A comprehensive investigation on the chemical changes of traditional Chinese medicine with classic processing technology: Polygonum multiflorum under nine cycles of steaming and sunning as a case study.

The processing of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the clinical application, which usually has the function of "increasing efficiency and reducing toxicity". Polygonum multiflorum (PM) has been reported to induce hepatotoxicity, while it is believed that the toxicity is reduced after processing. Studies have shown that the hepatotoxicity of PM is closely related to the changes in chemical components before and after processing. However, there is no comprehensive investigation on the chemical changes of PM during the processing progress. In this research, we established a comprehensive method to profile both small molecule compounds and polysaccharides from raw and different processed PM samples. In detail, an online two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry (2D-LC/Q-Orbitrap MS) was utilized to investigate the small molecules, and a total of 150 compounds were characterized successfully. After multivariate statistical analysis, 49 differential compounds between raw and processed products were screened out. Furthermore, an accurate and comprehensive method for quantification of differential compounds in PM samples was established based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/Q-Orbitrap-MS (UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS) within 16 min. In addition, the changes of polysaccharides in different PM samples were analyzed, and it was found that the addition of black beans and steaming times would affect the content and composition of polysaccharides in PM significantly. Our work provided a reference basis for revealing the scientific connotation of the processing technology and increasing the quality control and safety of PM.

Chitosan-Alginate Polymeric Nanocomposites as a Potential Oral Vaccine Carrier Against Influenza Virus Infection.

Lessons from the recent COVID-19 pandemic underscore the importance of rapidly developing an efficacious vaccine and its immediate administration for prophylaxis. Oral vaccines are of particular interest, as the presence of healthcare professionals is not needed for this stress-free vaccination approach. In this study, we designed a chitosan (CH)-alginate (AL) complex carrier system encapsulating an inactivated influenza virus vaccine (A/PR/8/34, H1N1), and the efficacy of these orally administered nanocomposite vaccines was evaluated in mice. Interestingly, CH-AL complexes were able to load large doses of vaccine (≥90%) with a stable dispersion. The encapsulated vaccine was protected from gastric acid and successfully released from the nanocomposite upon exposure to conditions resembling those of the small intestines. Scanning electron microscopy of the CH-virus-AL complexes revealed that the connections between the lumps became loose and widened pores were visible on the nanocomposite's surface at pH 7.4, thereby increasing the chance of virus release into the surroundings. Orally inoculating CH-virus-AL into mice elicited higher virus-specific IgG compared to the unimmunized controls. CH-virus-AL immunization also enhanced CD4 and CD8 T cell responses while diminishing lung virus titer, inflammatory cytokine production, and body weight loss compared to the infection control group. These results suggest that chitosan-alginate polymeric nanocomposites could be promising delivery complexes for oral influenza vaccines.

Optimization of polyhydroxyalkanoate production in Halomonas sp. YLGW01 using mixed volatile fatty acids: a study on mixture analysis and fed-batch strategy.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is one of the most promising materials for replacing petroleum-based plastics, and it can be produced from various renewable biomass sources. In this study, PHA production was conducted using Halomonas sp. YLGW01 utilizing mixed volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as carbon sources. The ratio and concentration of carbon and nitrogen sources were optimized through mixture analysis and organic nitrogen source screening, respectively. It was found that the highest cell dry weight (CDW) of 3.15 g/L and PHA production of 1.63 g/L were achieved when the ratio of acetate to lactate in the mixed VFAs was 0.45:0.55. Furthermore, supplementation of organic nitrogen sources such as soytone resulted in a ninefold increase in CDW (reaching 2.32 g/L) and a 22-fold increase in PHA production (reaching 1.60 g/L) compared to using inorganic nitrogen sources. Subsequently, DO-stat, VFAs consumption rate stat, and pH-stat fed-batch methods were applied to investigate and evaluate PHA productivity. The results showed that when pH-stat-based VFAs feeding was employed, a CDW of 7 g/L and PHA production of 5.1 g/L were achieved within 68 h, with a PHA content of 73%. Overall, the pH-stat fed-batch strategy proved to be effective in enhancing PHA production by Halomonas sp. YLGW01 utilizing VFAs.

