Chapters authored
Glucose or Sucrose Intakes and Plasma Levels of Essential and Nonessential Amino Acids
It is not known whether the administration of glucose or sucrose influences plasma levels of amino acids. We want to know whether plasma levels of amino acids and if the administration of glucose or sucrose are different in young and old men and are influenced by the administration of glucose or sucrose. We found that the levels of most amino acids in plasma are lower in old men than young men. When sucrose was administered to old men, levels of total amino acids decreased significantly in old men. In both old and young men plasma levels of total nonessential amino acids significantly decreased at 120 min. after the administration of glucose but not sucrose. On the other hand, total essential and branched amino acids levels decreased significantly after the administration of both glucose and sucrose in young and old men. From these results, responses to the administration of glucose were different from the response to sucrose between young and old men. Also glucose was more effective in decreasing plasma levels of various amino acids. These results seem to suggest that glucose was more effective in stimulating insulin release and young men were more responsive to sugar than old men in stimulating insulin release.
Part of the book: New Insights Into Metabolic Syndrome
Significance of Trans Fatty Acids and Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Japanese Men with Coronary Heart Disease
Trans fatty acids (TFA) are found naturally in ruminant foods (R-TFA) by biohydrogenation in ruminant animals or industrially produced oils (IP-TFA) by partial hydrogenation of vegetable or fish oils. The intake of TFA mainly IP-TFA is associated with an elevated risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), while some prospective cohort studies showed that R-TFA were associated with a lower risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). Our case-control study showed that trans-C18:2 isomers (IP-TFA) were significantly higher, and palmitelaidic acid (R-TFA) levels were lower in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) compared with healthy men. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have different effects on cardiometabolic risk factors. Delta-5 desaturase (D5D) is a key enzyme in the conversion of linoleic acid and alpha-linoleneic acid to arachidonic acid (AA) and EPA, respectively. Previous studies reported that low D5D estimated from the ratio of AA to dihomo-gamma linolenic acid predicts the incident cardiovascular disease. In our cross-sectional study with 436 men with ACS, various atherogenic lipid markers such as small dense LDL cholesterol and malondialdehyde-modified LDL were significantly inversely associated with D5D activity. We found that the EPA/AA may be a superior risk marker than DHA/AA in terms of correlation with atherogenic lipid profiles.
Part of the book: New Insights Into Metabolic Syndrome