Simon extracts are vitamin K(1)-rich food materials extracted from the leaves of the Simon sweet potato. Although vitamin K is known to stimulate bone formation, we postulated that Simon extracts also contain unknown biological compounds having the ability to regulate bone resorption. Here we prepared the vitamin K-free fraction from the Simon extracts and investigated the ability of this fraction on the differentiation of osteoclasts. A remarkable inhibitory effect of osteoclastogenesis was observed when osteoclast precursors were treated with this fraction in rat bone marrow culture systems as well as in a pure differentiation system using murine osteoclast precursor cell line. The vitamin K-free Simon extracts markedly suppressed severe bone destruction mediated by abundant osteoclasts associated with adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that the vitamin K-free Simon extracts contained three types of low molecular weight inhibitors for osteoclastogenesis; caffeic acid, chlorogenic acids and isochlorogenic acids. Among these substances, caffeic acid showed the most powerful inhibitory effects on osteoclastogenesis. Caffeic acid significantly suppressed expression of NFATc1, a key transcription factor for the induction of osteoclastogenesis. Our current study enlightened a high utility of the Simon extracts and their chemical components as effective regulators for bone resorption accompanied with inflammation and metabolic bone diseases.

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The chemical composition of bacterial protoplasmic membrane was studied using Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum ATCC 13564. The membrane was prepared from the autoplasts. The purity of prepared membrane was certified by chemical analysis for the existence of diaminopimelic acid due to contaminated cell wall debris and of adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity in its preparation, and also by electron microscopic observation for the existence of contaminated cell wall debris. The membrane composition was made up of lipid (26 %), protein (65 %), carbohydrate (2%) and nucleic acid (2%). The lipid consisted of neutral lipid (26 %), glycolipid (26%) and phospholipid (48 %). The main composition of phospholipid was phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol. The membrane contained 22 kinds of proteins of different molecular weights.Bacterial protoplasts have frequently been used for the preparation of bacterial protoplasmic membrane. It is said that protoplasts produced autolytically are better for the preparation of protoplasmic membrane by eliminating the contamination of non-cellular supplements used for degradation of cell wall. From the advantages of autolytically produced protoplasts, JOSEPH and SHOCKMAN (1) called them "autoplasts," distinguishable from the protoplasts produced by using exogenous lytic enzymes or antibiotics.Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum (ATCC 13564), previously used for acetone-butanol production, autolyses specifically in the presence of sucrose in hypertonic concentration (0.3 -0.5 M) (2, 3). The autolysis, i. e., sucrose-induced autolysis, is useful for the preparation of the protoplasts (autoplasts), the biological and physiological properties of which were investigated (3). We would like to determine composition of membrane prepared from the clostridial autoplasts, because that of clostridia, especially solvent-producing clostridia, is little known. 293

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The effect of extracts from Hovenia dulcis Thunb. on alcohol (ethanol) concentration after administration of alcohol to rats and men were examined. When a fraction (Fr. G, 0.5g/kg b.w.) extracted from H. dulcis was administered orally to rats 5min before oral administration of alcohol (2g/kg b.w.), the percentage decreases in maximum blood alcohol and acetaldehyde levels were 40% and 37%, respectively, the decreases being larger than those induced by other fractions from H. dulcis. On the other hand, when ethanol extract (0.125g/kg b.w.) was administered orally to men 20min before oral administration of alcohol (0.3g/kg b.w.), decreases in alcohol and acetaldehyde concentrations in saliva were observed, and the expiratory alcohol concentration at 1h after drinking beer was significantly decreased in five men out of eight