Nutritional Risk Factors in Albuminuria and Retinopathy in Patients Newly Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-sectional Case Series Study.

Background/aim: Although nutritional risk factors for developing complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been examined, the effect of protein intake on nephropathy is debated, and there is little research on retinopathy. This cross-sectional case-series study aimed to examine the risk factors, including nutritional status, for complications in patients newly diagnosed with T2DM.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-four patients were recruited, based on the results of examinations of blood glucose and/or glycated hemoglobin level for T2DM.

Acute repeated cage exchange stress modifies urinary stress and plasma metabolic profiles in male mice.

Exposure to a novel environment is psychologically and physically stressful for humans and animals. The response has been reported to involve enhanced sympathetic nervous system activity, but changes in nutrient levels under stress are not fully understood. As a form of exposure to a novel environment, repeated cage exchange (CE, four times at 2-h intervals for 8 h from 08:00 h) during the light phase with no restraint on movement was applied to A/J mice, a strain particularly prone to stress.

Higher Branched-chain Amino Acids and Lower Serine Exist in the Plasma of Nondiabetic Mice: A Comparison Between High- and Low-protein Diet Conditions.

Background/aim: The effects of dietary protein and carbohydrate content on the plasma amino acid profile of patients with diabetes are not fully understood. Therefore, we examined whether there are effects of diets with differing proportions of protein and carbohydrate on the plasma amino acid concentrations of control (CT) mice and mice with type 2 diabetes (db).

Materials And Methods: We used db mice as an animal model of type 2 diabetes which are genetically deficient in leptin receptor.

Comparison of dipstick and quantitative tests for proteinuria and hematuria in middle-aged, male Japanese employees: A single-center study.

Background And Aims: The early and reliable detection of chronic kidney disease is important. In the present study, we aimed to compare the diagnostic results for proteinuria and hematuria between the dipstick test used in primary occupational health examinations and the quantitative tests used in more thorough examinations in clinics.

Methods: We conducted a single-center observational study of male staff (N = 573) at Kagoshima University who underwent a health examination in 2017.

Food Intake and Core Body Temperature of Pups and Adults in a Mouse Line Deficient in the Long Form of the Leptin Receptor without Mutation.

Different involvement of leptin signaling in food intake (FI) and body temperature (BT) in pups and adults has been suggested. However, the leptin receptor (Lepr) long-form-deficient () mouse line has not been fully examined in pups. In the most available mouse line, wild-type (WT) mice have a mutation in the dedicator of cytokinesis 7 gene, named , which was recently revealed to be involved in neuronal development.

Effects of Diets with Different Proportions of Protein/Carbohydrate on Retinal Manifestations in Mice.

Background/aim: Diabetic nephropathy is aggravated by a higher intake of total protein. The effects of diets with different proportions of protein and carbohydrate on diabetic retinopathy in db mice, a type-2 diabetes animal model, were examined, as well as diabetic nephropathy.

Materials And Methods: Control and db mice at 5 weeks of age were fed the diets (% energy of protein/carbohydrate/fat; L-diet: 12/71/17; H-diet: 24/59/17) under ad libitum conditions and pair-feeding conditions for 6 weeks, respectively.

Effects of Dietary and Lighting Conditions on Diurnal Locomotor Activity and Body Temperature in Microminipigs.

The effects of dietary and lighting conditions on diurnal rhythm of locomotor activity (LA) and body temperature (BT) using four adult male microminipigs were investigated. Different feeding times, diet and lighting conditions were applied sequentially for 3 weeks in each phase as follows: Phase I: Morning mealtime, normal diet, 12-h lights on; phase II: mealtime changed to afternoon; phase III: diet changed to high-fat diet; phase IV: lighting changed to 20-h on; and phase V: phase I repeated. LA was measured by an actigraph which was worn on the body of each pig.

Potential predictors of susceptibility to occupational stress in Japanese novice nurses - a pilot study.

Background: Occupational stress is a known factor behind employee resignations; thus, early identification of individuals prone to such stress is important. Accordingly, in this pilot study we evaluated potential predictors of susceptibility to occupational stress in Japanese novice nurses.

Methods: Forty-two female novice nurses at Kagoshima University Hospital were recruited for the study population.

Deteriorated glucose metabolism with a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet in db mice, an animal model of type 2 diabetes, might be caused by insufficient insulin secretion.

Purpose: We previously showed the deleterious effects of increased dietary protein on renal manifestations and glucose metabolism in leptin receptor-deficient (db) mice. Here, we further examined its effects on glucose metabolism, including urinary C-peptide. We also orally administered mixtures corresponding to low- or high-protein diets to diabetic mice.

[Experimental Approach to Analysis of the Relationship between Food Environments and Lifestyle-Related Diseases, Including Cardiac Hypertrophy, Fatty Liver, and Fatigue Symptoms].

The food habit is involved in the onset and development of lifestyle-related diseases. In this review I would like to describe a historical case of vitamin B1 deficiency, as well as our case study of fatty acid metabolism abnormality due to carnitine deficiency. In history, the army and navy personnel in Japan at the end of the 19th century received food rations based on a high-carbohydrate diet including white rice, resulting in the onset of beriberi.

Voluntary exercise under a food restriction condition decreases blood branched-chain amino acid levels, in addition to improvement of glucose and lipid metabolism, in db mice, animal model of type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: Exercise is effective for preventing the onset and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in human cases; however, the effect of exercise on the pathophysiology using animal models of T2DM has not been fully evaluated.

Methods: We applied voluntary exercise under pair-fed (P) conditions in db mice, an animal model of T2DM. Exercising (Ex) and sedentary (Se) mice were placed in a cage, equipped with a free or locked running wheel, for 4 weeks, respectively.

Low-protein diet improves blood and urinary glucose levels and renal manifestations of diabetes in C57BLKS-db/db mice.

Purpose: Dietary protein content is related clinically to the development of diabetic nephropathy. Here, we investigated how dietary protein content (12-24 % energy) within the range used by humans affected renal manifestations including the expressions of genes involved in the renin-angiotensin (RA) system in control and diabetic mice. Moreover, we examined the effects of dietary protein content on HbA1c and urinary glucose.

Acupuncture Improves Sleep Conditions of Minipigs Representing Diurnal Animals through an Anatomically Similar Point to the Acupoint (GV20) Effective for Humans.

Acupuncture, an alternative medicine, has been widely applied for people with sleep disturbances; therefore, the effects should be evaluated objectively. Micro-minipigs (MMPigs), the smallest miniature pigs for animal experiments, were used. Acupuncture was performed at two different points: Dafengmen is located on the head and is an anatomically similar point to human-Baihui (GV20), an effective acupoint for sleep disturbances in humans; pig-Baihui is on the back.

Long-term voluntary exercise, representing habitual exercise, lowers visceral fat and alters plasma amino acid levels in mice.

Objectives: To determine the impact of long-term voluntary exercise, representing habitual exercise for the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, on glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism in mice.

Methods: Twenty-four mice aged 6 weeks were divided into three groups. Two groups (16 mice) were housed individually in either cages equipped with a running wheel (8 mice, exercising, Ex-mice) or without (8 mice, sedentary, Se-mice) for 24 weeks.