Potential Beneficial Effects of Crab-Flavored Seafood Intake in Young Rats.

Background: Crab-flavored seafood is a well-known traditional Japanese product that is sold as "imitation crab" worldwide. Although it is a low-cost, low-fat, high-protein food, there are few data on its potential health benefits. Here, we have assessed the effects of crab-flavored seafood consumption on organ weight and serum biomarkers levels in rats.

Rapid response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a nightclub in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan, in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, June and July 2020: A descriptive epidemiological study.

Introduction: During COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, nightclubs were identified as high-risk locations for COVID-19 outbreaks, but an outbreak investigation in this setting is challenging because of the anonymous and opportunistic nature of interactions.

Methods: The joint rapid response team collected epidemiological data, conducted descriptive epidemiology to determine the characteristics of cases associated with the nightclub, and implemented countermeasures. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were performed by the Local Institute of Public Health, Kagoshima University, and several commercial laboratories.

Consumption of fish balls "tsumire" may help prevent liver function deterioration in aged rats.

Possible health benefits of fish balls tsumire consumption on human health have been deduced based on the results of our earlier study investigating tsumire consumption by young (6-weeks-old) Sprague-Dawley rats. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of tsumire intake on aged rats by feeding them a diet containing 5% dried tsumire. Biomarker levels and organ weight of 80-weeks-old Sprague-Dawley rats that were fed with tsumire were examined for potential health benefits.

Effect of fish paste products, fish balls 'tsumire', intake in Sprague-Dawley rats.

The fish paste product, fish balls 'tsumire', is a traditional type of Japanese food made from minced fish as well as imitation crab, kamaboko and hanpen. Although tsumire is known as a high-protein and low-fat food, there is a lack of scientific evidence on its health benefits. Hence, we aimed to investigate the effects of tsumire intake on organ weight and biomarker levels in Sprague-Dawley rats for 84 d as a preliminary study.

SARS-CoV-2 Genome Analysis of Japanese Travelers in Nile River Cruise.

Japan has reported 26 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) linked to cruise tours on the River Nile in Egypt between March 5 and 15, 2020. Here, we characterized the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome of isolates from 10 travelers who returned from Egypt and from patients possibly associated with these travelers. We performed haplotype network analysis of SARS-CoV-2 isolates using genome-wide single-nucleotide variations.

Effect of fish paste products "Hanpen" intake in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Fish paste product, "Hanpen," is a traditional type of Japanese food made from minced fish as well as imitation crab and kamaboko, and a marshmallow-like soft texture is characteristic of hanpen. Hanpen is known as a high-protein and low-fat food. However, there is a lack of evidence on its health benefits.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection among Returnees to Japan from Wuhan, China, 2020.

In early 2020, Japan repatriated 566 nationals from China. Universal laboratory testing and 14-day monitoring of returnees detected 12 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection; initial screening results were negative for 5. Common outcomes were remaining asymptomatic (n = 4) and pneumonia (n = 6).

Effects of Supplementation with Anti-Inflammatory Compound Extracted from Herbs in Healthy and Obese Cats.

Background: Obesity has become a serious public health problem all over the world, and prevalence of obesity has increased in cats. Obesity is characterized by continuous low-grade inflammation based on oxidative stress by excessively produced reactive oxygen species (ROS). Supplementation with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds is very effective to relieve the obesity condition.

leaf extract suppresses obesity in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.

Background: Obesity is a serious health problem in the world. We thought that the activity and safety of natural plants and/or foods are very important in the management of therapy for obesity. () is also known as lacquer tree in Japan and Korea, and it is consumed as food ingredients and/or traditional herbal medicine.

Changes in Plasma Metabolites Concentrations in Obese Dogs Supplemented With Anti-oxidant Compound.

The aim of this study is to discuss the effect of anti-oxidant supplement (Rv-PEM01-99, Kibun Foods, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) on changes in energy metabolism in obese dogs. 200 mg/kg/day of Rv-PEM01-99 (equivalent to 5 mg kg/day of quercetin derivative) were applied for 6 weeks to the Beagle dogs fed high fat diet (HFD) or control diet (CD).

Antitumour and Apoptotic Effects of a Plant Extract Mixture Containing Rhus verniciflua and Other Herbs in Human Leukaemia Cells.

The apoptotic effects of a novel antitumour agent (Rv-PEM01) prepared from 6 kinds of herbs, including were investigated using flow cytometry and western blot analysis. Rv-PEM01 induced apoptosis but not necrosis in MOLT-3, KG-1, and K562 human leukaemia cell lines. Further, Rv-PEM01-treated cells showed significantly upregulated expression of caspase-3 and 9 and cleaved caspase-3 and 9 compared to the control cells.

Olanzapine promotes the accumulation of lipid droplets and the expression of multiple perilipins in human adipocytes.

Second generation antipsychotics are useful for the treatment of schizophrenia, but concerns have been raised about the side effects of diabetes mellitus and obesity. Olanzapine, especially, is associated with more weight gain than the others. It has been reported that olanzapine promotes adipocyte-differentiation in rodents both in vivo and in vitro.

Effects of Comb Tooth Cap Medicinal Mushroom, Hericium ramosum (Higher Basidiomycetes) Mycelia on DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity and Nerve Growth Factor Synthesis.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant effects of and nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis caused by Hericium ramosum mycelia. Wild mushroom fruiting bodies were collected from nature to isolate their mycelia. Pieces of H.

An in vitro hepatic zonation model with a continuous oxygen gradient in a microdevice.