High-Glucose Diet Attenuates the Dopaminergic Neuronal Function in C. elegans, Leading to the Acceleration of the Aging Process.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the selective degeneration of neurons, primarily in the substantia nigra. Environmental or exogenous factors that cause Parkinson's disease have not been sufficiently elucidated. Our study aims to investigate the causative effect of a high-glucose diet on Parkinson's disease-relevant dopaminergic neuronal system in Caenorhabditis elegans. Aging parameters were first observed by measuring the lifespan, body movement, and body sizes with and without the background of high glucose. The toxic effect of a high-glucose diet was further explored by observing the dopaminergic neurons using transgenic Pdat-1::gfp strains, BZ555, under a Zeiss microscope, and the experiments were extended by assessing dopamine-related behavioral analysis including basal slowing response and alcohol avoidance. The aggregation of the α-synucleins was also assessed by observing the NL5901 mutants. Worms fed with 250 mM glucose showed daf-2-independent regulation of aging, displaying a short lifespan (≤15 days), long body size (max. 140%), and slow movement (min. 30%, 10 bends/min). Anterior dopaminergic neurons were rapidly inactivated (70%) by a glucose-rich diet from 12 h of exposure, suggesting specific degeneration in ADE neurons. The dysregulation of neurons led to deteriorations in dopaminergic behaviors including basal slowing response (BSR). A high-glucose diet decreased dopamine synthesis (40 pg/mg vs 15 pg/mg protein) and induced α-synuclein aggregation in the muscles. Results demonstrate the potential of a high-glucose diet as a trigger of dopaminergic neuronal dysregulation conjugating aging acceleration.

Curcumin-Loaded Human Serum Albumin Nanoparticles Prevent Parkinson's Disease-like Symptoms in C. elegans.

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common degenerative disorders and is characterized by observable motor dysfunction and the loss of dopaminergic neurons. In this study, we fabricated curcumin nanoparticles using human serum albumin as a nanocarrier. Encapsulating curcumin is beneficial to improving its aqueous solubility and bioavailability. The curcumin-loaded HSA nanoparticles were acquired in the particle size and at the zeta potential of 200 nm and -10 mV, respectively. The curcumin-loaded human serum albumin nanoparticles ameliorated Parkinson's disease features in the C. elegans model, including body movement, basal slowing response, and the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. These results suggest that curcumin nanoparticles have potential as a medicinal nanomaterial for preventing the progression of Parkinson's disease.

Citric Acid-Mediated Microwave-Hydrothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous F-Doped HAp Nanorods from Bio-Waste for Biocidal Implant Applications.

In this current research, mesoporous nano-hydroxyapatite (HAp) and F-doped hydroxyapatite (FHAp) were effectively obtained through a citric acid-enabled microwave hydrothermal approach. Citric acid was used as a chelating and modifying agent for tuning the structure and porosity of the HAp structure. This is the first report to use citric acid as a modifier for producing mesoporous nano HAp and F-doped FHAp. The obtained samples were characterized by different analyses. The XRD data revealed that F is incorporated well into the HAp crystal structure. The crystallinity of HAp samples was improved and the unit cell volume was lowered with fluorine incorporation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of the obtained samples revealed that a nano rod-like shape was obtained. The mesoporous structures of the produced HAp samples were confirmed by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. In vivo studies performed using zebrafish and C. elegans prove the non-toxic behavior of the synthesized F doped HAp samples. The obtained samples are also analyzed for antimicrobial activity using Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, which are majorly involved in implant failure. The F doped samples revealed excellent bactericidal activity. Hence, this study confirms that the non-toxic and excellent antibacterial mesoporous F doped HAp can be a useful candidate for biocidal implant application.

Lactobacillus pentosus MJM60383 Inhibits Lipid Accumulation in Caenorhabditis elegans Induced by Enterobacter cloacae and Glucose.

