著者
北野 尚美 李 錦純 中村 安秀
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.74, pp.18032, 2019 (Released:2019-04-19)
参考文献数
32
被引用文献数
1

In this study, we examined the changes in the demographic characteristics of foreign residents in Japan (FRJ) and the current status of FRJ from a global health perspective. We also considered child maltreatment that occurred in FRJ families and language problems in child welfare. Japan’s official statistics in the end of 2017 indicated that there were more than 2.56 million FRJ from over 190 countries. This population was diverse with heterogeneous characteristics, such as age structure, dwelling place, marital status, and childbirth. At the end of 2017, there were 219,982 FRJ children aged 0–14 of various nationalities, including Chinese, Brazilian, South Korean, North Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Peruvian, Nepalese, and Indian. In 2010, we conducted our first survey of child maltreatment in FRJ families, targeting 219 child protection centers across Japan. Between April 2007 and August 2010, 1,639 child maltreatment cases were reported from 56% of these centers. Details of 1,111 cases were collected and descriptive analyses were conducted. The male-to-female ratio was 0.88 and the median age was 8 years: however, the age distribution showed that females were significantly older than males (P < 0.01). The proportions of physical abuse, child neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse were 38%, 33%, 21%, and 7%, respectively. Native language problems created numerous challenges and required a large amount of effort from child welfare practitioners. However, most solutions to identified problems were still at the beginning stage and some were found to be ineffective. More interdisciplinary and integrated researches are needed targeting child welfare of FRJ. An ethical framework for good counseling practices should be developed.
著者
皆本 景子
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.65, no.1, pp.20-29, 2010 (Released:2010-02-05)
参考文献数
109
被引用文献数
2 8

Cosmetics are defined as “articles with mild action on the human body, which are intended to be applied to the human body through rubbing, sprinkling or other methods, aiming to clean, beautify and increase the attractiveness, alter the appearance or to keep the skin or hair in good condition (The Pharmaceutical Affairs Law: Article 2).” Consequently, they include personal hygiene products such as shampoos, soaps and toothpaste. In Europe, 1% of the population is estimated to be allergic to fragrances and 2–3% to ingredients of cosmetics; 10% of outpatients patch-tested for cosmetics allergy were found to be positive. Allergenic ingredients of cosmetics can be fragrances, hair dye, preservatives, antioxidants, emollients, surfactants, UV absorbers, pigments or resins used in nail cosmetics. Among standard allergen series, eight substances are related to cosmetics; in Japan in 2003, p-phenylenediamine (hair dyes) induced allergic reactions with the highest rate of 7.9% in outpatients patch-tested (n=805), followed by fragrance mix No. 1 (4.0%, mixture of eight fragrances frequently used), colophony (3.2%, main contents of pine resin), lanolin alcohol (2.7%,emollients), and formaldehyde, parabens, Kathon CG (2.7% ,1.9% and 1.0%, respectively; preservatives). Cosmetic allergy symptoms tend to be mild except those caused by hair dye. However, the population exposed to cosmetics is huge and the number of ingredients used in cosmetics increased up to more than 6000. Here, major cosmetic ingredient allergens, mainly reported in Japan, are reviewed and discussed.

2 0 0 0 OA 睡眠と健康

著者
高田 真澄
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.73, no.1, pp.22-26, 2018 (Released:2018-01-31)
参考文献数
43
被引用文献数
6

Since World War II, Japan has achieved remarkable economic development and has become an advanced country. Particularly in the industrial field, a production system has been developed to reduce the loss of machining time by adopting a shiftwork in factories operating 24 hours a day, which contributes to the improvement of productivity. Nowadays, this shiftwork practice has spread from the industrial field to other businesses such as 24-hour entertainment facilities and convenience stores, which lead to sleep deprivation in Japanese society. Even at home, certain conditions adversely affect sleeping habits. We are concerned about the risks of physical and mental health, impairments posed by the use of tablets, PCs, smartphones, and other devices so popular in today’s Japan, as they delay sleep. It is urgent to improve poor sleeping habits because their outcomes such as sleep disorders and deprivation may also lead to traffic and industrial accidents.
著者
佐々木 直亮
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.45, no.5, pp.954-963, 1990
被引用文献数
1

