Continuous intake of galacto-oligosaccharides containing syrup contributes to maintaining the health of household dogs by modulating their gut microbiota.

Interest is growing in the relationship of the microbiota and intestinal environment with health in companion animals. Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), typical prebiotics, are expected to provide benefits in dogs. Previous studies of GOS in dogs have involved dogs with similar rearing conditions and diets, which may have biased the results.

Analysis of fecal microbial profiles in dogs with intestinal lymphangiectasia.

Intestinal lymphangiectasia (IL) is a common complication in dogs. This study analyzed intestinal microbiota using 16S rRNA amplicon analysis as candidate factors that strongly influence the small intestinal lymphatic vessels in dogs with and without IL. Twelve dogs were included, of which six were diagnosed with lymphoplasmacytic enteritis, four with small-cell lymphoma, and two with large-cell lymphoma.

Impacts of Habitual Diets Intake on Gut Microbial Counts in Healthy Japanese Adults.

Although diet is an important factor influencing gut microbiota, there are very few studies regarding that relationship in Japanese people. Here, we analyzed the relationship between habitual dietary intake surveyed by food frequency questionnaire and the quantitative features of gut bacteria by quantitative PCR and next generation sequencer in 354 healthy Japanese adults. The α-diversity of gut microbiota was positively correlated with the intake of mushrooms and beans and negatively correlated with the intake of grains.

Intake of a fermented soymilk beverage containing moderate levels of isoflavone aglycones enhances bioavailability of isoflavones in healthy premenopausal Japanese women: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose, crossover trial.

This study aimed to investigate the bioavailability of serum isoflavones after the intake of soymilk fermented by Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota containing 32.5% isoflavone aglycones (FSM) or placebo soymilk containing no isoflavone aglycones (SM). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose, crossover trial, 7 healthy premenopausal Japanese women (mean age: 35.

Possibility of breast cancer prevention: use of soy isoflavones and fermented soy beverage produced using probiotics.

The various beneficial effects of soybeans, which are rich in phytochemicals, have received much attention because of increasing health awareness. Soy milk that has been fermented using lactic acid bacteria has been used to prepare cheese-like products, tofu (bean-curd), and yogurt-type products. However, the distinct odor of soybeans has limited the acceptance of such foods, particularly in Western countries.

Lactobacillus casei Shirota enhances the preventive efficacy of soymilk in chemically induced breast cancer.

Soy foods are known to be effective for breast cancer prevention. The habitual consumption of soy isoflavones in combination with the probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) was shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer occurrence in our previous population-based case-controlled study among Japanese women. The present study aimed to elucidate the cooperative prevention mechanism of soymilk and LcS using an animal carcinogenic model.

Consecutive Intake of Fermented Milk Containing Bifidobacterium breve Strain Yakult and Galacto-oligosaccharides Benefits Skin Condition in Healthy Adult Women.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted to investigate the beneficial effect of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk on the skin of healthy adult women. Forty healthy Japanese adult female volunteers with healthy skin randomly received either a bottle of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk containing Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) (active group) or a non-fermented placebo milk containing neither probiotics nor GOS (placebo group) daily for 4 weeks. Before and after intake, hydration levels and cathepsin L-like activity in the stratum corneum and phenol levels in the serum and urine were determined.

Screening of peptides with a high affinity to bile acids using peptide arrays and a computational analysis.

Bile acid binding peptides have attracted attention for the improvement and prevention of hypercholesterolemia. In this study, screening of bile acid high affinity peptides was investigated using computationally-assisted peptide array analysis. Starting with the screening data obtained from a limited, random 6-mer library (2212 sequences), the peptides with a high affinity to bile acid were characterized by comparison of high- and low-affinity peptides using fuzzy neural network (FNN) analysis.

Screening of peptides with a high affinity for ZnO using spot-synthesized peptide arrays and computational analysis.

Metal-binding peptides have attracted attention for their usefulness in biomineralization processes. In this work screening of high affinity peptides against ZnO was performed using a combinatorial library approach with a peptide array and computational analysis. The computationally assisted peptide screening and design enabled identification of linear peptides with affinity for ZnO with limited experimentation.

Peptide array-based screening of human mesenchymal stem cell-adhesive peptides derived from fibronectin type III domain.

Human mesenchymal stem cell-adhesive peptides were screened based on the amino acid sequence of fibronectin type III domain 8-11 (FN-III(8-11)) using a peptide array synthesized by the Fmoc-chemistry. Using hexameric peptide library of FN-III(8-11) scan, we identified the ALNGR (Ala-Leu-Asn-Gly-Arg) peptide that induced cell adhesion as well as RGDS (Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser) peptide. After incubation for 2h, approximately 68% of inoculated cells adhere to the ALNGR peptide disk.

Computationally assisted screening and design of cell-interactive peptides by a cell-based assay using peptide arrays and a fuzzy neural network algorithm.

We developed a method of effective peptide screening that combines experiments and computational analysis. The method is based on the concept that screening efficiency can be enhanced from even limited data by use of a model derived from computational analysis that serves as a guide to screening and combining the model with subsequent repeated experiments. Here we focus on cell-adhesion peptides as a model application of this peptide-screening strategy.

Screening of a novel octamer peptide, CNSCWSKD, that induces caspase-dependent cell death.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is known to induce apoptosis to various tumor cells but not in normal cells. We have screened cell death-inducing peptides from the extracellular domain sequence of TRAIL, using a peptide array. Peptides of higher activity were found through amino acid substitution, and the CNSCWSKD peptide induced >90% cell death in treated Jurkat cells.

Peptide array-based interaction assay of solid-bound peptides and anchorage-dependant cells and its effectiveness in cell-adhesive peptide design.

Peptide array, the designable peptide library covalently synthesized on cellulose support, was applied to assay peptide-cell interaction, between solid-bound peptides and anchorage-dependant cells, to study objective peptide design. As a model case, cell-adhesive peptides that could enhance cell growth as tissue engineering scaffold material, was studied. On the peptide array, the relative cell-adhesion ratio of NIH/3T3 cells was 2.