Gut microbiota are known to play an important role in obesity. Enterobacter cloacae, a Gram-negative bacterium, has been considered a pathogenic bacterium related to obesity in the gut. In this study, we established an obesity model of C. elegans by feeding E. cloacae combined with a high glucose diet (HGD), which significantly induced lipid accumulation. An anti-lipid mechanism study revealed that the fatty acid composition and the expression level of fat metabolism-related genes were altered by feeding E. cloacae to C. elegans under HGD conditions. Lactic acid bacteria that showed antagonistic activity against E. cloacae were used to screen anti-obesity candidates in this model. Among them, L. pentosus MJM60383 (MJM60383) showed good antagonistic activity. C. eleans fed with MJM60383 significantly reduced lipid accumulation and triglyceride content. The ratio of C18:1Δ9/C18:0 was also changed in C. elegans by feeding MJM60383. In addition, the expression level of genes related to fatty acid synthesis was significantly decreased and the genes related to fatty acid ß-oxidation were up-regulated by feeding MJM60383. Moreover, MJM60383 also exhibited a high adhesive ability to Caco-2 cells and colonized the gut of C. elegans. Thus, L. pentosus MJM60383 can be a promising candidate for anti-obesity probiotics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that uses E. cloacae combined with a high-glucose diet to study the interactions between individual pathogens and probiotics in C. elegans.

Delineating the interaction mechanism of glabridin and ovalbumin by spectroscopic and molecular docking techniques.

The interaction between ovalbumin (OVA) and isoflavonoid glabridin (GB) was investigated using spectroscopic and molecular docking techniques. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that GB was bound to OVA mainly due to hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic forces. FT-IR spectroscopy showed that the combination of GB and OVA resulted in a decrease in the ß-sheet content of OVA and an increase in the α-helix and extended-chain content. All these experimental results were supported and clarified by molecular docking simulations. GB binding was able to inhibit chemical denaturant-induced structural changes in OVA as observed by intrinsic tryptophan and ANS fluorescence. Moreover, GB-OVA complex increased the aqueous solubility of GB by about 4.45 times at pH 7.0. These results provided insights into the interaction between GB and OVA that contributes to the utilization of GB in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Anti-Parkinson's Disease Function of Dioscin-Zein-Carboxymethyl Cellulose Nanocomplex in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Nanosized dioscin-loaded zein-CMC (DZC) complex comprising dioscin (glycoside saponin), zein (corn protein), and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is fabricated through anti-solvent coprecipitation. The optimized ratio of zein to CMC for the homogenous complexation is 5:1, and DZC maintains its stability in a wide range of pH (3.0-8.0) and ionic strength (0-50 mm NaCl). No biological toxicity of DZC is found in Caenorhabditis elegans with a normal lifespan and body size. Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of dopamine (DA) and dopaminergic neurons. In cat-2 mutant with defective biosynthesis of DA, DZC-fed animals show intact DA behaviors including basal slowing response (≈60%) and alcohol avoidance (≈80%). Such DA promotional effects are a result of the enhanced expression/activation of DA transporter, DAT-1 in DA neurons. Taken together, DZC has a potential for preventing PD as an oral-administered drugs and supplements.

A Systematic Investigation on the Properties of Silica Nanoparticles "Multipoint"-Grafted with Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate-co-acrylic Acid) in Extreme Salinity Brines and Brine-Oil Interfaces.

Nanoparticles (NPs) may have great potential for various subsurface applications, including oil and gas recovery, reservoir imaging, and environmental remediation. One of the important challenges for these downhole applications is to achieve colloidal stability in subsurface media at high salinity and high temperature. It has been previously shown that several functional NPs "multipoint"-grafted with anionic poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid; AMPS-co-AA) exhibited remarkable colloidal stabilities in specific environments mimicking the harsh subsurface aquatic media, such as the American Petroleum Institute (API) brine. However, many important properties of such particles, other than the colloidal stabilities, must be studied in a more systematic fashion for a wide range of salt concentrations (Cs). Herein, we investigate various properties of the silica (SiO2) NPs multipoint-grafted with poly(AMPS-co-AA), SiO2-g-poly(AMPS-co-AA), in NaCl and CaCl2 solutions across a range of salinities. The brush behavior of the grafted random copolymers was investigated in both salt solutions from salt-free conditions up to extreme salinities. The particles displayed brine-oil interfacial activity with increasing Cs, stabilizing oil-in-brine emulsions as Pickering emulsifiers. A high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) with an internal oil phase of up to 80 vol % could be formed in CaCl2 solutions at high Cs, which exhibited gel-like behaviors.

Effect of membrane property and feed water organic matter quality on long-term performance of the gravity-driven membrane filtration process.