Prospective epidemiological studies of blood pressure in a high-salt population in northeastern Japan were investigated along with dietary habits such as miso soup, rice, apple, fish, milk and sake consumption as well as smoking habits.<br>Blood pressures of the populations in 3 villages were determined once or twice a year by mass surveys from 1954, 1957 or 1958 through 1975. The means and transitions of the personal blood pressure were calculated by regression analysis of the data obtained during each entire period.<br>The number of persons was 1127 males and 1369 females and the response rate was 98.7 percent. The average number of times of determination of blood pressure for a person was 12.9.<br>Stepwise multiple regression analyses were run with the means and transitions of systolic and diastolic blood pressure as the dependent variables and the life styles of the population in 1958 as an independent variable based on data of persons whose blood pressures were determined 5 or more times during the entire period. According to the backward stepwise method this study confirmed the positive relationship of age and sake drinking and the negative relationship of apple eating habits to blood pressure.
著者
青島 恵子
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.67, no.4, pp.455-463, 2012 (Released:2012-10-25)
参考文献数
33
被引用文献数
14 39

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic elements to which humans could be exposed at work or in the environment. The outbreak of itai-itai disease, which is the most severe stage of chronic Cd poisoning, occurred in the Cd-polluted Jinzu River basin in Toyama. In this area, the river was contaminated by slag from a mine upstream; as a consequence, the soil in rice paddies was polluted with heavy metals including Cd through irrigation water from around 1910 to the 1960s. The government of Toyama prefecture carried out an extensive survey on Cd concentration in rice and soil of the paddy fields and declared that the upper layer of a total of 1500 ha of paddy fields should be replaced by nonpolluted soil. Then, an intervention program of soil replacement in the polluted paddy fields was continually carried out from 1980 to 2011. As a result, Cd concentration in rice markedly decreased. The kidney is the organ critically affected after long-term exposure to Cd. Proximal tubular dysfunction (RTD) has been found among the inhabitants of the Jinzu River basin. The very recent report by the Environmental Agency in Japan in 2009 has disclosed that b2-microglobulinuria with RTD is still found at a high prevalence among the inhabitants of the Jinzu River basin of both sexes. Twenty patients with itai-itai disease (1 male and 19 females), who attended our hospital and received medical examination during 2000 to 2008, had applied for recognition as itai-itai disease patients to the government of Toyama prefecture. In this paper, the recent epidemiological and clinical features of itai-itai disease are discussed on the basis of a review of the cases of these 19 female patients.
著者
福岡 秀興 佐田 文宏
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.71, no.3, pp.185-187, 2016 (Released:2016-09-30)
参考文献数
12
被引用文献数
7

Epigenetic modification takes place in many types of environment. Undesirable epigenetic changes for the postnatal life at the developmental stage are induced in utero by exposure to harsh environment such as endocrine disruptors, severe psychological stress and insufficient or excessive nutrition. Some of these changes continues even for a long time after birth from womb to tomb. Under these circumstances with an unhealthy life style, such as higher caloric intake, insufficient exercise, or stress, there is a higher risk of developing various illnesses including lifestyle-related diseases, such as essential hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, psychological disorders and cancers. An illness goes through these two steps, first having origins in the early stage of life and secondary exposure of unhealthy life. In addition, some of these modifications have a tendency to be transmitted to the next generations, (transgenerational effect). This is the concept of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory (DOHaD). The incidence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have been markedly increasing, especially in developing countries, and the prevention of these diseases is a high-profile objective for world economic growth. In addition to birth weight, specific epigenetic modifications are expected to be good marks for developing illness in later life. With analysis of these makers, even for the individuals with a higher risk, the illness development will be expected to be effectively controlled through intervention in the early stage. Research on predicting markers, and intervention supplements, and pharmacological materials for higher risk individuals has been progressing considerably. This DOHaD theory is expected to be highly beneficial for the prevention of many illnesses.
著者
堀口 兵剛
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.67, no.4, pp.447-454, 2012 (Released:2012-10-25)
参考文献数
31
被引用文献数
9 13

