Effect of Chlorella vulgaris intake on cadmium detoxification in rats fed cadmium

The aim of this study was to investigate if dietary Chlorella vulgaris (chlorella) intake would be effective on cadmium (Cd) detoxification in rats fed dietary Cd. Fourteen-week old male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats weighing 415.0 +/- 1.6 g were randomly divided into two groups and fed slightly modified American Institute of Nutrition-93 Growing (AIN-93G) diet without (n=10) or with (n=40) dietary Cd (200 ppm) for 8 weeks. To confirm alteration by dietary Cd intake, twenty rats fed AIN-93G diet without (n=10) and with (n=10) dietary Cd were sacrificed and compared. Other thirty rats were randomly blocked into three groups and fed slightly modified AIN-93G diets replacing 0 (n=10), 5 (n=10) or 10% (n=10) chlorella of total kg diet for 4 weeks. Daily food intake, body weight change, body weight gain/calorie intake, organ weight (liver, spleen, and kidney), perirenal fat pad and epididymal fat pad weights were measured. To examine Cd detoxification, urinary Cd excretion and metallothonein (MT) concentrations in kidney and intestine were measured. Food intake, calorie intake, body weight change, body weight gain/calorie intake, organ weight and fat pad weights were decreased by dietary Cd intake. Urinary Cd excretion and MT concentrations in kidney and small intestine were increased by dietary Cd. After given Cd containing diet, food intake, calorie intake, body weight change, body weight gain/calorie intake, organ weights and fat pad weights were not influenced by dietary chlorella intake. Renal MT synthesis tended to be higher in a dose-dependent manner, but not significantly. And chlorella intake did not significantly facilitate renal and intestinal MT synthesis and urinary Cd excretion. These findings suggest that, after stopping cadmium supply, chlorella supplementation, regardless of its percentage, might not improve cadmium detoxification from the body in growing rats.

Effect of fructose or sucrose feeding with different levels on oral glucose tolerance test in normal and type 2 diabetic rats

This study was designed to determine whether acute fructose or sucrose administration at different levels (0.05 g/kg, 0.1 g/kg or 0.4 g/kg body weight) might affect oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in normal and type 2 diabetic rats. In OGTT, there were no significant differences in glucose responses between acute fructose- and sucrose-administered groups. However, in normal rats, the AUCs of the blood glucose response for the fructose-administered groups tended to be lower than those of the control and sucrose-administered groups. The AUCs of the lower levels fructoseor sucrose-administered groups tended to be smaller than those of higher levels fructose- or sucrose-administered groups. In type 2 diabetic rats, only the AUC of the lowest level of fructose-administered (0.05 g/kg body weight) group was slightly smaller than that of the control group. The AUCs of fructose-administered groups tended to be smaller than those of the sucrose-administered groups, and the AUCs of lower levels fructose-administered groups tended to be smaller than those fed higher levels of fructose. We concluded from this experiment that fructose has tendency to be more effective in blood glucose regulation than sucrose, and moreover, that smaller amount of fructose is preferred to larger amount. Specifically, our experiments indicated that the fructose level of 0.05 g/kg body weight as dietary supplement was the most effective amount for blood glucose regulation from the pool of 0.05 g/kg, 0.1 g/kg and 0.4 g/kg body weights. Therefore, our results suggest the use of fructose as the substitute sweetener for sucrose, which may be beneficial for blood glucose regulation.

Effect of Feeding with Different Source of Carbohydrate and HCA on Body Weight Gain and Lipid Metabolism in Rats

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding different carbohydrate sources and garcinia cambogia extract (HCA) on body weight and lipid metabolism. Fifty 10-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats weighting 635 +/- 6 g were randomly divided into 5 groups and fed different experimental diets for 4 weeks. The carbohydrate (CHO) sources of each group were cornstarch (control group, 100% of CHO), fructose (F group and FH group, 25% of CHO) and sucrose (S group and SH group, 25% of CHO). FH group and SH group were fed diets containing 1% (W/W) of HCA. Food intake, body weight gain, and calorie efficiency were not significantly different among the groups. Perirenal fat pad weight of FH group was significantly lower than F group, but epididymal fat pad weight was not different among the groups. Fasting glucose level were not significant among the groups. Plasma lipid profile of FH or SH group was slightly lower than F or S group, respectively. The degree of difference of plasma lipid level was greater between F and FH group than those of between S and SH group. In liver, total lipid, triglyceride and total cholesterol level were slightly higher in F group than S group, and tended to be lower in FH group than F group, but tended to be higher in SH group than S group. Liver citrate lyase activity were not significant among the groups. These results suggest that HCA is potential material for reduction of body weight and improvement of plasma lipid profiles. But, there was no difference between fructose intake with HCA and sucrose intake with HCA in reduction of body weight and lipid metabolism.

Effects of Different Mandarin Formulations on Antioxidative Capacity and Oxidative DNA Damage in Fifteen-Month Aged Rats

This study was performed to investigate the effect of whole mandarin, peel or pulp intake of Citrus unshiu Marc. on antioxidative capacity and oxidative DNA damage in fifteen-month aged rats. Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats (621.9 +/- 10.1 g) were blocked into four groups according to their body weights as control group, whole mandarin powder group, mandarin peel powder group and mandarin pulp powder group. Rats were raised with diets containing 5% (w/w) freeze dried mandarin formulations for four weeks. Total polyphenol content and total antioxidant status (TAS) of mandarin formulations were highest in peel powder, followed by whole powder and then pulp powder. The 8-hydroxy- 2'-deoxyguanosine concentrations of kidney in all mandarin groups were significantly lower than that of control group, and that of mandarin peel group was much lower than whole powder and pulp groups. Plasma TAS levels of all the experimental groups were higher than that of control group, and among mandarin groups, peel group showed higher level than remaining two groups. In conclusion, all the mandarin formulations were effective on antioxidative capacity in fifteen-month aged rats, and the peel was most effective one among three formulations.

A Comparative Study on Food Habits and Nutrient Intakes with Body Mass Index of Hypertensive Patients commuting to a Local Health Center

The purpose of this study was to compare food habits and nutrient intakes with body mass index of hypertensive patients commuting to a Local Health Center. A total of 85 patients were divided into two groups according to BMI. The non-obese group comprised 43 subjects with BMI below 25kg/m2, while the obese group comprised 42 subjects with BMI above 25kg/m2. All Subjects were interviewed for general characteristics, food habits, clinical characteristics, effort for health maintenance and the knowledge of hypertension and nutrition. Anthropometric assessments such as weight, height, waist-hip ratio and biochemical measurement of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and fasting blood glucose(FBG) were obtained from subjects. In general characteristics, smoking, drinking, exercise, and hypertension status were not significantly different between the two groups. Food habits and the means of daily energy and nutrients were not significantly different between the two groups. An analysis of the percentage of RDA(Recommended Dietary Allowances of Korea, 2000) consumed by patients showed that but for ascorbic acid and phosphorus, all nutrients were below the RDA. And intakes of vitamin B1(P<0.001), vitamin B2(P<0.01), niacin(P<0.001) of the obese group were significantly lower than that of the non-obese group. Blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and fasting blood glucose were in the normal range and there was not a significant difference in the two groups. Therefore, more effective nutrition education programs about exercise, smoking, caloric intake, vitamins and minerals are required for hypertensive patients commuting to Local Health Center.