This study investigated the influence of membrane property and feed water organic matter quality on the permeate flux and water quality during gravity-driven membrane (GDM) filtration. GDM filtration was continuously carried out over 500 days at hydrostatic pressure of 65 mbar in dead-end mode without any back-flushing or membrane cleaning. Three ultrafiltration (UF) membranes (PES-100 kDa, PVDF-120 kDa, and PVDF-100 kDa) and one microfiltration (MF) membrane (PTFE-0.3 µm) were tested for treating lake water with varied organic matter qualities due to algal growth. The fluxes of the four membranes rapidly decreased to ~8 L/(m2 × h) within a week of GDM filtration. The flux variations were quite similar for the four membranes during the entire GDM filtration, indicating that membrane property has a little effect on the flux. The flux strongly depends on the feed water organic matter quality. The average flux in treating low organics containing water (7-60 days) was ~5 L/(m2 × h) and decreased to ~2 L/(m2 × h) in treating high organics containing water (60-300 days). The accumulation of algal-derived biopolymers was mainly responsible for the flux decline by forming biofilms with high permeation resistance. The average flux in 300-500 days increased to ~3.5 L/(m2 × h) when the feed water contained lower levels of biopolymers and higher levels of easily biodegradable organics, which created open and heterogeneous biofilms with lower permeation resistance. Removal efficiency for Escherichia coli was more than 5 log, while the removal efficiency for total bacterial cells was 1 log-2 log for the four membranes, indicating some bacterial regrowth after the filtration. Removal efficiency for the MS2 phage was 2.4 log and 1.5 log for the fouled PES-UF and PTFE-MF membranes.

A triangle study of human, instrument and bioelectronic nose for non-destructive sensing of seafood freshness.

Because the freshness of seafood determines its consumer preference and food safety, the rapid monitoring of seafood deterioration is considered essential. However, the conventional analysis of seafood deterioration using chromatography instruments and bacterial colony counting depends on time-consuming and food-destructive treatments. In this study, we demonstrate a non-destructive and rapid food freshness monitoring system by a triangular study of sensory evaluation, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), and a bioelectronic nose. The sensory evaluation indicated that the acceptability and flavor deteriorated gradually during post-harvest storage (4 °C) for 6 days. The GC-MS analysis recognized the reduction of freshness by detecting a generation of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) from the headspace of oyster in a refrigerator (4 °C) at 4 days post-harvest. However, the bioelectronic nose incorporating human olfactory receptor peptides with the carbon nanotube field-effect transistor sensed trimethylamine (TMA) from the oyster at 2 days post-harvest with suggesting early recognition of oysters' quality and freshness deterioration. Given that the bacterial species producing DMS or TMA along with toxins were found in the oyster, the bacterial contamination-driven food deterioration is rapidly monitored using the bioelectronic nose with a targeted non-destructive freshness marker.

C. elegans-on-a-chip for in situ and in vivo Ag nanoparticles' uptake and toxicity assay.

Nanomaterials are extensively used in consumer products and medical applications, but little is known about their environmental and biological toxicities. Moreover, the toxicity analysis requires sophisticated instruments and labor-intensive experiments. Here we report a microfluidic chip incorporated with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that rapidly displays the changes in body growth and gene expression specifically responsive to the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). C. elegans were cultured in microfluidic chambers in the presence or absence of AgNPs and were consequently transferred to wedge-shaped channels, which immobilized the animals, allowing the evaluation of parameters such as length, moving distance, and fluorescence from the reporter gene. The AgNPs reduced the length of C. elegans body, which was easily identified in the channel of chip. In addition, the decrease of body width enabled the worm to advance the longer distance compared to the animal without nanoparticles in a wedge-shaped channel. The transgenic marker DNA, mtl-2::gfp was highly expressed upon the uptake of AgNPs, resulting in green fluorescence emission. The comparative investigation using gold nanoparticles and heavy-metal ions indicated that these parameters are specific to AgNPs. These results demonstrate that C. elegans-on-a-chip has a great potential as a rapid and specific nanoparticle detection or nanotoxicity assessment system.

Antifungal activity of nano and micro charcoal particle polymers against Paecilomyces variotii, Trichoderma virens and Chaetomium globosum.

