Determination of total dietary fiber in Japanese foods.

Total dietary fiber was determined in Japanese foods by the Prosky-AOAC method. To accomplish the analyses of unsuitable samples, we introduced a few minor modifications to the versions for (i) seaweed and fruits, (ii) cereals, and (iii) fish and meats. These modified methods were used together with the standard method to obtain results with reasonably good relative standard deviation for 231 foods and 21 groups of mixed foods. In this study, dietary fiber was defined so as not to exclude the nondigestible polysaccharide portions of animal foods. A method was proposed which could estimate more accurately the fiber components of animal foods by measuring the "nondigestible protein" of the fiber sample of the fiber sample by the Biuret colorimetric method, instead of the Kjeldahl method, to avoid deducting the values for aminopolysaccharides. In Japanese diets, the amount of fiber obtained from animals foods was less than 5% of the total intake of dietary fiber.     

An analysis of wet deposition of sulfate using a trajectory model for East Asia

A long-range transport model for East Asia was developed to estimate the wet deposition of sulfate. The model is a trajectory type which is appropriate for long-term analysis. Trajectories of air masses are calculated by tracing the wind field which changes spatially and temporally. The processes of reactions, rainout removal, intake of sulfate in cloud water into rain water, and dry and wet depositions are considered. It is possible to calculate the concentration of sulfate in precipitation at a receptor by performing material balance in a grid box containing the receptor.The results obtained by the long-range transport model were evaluated through comparison with observation data of acidic deposition. The observation was conducted at 21 stations throughout Japan for one year. The calculated amount of wet deposition of sulfate in Japan was 0.22Tg/y in S equivalent, while the observed amount was 0.29Tg/y. The long-range transport model can predict almost 80% of observed wet deposition. The contributions of domestic anthropogenic sources and volcanic eruption to wet deposition of sulfate in Japan were estimated using the longrange transport model. The ratio of the deposition of sulfate due to Japanese anthropogenic sources to that due to the Asian continental sources was about 1 to 2. Since air stream from the direction of the Asian continent dominates during winter, the contribution of Japan to wet deposition in the region which faces the Sea of Japan amounted to less than 15%. The contribution of the sulfur oxides from volcanoes was about 20%.     

Quercetin-4'-glucoside is more potent than quercetin-3-glucoside in protection of rat intestinal mucosa homogenates against iron ion-induced lipid peroxidation

Quercetin is a typical antioxidative flavonoid found in vegetables, which is more commonly present as its glucosides, quercetin-3-glucoside (Q3G) and quercetin-4'-glucoside (Q4'G). The main aim of this study was to estimate the antioxidant activity of Q3G and Q4'G on iron ion-driven lipid peroxidation of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Q4'G markedly suppressed the lipid peroxidation when rat gastrointestinal mucosa homogenates were incubated with Fe(NO3)3 and ascorbic acid. Its effectiveness was greater as compared to that of Q3G and comparable to that of quercetin aglycone. Furthermore, Q4'G yielded higher amounts of quercetin aglycone than Q3G on incubation with the homogenates. However, Q4'G showed a lower chelating activity in comparison to Q3G. These results indicate that Q4'G, even though it has a low chelating activity, because of its efficient conversion to antioxidative aglycone on exposure to the mucosa, can act as a powerful antioxidant on iron ion driven lipid peroxidation in the intestinal mucosa. Thus, vegetables rich in Q4'G, such as onion, are likely to serve as favorable antioxidant sources for suppressing iron-induced oxidative stress in the intestinal tract.     

Forecast of Sulfur Deposition in Japan for Various Energy Supply and Emission Control Scenarios

In order to contribute to the analysis and solution of regional scale environmental problems in East Asia, we developed a tool for the comprehensive assessment of alternative policy options to improve air quality. This tool projects the future regional energy supply, calculates the emission levels of sulfur dioxide and estimates the geographical pattern of sulfur deposition resulting from emissions. Sulfur deposition in Japan through 2030 was forecasted for various energy supply and emission control scenarios using the analysis tool. Future sulfur depositions were calculated from the source-receptor matrix for 1995 and the growth rate of emission for the source subregion. In the case of the current legislation scenario, anthropogenic SO₂ emissions in East Asia would grow by 34 percent and sulfur deposition in Japan would increase by approximately 20 percent between 1995 and 2030. This increase in sulfur deposition over these 35 years is sligthly less than the contribution from volcanic emission to sulfur deposition in Japan. In the case of the hypothetical dirty scenario for China, sulfur deposition in several grids which face the Sea of Japan would double by 2030.     

