A B S T R A C TEcklonia cava, an edible brown alga, is recognized as a rich source of polyphenols and the lipid-lowering effects of which have not yet been studied well. We investigated the efficacy and safety of Ecklonia cava extract (ECE) on blood lipid profiles in subjects with hypercholesterolemia. Eighty healthy subjects with more than 200 mg dLG 1 of total cholesterol or more than 110 mg dLG 1 of LDL-cholesterol level were randomly assigned to receive ECE (n = 40) or placebo (n = 40) for 12 weeks. Changes in serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and waist-hip ratio levels were measured after the 12-week intervention. The ECE significantly lowered total cholesterol level by 2.8% and LDL-cholesterol level by 11.1% after 12 week supplementation as compared to the placebo (p = 0.039, 0.030, respectively). The HDL-cholesterol level did not change in the ECE group, whereas an increase of 5.6% was observed in the placebo group with a significant difference between groups (p = 0.021). No corresponding changes were seen for triglyceride and waist-hip ratio levels between the two groups. There was no causal relationship between the ingestion of ECE and adverse drug reactions. We found that ECE supplementation improved blood lipid profiles through decreasing total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels which are known as major cardiovascular risk factors. This result suggests that ECE supplementation may be effective in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases but more studies are needed to establish the long-term safety and effectiveness.

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if Porphyra tenera extract (PTE) has immune-enhancing effects and is safe in healthy adults. Methods: Subjects who met the inclusion criteria (3 × 103 ≤ peripheral blood leukocyte level ≥ 8 × 103 cells/µL) were recruited for this study. Enrolled subjects (n = 120) were randomly assigned to either the PTE group (n = 60) and were given 2.5 g/day of PTE (as PTE) in capsule form or the placebo group (n = 60) and were given crystal cellulose capsules with the identical appearance, weight, and flavor as the PTE capsules for 8 weeks. Outcomes were assessed based on measuring natural killer (NK) cell activity, cytokines level, and upper respiratory infection (URI), and safety parameters were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks. Results: Compared with baseline, NK cell activity (%) increased for all effector cell-to-target cell ratios in the PTE group after 8 weeks; however, changes were not observed in the placebo group (p < 0.10). Subgroup analysis of 101 subjects without URI showed that NK cell activity in the PTE group tended to increase for all effector cell/target cell (E:T) ratios (E:T = 12.5:1 p = 0.068; E:T = 25:1 p = 0.036; E:T = 50:1 p = 0.081) compared with the placebo group. A significant difference between the two groups was observed for the E:T = 25:1 ratio, which increased from 20.3 ± 12.0% at baseline to 23.2 ± 12.4% after 8 weeks in the PTE group (p = 0.036). A significant difference was not observed in cytokine between the two groups. Conclusion: PTE supplementation appears to enhance immune function by improving NK cell activity without adverse effects in healthy adults.

A mesophilic-dry anaerobic digestion process is valid in treating high-concentration substrates containing low moisture content. It has merits of lower wastewater discharge and lower heat capacity required in maintaining reactor temperature as compared with a thermophilic-wet anaerobic digestion process. In fact, chaff can be easily obtained in farming areas and used as a mixture substrate as one of bulking agents for controlling moisture and supplying carbon. For this reason, this study applies the chaff to improve livestock manure, which contains high moisture content and is discharged from domestic pig farms. This study aims at verifying its feasibility for improving methane production efficiency on a basis of BMP (Biochemical Methane Potential) assay obtained through a series of experiments. Finding results were methane gas production and gas production per volatile solid (VS) added, and methane gas production among biogas production were increased as the chaff added in the piggery manure was increased. According to experimental results for improving the methane production efficiency, mixture of the chaff and the piggery manure played an important role in controlling the moisture content and improving the methane gas production rate, and also verified its feasibility in the mesophilic-dry anaerobic digestion process indicating relatively less difficulty for operation and management.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if Porphyra tenera extract (PTE) has immune-enhancing effects and is safe in healthy adults. Methods: Subjects (3x103 &le; peripheral blood leukocyte levels &lt; 8x103 cells/&mu;l) who met the inclusion criteria were recruited for this study. Enrolled subjects (n=120) were randomly assigned to either the PTE group (n=60) who were given 2.5 g/day of PTE (as Porphyra tenera extract) in capsule form or the placebo group (n=60) who were given crystal cellulose capsules with the identical appearance, weight, and flavor as the PTE capsules for 8 weeks. Outcomes were assessed by measuring natural killer cell (NK-cell) activity, cytokines, and upper respiratory infection (URI), and safety parameters were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks. Results: Compared to baseline, NK cell activity (%) increased for all effector cell to target cell ratios in the PTE group after 8 weeks, but there were no changes in the placebo group (p&lt;0.1). Subgroup analysis of 101 subjects without an URI revealed that NK-cell activity in the PTE group tended to be increased for all E:T ratios (E:T=12.5:1 p=0.068; E:T=25:1 p=0.036; E:T=50:1 p=0.081) compared to the placebo group. There was a significant difference between these two groups for the E:T=25:1 ratio, which increased from 20.3&plusmn;12.0% at baseline to 23.2&plusmn;12.4% after 8 weeks in the PTE group (p=0.036). There was no significant difference in levels of cytokines between these two groups. Conclusions: PTE supplementation appears to enhance immune function by improving NK-cell activity without adverse effects in healthy adults.