Subcortical structures, which include the basal ganglia and parts of the limbic system, have key roles in learning, motor control and emotion, but also contribute to higher-order executive functions. Prior studies have reported volumetric alterations in subcortical regions in schizophrenia. Reported results have sometimes been heterogeneous, and few large-scale investigations have been conducted. Moreover, few large-scale studies have assessed asymmetries of subcortical volumes in schizophrenia. Here, as a work completely independent of a study performed by the ENIGMA consortium, we conducted a large-scale multisite study of subcortical volumetric differences between patients with schizophrenia and controls. We also explored the laterality of subcortical regions to identify characteristic similarities and differences between them. T1-weighted images from 1680 healthy individuals and 884 patients with schizophrenia, obtained with 15 imaging protocols at 11 sites, were processed with FreeSurfer. Group differences were calculated for each protocol and meta-analyzed. Compared with controls, patients with schizophrenia demonstrated smaller bilateral hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus and accumbens volumes as well as intracranial volume, but larger bilateral caudate, putamen, pallidum and lateral ventricle volumes. We replicated the rank order of effect sizes for subcortical volumetric changes in schizophrenia reported by the ENIGMA consortium. Further, we revealed leftward asymmetry for thalamus, lateral ventricle, caudate and putamen volumes, and rightward asymmetry for amygdala and hippocampal volumes in both controls and patients with schizophrenia. Also, we demonstrated a schizophrenia-specific leftward asymmetry for pallidum volume. These findings suggest the possibility of aberrant laterality in neural pathways and connectivity patterns related to the pallidum in schizophrenia.

To take advantage of the various pharmacologic activities of soy bean isoflavones, more detailed studies of the absorption and excretion rates of these compounds in humans and subsequent evaluation of their bioavailabilities are required. We conducted a pharmacokinetic study of soybean isoflavones in seven healthy male volunteers. After ingestion of 60 g of kinako (baked soybean powder, containing 103 micromol daidzein and 112 micromol genistein), changes of the isoflavone and metabolite concentrations in plasma, urine and feces were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The plasma concentration of genistein increased after 2 h and reached its highest value of 2.44 +/- 0.65 micromol/L 6 h later. The plasma concentration of daidzein peaked at 1.56 +/- 0.34 micromol/L at the same time, but it was always lower than that of genistein. Peak plasma concentration of O-desmethylangolensin (O-DMA) and equol appeared after the daidzein peak in four and two subjects, respectively. In contrast with plasma, daidzein was the main component in urine. Urinary daidzein excretion started to increase shortly after the rise in its plasma concentration and reached 2.4 micromol/h 8 h after ingestion of kinako. Genistein excretion in urine paralleled that of daidzein, but the value at 6 h was about half (1.1 micromol/h). The majority of ingested isoflavones after ingestion of kinako were recovered on d 2 or 3 in the feces. Total recovery of daidzein, O-DMA and equol from urine and feces was 54.7%, calculated from daidzein intake; 20.1% of administered genistein was recovered as genistein. The half-lives of plasma genistein and daidzein were 8.36 and 5.79 h, respectively. The individual plasma and urinary concentrations of equol and O-DMA were quite variable; subjects were classified as high and low metabolizers. The high plasma concentration of isoflavones for at least several hours after a single ingestion of soy protein suggests that these compounds may interact with macromolecules and have biological effects.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the validity and reproducibility of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to estimate nutrient and food intake in the subjects of the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective Study on Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases (JPHC Study Cohort II). The FFQ was originally developed to estimate intake in the JPHC Study Cohort I. A total of 392 subjects were recruited from the entire cohort participants in the 6 areas of Cohort II on a voluntary basis. The subjects completed the FFQ used for the 5-year follow-up survey twice at approximately a 1-year interval. Seven-day dietary records (DR) and blood samples were collected 4 times at 3-month intervals over a year. Daily nutrient and food intakes from FFQ and DR were estimated. The Spearman correlation coefficients for estimated intakes were calculated between FFQ and DR for validity, and between 2 identical FFQs for reproducibility. Correlation coefficients for the validity ranged from 0.09 to 0.82 among various nutrients and food groups. The correlation coefficients for most of the nutrients and food groups were improved to a level comparable to that of Cohort I by energy-adjustment. Correlation coefficients for reproducibility ranged from 0.42 to 0.82, similar to those of Cohort I.