Because the staple food in Japan is rice, which absorbs cadmium (Cd) from the soil efficiently, rice is the main source of exposure to Cd in the Japanese population. In addition, there have been many Cd-contaminated farming areas in Japan. Therefore, a safety standard for the Cd concentration in rice was set as 0.4 ppm by the Japanese government. This safety standard has been followed for decades without any appropriate scientific or legal basis. However, recent epidemiological studies of female Japanese farmers exposed to Cd through self-grown rice, that is, a series of Japanese Multi-centered Environmental Toxicant Study (JMETS), showed evidence that the safety standard is appropriate. Therefore, general Japanese consumers are unlikely exposed to Cd excessively with the application of this safety standard, considering the trend of decreasing amount of rice consumed among the Japanese population. On the other hand, Japanese farmers were found to be at risk of Cd exposure through the consumption of self-grown rice with a high Cd concentration. Actually, the JMETS showed that female farmers at 70 years of age or older had a decreased proximal renal tubular function due to the high renal accumulation of Cd. On the basis of these findings, “medical examinations for Cd exposure” have recently been implemented for farmers residing in Cd-polluted areas in northern Japan. Because it has been estimated that such Cd-polluted areas are actually larger, it is necessary to implement medical examinations of more farmers there, particularly the elderly.
著者
堀江 早喜 竹内 真純 山岡 和枝 野原 理子 蓮沼 直子 冲永 寛子 野村 恭子
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.70, no.3, pp.264-270, 2015 (Released:2015-09-26)
参考文献数
20
被引用文献数
2 3

Objectives: This study aims to develop a scale of “women-doctor-friendly working conditions in a hospital setting”. Methods: A task team consisting of relevant people including a medical doctor and a hospital personnel identified 36 items related to women-doctor-friendly working conditions. From December in 2012 to January in 2013, we sent a self-administered questionnaire to 807 full-time employees including faculty members and medical doctors who worked for a university-affiliated hospital. We asked them to score the extent to which they think it is necessary for women doctors to balance between work and gender role responsibilities on the basis of the Likert scale. We carried out a factor analysis and computed Cronbach’s alpha to develop a scale and investigated its construct validity and reliability. Results: Of the 807 employees, 291 returned the questionnaires (response rate, 36.1%). The item-total correlation (between an individual item score and the total score) coefficient was in the range from 0.44 to 0.68. In factor analysis, we deleted six items, and five factors were extracted on the basis of the least likelihood method with the oblique Promax rotation. The factors were termed “gender equality action in an organization”, “the compliance of care leave in both sexes and parental leave in men”, “balance between life events and work”, “childcare support at the workplace”, and “flexible employment status”. The Cronbach’s alpha values of all the factors and the total items were 0.82–0.89 and 0.93, respectively, suggesting that the scale we developed has high reliability. Conclusions: The result indicated that the scale of women-doctor-friendly working conditions consisting of five factors with 30 items is highly validated and reliable.
著者
小林 果 永吉 真子 金森 悟 徳増 一樹 中部 貴央 桑原 恵介
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.78, pp.23005, 2023 (Released:2023-12-08)
参考文献数
12

The recruitment and training of early-career researchers are important for the development of science, especially in countries with low birth rates, such as Japan. In several academic societies for social medicine, early-career researchers have formed associations for the purposes of networking and career development. However, to date, little information about the activities of these associations has been shared. Therefore, we organized a symposium at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Hygiene (March 4, 2023) to introduce the early-career researcher associations that have been formed within five academic societies namely the Japanese Society for Hygiene, Japan Epidemiological Association, Japan Society for Occupational Health, Japan Society for Medical Education, and Japan Society for Healthcare Administration. In this paper, we summarize the activities, challenges, and future prospects of each association and their strategies for future development and collaboration on the basis of presentations and discussions at the symposium.
著者
田鎖 順太 松井 利仁
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.76, pp.19014, 2021 (Released:2021-02-25)
参考文献数
35
被引用文献数
5 5

