The purpose of this study was to determine the dose effects of taurine supplementation and effects of taurine depletion in diabetic rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats were fed the purified diets and supplemented with 1, 2 or 3% taurine in drinking water for 7 weeks(E1, E2 and E3, respectively). To induce taurine depletion, rats were treated with 5% $\beta$-alanine in drinkeng water (EA). Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection(50mg/kg B.W) after 3 weeks. Taurine-depleted diabetic rats(EA)had significantly lower body weight compared to those of nondiabetic(CO), nontaurine-supplemented diabetic(E0) and taurine-supplemented diabetic rats(E1, E2 and E3). E0 had significantly higher food intake compared to that of CO and EA. E1, E2 and E3, however, had significantly lower food intake compared to that of E0, and E3 had significantly lower food intake compared to that of E1 and E2. E0 had significantly higher water intake compare to that of CO and EA. EI had significantly lower water intake compared to that of E0. Blood glucose concentration of E0 was significantly increased compared to that of CO and EA. E2 and E3 had significantly lower blood glucose concentration compared to E0 and E1. Also there was a dose effect in blood glucose concentration between E2 and E3. The total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations of EA were significantly increased compared to those of other groups. Therefore, it may be suggested that taurine supplementation is necessary for diabetes in order to prevent diabetic complications such as cardiac vascular diseases.

Certain indigestible oligosaccharides may benefit gastrointestinal tract via fermentation and proliferation of desirable bacterial species. The purose of this study was to elucidate the effect of selected oligosaccharides, such as fructooligosaccharides(FOS), soybean oliosaccharides(SOE), and highly concentrated branched oligosaccharides(HiBOS), on fecal micorflora proliferation, lipid concentration, lipid peroxide formation and antioxidant enzymes acitivies in plasma and liver of the rats. Thirty two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of four treatments ; 1) control diet(AIN-93G diet); 2) control diet +5% FOS ; 3) control diet + 5% SOE ; 4) control diet + 5% HiBOS. The duration of the study was 4 weeks. Fecal bifidobacteria concentration were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the HiBOS group compared with the control after 4 weeks of dietary treatment. FOS and SOE groups also had higher fecal bifidobacteria levels than control, but statistical significance was not found. The concentration of plasma total lipid was decreased by oligosaccharide consumption, especially in HiBOS group(p<0.05). The concentration of plasma total triglyceride was significantly lower in all of the oligosaccharide containing groups compared with the control(p<0.05). The plasma total cholesterol concentration tended to be lower in the oligosaccharide consuming groups than control. The concentrations of hepatic total lipid, triglyceride and total cholesterol were not affected by consumption of oligosaccharides. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance(TBARS) concentrations and antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma and liver were not affected much by experimental diets. There results suggest that dietary oligosaccharides may be beneficial for increasing intestinal bifidobacteria and lowering plasma lipid levels.

The present study was conducted to investigate te effect of sea tangle and hypoglycemic agent(Metformin) on lipid peroxidation and antioxidants levels in normal and diabetic rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed AIN-76 based experimental diets containing 5% (w/w) cellulose or 15%(w/w) sea tangle for 3 weeks, and then rats of diabetic groups were rendered diabetic by intramuscular injection of streptozotocin(STZ, 45mg/kg BW). After induction of diabetes Metformin(350mg/kg BW) was given once a day using a feeding tube for 5 days. Blood glucose level in diabetic rats fed sea tangle was significantly lower than that of diabetic rats fed cellulose. Metformin feeding resulted in further lowering blood glucose. Plasma and liver microsomal levels of lipid peroxides were increased significantly in diabetic rats as compared to normal rats, and the plasma level tended to be decreased by sea tangle feeding. Plasma level of retinol was reduced by STZ treatment, but it was increased by Metformin feeding in diabetic rats fed sea tangle. The liver contents of retinyl plamitate were reduced in diabetic rats but recovered by sea tangle feeding to some extent. Liver contents of total vitamin A were increased significantly by sea tangle in diabetic rats. Although difference in either plasma or liver level of $\alpha$-tocopherol by diet and STZ treatment was not significant, $\alpha$-tocopherol levels were the highest in the group with simultaneous feeding of sea tangle and metformin. Liver contents of zinc and copper were not influenced by either STZ treatment or sea tangle feeding. The present study indicates that the lowering blood glucose level could be attained by simultaneous trial of sea tangle diet and hypoglycemic agent and the increased oxidative stress caused by STZz treatment could be relieved by sea tangle feeding.

