Inhaled turmerones can be incorporated in the organs via pathways different from oral administration and can affect weight-gain of mice.

Turmerones (α-turmerone, ß-turmerone, and ar-turmerone) are the major volatile compounds in turmeric (Curcuma longa), a perennial herb of the ginger family. We previously reported that inhaled volatile turmerones could be transferred in the blood and organs. However, the difference between the two pathways, oral administration and inhalation, and the effect of inhaled turmerones on biological activities remain unknown. In this study, we compared the distribution patterns of turmerones after oral administration and inhalation. The relative levels (concentrations of turmerones in each organ/serum) in the lung, olfactory bulb, brain, heart, kidney, and epididymal fat in the inhalation group tended to be, or are significantly, higher than in the oral administration group. The relative levels of brown adipose tissue in the inhalation group were lower than in the oral administration group. Long-term (50 days) inhalation to volatile turmerones suppressed weight gain and hypertrophy of adipocytes in the epididymal fat of mice fed a high-fat diet. These results suggest that inhaled turmerones can be incorporated into the organs of mice via different pathway from as to those from oral administration and can affect the biological function of the organs under certain conditions.

Emergence of pathogenic coronaviruses in cats by homologous recombination between feline and canine coronaviruses.

Type II feline coronavirus (FCoV) emerged via double recombination between type I FCoV and type II canine coronavirus (CCoV). In this study, two type I FCoVs, three type II FCoVs and ten type II CCoVs were genetically compared. The results showed that three Japanese type II FCoVs, M91-267, KUK-H/L and Tokyo/cat/130627, also emerged by homologous recombination between type I FCoV and type II CCoV and their parent viruses were genetically different from one another. In addition, the 3'-terminal recombination sites of M91-267, KUK-H/L and Tokyo/cat/130627 were different from one another within the genes encoding membrane and spike proteins, and the 5'-terminal recombination sites were also located at different regions of ORF1. These results indicate that at least three Japanese type II FCoVs emerged independently. Sera from a cat experimentally infected with type I FCoV was unable to neutralize type II CCoV infection, indicating that cats persistently infected with type I FCoV may be superinfected with type II CCoV. Our previous study reported that few Japanese cats have antibody against type II FCoV. All of these observations suggest that type II FCoV emerged inside the cat body and is unable to readily spread among cats, indicating that these recombination events for emergence of pathogenic coronaviruses occur frequently.