Administration of nicotinamide mononucleotide suppresses the progression of age-related hearing loss in mice.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a widespread problem in the elderly, significantly impairing their quality of life. Despite its high prevalence, no fundamental treatment for ARHL has been established. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is required for various biological processes and tissue levels of the coenzyme NAD are known to decrease with age.

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase in mammary gland epithelial cells is required for nicotinamide mononucleotide production in mouse milk.

Tissue-specific deficiency of nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-salvage pathway, causes a decrease of NAD in the tissue, resulting in functional abnormalities. The NAD-salvage pathway is drastically activated in the mammary gland during lactation, but the significance of this has not been established. To investigate the impact of NAD perturbation in the mammary gland, we generated two new lines of mammary gland epithelial-cell-specific Nampt-knockout mice (MGKO).

Dietary-protein sources modulate host susceptibility to Clostridioides difficile infection through the gut microbiota.

Clostridioides difficile causes nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea on a global scale. Susceptibility to C. difficile infection (CDI) is influenced by the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota, which in turn are affected by diet.

-Tryptophan suppresses enteric pathogen and pathobionts and prevents colitis by modulating microbial tryptophan metabolism.

-Amino acids (-AAs) have various functions in mammals and microbes. -AAs are produced by gut microbiota and can act as potent bactericidal molecules. Thus, -AAs regulate the ecological niche of the intestine; however, the actual impacts of -AAs in the gut remain unknown.

Amino Acid-Based Diet Prevents Lethal Infectious Diarrhea by Maintaining Body Water Balance in a Murine Infection Model.

Infectious diarrhea is one of the most important health problems worldwide. Although nutritional status influences the clinical manifestation of various enteric pathogen infections, the effect of diet on enteric infectious diseases remains unclear. Using a fatal infectious diarrheal model, we found that an amino acid-based diet (AD) protected susceptible mice infected with the enteric pathogen .

Milk Phospholipids Enhance Lymphatic Absorption of Dietary Sphingomyelin in Lymph-Cannulated Rats.

Supplementation with sphingomyelin has been reported to have beneficial effects on disease prevention and health maintenance. However, compared with glycerolipids, intact sphingomyelin and ceramides are poorly absorbed. Therefore, if the bioavailability of dietary sphingomyelin is increased, then the dose administered can be reduced.

Temporal changes in ERK phosphorylation are harmonious with 4E-BP1, but not p70S6K, during clenbuterol-induced hypertrophy in the rat gastrocnemius.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is required for clenbuterol (CB)-dependent fast-type myofibril enlargement; however, its contribution to translation control is unclear. ERK mediates translational regulation through mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activation and (or) mTORC1-independent pathways. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of ERK in translational control during CB-induced muscular hypertrophy by measuring time-dependent changes in the phosphorylation statuses of ERK, p70 ribosomal S6 kinase (p70S6K; an indicator of mTORC1 activity), 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), and other related signaling molecules in rat gastrocnemius muscles.

Direct observation of grain growth from molten silicon formed by micro-thermal-plasma-jet irradiation.

Phase transformation of amorphous-silicon during millisecond annealing using micro-thermal-plasma-jet irradiation was directly observed using a high-speed camera with microsecond time resolution. An oval-shaped molten-silicon region adjacent to the solid phase crystallization region was clearly observed, followed by lateral large grain growth perpendicular to a liquid-solid interface. Furthermore, leading wave crystallization (LWC), which showed intermittent explosive crystallization, was discovered in front of the moving molten region.

Milk fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 influences adipocyte size via inhibition of dietary fat absorption in Zucker rats.

We have demonstrated previously that a diet containing skimmed milk (SM) fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LGSP) reduces adipocyte size in Sprague-Dawley rats. Two experiments were conducted to extend these observations in order to elucidate the mechanism involved. In experiment 1, lean and obese Zucker rats were fed a diet containing SM or LGSP for 4 weeks.