With the increasing elderly population in Korea, dementia has become a mojor health problem in Korea. Several studies have been conducted on the association between dementia and dietary intake, especially vitamin E and vitamin C. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin E and vitamin C supplementation on the decrease in cognitive function induced by scopolamine(300mg/kg) in rats. Rats were divided into three groups : control, vitamin C, and vitamin E supplementation(2.4g Vit C or Vit E /100g diet) and fed the diets for 6 weeks. There were significant decreases in active avoidance response and brain acetylcholinesterase activity in the control group, but no significant differences were observed in the vitamin E and C groups after scopolamine treatment. Brain dopamine concentration of vitamin E and C groups was significantly higher than those of control group after scopolamine injection. The concentrations of brain norepinephrine also showed similar tendence, even though it was not statistically significant. These results indicate that vitamin E and vitamin C may protect against the cognitive function decrease induced by scopolamine. However, it is still unclear how vitamin E and C influence brain neurotransmitters and improve cognitive function. Further study is need to elucidate the role of vitamin E and C supplementation in the prevention of dementia.

This study examined the effect of excess loading of calcium (Ca)and iron(Fe) on the bioavailability of minerals in both normal and Ca-and Fe-deficient rats. Three-week-old male rats were divided into four groups and fed experimental diets for six weeks, containing either normal (0.5%) or high(1.5%) Ca and normal (35ppm) or high (350ppm)Fe. Likewise, three-week-old male rats were first fed a Ca-and Fe-deficient diet for three weeks, and then fed one of four experimental diets for additional three weeks. In both normal and Ca-and Fe-deficient rats, ca contents of serum, liver, kidney and femur were not significantly affected by dietary Ca and Fe levels. Apparent Ca absorption(%) decreased in rats fed a high Ca diet regardless of dietary Fe levels. Magnesium(Mg) contents of serum, liver and femur significantly decreased in rats fed a high Ca diet. Fe contents of serum and liver significantly increased in rats fed a high-Fe diet, but decreased in rats fed a high Ca diet. Fe content of serum and liver significantly increased in rate fed a high-Fe diet, decreased in rats fed a high-Ca diet. Apparent Fe absorption increased in rats fed a high-Fe diet, and decreased in rats fed a high-Ca diet in Ca-and Fe-deficient rats, but dietary Ca did not seem to affect Fe absorption in normal rats. Phosphorus(P) contents of serum and femur were not significantly affected by dietary Ca and Fe levels in both normal and Ca-and Fe-deficient rats. Serum copper(Cu) decreased in rats fed a high-Fe diet, while serum zinc(Zn) decreased in rats fed a high-Ca diet in normal rats. Cu contents of liver, and Zn contents of serum and liver decreased in rats fed a high-Fe diet in Ca-and Fe-deficient rats. There results suggest that a dietary overload of Ca and Fe in both normal and Ca-and Fe-deficient rats may decrease mineral bioavailability leading to potential health problems.

This study was conducted to investigate to the effect of weaning food-feeding methods on Preschool-Children's food habit, food preference and iron nutritional status for the subjects of 337 children, aged 18-60 months attending day care centers in Suwon and Seoul area. It divided the subjects into two groups according to the weaning food-feeding methods during their weaning period. One group(spoon-group) was defied as one had used to spoon over two times a day for 5 months and the ohter group (bottle-group) as one had used to bottle over two times a day for 5 months in weaning periods. All of the data were analyzed based on the weaning food-feeding method, mainly using bottle or spoon during their weaning period. The study results are summarized as follows. 1) 44.2% of the mothers mostly used bottle and 46.6% of them mostly used bottle to feed weaning foods. Age difference between the two groups was not found. 2) The numbers of daily consumed foods were significantly more higher in the spoon-group than the bottle-group and the amount of daily milk consumption was more higher among bottle-group. 3) Both of food intake frequency and food preference scores of the spoon-group were significantly higher than food intake frequency and food preference scores the bottle-group. 4) Iron nutritional status assessed by Hb and Hct was low in general. Only 26-63% of the subjects at each monthly age were in normal range. The higher the children's age, the more were grouped in normal range, which was more evident among children of the bottle-group. 5) Mother's nutrition knowledge related to weaning was more higher among spoon-group than both-group. There results shows the importance of appropriate weaning food-feeding methods for Preschool-children's food habit, food preference and nutritional status especially iron nutritional status. Nutrition education for mothers with weaning aged children has to be stressed and related programs have to be intervened effectively.

