Antioxidant activity of fermented soybean extract.

Free radicals are considered to be important causative factors in the development of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This relationship has led to interest in evaluating the antioxidant capacities of many dietary supplements. Fermented soybean extract is produced by symbiotic fermentation of organic soybean with 20 types of Lactobacillus and yeast. In vitro and in vivo models are used in this study to evaluate the antioxidant effect of fermented soybean extract. Several in vitro models are used to detect the antioxidant capacity of the fermented soybean extract, which is compared to vitamin C and Trolox. The results demonstrate that the fermented soybean extract has strong antioxidant activity against unsaturated fatty acid peroxidation compared to vitamin C and Trolox. By the means of the test system developed by Y. Toshiki et al., it is shown that the fermented soybean extract can function both as an antioxidant and as a free radical acceptor that can convert free radicals into harmless substances through an energy-decreasing procedure. An in vivo study examines the effects of fermented soybean extract on the activity of antioxidant enzymes. The activities of the antioxidant enzymes (AOE) including total superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) are measured in liver, kidney, and brain from male Sprague-Dawley rats. The activities of CAT, SOD, and GPX are increased in the liver. However, the SOD activity is decreased in the kidney. SOD and GPX activities are decreased in the brain. These results lead to the conclusion that fermented soybean extract not only has antioxidant activity but also has an effect on the activity of antioxidant enzymes in liver.

Behavioural effects of tetrachloroethylene exposure in rats: acute and subchronic studies.

This study was carried out to compare the neurobehavioural profile of acute and subchronic tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE) exposure in rats. In the acute study, a single bolus of 50 and 500 mg/kg of PCE in corn oil was administered by gavage. In the subchronic experiments, rats were exposed to PCE at a dosage of 5 and 50 mg/kg in corn oil, 5 days per week for 8 weeks. Nociception, locomotion and seizure susceptibility was tested using open-field, tail immersion and hot plate and pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures, respectively. Subchronic PCE exposure exhibited higher antinociceptive effect and lower motor activity in comparison with acute exposure. Pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsion thresholds were elevated following acute PCE exposure. In contrast, subchronic PCE exposure only increased thresholds for myoclonic twitch and face and forelimb clonus without altering the thresholds for running and bouncing clonus and tonic hindlimb extension. These findings suggest that subchronic PCE exposure results in progressively greater toxic effects on nociception and locomotor activity. The differential effects on seizure susceptibility between acute and subchronic exposure may represent different alterations on neural circuits involved in seizure generation.