A Study on Relationship of Serum Leptin Levels with Body Weight, Body Mass Index, and Percent Body Fat in the Mothers and Their Infants

To estimate whether serum leptin has any effects on body composition during the lactational and postnatal periods, we investigated the relationship of serum leptin levels and anthropometric parameters at right after delivery and 16 weeks after delivery in mothers and their infants. Subjects who signed the concent form, participated in this study were recruited from K university hospital. Characteristics of the subjects ( age; 31.0 +/- 4.2 yr, gestation period; 39.5 +/- 1.0 wk) were investigated and anthropometric parameters ( weight, height, body mass index and percent body fat for mothers, and weight, height, head circumference, chest circumference, and Kaup index for infants) were measured. Serum leptin levels of mothers and their infants also measured. Mean maternal serum leptin levels were 9.9 +/- 8.2 ng/ml and 9.1 +/- 7.2 ng/ml at right after delivery and 16 weeks after delivery, respectively showing no significant differences. Mean infant's serum leptin levels at birth ( 1.8 +/- 0.4 ng/ml) were significantly lower than that of at 16 weeks after birth ( 4.2 +/- 0.8 ng/ml)(p < 0.001) . Leptin levels of male infants were not different from those of female infants. There were no correlations between the maternal serum leptin levels with their body weight, percent body fat after delivery. However, significant correlations were found between maternal serum leptin levels with their body weight, BMI, percent body fat at 16 weeks after delivery ( r = 0.80, p < 0.01; r = 0.90, p < 0.001; r = 0.83, p < 0.01, respectively) . There were no cor-relations between the infant's serum leptin levels and their weight, height, head circumference, and chest circumference. No significant relations were also found between maternal serum leptin levels with those of their infants. As a conclusion, maternal serum levels of leptin should be used with a caution to estimate their infant's leptin levels as well as their anthro-pometric parameters. Further researches are needed to examine the relationship among the leptin levels of mother's serum, breast milk, placenta, and infant's serum.

Effects of Deer Antler Extract on Serum IGF-I, Bone Growth and Splenocyte Proliferation in Growing Rats

Although it has traditionally known that deer antler and medicinal herbs extract contain some functional components for health promotion, the nutritional significance remains to be elucidated. This study examined the efficacy of deer antler extract (DA) , medicinal herbs extract (MH) and their mixture (DAMH) on serum IGF-I, bone growth with growing rats in vivo and splenocyte proliferation with spleen cells in vitro. Three week-old young female rats (Sprague-Dawley) were divided into 4 groups and then fed basal diet (AIN-93G) or experimental diets containing DA, MH, DAMH, respectively, for 7 weeks. We collected blood, liver, kidney, spleen, femur and tibia from rats. There was no significant difference in weight gain, but food intake increased in DA- and MH-fed groups. There were no signs of liver and kidney damage in the DA, MH and DAMH-fed groups compared to basal diet group. In femur and tibia, wet weights, breaking forces and bone minerals (Ca, Mg and Zn) were significantly higher in the DA-fed group than in the other groups. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) , bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) activities were significantly lower in the DA, MH, DAMH-fed groups than in basal diet group. Also, serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations were significantly increased in DA-fed group compared to the other groups. Therefore DA was shown to have an activity of bone growth promotion by increasing the IGF-I, a major bone growth factor. The deer antler extract showed an enhanced immune action on the primary cultured-cells from spleen of rats, representing that splenocytes were proliferated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) , but not by concanavalin A (Con A) . These results indicate that deer antler extract has beneficial effects on bone growth via IGF-I and on splenocyte activation.

Therapeutic Effect of Anti-Rotavirus Chicken Egg Yolk Immunoglobulin (IgY) on Diarrhea by Infection of Rotavirus / 소아과

PURPOSE: Rotavirus is an enteric pathogen that affects millions of children globally each year. But no specific therapy is available for the management of rotavirus diarrhea. Due to the clear need to define improved modality for treatment of rotavirus diarrhea, we evaluated the efficacy of anti- rotavirus IgY in the treatment of infants and children with gastroenteritis. METHODS: First, the amount of viral particle in the stools of thirteen patients (seven were given IgY, 6 placebo) infected by rotavirus were evaluated for 3 days with the quantitative RT-PCR method. Second, 36 children with known rotavirus infection identified by ELISA or semi-quantitative RT- PCR were evaluated. We gave 5 g anti-rotavirus egg yolk daily in two equally divided doses for 3 days to two groups (an 18 IgY group and an 18 placebo group), respectively after parenteral consent. Daily vomiting frequency, stool frequency, oral intake and urine output were monitored for 3 days, and electrolyte and blood chemistry were checked at the first and third days. RESULTS: First, in the placebo group, the amount of virus particles increased daily, but in the IgY group it decreased daily. Second, when IgY and placebos were given to children infected with rotavirus, diarrhea on the third day decreased significantly in the IgY group, compared with the placebo group. CONCLUSION: Treatment with antirotavirus immunoglobulin from immunized chicken's egg resulted in a decrease in the amount of viral particles in stools and diarrhea frequency in children. These results suggest that anti-rotavirus IgY is effective in the treatment of rotavirus gastroenteritis.