This study was performed to investigate the factors related to vitamin & mineral supplement use by the adolescents. Nine hundred and seventy-two adolescent boys and girls attending middle or high schools were chosen from various cities and rural communities in Korea. In this study, the factors affecting vitamin & mineral supplement use were analyzed from a self-administered questionnaire. It was found that vitamin & mineral supplements were taken by 31.3% of subjects. High school students(p<.01), female girl students(p<.001), and rural-dwellers(p<.001) took vitamin & mineral supplements more frequently than their complementing groups. The socioeconomic status of the family (p<.01), and supplement consumption by parents and siblings respectively affected the supplement use by the subjects(p<.001). Vitamin·mineral supplements were consumed more often in subjects who perceived their health as poor(p<.001), skipped breakfast(p<.05), and received nutritional information from books or magazines(p<.05). However, food habits and nutritional knowledge score of subjects did not affect vitamin & mineral supplement use. These findings suggest that adolescents take vitamin & mineral supplements commonly, and they tend to use supplements without prescription. Vitamin·mineral supplement consumption seems to be affected by general characteristics, health related variables, and meal management attitudes of subjects. Therefore, nutritional understanding and education are required in regard to the used of vitamin & mineral supplements, and the relationship between balanced diet and good health for the adolescents.

This study was conducted to assess dietary intake and nutritional status of zinc and copper in Korean college women. Dietary survey was conducted by 24-hour recall method and fasting serum samples were collected from 111 apparently healthy subjects. Intake levels of zinc and copper were calculated using newly developed database for Zn & Cu of Korea food. Serum levels of Zn, Cu and activities of ALP, EC-SOD were measured from fasting serum sample. Mean daily zinc and copper intakes were 6.72mg/day(56.0% RDA) and 1.11mg/day respectively. Mean values of serum ALP activity, zinc and copper concentration were 43.9U/L, 14.8umol/1, 15.5umol/1and these values were mostly within normal range. EC-SOD activitis of the subjects were low and had no correlation with intake or serum levels of Zn, Cu. In conclusion, these results show that zinc and copper intake of Koran college women are lower than those from other counties but higher than those of adults in rural area of Korea. Their serum levels of Zn, Cu, ALP are relatively normal. These results indicate that marginal deficiency of Zn and Cu may be quite prevalent in these subjects but serum indicators measured may not be sensitive enough to detect such marginal deficiency. Further study in needed to develop a biochemical index sensitive enough to evaluate Zn and Cu status.

This study was conducted to observe the effect of vitamin K on bone metabolism in postmenopausal women. Twenty-four healthy postmenopausal women recruited for this one-month, double-blind controlled study. Before and after daily administration of 1.0mg of phylloquinone the levels of serum vitamin K, osteocalcin, under-carboxylated osteocalcin, and urinary deoxy-phyidinoline were measured. The serum vitamin K concentration of Koran women as well as the average dietary intake of vitamin K was shown to be higher than the average levels of foreign women. However, no correlation between serum vitamin K concentration and vitamin K intake was found. Also, serum vitamin K concentration showed no special correlation with either bone mineral density or bone turnover markers in the study group. However, women with low serum vitamin K concentration(vitamin K-low group)had lower bone mineral density levels. After supplementation with 1.0mg/day of vitamin K, there were no changes in the levels of serum vitamin K, osteocalcin, ucOC, or u-DPD. Vitamin K supplementation did not seem to have any positive effects on bone metabolism through carboxylation. It can, however, be expected that vitamin K supplementation has a positive effect on bone metabolism in postmenopausal women with especially low serum vitamin K concentrations.