This study investigates the antifungal activity of a polymer integrated with nano-porous charcoal particles against Paecilomyces variotii, Chaetomium globosum, Trichoderma virens, which are all filamentous fungi. The charcoal polymers were prepared by combining charcoal powders with plastic resin under a vacuum to form charcoal particle protrusions on the polymer surface. The mycelial growth of P. variotii and T. virens exhibited a reduction of 10 and 30%, respectively, after the conidia were pre-treated with charcoal polymers, and in particular, no mycelial growth was found in C. globosum during 5 days of culture. The adsorption of Ca(2+) into charcoal was suggested to inhibit growth due to the reduction in the flux of calcium ions (Ca(2+)) into the hyphae. In 5 h, about 15 mM of Ca(2+) were removed from CaCl2 solution with 0.2 g/mL of polymers, and the nano-sized pores of the charcoals on the polymer were responsible for the Ca(2+) adsorption.

Enhanced biological activity of carotenoids stabilized by phenyl groups.

Carotenoids are lipid soluble food ingredients with multifunction including antioxidant and anticancer activities. However, carotenoids are destructively oxidized upon reaction with radicals resulting in toxic effects on biological systems. Two synthetic carotenoids (BAS and BTS) containing the aromatic phenyl groups with a para-substituent (OMe and Me, respectively) at C-13 and C-13' position were prepared in order to overcome a structural instability of carotenoid. Both BAS and BTS exerted stronger radical scavenging activity than ß-carotene in DPPH and ABTS assays. In particular, BTS significantly reduced in vivo ROS (reactive oxygen species) levels and improved body growth and reproduction of Caenorhabditiselegans. BTS has a great potential for the advanced and modified carotenoid material with stability leading to enhanced bioavailability.

A protein delivery system using 30Kc19 cell-penetrating protein originating from silkworm.

Cell-penetrating protein and its protein transduction domain have been used to deliver drugs and proteins into the cells via receptor-independent endocytosis. A number of cell-penetrating proteins including TAT derived from HIV-1 virus, VP22 from herpes simplex virus and Antennapedia from drosophila have been discovered. Here, we report a cell-penetrating protein, 30Kc19, originating from the hemolymph of silkworm, Bombyx mori. The 30Kc19 is the first cell-penetrating protein that has been found in insect hemolymph. When the 30Kc19 protein produced from recombinant Escherichia coli was supplemented into the medium for mammalian cell culture, 30Kc19 efficiently penetrated into various types of cells and localized at subcellular compartments including mitochondria and cytoplasm. 30Kc19 also delivered cargo proteins such as green fluorescence protein into the cells even though cargo proteins are not able to penetrate into cells by themselves. In addition to the in vitro system, 30Kc19 exhibited the protein transduction property in vivo. When 30Kc19 was intraperitoneally injected into mice, 30Kc19 delivered cargo proteins into various organ tissues of model animals without producing toxicity. Therefore, 30Kc19 has a great potential as a cell-penetrating protein that can be used as a medicinal tool to deliver cargo molecules including proteins into the target organ tissues in the body.

Enhancement of recombinant human EPO production and glycosylation in serum-free suspension culture of CHO cells through expression and supplementation of 30Kc19.

We previously reported that the expression of Bombyx mori 30Kc19 gene in CHO cells significantly improved both the production and sialylation of recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) in adhesion culture mode. In this study, the effects of 30Kc19 expression and supplementation of 30Kc19 recombinant protein on the productivity and glycosylation pattern of rHuEPO were investigated in the serum-free suspension culture mode. Especially, glycosylation pattern was examined in detail using a quantitative MALDI-TOF MS method. The expression of 30Kc19 increased the EPO production by 2.5-folds and the host cells produced rHuEPO with more complex glycan structures and a larger content of sialic acid and fucose. The glycan structures of rHuEPO in the 30Kc19-expressing cell consisted of bi-, tri-, tetra-, and penta-antennary branching (35, 18, 33, and 14 %, respectively), while the control cells produced predominantly bi-antennary branching (70 %). About 53 % of the glycans from rHuEPO in the 30Kc19-expressing cell was terminally sialylated, while no obvious sialylated glycan was found in the control cells. The percentage of fucosylated glycans from the 30Kc19-expressing cell culture was 77 %, whereas only 61 % of the glycans from the control cell were fucosylated glycans. We also examined whether these effects were observed when the recombinant 30Kc19 protein produced from Escherichia coli was supplemented into the culture medium for CHO cells. In the control cell line without the 30Kc19 gene, EPO production increased by 41.6 % after the addition of 0.2 mg/mL of the recombinant 30Kc19 protein to the culture medium. By the Western blot analysis after two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) of isoforms of EPO, we confirmed that 30Kc19 enhanced the sialylation of EPO glycans. These results demonstrated that both 30Kc19 gene expression and the recombinant 30Kc19 protein addition enhanced rHuEPO productivity and glycosylation in suspension culture. In conclusion, the utilization of 30Kc19 in CHO cell culture holds great promise for use in the manufacturing of improved biopharmaceutical glycoproteins.

