Oral administration of the amino acids cystine and theanine attenuates the adverse events of S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy in gastrointestinal cancer patients.

Background: Nutritional therapy is used to reduce the adverse events (AEs) of anticancer drugs. Here, we determined whether the amino acids cystine and theanine, which provide substrates for glutathione, attenuated the AEs of S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: Patients scheduled to receive S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy were randomized to the C/T or the control groups.

Cystine improves survival rates in a LPS-induced sepsis mouse model.

Background & Aims: The control of inflammation is important for suppressing severe sepsis. Oral administration of cystine and theanine have been shown to suppress inflammatory responses due to invasion. Furthermore, the uptake of cystine into monocytes is promoted by exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Dried bonito broth improves cognitive function via the histaminergic system in mice.

Bonito extract, i.e., dried bonito broth (DBB), has been reported to counteract mental fatigue and to increase performance in a simple calculation task, but the mechanism by which DBB increases task performance is not known.

Insufficient intake of L-histidine reduces brain histamine and causes anxiety-like behaviors in male mice.

L-histidine is one of the essential amino acids for humans, and it plays a critical role as a component of proteins. L-histidine is also important as a precursor of histamine. Brain histamine is synthesized from L-histidine in the presence of histidine decarboxylase, which is expressed in histamine neurons.

Cystine and theanine: amino acids as oral immunomodulative nutrients.

The decreases in the glutathione (GSH) level in the mouse spleen and liver after immune stimulation are suppressed by the oral administration of cystine and theanine (CT). GSH is considered to be important for the control of immune responses. Antibody production in mice after infection is enhanced by the oral administration of CT.

Perioperative oral administration of cystine and theanine enhances recovery after distal gastrectomy: a prospective randomized trial.

Background: It has been reported that cystine and theanine, amino acids related to glutathione synthesis, have immunomodulatory effects, such as suppressing inflammation after strenuous exercise. In this study, we examined the effects of oral administration of cystine and theanine during the perioperative period as a pilot study.

Methods: Forty-three cases of distal gastrectomy for cancer conducted in our department were assigned to the cystine and theanine group (CT group) or to the placebo control group (P group), and a randomized, single-blind, parallel-group study was then performed.

Blood lactate functions as a signal for enhancing fatty acid metabolism during exercise via TGF-β in the brain.

Moderate-intensity running (treadmill velocity of 21 m/min) increased blood lactate and actived transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) concentration in rat cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). On the other hand, low-intensity running (15 m/min) did not increase blood lactate and caused no change in CSF TGF-β. Intraperitoneal (i.

Enhancement of postoperative recovery by preoperative oral co-administration of the amino acids, cystine and theanine, in a mouse surgical model.

Background & Aims: Glutathione (GSH) is important in the control of immune responses, and its levels decline following trauma. We previously reported that the oral administration of cystine/theanine (CT) increased GSH synthesis and that CT intake inhibited intense exercise-induced inflammation. Based on these results, we hypothesised that CT inhibits surgically induced inflammation and promotes postoperative recovery.

Muscle-specific overexpression of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor increases peripheral glucose disposal and insulin sensitivity.

Physical exercise ameliorates metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity, but the molecular basis of these effects remains elusive. In the present study, we found that exercise up-regulates heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in skeletal muscle. To address the metabolic consequences of such gain of HB-EGF function, we generated mice that overexpress this protein specifically in muscle.

FSP27 contributes to efficient energy storage in murine white adipocytes by promoting the formation of unilocular lipid droplets.

White adipocytes are unique in that they contain large unilocular lipid droplets that occupy most of the cytoplasm. To identify genes involved in the maintenance of mature adipocytes, we expressed dominant-negative PPARgamma in 3T3-L1 cells and performed a microarray screen. The fat-specific protein of 27 kDa (FSP27) was strongly downregulated in this context.

Mercaptoacetate inhibition of fatty acid beta-oxidation attenuates the oral acceptance of fat in BALB/c mice.

We investigated the effect of beta-oxidation inhibition on the fat ingestive behavior of BALB/c mice. Intraperitoneal administration to mice of mercaptoacetate, an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation, significantly suppressed intake of corn oil but not intake of sucrose solution or laboratory chow. To further examine the effect of mercaptoacetate on the acceptability of corn oil in the oral cavity, we examined short-term licking behavior.

Intracisternal administration of transforming growth factor-beta evokes fever through the induction of cyclooxygenase-2 in brain endothelial cells.

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a pleiotropic cytokine, regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, and plays a key role in development and tissue homeostasis. TGF-beta functions as an anti-inflammatory cytokine because it suppresses microglia and B-lymphocyte functions, as well as the production of proinflammatory cytokines. However, we previously demonstrated that the intracisternal administration of TGF-beta induces fever like that produced by proinflammatory cytokines.

Application of menthol to the skin of whole trunk in mice induces autonomic and behavioral heat-gain responses.

When ambient temperature is decreased in mammals, autonomic and behavioral heat-gain responses occur to maintain their core temperatures. However, what molecules in cutaneous sensory nerve endings mediate cooling-induced responses is unclear. Recently, transient receptor potential melastatin-8 (TRPM8) has been identified in cell bodies of sensory neurons as low-temperature and menthol-activated cation channel.

Transforming growth factor-beta in the brain is activated by exercise and increases mobilization of fat-related energy substrates in rats.

We have recently reported that inhibition of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in the brain reduced fat-related energy substrates concentrations in response to exercise. We investigated the relevance between the mobilization of fat-related energy substrates (nonesterified fatty acid and ketone bodies) during exercise and the effects of TGF-beta in the brain. Low-intensity exercise was simulated by contraction of the hindlimbs, induced by electrical stimulation at 2 Hz in anesthetized rats (Sim-Ex).

The physiological and behavioral effects of subchronic intracisternal administration of TGF-beta in rats: comparison with the effects of CRF.

We studied the physiological and behavioral effects of subchronic intracisternal administration of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) for 7 days. Subchronic intracisternal administration of TGF-beta significantly inhibited the increase in body weight of rats but did not affect food intake. In the measurement of locomotor activity after the final intracisternal administration on day 7, the total count for 1.

Transforming growth factor-beta in the brain regulates fat metabolism during endurance exercise.

We have previously reported that the concentration of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) increases in the cerebrospinal fluid of rats during exercise and that there is an increase in whole body fat oxidation following the intracisternal administration of TGF-beta. These results led us to postulate that TGF-beta in the brain regulates the enhancement of fatty acid oxidation during exercise. To test this hypothesis, we carried out respiratory gas analysis during treadmill running following the inhibition of TGF-beta activity in rat brain by intracisternal administration of anti-TGF-beta antibody or SB-431542, an inhibitor of the type 1 TGF-beta receptor.

Dietary conjugated linoleic acid increases endurance capacity and fat oxidation in mice during exercise.

Ingestion of CLA activates beta-oxidation and causes loss of body fat in rodents. We investigated the effects of dietary CLA on endurance capacity and energy metabolism during exercise in mice. Five-week-old male BALB/c mice were fed a control diet containing 1.