articles integrative PhysiologyMethods and Procedures Mice C57BL/6J mice (4 weeks old; males: n = 24, females: n = 32) used in this study were purchased from Sankyo Laboratories (Tokyo, Japan). They were allowed free access to water and food, and were kept in a light-, temperature-, and humidity-controlled environment throughout the experiment (12-12 h light-dark cycle; temperature 23 ± 1 °C; 55 ± 5% relative humidity).This study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Japan Women's University, and the animals were maintained in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals guideline of the General Administrative Agency of the Japanese Cabinet. dietThe animals were fed two types of diet throughout the study. They were fed either the control diet (AIN-93G: American Institute of Nutrition 93G), or an HF diet (AIN-93G supplemented with lard), which consisted of 29% lard ad libitum as shown in Table 1.

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in assessing nutritional, physical and psychosocial functions in community-living elderly individuals. Design: A cross-sectional study of elderly individuals investigated in August 2007 and August-September 2008. Nutritional status was assessed using serum biomarkers, anthropometric measurements and the MNA. Physical function was assessed by measuring grip strength and both usual and maximum walking speeds. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to measure the individual's depressive state. Setting: Elder-care facilities in Tokyo, Japan. Subjects: Community-living elderly individuals aged $65 years (n 130). Results: The MNA evaluation classified twenty-seven (20?8 %) individuals as being at risk for malnutrition (MNA score #23?5); these at-risk individuals included a high proportion of the elderly aged $75 years. MNA scores correlated with nutritional biomarkers (total protein, albumin, cholinesterase, Hb) and anthropometric measurements (triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, mid-arm muscle area) and exhibited a strong correlation with grip strength and GDS score. Multivariate analysis revealed that grip strength, GDS score, marital status and maximum walking speed are strong predictors of MNA score. Conclusions: The MNA is considerably useful in providing a comprehensive assessment of nutritional status in elderly, community-living Japanese. However, larger-scale epidemiological studies are needed to determine the utility and the appropriate cut-off point of the MNA as a screen for risk of malnutrition. Keywords Community-living elderly Mini-Nutritional Assessment Grip strength DepressionThe proportion of elderly people is increasing markedly around the world. In Japan today, 22?1 % of the total population is $65 years of age, and this statistic is estimated to exceed 33?7 % in 2035. Moreover, the population of very old people (aged $75 years) is expanding to 10?2 % (1) . This demographic shift will change healthcare problems, and continued good health of the elderly population will remain a major challenge in public health (2) . Malnutrition is a common health problem in the elderly, causing a decline in the quality of life. Particularly in community-living elderly, chronic malnutrition is a widespread, but often unrecognized, problem that goes untreated. The prevalence of risk of malnutrition (RM) in the elderly living at home is 24 (SD 0?4) % in a previous review (3) . Reports suggest that 30 % of Japanese community-living elderly individuals are at RM, and 50 % have multiple health problems requiring medical treatment (4) . Increasing health-care expenditures among the elderly is also becoming a serious global socio-economic problem. The assessment of malnutrition risk among the community-living elderly is important for early intervention and prevention, which may contribute to the improvement of the social economy. Nutritional status in the elderly is influenced by various factors, including physical and psychosoc...

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Leptin can regulate several immune functions. However, the role of leptin on lymphocyte function has not been recognized in vivo. Accordingly, we have investigated the effect of leptin on starvation-induced immune dysfunction using diet-induced obese mice. To induce obesity, C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet for 14 weeks and control mice were fed a standard diet for the same period. The obese and control groups of mice were then starved for 48 h, and received intraperitoneal injections of recombinant leptin or phosphate-buffered saline four times during starvation. Other control mice in both diet groups were free fed without being starved. Although starvation of the control mice dramatically reduced the weights of the immune organs, cytokine production and increased proliferation of cultured splenocytes, these levels returned to those of the free-feeding groups with exogenous leptin administration. However, these effects of leptin were not observed in obese mice. These findings provide some evidence that leptin can regulate the immune function in vivo. It is also suggested that the action of leptin might not appear in obesity.