glutamyl carboxylase (GGCX), vitamin K 2, 3-epoxide reductase complex 1 (VKORC1), and the chaperone calumenin (CALU). We evaluated the contribution of genetic polymorphisms in VKORC1, GGCX, and CALU to interindividual variation in the activities of plasma protein C and protein S. We sequenced these 3 genes in 96 Japanese individuals and geno-typed 9 representative single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 3655 Japanese individuals representative of the general population. The mean activity of protein C in women bearing the GG genotype of GGCX 8016G>A (130.8% +/- 1.5%, n = 156) was significantly greater (P = .002) than that of individuals with either the AG (126.8% +/- 0.7%, n = 728) or the AA (125.4% +/- 0.6%, n = 881) genotype, after adjusting for confounding factors. The GGCX 8016G>A change leads to the substitution of Gin for Arg at amino acid residue 325 (Arg 325 Gln). This effect was comparable to that of a previously defined polymorphism in the protein C promoter. Mean protein S activity was influenced by the VKORC1 3730G>A and CALU 20943T>A genotypes, after adjusting for confounding factors. Thus, polymorphisms in genes involved in the vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxylation reaction influence interindividual variation in the activities of protein C and protein S in the general population.

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BACKGROUND: We have been conducting a cohort study named “the Japan Collaborative Cohor Study (JACC Study) for Evaluation of Cancer Risk sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (Monbusho)” since 1988. The aim of this paper is to describe the mortality of our JACC cohort in the follow-up period from 1988 through 1999, to compare it with the mortality, especially cancer deaths, of the Japanese population in the same period and to compare the causes of mortality by district among the cohort. METHODS: We conducted a follow-up study of 110,792 Japanese inhabitants aged 40-79 years in 1988-1990 for about 10 years to the end of 1999. RESULTS: Of 46,465 males, 37,750 (81.2%) were alive, 7,238 (15.6%) were dead and 1,477 (3.2%) had moved out of the study areas. The figures were 57,016 (88.6%), 4,940 (7.7%) and 2,371 (3.7%) among 64,327 females, respectively. The mean follow-up period was 9.9 years. The proportion of cancer deaths by site in our cohort members was almost same as the Japanese population aged 40-79 years old in 1995. Sex-specific standardized mortality ratios of total deaths, all cancer deaths, and most cancers in our cohort were less than 100 in both males and females for total cohort and the cohort by district. CONCLUSION: Our cohort members appeared to be almost the same or slightly healthier and less likely to die from total causes and cancers than the general population.

Endothelin-1 (EDN1),