No abstract

The antimutagenic effects of 27 kinds of plant flavonoids on the mutagenicity of aflatoxin B1(AFB1) and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine(MNNG) in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 were investigated. In the mixed applications of AFB1 (1 microgram/plate) with the flavonoids (300 micrograms/plate) in the presence of a mammalian metabolic activation system (S9 mix), chrysin, apigenin, luteolin and its glucoside, kaempferol, fisetin, morin, naringenin, hesperetin, persicogenin, (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin showed the antimutagenic effect against AFB1 with more than 70% inhibition rate. A little or no antimutagenicities except flavone against MNNG (0.5 microgram/plate) were observed. For the antimutagenicity of the flavonoids on AFB1, the flavonoid structure that contains the free 5-, 7-hydroxyl group seemed to be essential. However, saturation of the 2,3-double bond or elimination of the 4-keto group did not affect the activity.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the immunomodulatory effect of dead nano-sized Lactobacillus plantarum (nLp) in RAW 264.7 cells and murine primary splenocytes. nLp is a dead, shrunken, processed form of L. plantarum nF1 isolated from kimchi (a traditional Korean fermented cabbage) and is less than 1 μm in size. It was found that nLp treatment stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production more in RAW 264.7 macrophages than pure live L. plantarum (pLp), and that the stimulatory properties were probably largely derived from its cell wall. In addition, nLp induced murine splenocyte proliferation more so than pLp; in particular, a high dose of nLp (1.0 X 10(11) CFU/ml) stimulated proliferation as much as lipopolysaccharide at 2 μg/ml. Moreover, according to our cytokine profile results in splenocytes, nLp treatment promoted Th1 (TNF-α, IL-12 p70) responses rather than Th2 (IL-4, IL-5) responses and also increased Th17 (IL-6, IL-17A) responses. Thus, nLp stimulated NO release in RAW 264.7 cells and induced splenocyte proliferation more so than pLp and stimulated Th1 and Th17 cytokine production. These findings suggested that dead nLp has potential use as a functional food ingredient to improve the immune response, and especially as a means of inducing Th1/Th17 immune responses.

Study Design: Case-control study.Purpose: To investigate the independent associations of back pain with sarcopenia and with back muscle degeneration, and to introduce a new risk index for back muscle degeneration.Overview of Literature: The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia recommends diagnosis using handgrip strength, gait speed, and skeletal muscle mass. However, these criteria do not strongly reflect back muscle degeneration.Methods: Patients who completed a questionnaire on back-pain between October 2016 and October 2017 were enrolled in this study. Appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI), cross-sectional area (CSA) index, fatty infiltration (FI) rate of the paraspinal muscles, and lumbar extensor strength index (LESI) were measured and compared between no back-pain and back-pain group. Correlations between LESI and ASMI, CSA index, and FI rate were analyzed. The back-pain group was further divided according to ASMI into sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia subgroups and by our newly developed back muscle degeneration risk index based on correlation coefficients between LESI and CSA index, FI rate. Differences in ASMI, CSA index, FI rate, LESI, and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score between subgroups were analyzed.Results: The ASMI, CSA index, FI rate, and LESI differed significantly between back-pain and pain-free groups. The LESI demonstrated the strongest correlation with FI rate. There were no significant differences in VAS score and back muscle degeneration index in the back-pain group when divided according to the presence of sarcopenia. However, there was a significant difference in VAS score between back-pain patients when classified according to high and low back muscle degeneration risk index.Conclusions: We suggest that the degree of back pain is more strongly associated with back muscle degeneration than with sarcopenia. This back muscle degeneration risk index, reflecting both back muscle morphology and function, could be a useful parameter for evaluation of back pain and muscle degeneration.

Previously, two case-control studies and a cohort study strongly suggested that Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer exerted non-organ-specific preventive effects against cancer. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of red ginseng extract on the incidence of human primary cancer. We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial on 643 chronic atrophic gastritis patients in four hospitals in Zhejiang Province, China. Red ginseng extract powder (1 g) was administered orally to each patient per week for 3 years and followed up for 8 years. The development of various cancers in the red ginseng subjects was compared to that of a placebo group. The red ginseng extract powder was specified in terms of its components. Twenty-four cancers of various organs were diagnosed from these subjects during the 11 years: eight lung cancers, six stomach cancers, two liver cancers, two colorectal cancers, and one cancer each of the nasopharynx, esophagus, pancreas, urinary bladder, prostate, and gallbladder. The red ginseng group, which included both genders, demonstrated a relative cancer risk of 0.54 (95% confidence interval, 0.23-1.28; P = .13) compared to the placebo group, which was not statistically significant. Among the 24 cancer patients, 21 were male. The male red ginseng group showed a relative cancer risk of 0.35 (95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.96; P = .03) compared to the male placebo group, which was highly significant statistically. In the present clinical trial on chronic atrophic gastritis patients, administration of red ginseng extract powder for 3 years exerted significant preventive effects on the incidence of non-organ-specific human cancers in males.