Akita Nutrition Junior College

Fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4), a key regulator of lipid metabolism and inflammation, has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigated the effects of FABP4 inhibition during gestation and lactation on offspring neurodevelopment using the selective FABP4 inhibitor BMS309403. Female mice received BMS309403 (15mg/kg) via oral gavage from two weeks before mating to postnatal day 28 (P28). Administration of BMS309403 to mouse dams resulted in autism-like phenotypes in male offspring (behavioral tests: n=7-10 per group; spine analysis: 6 mice per group, n=26-38 dendrites per group), characterized by increased dendritic spine density in the prefrontal cortex, impaired vocal communication, increased repetitive behaviors, and depression-like symptoms. Fatty acid analysis (n=4-6 per group) revealed significant alterations in maternal and fetal lipid profiles, including elevated arachidonic acid levels in maternal plasma and increased n6PUFAs in the fetal brain, suggesting a pro-inflammatory lipid environment. Principal component analysis demonstrated distinct clustering of lipid profiles between control and BMS309403-treated groups. Cytokine analysis (n=6 per group) indicated reductions in IL-10 and IL-12(p40) in maternal plasma and decreased TNFα in the fetal plasma, suggesting dysregulation in systemic inflammatory signaling. These findings suggest that FABP4 inhibition during the perinatal period perturbs lipid metabolism and may influence neurodevelopment through systemic metabolic changes. Although the direct effects of BMS309403 on the fetal brain cannot be excluded, alteration in maternal metabolism and placental function may have contributed to the observed neurodevelopmental changes in offspring.

In the field of organic syntheses, the development of environmentally friendly methods based on the concept of green chemistry has been always required. In response to this requirement, we reported solvent- and catalyst-free syntheses of imines using the pressure reduction technique as a key technology. We found that this reaction proceeded very rapidly in the initial stage, but its rate decreased with the passage of time. It was also found that the reaction of benzaldehyde with aniline had a specificity that the phase transition occurred. In this method, the desired imines could be obtained in good to excellent yields, but target compounds had to be given by purifications using organic solvents. Therefore, we tried to develop the perfect synthetic method of imine derivatives without organic or inorganic solvents. We selected two methods and took them into this investigation. One was exactly mixing (1:1, substance ratio) aldehydes and amines and the other was employing lower pressure (>0.1 mmHg, previous method: 1.0 mmHg) at the pressure reducing technique. When this improved synthetic method was performed, it was revealed that pure target imines were obtained in excellent yields without any purification.

We have been studying sleep facilitation of chloride spring and artificially carbonated spring (ACS). ACS are known to increase peripheral blood flow. We concluded that ACS caused great body temperature change and promoted sleep. On the other hand, ACS are also known to have an effect on the autonomic nervous system, but no one examined simultaneously the effects on sleep and autonomic nerves. We evaluated the effects of bathing in ACS (Awakomachi, Danrei Co., Japan), and a plain hot bath (PH) on sleep. 11 healthy subjects submerged in a bath (40 °C) for 15 min at 22:00. From 23:00 to the next morning at 7:00, we measured their core body temperature, distal skin temperature, proximal skin temperature, distal-proximal temperature gradient (DPG), electroencephalogram (EEG), and autonomic nervous activity (LF/HF). Subjects were evaluated for subjective parameters (sleepiness, mood, fatigue) and underwent a critical flicker fusion (CFF) test before and after bathing and sleep. They were instructed to sleep from 24:00 to 7:00. The core body temperature during sleep in ACS was significantly lower than that in PH. DPG during sleep in ACS showed significantly higher value than that in PH. This indicated the heat dissipation due to the increase the skin blood flow and the skin vasodilator action of the ACS as in the previous study. In the subjective evaluation, ACS bath was significantly higher value in mood. The autonomic nervous activity (LF / HF) in ACS was stable low values compered with PH, but it did not reach a significant level (p = 0.06). In ACS bath, good quality sleep can be obtained by deep body temperature falling during sleep, but the relaxing effect was insufficient. N/A.

