Safety evaluation of the consumption of high dose milk fat globule membrane in healthy adults: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design.

Consumption of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) in combination with habitual exercise suppresses age-associated muscle loss. The effects of high dose MFGM, however, are not known. A double-blind, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design was conducted to evaluate the safety of consuming high dose MFGM tablets. The subjects were 32 healthy adult men and women. Subjects were given 5 times the recommended daily intake of the tablets containing 6.5 g of MFGM or whole milk powder for 4 weeks. Stomach discomfort and diarrhea were observed; however, these symptoms were transitory and slight and were not related to consumption of the test tablets. In addition, there were no clinically significant changes in anthropometric measurements or blood tests. Total degree of safety assessed by the physicians of all subjects was "safe." These findings suggest that consumption of the tablets containing 6.5 g MFGM for 4 weeks is safe for healthy adults.

Coffee polyphenols improve peripheral endothelial function after glucose loading in healthy male adults.

Brewed coffee is a widely consumed beverage, and many studies have examined its effects on human health. We investigated the vascular effects of coffee polyphenols (CPPs), hypothesizing that a single ingestion of CPP during glucose loading would improve endothelial function. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a randomized acute clinical intervention study with crossover design and measured reactive hyperemia index (RHI) to assess the acute effects of a 75-g glucose load with CPP in healthy, nondiabetic adult men. Blood glucose and insulin levels were elevated after glucose loading with and without CPP, with no significant differences between treatments. The RHI did not significantly decrease after glucose loading without CPP. With CPP, however, RHI significantly (P < .05) increased over baseline after glucose loading. The difference between treatments was statistically significant (P < .05). No significant changes were observed in an oxidative stress marker after glucose loading with or without CPP. These findings suggest that a single ingestion of CPP improves peripheral endothelial function after glucose loading in healthy subjects.

Hydroxyhydroquinone-free coffee: a double-blind, randomized controlled dose-response study of blood pressure.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Coffee is rich in chlorogenic acids (CGA), whose metabolites may have beneficial effects such as anti-hypertensive effects. However, trial results concerning the effects of coffee on blood pressure (BP) are not consistent. A recent study suggested that hydroxyhydroquinone (HHQ), produced by the roasting of green coffee beans, inhibits the effect of CGA. In the present study, the dose-response for CGA in HHQ-free coffee on BP were investigated in mildly hypertensive men and women. METHODS AND RESULTS: The trial design was a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, with five study groups including, control, zero-dose, low-dose, middle-dose and high-dose. The control beverage was identical to ordinary coffee. The others contained reduced HHQ levels, compared to ordinary coffee, and the CGA were adjusted in target concentration. A total of 203 subjects were randomly allocated. Each subject drank one cup of coffee per day. The study involved a screening and a baseline observation period of 6 weeks and an intervention period of 4 weeks. BP response showed CGA has an anti-hypertensive effect in a dose-dependent manner in HHQ-free coffee, and ordinary coffee showed almost no effect. As a result, a significant correlation between BP change and the three dose-response patterns was observed (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates a dose-dependent decrease in BP for CGA in HHQ-free coffee.

Assessment of epidermal barrier function by photoacoustic spectrometry in relation to its importance in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis.

With the use of the photoacoustic spectrometry system, in which a mixture of lipid- and water-soluble dyes is applied to the skin and then irradiated with light from a xenon lamp (425 nm and 550 nm), we measured photoacoustic signals of both dyes within the stratum corneum and their disappearance rate through the stratum corneum. The signal intensity was higher and dyes penetrated faster in clinically normal skin of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) compared with healthy subjects, indicating an impairment of the in vivo cutaneous permeability barrier function against both lipophilic and hydrophilic chemicals. Furthermore, penetration rates of the hydrophilic dyes tended to increase in proportion to the severity of AD and significantly correlated with serum IgE levels in the severe AD group. Thus, abnormal barrier functions of clinically normal skin in AD may predispose inflammatory processes evoked by irritants and allergens, especially their water-soluble elements.