In a hepatic lobule, different sets of metabolic enzymes are expressed in the periportal (PP) and pericentral (PC) regions, forming a functional zonation, and the oxygen gradient is considered a determinant of zone formation. It is desirable to reproduce lobular microenvironment in vitro, but incubation of primary hepatocytes in conventional culture dishes has been limited at fixed oxygen concentrations due to technical difficulties. We designed a cell culture microdevice with an oxygen gradient to reproduce the hepatic microenvironment in vitro.

[Antitumor effects of a plant extract mixture].

Cancer is the most common cause of death in Japan. Fundamental and clinical studies on cancer were conducted from the viewpoint of Western medicine so far. However, a sustained complete remission has not been achieved yet.

Effect of the C-terminal domain of Vibrio proteolyticus chitinase A on the chitinolytic activity in association with pH changes.

Aims: To reveal the cause of the difference in activity of chitinase A from Vibrio proteolyticus and chitinase A from a strain of Vibrio carchariae (a junior synonym of Vibrio harveyi), we investigated the pH-dependent activity of full-length V. proteolyticus chitinase A and a truncated recombinant corresponding to the V. harveyi form of chitinase A.

Heterodisaccharide 4-O-(N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminyl)-D-glucosamine is an effective chemotactic attractant for Vibrio bacteria that produce chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase.

Aims: To investigate the attractant effect of 4-O-(N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminyl)-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc-GlcN) in the chemotaxis of Vibrio bacteria that produce carbohydrate esterase (CE) family 4 chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase (COD), an enzyme that catalyzes the production of GlcNAc-GlcN from N,N'-diacetylchitobiose (GlcNAc)(2).

Methods And Results: The chemotactic effect of disaccharides from chitin on several strains of Vibrio bacteria was investigated using an agar gel lane-migration method. The results demonstrated that GlcNAc-GlcN functions as an effective chemoattractant in the CE family 4 COD-producing vibrios, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus.

Heterodisaccharide 4-O-(N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminyl)-D-glucosamine is a specific inducer of chitinolytic enzyme production in Vibrios harboring chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase genes.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus KN1699 produces 4-O-(N-acetyl-beta-d-glucosaminyl)-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc-GlcN) as a major end product from chitin using two extracellular hydrolases: glycoside hydrolase family 18 chitinase, which produces (GlcNAc)(2) from chitin, and carbohydrate esterase (CE) family 4 chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase (COD), which hydrolyzes the N-acetyl group at the reducing-end GlcNAc residue of (GlcNAc)(2). In this study, we clarified that this heterodisaccharide functions as an inducer of the production of the two above-mentioned chitinolytic enzymes, particularly chitinase. Similar results for chitinase production were obtained with other chitin-decomposing Vibrio strains harboring the CE family 4 COD gene; however, such an increase in chitinase production was not observed in chitinolytic Vibrio strains that did not harbor the COD gene.

Production and secretion of a recombinant Vibrio parahaemolyticus chitinase by Escherichia coli and its purification from the culture medium.

An open reading frame encoding the chitinase gene and its signal sequence was cloned from the Vibrio parahaemolyticus KN1699 genome. An expression plasmid containing the gene was introduced into Escherichia coli cells, and recombinant chitinase (Pa-rChi) was produced and secreted into the culture medium with the aid of the signal peptide. Pa-rChi was purified and its substrate specificity was determined.

Identification of a novel endochitinase from a marine bacterium Vibrio proteolyticus strain No. 442.

Chitin binding proteins prepared from Vibrio proteolyticus were purified and the N-terminal amino-acid sequence of a protein from a 110-kDa band on SDS-PAGE was found to be 85-90% identical to the 22nd-41st residues of the N-termini of chitinase A precursor proteins from other vibrios. We cloned the corresponding gene, which encodes a putative protein of 850 amino acids containing a 26-residue signal sequence. The chitinase precursor from V.

Expression of the algal cytochrome c6 gene in Arabidopsis enhances photosynthesis and growth.

Photosynthetic plants convert light energy into ATP and NADPH in photosynthetic electron transfer and photophosphorylation, and synthesize mainly carbohydrates in the Calvin-Benson cycle. Here we report the enhancement of photosynthesis and growth of plants by introducing the gene of an algal cytochrome c6, which has been evolutionarily eliminated from higher plant chloroplasts, into the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. At 60 d after planting, the plant height, leaf length and root length of the transformants were 1.

Production of a recombinant chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase from Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the culture medium of Escherichia coli cells.

An open reading frame (ORF) encoding chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase (Pa-COD) gene and its signal sequence was cloned from the Vibrio parahaemolyticus KN1699 genome and its sequence was analyzed. The ORF encoded a 427 amino acid protein, including the 22 amino acid signal sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence was highly similar to several bacterial chitin oligosaccharide deacetylases in carbohydrate esterase family 4.

Purification and characterization of Vibrio parahaemolyticus extracellular chitinase and chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase involved in the production of heterodisaccharide from chitin.

A chitin-degrading bacterial strain, KN1699, isolated from Yatsu dry beach (Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, Japan), was identified as Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Treatment of powdered chitin with crude enzyme solution prepared from the supernatant of KN1699 cultures yielded a disaccharide, beta-D-N-acetylglucosaminyl-(1,4)-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc-GlcN), as the primary chitin degradation product. The extracellular enzymes involved in the production of this heterodisaccharide, chitinase (Pa-Chi; molecular mass, 92 kDa) and chitin oligosaccharide deacetylase (Pa-COD; molecular mass, 46 kDa), were isolated from the crude enzyme solution, and their hydrolysis specificities were elucidated.