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between bone mass and maturation, physical activity, milk and dairy products consumption in adolescence.Subjects and methods : Healthy 668 Japanese adolescents (334 boys and 334girls) aged 9-14y were participated in this study. We measured speed of sound (SOS) and transmission index (TI) at the calcaneus by using AOS-100 (ALOKA Co., Ltd., Tokyo). Osteo sono- assessment index (OSI) was calculated with SOS and TI, percent of body fat assessed by bioelectric impedance method with TBF-300 (TANITA Co., Ltd., Tokyo). We administered a questionnaire, to survey the maturation (the growth of height for boys, the age at menarche for girls), physical activity (walking, participating in sports club and playing), milk and dairy products consumption.Results : Multiple regression analyses indicated that lean body mass, walking and participating in sports club explained about 15% of the OSI. There were no significant differences in SOS and OSI in milk and dairy products consumptions. In the stepwise multiple regression analyses, maturation and lean body mass were the most important and consistent factor for predicting SOS and OSI (attributable r2=2.2%−17.5%).

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on fatty acid mobilisation and ketone body production in female broiler chickens. In the first experiment, chickens received an intravenous infusion of ALA (0,25 or 50 mg/kg per h) for 90 min. Blood was drawn at 30 min intervals, and plasma glucose, NEFA, free glycerol and hydroxybutyrate were analysed. In the second experiment, ALA (100 mg/kg per h) was continuously infused to chickens fed or fasted for at least 24 h. Changes in plasma metabolites for 90 min were determined. In the first experiment, as shown by the response area, ALA infusion did not affect plasma glucose but increased (P<0 x 05) plasma NEFA, regardless of the dose level. In contrast, plasma hydroxybutyrate was reduced at the lower infusion rate (P<0 x 05). No significant changes in plasma free glycerol were observed. In experiment 2, ALA stimulated both plasma glucose (P<0 x 01) and NEFA (P<0 x 001) and the responses were greater than those of controls, regardless of the feeding state. The interaction between ALA and the feeding condition had a significant effect on plasma hydroxybutyrate (P<0 x 01). ALA reduced plasma hydroxybutyrate, and this response was greater in the fasted birds than in those fed. Therefore, the present study found a lowering effect of ALA on plasma hydroxybutyrate level and suggests that the ALA-induced plasma NEFA increment was attributable to decreased hepatic fatty acid oxidation in chickens.

大雪山国立公園の中でももっとも利用者が多い地域の一つである, 旭岳姿見の池から裾合平周辺において, 1991年以降, 10～13年間にわたる登山道侵食のモニタリングを実施した。侵食量・侵食速度の見積には, 登山道の断面を反復測量する方法をとり, 侵食量を体積ではなく流失した土壌の面積であらわした。算出された侵食速度は193.4～1,402.5cm2/yr (平均617.4cm2/yr) で, 観測地点による違いが大きかった。また, 土壌侵食量・侵食速度は, 同一地点においても年による変動が大きく, 1～3年間程度の短期間のモニタリングでは, 侵食速度を正確に知ることはできない。短期間の侵食速度は, たとえば1999年の事例からわかるように, 夏季の豪雨によって著しく大きくなる。これまで大雪山では, 融雪水の恒常的な供給が土壌侵食に大きな貢献をするものと考えられてきたが, 夏季の豪雨の貢献も大きいと考えるべきであろう。これらの結果から, 中・長期的国立公園管理にとっては, 長期モニタリングによる侵食速度の見積が不可欠であることが強調される。しかし同時に, 短期間のデータの蓄積も必要であり, 定期的な反復測量を長期モニタリングの中に位置づける必要がある。

The report of Fuchs et al. in 1999 on the protective effects of dietary fiber (DF) against colon carcinogenesis has led many researchers to question the benefits of DF. We analyzed the relationship between dietary intake and mortality from colon cancer in Japan cross-sectionally. Dietary data were taken from the National Nutrition Survey. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was calculated using data from "Vital Statistics" and "the Population Census in Japan." Multiple regression analysis (stepwise variable selection method) was performed with the SMR of colon cancer as the objective variable and intake of DF, nutrients, and food groups in 1966 as the explanatory variables. The beta regression coefficient was significantly positive for intakes of fat, protein, and vitamin C and significantly negative for intakes of calcium and vitamin A to the SMR of colon cancer. However, no significant correlation was observed for DF or for any of the various food groups analyzed. In conclusion, our data do not demonstrate any protective effect of DF on colon cancer in subjects with a low fat intake (Japanese subjects), which supports Fuchs' findings in subjects with high fat intake (U.S. subjects).