Objectives: Traffic noise exposure is associated with adverse health effects such as environmental sleep disorder, ischaemic heart disease (IHD), stroke and diabetes. The health risks posed by traffic noise were estimated to be quite high in European countries. However, in Japan, no estimation has ever been conducted. In the present study, we estimated the health risk posed by road traffic noise in Japan.Methods: We estimated the risks of environmental sleep disorder (high sleep disturbance) and IHD caused by road traffic noise in Japan as of 2015 on the basis of existing noise-exposure estimates, vital statistics of deaths, and patient survey with exposure–response relationships proposed by the Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region issued in 2018. We employed old information on noise exposure in 1994 because it is the only information currently available in Japan. We also estimated the health risks of noise exposure levels that were equivalent to the Japanese environmental quality standards.Results: The estimated numbers of patients with environmental sleep disorder and IHD caused by road traffic noise were approximately 1,200,000 and 9,000, respectively. The estimated number of mortalities from IHD was approximately 1,700. The noise exposure level equivalent to the Japanese noise standards caused a lifetime mortality rate of more than 10−2, which was extremely high as an environmental health risk.Conclusions: As in European countries, road traffic noise was one of the most important environmental risk factors in Japan. However, the current Japanese noise standards are insufficient for the protection of public health.
著者
神戸 大朋
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.68, no.2, pp.92-102, 2013 (Released:2013-05-29)
参考文献数
100
被引用文献数
11 9

In recent years, a number of mammalian zinc transporters have been molecularly characterized. This has brought about major advances in our understanding of the tight regulation of cellular zinc homeostasis and the pivotal roles zinc transporters play in a variety of biological events. Mammalian zinc transporters are classified into two families: the ZRT, IRT-like protein (ZIP) family and the Zn transporter (ZnT) family. The ZIP family consists of 14 members and facilitates zinc influx into the cytosol from the extracellular and intracellular compartments. The ZnT family consists of 9 members and facilitates zinc efflux from the cytosol to the extracellular and intracellular compartments. Coordinated zinc mobilization across the cellular membrane by both transporter families is indispensable for diverse physiological functions. In this review, the features of the ZIP and ZnT families are briefly reviewed from the perspective of zinc physiology, with emphasis on recent progress.
著者
二塚 信 衛藤 光明 内野 誠
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.78, pp.23002, 2023 (Released:2023-07-14)
参考文献数
21

Even today, more than 60 years after the discovery of Minamata disease, many controversies continue to arise from various viewpoints. Recently, Dr. Shigeru Takaoka has published a book entitled “Minamata Disease and the Responsibility of Medical authorities” as a summary of his and colleagues’ previous works in which he presented their objections to past academic theories. We, who were also engaged in this research at Kumamoto University, would like to address some substantial viewpoints. Drs. Nishimura and Okamoto clarified why a series of cases that were clearly Minamata disease were found only in the Minamata plant from late 1950 to 1975, even though many acetaldehyde plants have been operating in Japan for many years. Dr. Takaoka ignored this very important issue and we point out the lack of reliability of his data from their health examination of “10,000” people. From the pathology perspective, Dr. Takaoka mis­understood the location and plasticity of neurons. From a clinical viewpoint, he mentioned the poor evidence for the characteristics and courses of the patients’ clinical symptoms.
著者
今井 秀樹 水野 佑紀 Cindy Rahman AISYAH 増田 桃佳 小西 祥子
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.78, pp.22009, 2023 (Released:2023-06-08)
参考文献数
44

There are several basic prerequisites for the risk assessment of combined exposures to pesticides and dioxins using human health effects as the endpoint. First, all the target chemical substances exert the same toxicity to humans through the same mechanisms. Second, there is a linear dose–response relationship between the toxicity and effects of individual chemicals. With these two prerequisites, the effects of combined exposures are estimated as the sum of the toxicities of individual chemicals. For example, the toxicities of dioxins are calculated using their toxic equivalent quantities (TEQ) by considering the assigned toxic equivalent factor (TEF) of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) set individually from their isomers and homologs. In conventional epidemiological studies, when the impact of each of multiple chemical substances is examined, methods such as multiple regression analysis or using a generalized linear model (GLM) have been used on the basis of the same prerequisites. However, in practice, some of the chemicals exhibit collinearity in their effects or do not show a linear dose–response relationship. In recent years, there have been several methods developed in the field of machine learning being applied to epidemiological research. Typical examples were methods using Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and weighted quantile sum (WQS), and the shrinkage method, i.e., using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) and elastic network model (ENM). In the future, while taking into account the findings of experimental studies in biology, epidemiology, and other fields, it is expected that various methods will be applied and selected.
著者
垂水 公男 萩原 明人
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.68, no.2, pp.67-71, 2013 (Released:2013-05-29)
参考文献数
11
被引用文献数
1 1

