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Vitamin deficiency causes classical deficiency diseases such as beriberi and rickets. Vitamin insufficiency, which is milder than deficiency, is a risk for various chronic diseases, but its significance has not been recognized in Japan. Vitamin D insufficiency is quite common in Japan, and a serious risk for osteoporotic fracture through its unbeneficial effect on bone and muscle. Insufficiency of B vitamins has been little studied. NE 52-QQ57 ic50 However, hyperhomocysteinemia caused by the insufficiency of vitamin B12 or folate is a risk for cardiovascular disease, osteoporotic fracture, and cognitive impairment. Additionally, we have recently reported that vitamin B1 insufficiency is a risk for heart failure in the elderly. The effect of improvement of nutritional status including vitamins is less marked compared to drug treatment, but it costs far less, and is suited for the primary prevention of diseases. Randomized controlled trial is considered the study with the most robust evidence in the evaluation of drug treatment, but more emphasis should be put on the well-designed cohort studies in evaluating the role of nutrients. Vitamin insufficiency is quite prevalent, and vitamin requirement is much higher for its prevention than for the prevention of deficiency.Petasites japonicus (P. japonicus) is a plant of the Asteraceae family. Its roots and stems have been used for the treatment or the prophylaxis of migraine and tension headache as a traditional Chinese medicine in Japan and Korea. Sesquiterpenoids, lignans, and flavonoids are components of P. japonicus. Regarding the biological activity of P. japonicus, its anti-allergic effect has been researched extensively using IgE antigen-stimulated degranulation of RBL-2H3 cells or passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction in experimental animal models. The study of the antioxidant activity of P. japonicus was initiated approximately 15 years ago using in vitro assays. In addition, its in vivo effect has also been examined in animal models with induced oxidative injury. Moreover, recently, many types of antioxidant compounds have been rapidly and simultaneously identified using the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. The number of reports on the other functions of this plant, such as its neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects, has been increasing. In this review, I summarized the studies of functional foods derived from P. japonicus, which may provide a basis for the development of potential functional foods. Finally, I discuss the future research avenues in this field.The spectrum of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) ranges from simple hepatic steatosis commonly associated with obesity, to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which can progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Recent reports have indicated the crucial role of gut microbiota and their metabolites in the progression of NAFLD. In the present review, we demonstrated the influence of oral administration of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on the gut microbiota, serum bile acid profile, and gene expression in the liver in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). EGCG significantly inhibited the increase in histological fatty deposit and triglyceride accumulation in the liver induced by HFD, and improved intestinal dysbiosis. One of important findings is that the abundance of Proteobacteria and Defferibacteres phylums increased markedly in the HFD group, and this increase was significantly suppressed in the EGCG group. Interestingly, taurine-conjugated cholic acid (TCA) increased in the HFD group, like the mirror image against a marked decrease in the cholic acid (CA) value, and this increase was markedly inhibited in the EGCG group. TCA is not a simple serum biomarker for liver injury but TCA may be a causal factor to disturb lipid metabolism. The distribution of correlation coefficients by Heatmap analysis showed that the abundance of Akkermansia and Parabacteroides genus showed a positive correlation with CA and a negative correlation with TCA, and significantly increased in the EGCG group as compared with the HFD group. In addition, nutrigenomics approaches demonstrated that sirtuin signaling, EIF2 pathway and circadian clock are involved in the anti-steatotic effects of EGCG. In the present paper, we summarized recent update data of EGCG function focusing on intestinal microbiota and their interaction with host cells.The aim of this study was to evaluate protective efficacy of S. Typhimurium ghost vaccine candidate lysed by the recombinant lysozyme-PMAP36 fusion protein via oral immunization in a murine model. Sixty BALB/c mice were equally divided into 4 groups. Group A mice were inoculated with 20 μL of sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Groups B-D mice were immunized with approximately 1 × 107, 1 × 108, and 1 × 109 cells of the vaccine candidate, respectively, in 20 μL of PBS. Salmonella-outermembrane-proteins-specific serum IgG was considerably higher in groups B-D than in group A. The interleukin-10 and interferon-γ levels in groups B-D were significantly higher than in group A. Following challenge with wild-type S. Typhimurium, all immunized groups showed a significant level of protection compared with group A. The highest protection was shown in group D. Overall, these results show that oral immunization with the candidate vaccine can effectively protect mice from S. Typhimurium infection.The objective of this study was to compare the virulence of 3 major Korean porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) genotypes in terms of clinical signs, PCV2 viremia and antibody titers, lymphoid lesions, and PCV2-antigen within lymphoid lesions in experimentally infected pigs. Pigs were infected at 7 weeks with PCV2a, PCV2b, and PCV2d strains and necropsied at 28 days post-infection. No statistical differences were observed in clinical signs, PCV2 viremia and antibody titers, lymphoid lesions scores, and numbers of PCV2 antigens among the 3 major Korean PCV2 genotypes. The results of this study indicate that the 3 major Korean PCV2 genotypes, PCV2a, PCV2b, and PCV2d, have similar virulence.The objective of this study was to determine serum concentrations of interferon-gamma (INF-γ) and neopterin (Np) in dogs with pyometra admitted for surgical treatment and to compare these concentrations to healthy dogs admitted for elective spay. The effects of the surgical procedure were also evaluated by measuring these markers in both groups of dogs before and after ovariohysterectomy. Our study indicates that pre-surgery concentrations of INF-γ (57.4 ± 26.0 pg/mL) and Np (5.6 ± 0.8 nmol/L) in healthy dogs were significantly lower compared to dogs with pyometra (124.3 ± 87.6 pg/mL for INF-γ; 7.0 ± 1.5 nmol/L for Np) (P less then 0.05 in both cases). Furthermore, Np was lower in dogs with pyometra 3 days after surgery compared to healthy controls (P less then 0.001). During the post-operative period, INF-γ showed no statistically significant changes in any of the groups, while Np showed lower serum concentration on day 3 than on day 0 in the pyometra group (P less then 0.001). No statistically significant correlation was detected between serum concentrations of INF-γ and Np.