In previous studies, many evaluation parameters for the center of foot pressure (CFP) in a static standing posture have been proposed, but their reliability and inter-relationships have not been sufficiently examined.The purposes of this study were to examine trial-to-trial reliability and the inter-relationships of various evaluation parameters and to propose useful ones. Thirty healthy young adults were selected as subjects. The measurement of CFP for 1 minute was carried out 10 times with 1 minute rest for each subject. The measurement device was an Anima's stabilometer G5500. The data was recorded every 20 msec. Seventy-six evaluation parameters, excepting composite parameters from 114 parameters proposed in previous studies, were selected from the following domains: distance, center of pres-sure, distribution of amplitude, area, velocity, power spectrum, and vector for body sway. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for 10 trials were 0.7 or over for all parameters excepting for the X-axis and the Y-axis distribution for body sway, and skewness and kurtosis for body sway speed, but a significant difference between the first trial and the other trials was found in many parameters. Therefore, the ICC was recal-culated by excluding the first trial. As a result, no significant difference was found other than that of the distance of the root of the mean square and the area of the root of the mean square. The ICC was 0.7 or over, excepting for the following parameters: the X-axis and the Y-axis distribution for body sway and skewness and kurtosis for body sway speed, the cross correlations for body sway and body sway speed, the C ratio of the power spectrum area on the X-axis, the A ratio of the power spectrum area on the Y-axis and the root of the mean square-axis. Inter-correlation coefficients between parameters in each domain of distance, center of pressure, distribution of amplitude, area, velocity, power spectrum, and vector for body sway were mostly high values of 0.9 or over. Thus, it was considered that there is a close relationship between theoretically similar parameters and any of them could be selected as useful parameters.Based on the above-stated examination, 60 evaluation parameters shown in Table 5 were finally selected.

The present study attempts to clarify the properties of force-time curves in the force-development phase during static explosive grip exertion and to determine force-time parameters in relation to static explosive strength. 80 healthy young males (age 17.8 +/- 2.5 yr.) exerted maximal isometric force as fast and forcefully as possible. In total, 21 variables, e.g., time to fixed level, integrated area, average force, integrated area to fixed time, force at the maximal rate of force development, and maximal rate of force development, were selected as force-time parameters. Good reliability was obtained for average force in force levels above 90% of maximal strength (.64-.93), integrated area to a fixed time of 1.0-2.0 sec. (.86-.93), force at the maximal rate of force development (.67), and maximal rate of force development (.73). In addition, these values correlated closely with maximal grip strength (r= .65-.93). Further, significant differences in maximal grip strength, average force in force levels above 90% of maximal strength, integrated area to fixed time, and force at the maximal rate of force development were found among three groups categorized by average force in force levels of maximal strength. These results suggested that individual differences were present in the force-time curve patterns during the force-development phase of static explosive grip exertion and that the average force in force levels of maximal strength might be a valuable tool for evaluating static explosive strength.

The purposes of this study were to examine the characteristics of ability to coordinate exertion of force in 60 healthy older people (30 men, 30 women) from the viewpoint of sex differences and to compare their performance with those of 60 healthy university students (30 men, 30 women). The test of ability to coordinate exertion of force was conducted by having the subject fit the exertion value of grip strength to a changing demand value appearing on the display of a personal computer (using a bar chart-description form). The changes in the demand value were tracked. The variable estimating ability to coordinate exertion of force was the total sum of the differences between demand and the produced grip strength induced by time lapses. The ability to coordinate exertion of force in the older subjects was inferior to that of the younger subjects, and large individual differences were observed. Unlike the younger subjects, the means of the ability to coordinate exertion of force of the older subjects significantly decreased between trials. The ability to coordinate exertion of force of the older women was significantly inferior to that of the older men, but the means of the measurements among three trials shows a similar tendency to decrease in both sexes.