In order to examine the cost-benefit of mental health care activities in the workplace, the total costs of the fiscal year 2005, during which the old-type mental health care was conducted, and those of the fiscal years from 2006 to 2008, during which the new-type mental health care was conducted according to the governmental guidelines of each year, were compared using about 3,000 workers in a particular workplace in 2005. The total cost comprised the sum of the medical fees, the payment compensation for sick absences, and expenditures for health care activities of mentally ill health workers. The total costs from 2006 to 2008 were not markedly different from those in 2005, and the benefit due to new-type activity was not shown. However, the following was found: payment compensation for sick absences accounted for 60% of the total cost; personnel expenses which were a large part of the expenditure of health care activities largely changed over the years because of the age structure of the staff in charge. The results show that a cost-benefit analysis may be a useful tool for examining health care activities in the workplace for various members in the workplace although health care issues usually tend to be solved by specialists.
著者
金子 信也
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.69, no.3, pp.199-204, 2014 (Released:2014-09-24)
参考文献数
20
被引用文献数
2

Objectives: The health management of truck drivers has long been considered extremely important from the perspective of prevention of diseases and traffic accidents. Today, truck drivers may have various underlying health problems, including psychological burden caused by deregulation with the enforcement of the Trucking Business Act, rising fuel costs, and even economic stagnation. In this study, we investigated the mental health of individuals working in transportation and logistics sectors, which ensures the secure supply and sound development of safe and high-quality transportation services. Methods: To ascertain the mental health status in this population, we used the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ30), an assessment of mental health and currently the general health questionnaire most widely used by the department of psychosomatic medicine and other clinical departments. Results: Although the mean GHQ30 score of all the subjects in this study was below the cutoff point of 6–7, which separates individuals with mental health problems from those who without 30% of the subjects were classified as having mental health problems, revealing the need for routine screening of the mental health status and severity of symptoms of truck drivers. Conclusions: There is growing recognition of the importance of establishing mental healthcare services in the workplace because of the sharply increasing number of applications for workers’ compensation due to suicides from overwork. In this study, 16.7% of truck drivers expressed suicidal thoughts, indicating that it is necessary to conduct follow-up surveys of the mental conditions of truck drivers in order to put in place appropriate mental health measures.
著者
柳田 亮 小川 洋二郎 水落 文夫 鈴木 典 高橋 正則 岩崎 賢一
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.67, no.3, pp.417-422, 2012 (Released:2012-06-26)
参考文献数
17
被引用文献数
1

Objective: Altitude training is frequently used for athletes requiring competitive endurance in an attempt to improve their sea-level performance. However, there has been no study in which the mechanisms by which spontaneous arterial-cardiac baroreflex function changes was examined in responders or nonresponders of altitude training. The purpose of this study was to clarify the different effects of altitude training on baroreflex function between responders and nonresponders. Methods: Twelve university student cross-country skiers (6 men, 6 women; age, 19±1 years) participated in the altitude training in a camp for 3 weeks, which was carried out in accordance with the method of Living High-Training Low. Baroreflex function was estimated by transfer function analysis before and after the training. Results: The responders of the training were 3 men and 2 women, and the nonresponders were 3 men and 4 women. In the responders, the transfer function gain in the high-frequency range significantly increased after the training (28.9→46.5 ms/mmHg p=0.021). On the other hand, no significant change in this index was observed in the nonresponders (25.9→21.2 ms/mmHg p=0.405). Conclusion: As indicated by the results of transfer function gain in the high-frequency range, the baroreflex function in the responders increased significantly after the altitude training, whereas no significant change was observed in the nonresponders.
著者
坂本 峰至 板井 啓明 村田 勝敬
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.72, no.3, pp.140-148, 2017 (Released:2017-09-21)
参考文献数
34
被引用文献数
10 19