Projections of SO2, NOx,NH3 and VOC Emissions in East Asia Up to 2030

Starting from an inventory of SO₂, NO_x, VOC and NH₃ emissions for the years 1990 and 1995 in East Asia (Japan, South and North Korea, China, Mongolia and Taiwan), the temporal development of the emissions of the four air pollutants is projected to the year 2030 based on scenarios of economic development. The projections are prepared at a regional level (prefectures or provinces of individual countries) and distinguish more than 100 source categories for each region. The emission estimates are presented with a spatial resolution of 1×1 degree longitude/latitude. First results suggest that, due to the emission control legislation taken in the region, SO₂ emissions would only grow by about 46 percent until 2030. Emissions of NO_x and VOC may increase by 95 and 65 percent, respectively, mainly driven by the expected increase in road traffic volume. Ammonia, mainly emitted from agriculture, is projected to double by 2030.     

A case of canine gastrinoma

The dog of this case was a 10-year-old Shih Tzu with refractory vomiting, diarrhea and anorexia. Endoscopy revealed an unclear at gastric angle, a stenosis at pyloric antrum and congestion in duodenal mucosa. Since abnormal shadows of irregular echo-levels were disclosed by pancreas ultrasonography, serum gastrin level was determined with a suspect of gastrinoma. And an increase of serum gastrin was demonstrated. In addition, postmortem histological examination revealed that the pancreatic cells were positive for gastrin. Based on these findings, the dog was diagnosed as pancreatic gastrinoma.     

Changes in organosulfur compounds in garlic cloves during storage

We determined the changes in the contents of three gamma-glutamyl peptides and four sulfoxides in garlic cloves during storage at -3, 4, and 23 degrees C for 150 days using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method that we reported recently. When garlic was stored at 4 degrees C for 150 days, marked conversion of the gamma-glutamyl peptides, gamma-L-glutamyl-S-allyl-L-cysteine and gamma-L-glutamyl-S-(trans-1-propenyl)-L-cysteine (GSPC), to sulfoxides, alliin and isoalliin, was observed. Interestingly, however, when garlic was stored at 23 degrees C, a decrease in GSPC and a marked increase in cycloalliin, rather than isoalliin, occurred. To elucidate in detail the mechanism involved, the conversion of isoalliin to cycloalliin in both buffer solutions (pH 4.6, 5.5, and 6.5) and garlic cloves at 25 and 35 degrees C was examined. Decreases in the concentration of isoalliin in both the solutions and the garlic cloves during storage followed first-order kinetics and coincided with the conversion of cycloalliin. Our data indicated that isoalliin produced enzymatically from GSPC is chemically converted to cycloalliin and that the cycloalliin content of garlic cloves increases during storage at higher temperature. These data may be useful for controlling the quality and biological activities of garlic and its preparations.     

Normal calves produced after transfer of embryos cultured in a chemically defined medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization in Japanese black cows

The objective of this study was to examine whether high concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and/or insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) would have a beneficial effect on bovine embryo development in vitro and to obtain normal calves by using an ovum pick up method and embryo culture in a chemically defined medium. When compared with controls, EGF (100 or 200 ng/ml) or IGF-I (50 or 100 ng/ml) significantly increased the rate of embryos that developed into blastocysts during an 8-day culture after the in vitro fertilization of oocytes obtained from ovaries from a slaughterhouse. IGF-I induced a dose-dependent increase in cell number in both the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm, whereas EGF stimulated proliferation only in the inner cell mass. A combination of EGF (100 ng/ml) and IGF-I (50 ng/ml) produced an additive effect, and embryos developed into blastocysts at a comparatively high rate (27.9%) compared with controls (12.0%). A similar rate of development was achieved using a combination of EGF and IGF-I in the culture of embryos following ovum pick up by ultrasound-guided transvaginal follicular aspiration and in vitro fertilization, and 5 blastocysts that developed after the culture were transferred into uteri; two embryos implanted, and normal calves were born. These results suggest that the combined use of EGF and IGF-I makes bovine embryo culture in a chemically defined medium a practical and useful procedure for producing blastocysts, and its application to embryo culture following ovum pick up and in vitro fertilization could be useful for producing normal calves.     

MicroPET detection of regional brain activation induced by colonic distention in a rat model of visceral hypersensitivity

Using microPET and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) as a tracer, we investigated regional brain activation in a rat model of visceral hypersensitivity induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). TNBS injection into the proximal colon through laparotomy resulted in a significant, sustained decrease in the pain threshold to mechanical distention of the distal colon, indicating a phenomenon referred to as visceral hypersensitivity. When TNBS-induced colonic hypersensitivity was fully developed, all the TNBS-treated rats presented characteristic pain behaviors in response to colonic distention at previously innocuous pressure (0-35 mmHg) that produced no abdominal pain in sham-operated control animals. In microPET study, colonic distention at the normally non-painful pressure produced significant increases in (18)F-FDG uptake in the thalamus and sensory cortex I of TNBS-treated rats. Since the increases in (18)F-FDG uptake in the brain regions were completely abolished by an analgesic dose of morphine (375 microg/kg, s.c.), it is most likely that the regional brain activation detected by microPET is a pain-related central event. The pharmacological and microPET data indicate that colonic distention at the normally non-painful pressure activates specific brain regions in rats with TNBS-induced visceral hypersensitivity, and the microPET protocol described here could provide an objective measure to test visceral analgesic compounds.