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Valid food-frequency questionnaires (FFQ) need to be developed to assess isoflavone intake in investigations of its possible association with the lower incidence of breast and prostate cancer in Asian countries. We investigated the validity and reproducibility of isoflavone (daidzein and genistein) intakes from self-administered semiquantitative FFQ used in the JPHC Study (Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study on Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases). We also investigated the number of food items that would be sufficient to ensure validity and reproducibility. We collected FFQ, dietary records (DR), blood and urine samples from 215 subjects among JPHC Study participants, estimated isoflavone intakes from FFQ and DR, and measured serum isoflavone concentration and urine isoflavone excretion. For daidzein, mean intakes estimated from FFQ and DR, serum concentration and urine excretion were 18.3 mg/d, 14.5 mg/d, 119.9 nmol/L and 17.0 micromol/d and for genistein, 31.4 mg/d, 23.4 mg/d, 475.3 nmol/L and 14.2 micromol/d, respectively. Results were similar when analyzed by sex. Spearman correlation coefficients for daidzein of energy-adjusted intakes from FFQ with those from DR, serum concentration and creatinine-adjusted urinary excretion were 0.64, 0.31 and 0.43, respectively. Correlations between two FFQ estimates with a 1-y interval were 0.76. Results were similar for genistein. The shorter version of the FFQ with three items (natto, miso and tofu for miso soup) showed a similar correlation. The original FFQ and the shorter versions have sufficient validity and reproducibility to be used in epidemiologic studies.

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A self-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) has been used commonly in epidemiologic studies of diet and chronic diseases. The analysis of dietary data in the target population is useful for designing a new questionnaire. The authors studied the major food sources of nutrient intakes in the Japanese population in order to develop a FFQ for a population-based prospective study. Subjects were 180 men aged 40-49 years and their 155 spouses who were sampled from four Public Health Center districts. Weighed food records over three consecutive weekdays were collected during the winters of 1989-1991. All foods reported were grouped into 154 items, and the percent contribution of each food to the total population intake of 15 nutrients was computed. Based on these data, a FFQ with 138 items was developed. The food list covered well the population intake of most nutrients (median = 83%, range = 55-91%), except for lipid (70%) and sodium (55%). The questionnaire was applied to the prospective study conducted in the same areas where the dietary data were collected, and an investigation to assess its reproducibility and validity is currently underway.

To clarify the risk factors for Helicobacter pylori infection, which is considered to play an etiologic role in atrophic gastritis, duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer, various parameters including diet and socioeconomic characteristics were compared between H. pylori‐infected and non‐infected men. In a cross‐sectional study of 634 men aged 40 to 49 years selected randomly from five areas with different rates of gastric cancer mortality, 474 of 628 men evaluated were positive for IgG antibody against H. pylori. After logistic regression analysis adjusted for area, the results showed a significant association between frequent intake of pickled vegetables and prevalence of H. pylori antibody (odds ratios against men who consume < 1 day/week were 1.19 for 1–2 days/week, 1.92 for 3–4 days/week, 1.90 for 5–7 days/week; P for trend = 0.02). Daily consumption of miso soup was also associated with an increased risk (odds ratio against non‐daily consumer = 1.60, 95% confidence interval = 1.03–2.49). Occupation, number of siblings, education, smoking and alcohol drinking, and other dietary habits were not significantly associated with the prevalence of infection in this population. Although there are limitations in a cross‐sectional study such as this, consumption of salty foods appears to increase the risk of H. pylori infection, which could be a marker of salty food intake or an intermediate risk factor in the etiologic sequence between salty food intake and gastric cancer.