Methylmercury, the causative agent of Minamata disease, can easily penetrate the brain, and adult-type Minamata disease patients showed neurological symptoms according to the brain regions where the neurons, mainly in the cerebrum and cerebellum, were damaged. In addition, fetuses are exposed to methylmercury via the placenta from maternal fish consumption, and high-level exposure to methylmercury causes damage to the brains of infants. Typical patients with fetal-type Minamata disease (i.e., serious poisoning caused by in utero exposure to methylmercury) were born during the period of severe methylmercury pollution in 1955–1959, although they showed no abnormality during gestation nor at delivery. However, they showed difficulties in head control, sitting, and walking, and showed disturbances in mental development, these symptoms that are similar to those of cerebral palsy, during the growth periods after birth. The impaired development of fetal-type Minamata disease patients was one of the most tragic and characteristic feature of Minamata disease. In this review, we first summarize 1) the effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure in Minamata disease. Then, we introduce the studies that were conducted mainly by Sakamoto et al. as follows: 2) a retrospective study on temporal and regional variations of methylmercury pollution in Minamata area using preserved umbilical cord methylmercury, 3) decline in male sex ratio observed in Minamata area, 4) characteristics of hand tremor and postural sway in fetal-type Minamata disease patients, 5) methylmercury transfer from mothers to infants during gestation and lactation (the role of placenta), 6) extrapolation studies using rat models on the effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure on the human brain, and 7) risks and benefits of fish consumption.
著者
古瀬 民生 若菜 茂晴
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.73, no.2, pp.97-100, 2018 (Released:2018-05-31)
参考文献数
15

Objectives: The developmental origins of health and disease paradigm (DOHaD) is a concept that fetal environmental factors affect adult phenotypes. We performed experiments to evaluate the DOHaD theory in developmental disorders using mouse models.Methods: In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer techniques were used for mouse production. The AIN93G-control diet, which contains 20% protein (CD), 5% protein-restricted diet (PR), and PR with supplemental folic acid (FA) were provided as experimental diets to mothers. The body weights (BWs) of mothers and offspring, and the blood-clinical biochemistry results of mothers were examined. In addition, gene expression and genomic methylation in the brain of adult offspring and behavioral phenotypes of adult offspring were examined.Results: Pregnant mothers that consumed the protein-restricted diets, namely, PR and FA, exhibited reduction in BW. The values of protein-related parameters determined by blood-clinical biochemistry decreased in the PR fed groups. The BWs of neonates and adult offspring did not change. The offspring exposed to maternal hyponutrition exhibited increased activity in the home cage and enhanced fear and anxiety-like behavior. The adult offspring of the PR-fed group and FA-fed groups exhibited different patterns of mRNA expression and genomic methylation in the brain.Conclusions: The maternal PR diet affected the progenies’ behavioral phenotypes and epigenetic outcomes in the brain. However, the behavioral changes induced by maternal protein restriction were very slight. Hence, interactions between several genetic factors and environmental exposures such as maternal malnutrition may cause developmental and psychiatric disorders.
著者
吉田 宗弘
出版者
一般社団法人日本衛生学会
雑誌
日本衛生学雑誌 (ISSN:00215082)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.67, no.4, pp.485-491, 2012 (Released:2012-10-25)
参考文献数
49
被引用文献数
10 11

It has been recognized that chromium is an essential trace element associated with carbohydrate metabolism, and chromium deficiency causes an impaired glucose tolerance. Recently, however, Vincent et al. have reported that chromium is not an essential trace element. In the present report, the author evaluated the nutritional essentiality of chromium by reviewing several previous reports. In almost all previous reports, the chromium concentration in the animal feed used was higher than 0.1 μg/g, and it is difficult to consider that the experimental animals were in a low-chromium state. In addition, the amount of chromium administered to the animals for the improvement of glucose tolerance was at a pharmacological level, and corresponded to a level that far exceeded the human daily chromium intake (20 to 80 μg/day). On the other hand, recent research has clearly shown that feeding with a severely low-chromium diet (0.016 μg/g) does not impair glucose tolerance. The amount of chromium absorbed in humans estimated from chromium intake (20 to 80 μg/day), chromium absorption rate (1%), and urinary chromium excretion (<1 μg/day) is less than 1 μg/day, which is much lower than those of other essential trace elements. In addition, because there is an inconsistency between the chromium concentration in food and chromium intake, chromium intake seems to be dependent on chromium contamination during food processing and cooking. It is concluded that there is a high possibility that chromium is not an essential trace element.