Elderly persons have a high incidence of lethal infections by encapsulated bacteria. However, mechanisms involved in their poor defense and maintenance of immunological memory have been poorly understood. The present study characterized the population of B cells known as IgM memory B cell compartment and their response by pneumococcal vaccine in elderly people. CD27+ memory B cells, particularly IgD+IgM+CD27+ IgM memory B cells, had dramatically declined in the aged. Their Ig syntheses by B cells and the differentiation into plasma cells were diminished in vitro compared with those in adults. A rise of anti-pneumococcal IgM in sera of elderly persons was found with lower levels compared with those in adults after pneumococcal vaccination. Although diminished function itself of aged B cells surely exist, decline of the IgM memory B cell pool is expected to result in a poor humoral immunity against pneumococcal infection in elderly people.

No abstract

No abstract

BackgroundFoods that enhance satiety can help consumers to resist environmental cues to eat, and improve the nutritional quality of their diets. Viscosity generated by oat β-glucan, influences gastrointestinal mechanisms that mediate satiety. Differences in the source, processing treatments, and interactions with other constituents in the food matrix affect the amount, solubility, molecular weight, and structure of the β-glucan in products, which in turn influences the viscosity. This study examined the effect of two types of oatmeal and an oat-based ready-to-eat breakfast cereal (RTEC) on appetite, and assessed differences in meal viscosity and β-glucan characteristics among the cereals.MethodsForty-eight individuals were enrolled in a randomized crossover trial. Subjects consumed isocaloric breakfast meals containing instant oatmeal (IO), old-fashioned oatmeal (SO) or RTEC in random order at least a week apart. Each breakfast meal contained 218 kcal (150 kcal cereal, and 68 kcal milk) Visual analogue scales measuring appetite were completed before breakfast, and over four hours, following the meal. Starch digestion kinetics, meal viscosities, and β-glucan characteristics for each meal were determined. Appetite responses were analyzed by area under the curve. Mixed models were used to analyze response changes over time.ResultsIO increased fullness (p = 0.04), suppressed desire to eat (p = 0.01) and reduced prospective intake (p < 0.01) more than the RTEC over four hours, and consistently at the 60 minute time-point. SO reduced prospective intake (p = 0.04) more than the RTEC. Hunger scores were not significantly different except that IO reduced hunger more than the RTEC at the 60 minute time-point. IO and SO had higher β-glucan content, molecular weight, gastric viscosity, and larger hydration spheres than the RTEC, and IO had greater viscosity after oral and initial gastric digestion (initial viscosity) than the RTEC.ConclusionIO and SO improved appetite control over four hours compared to RTEC. Initial viscosity of oatmeal may be especially important for reducing appetite.

Advanced glycation end products (AGE) are involved in the alterations of renal mesangial cell (MCs) growth, a feature of early stages of diabetic nephropathy (DN). We postulate that morroniside and loganin, 2 components extracted from Cornus officinalis, may ameliorate the detrimental effects of AGE-induced MCs proliferation by preventing oxidative stress. Rat MCs cultured in AGE milieu were treated with morroniside and loganin. Results showed that morroniside and loganin inhibited AGE-induced MC proliferation as measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that the morroniside and loganin improved the morphological changes of MCs. Flow cytometric analysis showed that morroniside and loganin inhibited the cell cycle of rat MCs. Furthermore, the level of reactive oxygen species was significantly reduced, and the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were markedly increased, whereas the level of malondialdehyde was not significantly reduced. These results suggest that morroniside and loganin regulate MC growth by preventing oxidative stress. Thus, this study provides a molecular basis for the use of morroniside and loganin in the early stages of DN.