The cultivation of Anabaena variabilis in a bubble column operating under bubbly and slug flows.

In a bubble column reactor with an inner diameter of 6cm and a height of 63cm for the culture of cyanobacteria two different shapes of bubbles can be generated, resulting in bubbly flow or slug flow. Growth of Anabaena variabilis under slug flow (1.9g/l/day) was 1.73 times higher than that under bubbly flow (1.1g/l/day) when the specific irradiation rate was maintained above 10µmol/s/g dry cell. Although a stepwise increase in superficial gas velocity enhanced the average cell growth rate under bubbly flow by 1.57 times, the average cell growth rate during the deceleration phase under bubbly flow (1.98g/l/day) was 0.61 times smaller than that under slug flow (3.22g/l/day). These results demonstrate that the bubble shape in the slug flow was advantageous in regards to the radial circulation of cells.

Apoptosis-mediated in vivo toxicity of hydroxylated fullerene nanoparticles in soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Although a number of manufactured nanoparticles are applied for the medical and clinical purposes, the understanding of interaction between nanomaterials and biological systems are still insufficient. Using nematode Caenorhabditis elegans model organism, we here investigated the in vivo toxicity or safety of hydroxylated fullerene nanoparticles known to detoxify anti-cancer drug-induced oxidative damages in mammals. The survival ratio of C. elegans rapidly decreased by the uptake of nanoparticles from their L4 larval stage with resulting in shortened lifespan (20 d). Both reproduction rate and body size of C. elegans were also reduced after exposure to 100 µg mL(-1) of fullerol. We found ectopic cell corpses caused by apoptotic cell death in the adult worms grown with fullerol nanoparticles. By the mutation of core pro-apoptotic regulator genes, ced-3 and ced-4, these nanoparticle-induced cell death were significantly suppressed, and the viability of animals consequently increased despite of nanoparticle uptake. The apoptosis-mediated toxicity of nanoparticles particularly led to the disorder of digestion system in the animals containing a large number of undigested foods in their intestine. These results demonstrated that the water-soluble fullerol nanoparticles widely used in medicinal applications have a potential for inducing apoptotic cell death in multicellular organisms despite of their antioxidative detoxifying property.

High glucose diets shorten lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans via ectopic apoptosis induction.

Diets based on carbohydrates increase rapidly the blood glucose level due to the fast conversion of carbohydrates to glucose. High glucose diets have been known to induce many lifestyle diseases. Here, we demonstrated that high glucose diet shortened the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans through apoptosis induction. Control adult groups without glucose diet lived for 30 days, whereas animals fed 10 mg/L of D-glucose lived only for 20 days. The reduction of lifespan by glucose diet showed a dose-dependent profile in the concentration range of glucose from 1 to 20 mg/L. Aging effect of high glucose diet was examined by measurement of response time for locomotion after stimulating movement of the animals by touching. Glucose diet decreased the locomotion capacity of the animals during mid-adulthood. High glucose diets also induced ectopic apoptosis in the body of C. elegans, which is a potent mechanism that can explain the shortened lifespan and aging. Apoptotic cell corpses stained with SYTO 12 were found in the worms fed 10 mg/L of glucose. Mutation of core apoptotic regulatory genes, CED-3 and CED-4, inhibited the reduction of viability induced by high glucose diet, which indicates that these regulators were required for glucose-induced apoptosis or lifespan shortening. Thus, we conclude that high glucose diets have potential for inducing ectopic apoptosis in the body, resulting in a shortened lifespan accompanied with loss of locomotion capacity.