Acidic Activated Charcoal Prevents Obesity and Insulin Resistance in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice.

Obesity is becoming a major public health problem worldwide. Making charcoal from wood ("Sumi-yaki") has been a traditional activity in the southern part of Nagano Prefecture for centuries, with activated charcoal having reported detoxifying effects. However, it is unclear whether activated charcoal also possesses anti-obesity properties. Additionally, since activated charcoal is usually alkaline and might be affected by gastric juice, we evaluated the effect of acidic activated charcoal on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. This study demonstrated that co-treatment of acidic activated charcoal with a HFD significantly improved obesity and insulin resistance in mice in a dose-dependent manner. Metabolomic analysis of cecal contents revealed that neutral lipids, cholesterol, and bile acids were excreted at markedly higher levels in feces with charcoal treatment. Moreover, the hepatic expressions of genes encoding cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase/synthase 1 were up-regulated by activated charcoal, likely reflecting the enhanced excretions from the intestine and the enterohepatic circulation of cholesterol and bile acids. No damage or abnormalities were detected in the gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, and lung. In conclusion, acidic activated charcoal may be able to attenuate HFD-induced weight gain and insulin resistance without serious adverse effects. These findings indicate a novel function of charcoal to prevent obesity, metabolic syndrome, and related diseases.

Structure-based alteration of tryptophan residues of the multidrug transporter CmABCB1 to assess substrate binding using fluorescence spectroscopy.

ABCB1, also known as P-glycoprotein, is an essential component of many physiological barriers and extrudes a variety of hydrophobic chemicals out of the cell. Structures of ABCB1 provided insights into the structural changes that occur upon ATP binding and the characteristic architecture of the substrate binding site. Yet, the structure-function relationship between substrate binding and transporting still remains largely obscured because there is no robust method for accurately measuring substrate binding constants. The methods currently used cannot identify whether the bound substrates are located in the inner chamber of the molecule in the transmembrane region or not because of the low spatial resolution. Here, we report a system for measuring the affinity of substrate binding to the Cyanidioschyzon merolae ABCB1 (CmABCB1) using site-specific tryptophan (Trp) fluorescence quenching. We designed a CmABCB1 mutant with an extrinsic Trp residue introduced into the inner chamber. Trp fluorescence was quenched by three substrates and one inhibitor, including rhodamine 6G, in a saturable fashion, allowing for accurate estimation of the dissociation constant (KD ) for each molecule. The KD for rhodamine 6G is similar to that determined using a reciprocal fluorescence quenching assay using rhodamine 6G fluorescence, suggesting that Trp fluorescence of the mutant was quenched by the interaction between the extrinsic Trp and substrates bound in the inner chamber. Structural comparison of the ABCB1 structures suggests that the system presented in this study could be ideal method of choice to determine the substrate binding affinities of compounds bound to the chamber of mammalian ABCB1.

Clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from umbilical endometriosis.

Umbilical endometriosis is a very rare condition, and as far as we are aware, there have been no reported cases of its malignant transformation. Here, we report a case of clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from umbilical endometriosis in a 60-year-old woman who underwent hysterectomy for a uterine myoma at the age of 38, and who denied cyclic bleeding at the site of an umbilical cutaneous nodule correlating with menses until the age of 48. An umbilical tumor (3 cm diameter) was identified by magnetic resonance imaging and an abnormal accumulation was found only at the umbilical lesion by positron emission tomography examination. We observed endometriosis adjacent to the clear cell adenocarcinoma and transformation to carcinoma from endometriosis at the umbilical lesion histopathologically. Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the umbilicus was thought to have arisen from endometriosis; it expressed HER-2 protein and showed strong mesothelial characteristics immunohistochemically.

Surface analysis of ionic liquids with and without lithium salt using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied to a neat ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [EMI(+)][Tf(2)N(-)] and its lithium salt solution at room temperature to clarify the composition and structure of its near-surface region. Core level peaks were recorded for Li 1s, N 1s, C 1s, F 1s, O 1s, S 2s, and S 2p. Valence band XPS spectra (0-40 eV binding energy) were also studied. The XPS spectra were analyzed using DV-Xα calculations. Results show that the planar type isomer of the EMI(+) cation is dominant at the near-surface region of EMI-Tf(2)N. Results of XPS measurements show a spectrum of Li 1s in Li/EMI-Tf(2)N. The proposed models for the preferred orientation of the ions exhibit good agreement with results obtained from the DV-Xα calculations.

Accelerating effect of soy peptides containing collagen peptides on type I and III collagen levels in rat skin.

Two weeks of feeding soy peptides containing 2% collagen peptides increased the levels of type I and III tropocollagen and their mRNAs. In contrast, the diet did not increase the mRNA levels of rat hyaluronan synthases, serine palmitoyltransferase (the rate-limiting enzyme of ceramide synthesis), and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (the key enzyme of cholesterol synthesis). These results suggest that feeding of soy peptides with collagen peptides specifically enhanced the tropocollagen level in the skin.

Evidence-based guidelines for treatment of cervical cancer in Japan: Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology (JSGO) 2007 edition.

Clinical practice guidelines for gynecologic cancers have been published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the National Cancer Institute. Whereas these guidelines form the basis for the standard of care for gynecologic malignancies in the United States, it has proven difficult to institute them in Japan due to differences in patient characteristics, health-care delivery systems, and insurance programs. Therefore, evidence-based guidelines for treating cervical cancer specifically in Japan have been under development. The Guidelines Formulation Committee and Evaluation Committee were independently established within the Committee for Treatment Guidelines for Cervical Cancer. Opinions from within and outside the Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology (JSGO) were incorporated into the final draft, and the guidelines were published after approval by the JSGO. These guidelines are composed of ten chapters and comprise three algorithms. Each chapter consists of a clinical question, recommendations, background, objectives, explanations, and references. The objective of these guidelines is to clearly delineate the standard of care for cervical cancer treatment in Japan in order to ensure equitable care for all Japanese women diagnosed with cervical cancer.

New Dihydroquinolinone Toxic to Artemia salina Produced by Penicillium sp. NTC-47.

Penicillium sp. NTC-47, which had been isolated from a soil sample, produced novel dihydroquinolinones when cultured with okara (the insoluble residue of whole soybean). These metabolites, 1 and 2, were crystalline products with molecular formulas of C17H17NO5 and C17H17NO4, respectively. The structure of 1 was established to be 3-methoxy-4,5-dihydroxy-4-(4'-methoxyphenyl)-quinolinone by spectroscopic evidence and by an X-ray crystal-lographic analysis. Spectral data indicated the structure of 2 to be 5-deoxy-l. Compound 1 demonstrated toxicity against brine shrimp with an LC50 value of 20µg/ml, but 2 exhibited no activity at a dose of 100 µg/ml.