Chronic low-grade inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of obesity, due to its associated chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases and cancer. Thus, targeting inflammation is an attractive strategy to counter the burden of obesity-induced health problems. Recently, food-derived bioactive compounds have been spotlighted as a regulator against various chronic diseases due to their low toxicity, as opposed to drugs that induce severe side effects. Here we describe the beneficial effects of dietary anthocyanins on obesity-induced metabolic disorders and inflammation. Red cabbage microgreen, blueberry, blackcurrant, mulberry, cherry, black elderberry, black soybean, chokeberry and jaboticaba peel contain a variety of anthocyanins including cyanidins, delphinidins, malvidins, pelargonidins, peonidins and petunidins, and have been reported to alter both metabolic markers and inflammatory markers in cells, animals, and humans. This review discusses the interplay between inflammation and obesity, and their subsequent regulation via the use of dietary anthocyanins, suggesting an alternative dietary strategy to ameliorate obesity and obesity associated chronic diseases.

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The steaming process of Panax ginseng has been reported to increase its major known bioactive components, ginsenosides, and, therefore, its biological properties as compared to regular Panax ginseng. Biological functions of red Panax ginseng attenuating pro-oxidant environments associated with chronic diseases are of particular interest, since oxidative stress can be a key contributor to the pathogenesis of chronic diseases. Additionally, proper utilization of various biomarkers for evaluating antioxidant activities in natural products, such as ginseng, can also be important to providing validity to their activities. Thus, studies on the effects of red ginseng against various diseases as determined in cell lines, animal models, and humans were reviewed, along with applied biomarkers for verifying such effects. Limitations and future considerations of studying red ginseng were been discussed. Although further clinical studies are warranted, red ginseng appears to be beneficial for attenuating disease-associated symptoms via its antioxidant activities, as well as for preventing oxidative stress-associated chronic diseases.

The 26S proteasome plays a major role in degradation of abnormal proteins within the cell. The indirect antioxidant including sulforaphane (SFN) protects cells from oxidative damage by increasing the expression of Nrf2-target genes. It has been observed that the expression of multiple subunits of the proteasome was up-regulated by indirect antioxidants through the Nrf2 pathway. In the current study, the role of SFN in amyloid beta(1-42) (Abeta(1-42))-induced cytotoxicity has been investigated in murine neuroblastoma cells. Treatment with SFN protected cells from Abeta(1-42)-mediated cell death in Neuro2A and N1E 115 cells. Inhibition of proteasome activities by MG132 could abolish the protective effect of SFN against Abeta(1-42). Neuro2A cells, which were stably overexpressing the catalytic subunit of the proteasome PSMB5, showed an elevated resistance toward Abeta(1-42) toxicity compared to control cells. Furthermore, the in vitro assay demonstrated that the Abeta(1-42) peptide is degraded by the proteasome fraction. These results suggest that proteasome-inducing indirect antioxidants may facilitate the removal of the Abeta(1-42) peptide and lead to the amelioration of abnormal protein-associated etiologies.

Meso-structured onion-like silica (Meso-Onion-S) was synthesized and used as a host of enzyme immobilization. Meso-Onion-S has a 200–300 nm sized primary meso-structured onion building unit, and each onion unit has highly curved mesopores of 10 nm diameter in a multishell structure. Nanoscale enzyme reactors (NERs) in Meso-Onion-S were prepared via a two-step process of enzyme adsorption and subsequent enzyme cross-linking, which effectively prevents the leaching of cross-linked enzyme aggregates from highly curved mesopores of Meso-Onion-S. As a result, NERs in Meso-Onion-S significantly improved the enzyme stability as well as the enzyme loading. For example, NER of lipase (NER-LP) was stable under rigorous shaking for 40 days, while the control sample of adsorbed LP (ADS-LP) with no enzyme cross-linking showed a rapid inactivation due to rigorous enzyme leaching under shaking. Stable NER-LP was successfully employed to produce biodiesels and fatty acid methyl esters, from the LP-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil with methanol. Interestingly, the specific activity of NER-LP was 23 and 10 times higher than those of free LP and ADS-LP, respectively, revealing the importance of LP stabilization in the form of NER-LP in the presence of organic solvents.

Park H-M, Jung S-W, Rhee C-K. Vestibular diagnosis as prognostic indicator in sudden hearing loss with × ertigo. Acta Otolaryngol 2001; Suppl 545: 80 -83.The majority of episodes of sudden hearing loss are caused by inner ear disorders, often accompanied by vertigo. The patterns of hearing loss usually in uence the prognosis. The purpose of this study was to analyze vestibular diagnoses in sudden hearing loss with vertigo, and to correlate them with the recovery of hearing loss. The clinical records of 125 patients with sudden hearing loss were reviewed. Various vestibular evaluations were performed in 36 patients with vertigo. The vertigo in these patients was classi ed as normal, unilateral hypofunction, directional preponderance, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), non-speci c or irritative. The initial and nal pure-tone audiograms of these patients were compared. The distribution of vestibular diagnoses was unilateral hypofunction in 30.6% of patients, BPPV in 25.7%, normal in 19.4%, non-speci c in 11.1%, directional preponderance in 8.3% and irritative in 8.3%. The recovery of hearing in patients with vertigo was signi cantly worse than in those without vertigo. The recovery of hearing in patients with spinning vertigo did not differ from that of patients with non-spinning vertigo. The recovery of hearing was worst in the BPPV group, especially in the high frequency range, followed by the unilateral hypofunction group, who showed hearing thresholds between those in the BPPV group and those in the normal vestibular function test group. This study suggests that the diagnostic classi cation of vestibulopathy is a useful prognostic indicator of hearing recovery in sudden hearing loss with vertigo. We conclude that otolithic and semicircular canal involvement may cause poor hearing results, especially in the high frequency range.

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Pure and Nb‐substituted CaCu3Ti4−xNbxO12+x/2 (CCTO, x=0, 0.02, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4) ceramics were prepared by a conventional solid‐state sintering, and their electric and dielectric properties were investigated using an impedance analyzer. A single‐phase CCTO was obtained up to x=0.2 Nb substitution and the lattice parameter increased with Nb substitution concentration. While the grain size decreased with Nb substitution, the resistivity of the grain boundary decreased. The dielectric constant increased with Nb substitution, and the highest value of ∼420 000 was observed in the x=0.2 Nb‐substituted specimen at 10 kHz. The obtained electric and dielectric properties in Nb‐substituted CCTO were discussed in terms of the internal barrier layer capacitor model, particularly focusing on a ratio of thickness of the grain boundary region to grain size.