Effects of dietary supplementation with red-pigmented leafy lettuce (Lactuca sativa) on lipid profiles and antioxidant status in C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet.

The present study was undertaken to assess the beneficial effects of a daily consumption of 8 % freeze-dried red-pigmented leafy lettuce (Lactuca sativa) on CVD. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet supplemented with or without red-pigmented leafy lettuce for 4 weeks. The present results showed that the red-pigmented leafy lettuce-supplemented diet significantly decreased the level of total and LDL-cholesterol and TAG in the plasma of the mice.

Differences between lipopolysaccharide and double-stranded RNA in innate immune responses of BV2 microglial cells.

Microglial cells are thought to be major inflammatory cells in the central nervous system; however, sufficient information about the effects of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in microglial cells is lacking. The present study compared the innate immune responses of the murine microglial cell line BV2 to dsRNA and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). It showed that the effect of dsRNA was similar to that of LPS treatment.