No abstract

Low circulating DHEA-S might have a role in the development of advanced NASH.

Objective: An open-label noncontrolled study was conducted in subjects with increased oxidative stress burden to evaluate the mental and physical effects of antioxidant astaxanthin. Methods: Of 35 healthy postmenopausal women, 21 with high oxidative stress (diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites; d-ROM) were selected, and 20 (55.7±4.8 years old, BMI 22.1±3.9) were included in the study, after excluding 1 dropout. In subjects orally treated with astaxanthin (Fuji Chemical Industry) at a daily dose of 12 mg for eight weeks, Anti-Aging QOL Common Questionnaire, somatometry, hematological examination/urinalysis, oxidative stress test, and vascular function tests (cardio ankle vascular index, CAVI; ankle brachial pressure index, ABI; fingertip acceleration pulse wave; flow-mediated dilation FMD) were performed before and four and eight weeks after the start of the study. Results: After eight-week treatment with astaxanthin, significant improvement was observed in 5 of 34 physical symptoms listed in the common questionnaire, including "tired eyes", "stiff shoulders", "constipation", "gray hair", and "cold skin", and in 3 of 21 mental symptoms, including "daily life is not enjoyable", "difficulty in falling asleep", and "a sense of tension". In addition, systolic (118.0±16.4 mmHg at baseline, -4.6%, p=0.021) and diastolic blood pressure (74.1±11.7 mmHg at baseline, -6.9%, p<0.001) significantly decreased. In the vascular function test, CAVI, fingertip acceleration pulse wave, and FMD did not change, but ABI significantly increased from 1.06±0.10 at baseline to 1.10±0.06 at Week 8 (+3.7%, p=0.030). In the oxidative stress test, d-ROM did not change, but BAP significantly increased (+4.6%, p=0.030). In biochemical examination, AST (-19.2%, p=0.044), LDH (-6.4%, p=0.006), and HbA1c (-3.2%, p<0.001) significantly improved. Although IGF-I and insulin did not change, DHEA-s (-15.1%, p<0.001), cortisol (-22.8%, p=0.002), and adiponectin (-14.1%, p=0.003) decreased. No serious adverse event occurred during or after the study. Conclusion: Results show that astaxanthin may enhance antioxidant capacity (increase BAP), reduce lower limb vascular resistance (increase ABI), decrease blood pressure, and improve physical symptoms in women with high oxidative stress. Abstractwas different from conventional studies involving healthy subjects alone. In addition, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of astaxanthin on a comprehensive basis from the viewpoint of anti-aging medicine 2) rather than focusing on certain tissues/organs.

In NASH patients who received HPE treatment, significant reductions in serum liver enzymes were obtained after 8 weeks. Histological efficacy may be better in obese patients than in non-obese ones.

In order to provide anthropometric reference data of body composition of Japanese, values measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) were summed. METHODS: Healthy subjects leading a conventional lifestyle (4,365 males and 5,970 females) were selected. Their height and body weight were measured. Body fat amount, body fat percentage, lean body mass, water content, total muscle mass, bone mass, upper arm muscle mass, forearm muscle mass, thigh muscle mass, lower leg muscle mass, and quadriceps muscle mass were measured using BIA (Physion-XP or MD, Physion Co., Ltd., Kyoto) and weight-bearing index (WBI, quadriceps muscle maximal strength/body weight) was calculated. RESULTS: Body fat amount showed an upward curve which plateaued in the age range of 40 to 79 years in both sexes. lean body mass and water content decreased after 50 years in both sexes. Bone mass decreased from the 80's in males and 60's in females. Total muscle mass, upper arm muscle mass, forearm muscle mass, thigh muscle mass, and quadriceps muscle mass decreased from the 50's to 60's in both sexes. The extent was more prominent in males. Lower leg muscle mass was nearly constant in males and females. WBI gradually decreased from the 30's in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: To date, large-scale body composition data of healthy Japanese subjects have not been available. Application of the present data to assessment of nutrition status in various daily clinical diseases and to training and rehabilitation are expected in the future.For the development of anti-aging medicine, establishment of diagnostic or assessment methods for the extent and risk factors of aging is urgent. This requires collecting and providing anthropometric data concerning sexual differences and changes accompanying aging. To date, the authors have so far organized and reported various Japanese anthropometric data. In "Japanese Anthropometric Reference Data (JARD) 2001", nine reference items from healthy subjects (2,738 males, 2,754 females) (height, body weight, BMI, upper arm circumference, lower leg circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, subscapular skinfold thickness, upper arm muscle circumference, and upper arm plane dimension) were presented. 1) Standard values for mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, and aluminum content in the hair of healthy Japanese subjects (2201 cases in males, 3645 cases in females) were presented. 2) The purpose of the present paper was to provide standard anthropometric data of the Japanese body composition measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Although many types of BIA equipment are used today to assess body composition both domestically and abroad, we used Physion-XP or MD (Physion Co., Ltd., Kyoto). 3,4) The values of skeletal muscle volume obtained using these models correlated well with those obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study focused on sexual differences and changes accompanying aging in muscle mass. Our results will be helpful background data for functional-age assessment of the muscula...

The effect of a dietary supplement with L-carnitine (600 mg/day) and Garcinia cambogia extract (500 mg/day as hydroxycitric acid) as main ingredients was studied in 35 healthy volunteers {48.3 ± 6.9 years, body mass index (BMI): 26.3 ± 1.7} in a double-blind test (18 subjects in the Test Group and 17 in the Control Group). The yearly examination includes the standard yearly medical tests done in Japan, tests for assessing hormonal age, and a survey for assessing physical and mental fitness of the subjects, called the Anti-Aging QOL Common Questionnaire (AAQol). Use of this supplement significantly improved the level of lipid peroxides (−12.8%) in the blood as well as physical symptoms such as “tired eyes,” “blurry eyes,” “muscle pain/stiffness,” “early satiety,” “epigastralgia,” “dizziness,” “arthralgia” and “easily breaking into a sweat.” The Control Group showed a significantly favorable improvement rate, especially for “dizziness.” On the other hand, groups of subjects using the test compounds saw a significant rise in total cholesterol (4.5%), fasting blood sugar (4.1%) and HbA1c (3.4%). Our findings suggest that the consumption of the supplement can reduce the oxidative damage; however, the effect on QOL was equivocal. Garcinia cambogia extract did not show dietary efficacy.

Many studies have shown that the immune system requires adequate nutrition to work at an optimal level. Not only do optimized nutritional strategies support the immune system, but they also reduce chronic inflammation. Nutritional supplements that are recommended for patients with critical illnesses are thought to also be effective for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in the intensive care unit. Some studies have recommended fresh fruits and vegetables, soy, nuts, and antioxidants, such as omega-3 fatty acids, to improve immune system activity. Although nutritional status is considered to be an important prognostic factor for patients with COVID-19, there is to date no sufficient evidence that optimal nutritional therapies can be beneficial for these patients. Some have argued that the COVID-19 pandemic is a good opportunity to test the effectiveness of nutritional intervention for infectious diseases. Many researchers have suggested that testing the proposed nutritional approaches for infectious diseases in the context of a pandemic would be highly informative. The authors of other review papers concluded that it is important to have a diet based on fresh foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and healthy fats (i.e., olive oil and fish oil), and to limit the intake of sugary drinks as well as high-calorie and high-salt foods. In this review, we discuss the clinical significance of functional food ingredients as complementary therapies potentially beneficial for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. We believe that our review will be helpful to plan and deploy future studies to conclude these potentials against COVID-19, but also to new infectious diseases that may arise in the future.

No abstract