This study was carried out to prepare a copper database of Korean foods which can be used in calculating copper intake from dietary data, and to evaluate the copper nutritional status of Koran adults living in rural areas by dietary intake and serum copper concentrations. A copper database for 1,176 Korean foods was constructed (1) by analysing 112 Korean foods which are frequently consumed by Korean adults living in rural areas, (2) by adapting values form food composition databases from other countries-320 items from the University of Minnesota database, 201 items from the USAD database, and 25 items from U.K. database, and (3) by imputing values from similar foods for 518 food items. Copper intake of 2,034 Korean adults over the age of 30 living in Yeonchongun was Kyunggi province, Korea was estimated by 24-hour recall method. Mean daily copper intake of subjects was 0.98mg. Mean daily intake level of males was 1.11mg which was significantly higher than that of females, 0.88mg. There was a significant difference in the distribution of subjects by the level of copper intake and sex(p<0.05). Mean serum copper concentration was 14.8umol/1 and the percentage of subjects with low, adequate, and high levels of copper concentration were 23.9%, 69.4%, and 6.6%, respectively. The two food groups which contributed most to the dietary copper intake of subjects were cereals and grain products, and vegetables, supplying 46.2% and 12.7% of total copper intake, respectively. Individuallym, rice contributed most, suppling 31% of total copper intake, followed by soybean curd, starch vermicle, barley, etc. Plant foods contributed to 82.1% of the total copper intake. In summary, results of this study show that copper intake of Korean adults living in rural areas is low, and that dietary sources of copper are mainly plant foods. Serum levels of copper in the subjects were relatively normal. The copper database for Korean foods constructed in present study will be a valuable tool for the as-yet limited assessment of copper intake of Koreans. Such studies will contribute to the establishment of a dietary of a dietary allowance of copper and the relationship of copper nutriture and chronic diseases in Koreans.

To assess the food intake and diet quality of Koreans living in rural areas with discriminative environment, this dietary survey was conducted with 553 subjects living in five different rural areas using a one-day, 24-hour recall method. The average weight of total food intake was 1066g, with vegetable and animal food comprising 83.75 and 16.3% of total food intake, respectively. The average daily food intakes of residents in the five areas were 985g, 1005g, 1028g, 1318g, and 964g, and were significantly different(p<0.001). Residents of Ulju consumed the largest amount of food, 1318g. The total number of food items consumed was 336. The foods consumed in largest amounts were rice(223g), Korean cabbage-Kimch'i(111g), and soybean curd(41g). The foods consumed most frequently were rice, Korean cabbage-Kimchi, green onion and garlic. When investigating the consumption pattern of the major five food groups, only 5% of subjects consumed all five groups. The groups most frequently missing were dairy products and fruits. The average number of foods consumed per day was 16.8, but differed significantly by area(p<0.001). The number of major food groups (DDS, dietary diversity score) and that of food items(DVS, dietary variety score) correlated positively with NAR (nutrient adequacy ratio) and MAR (mean adequacy ratio). People with a DDS of above 4 or DVS of above 20 met two-thirds of the recommended dietary allowance for most nutrients. When assessing the dietary quality of subjects using DDS and DVS, many people appeared not to have a desirable food intake. dietary guidelines should be made considering the nutritional characteristics of different areas to improve the health of people living in those areas.

Apoptotic cell death, characterized by DNA fragmentation and morphological changes, has previously been shown to occur in vascular endothelial cells cultured with hydrogen peroxide. The present study examined the induction of apoptosis by hydrogen peroxide and whether pyruvate, a key glycolytic intermediate and $\alpha$-keto-monocarboxylate, can inhibit the apoptotic effects in bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells(BPAECs). Culture with 500uM hydrogen peroxide resulted in 30% cell death and induced morphological changes and DNA fragmentation. Cell injury was inhibited by the treatment with pyruvate. Pyruvate(0.1-5.0mM), and cell viability increased in a dose-dependent manner. In the presence of pyruvate(10~20mM), the viability was improved to over 95%. In contrast, treatment with lactate, a reduced form of phyuvate, did not protect against cell death oxidative stress-induced loss of viability and apoptosis was examined with $\alpha$-cyano-3-hydroxycinnarmate(COHC) as a selective mitochondrial monocarboxylate transport blocker. Incubation with COHC(500uM) did not significantly affect cell viability in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The cytoprotection by pyruvate(3mM)against hydrogen peroxide stress was abolished by COHC. This indicates that the cytoprotection by pyruvate against oxidative stress in endothelial cells is mediated, at least in part, by mitochondrial pyruvate uptake and hence endothelial enerygetics. However, cytosolic mechanisms related, at least in part, by mitochondrial pyruvate uptake and hence endothelial energetics. However, cytosolic mechanisms related to the glutathione system may also contribute. The results suggest that pyruvate has therapeutic potential in the treatment of oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity associated with increased apoptosis.