著者
Shinichi Okamura Yoshie Sawada Teturou Satoh Hironosuke Sakamoto Yuichiro Saito Hiroyuki Sumino Takako Takizawa Toshiaki Kogure Chiayo Chaichantipyuth Yoshihiro Higuchi Tsutomu Ishikawa Tetsuo Sakamaki
出版者
東北ジャーナル刊行会
雑誌
The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (ISSN:00408727)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.216, no.4, pp.341-351, 2008 (Released:2008-12-06)
参考文献数
34
被引用文献数
11 29

Impaired lipid metabolism is an important health problem in postmenopausal women with insufficient estrogens, because dyslipidemia is a risk factor for development of atherosclerosis and the incidence of cardiovascular disease markedly increases after menopause. Pueraria mirifica (PM), a Thai herb, has been noticed as a source of phytoestrogens, estrogen-mimicking plant compounds. However, the clinical effects of PM on lipid metabolism and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain undetermined. Therefore, we examined the effects of PM on serum lipid parameters in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Nineteen postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to receive oral administration of PM powder or placebo. After 2 months of treatment, the PM group showed a significant increase in serum concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) A-1 (34% and 40%, respectively), and a significant decrease in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and apo B (17% and 9%, respectively), compared with baseline measurements. Moreover, significant decreases were observed in the ratios of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol (37%) and apo B to apo A-1 (35%). Next, we determined the effects of PM phytoestrogens on the activation of estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated transactivation by transient expression assays of a reporter gene in cultured cells. Among PM phytoestrogens, miroestrol and coumestrol enhanced both ERα- and ERβ-mediated transactivation, whereas other phytoestrogens, including daidzein and genistein, preferentially enhanced ERβ-mediated transactivation. In conclusion, PM has a beneficial effect on lipid metabolism in postmenopausal women, which may result from the activation of gene transcription through selective binding of phytoestrogens to ERα and ERβ.
著者
Naren Wang Motoki Iwasaki Tetsuya Otani Rumiko Hayashi Hiroko Miyazaki Liu Xiao Yosiaki Sasazawa Shosuke Suzuki Hiroshi Koyama Tetsuo Sakamaki
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.15, no.5, pp.155-162, 2005 (Released:2005-09-27)
参考文献数
40
被引用文献数
31 50 36

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the association of perceived health with socio-economic status, especially income, and social isolation and support in Japan. The purpose of this study is to clarify the associations among perceived health, lifestyle, and socio-economic status, as well as social isolation and support factors, in middle-aged and elderly Japanese.METHODS: Subjects were 9,650 participants aged 47-77 years who completed a self-administered questionnaire in 2000 in the second survey of a population-based cohort (the Komo-Ise study). The questionnaire included items on sociodemographic and socio-economic factors, social isolation and support, lifestyle, past history of chronic disease and perceived health. Perceived health was dichotomized into excellent or good health and fair or poor health. A logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratios of socio-economic status, social characteristics and lifestyle in relation to self-reported fair or poor health.RESULTS: We found that household income, physical activity, sleeping, smoking habit, and BMI had a strong association with self-reported fair or poor health in middle-aged and elderly Japanese men and women. Male subjects tended to report fair or poor health as household income decreased. The results for women differed in that social isolation and low social support had a stronger association for selfreported fair or poor health than low household income.CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that perceived health was associated with socio-economic and social characteristics among middle-aged and elderly residents in Japan.