• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제8권6호
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• pp.662-669
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related disease are drawing a lot of attention in Korea as one of the serious health problems. Bone health status may be influenced by the general dietary quality and dietary pattern. SUBJECTS/METHODS: To determine the relationship between dietary quality and intake patterns and bone health status, the %RNI, NAR, DDS, and food group intake patterns were assessed according to their bone health status for 847 postmenopausal women using the 2010 KNHANES data after eliminating those of likely changing their diet under the advice of doctors or those taking estrogen. RESULTS: Bone health became worse as dietary quality deteriorated. All NAR and %RNI values were highly associated with bone health levels and the consumption frequency of Ca sources, DDS and the food group intake patterns also confirmed the findings. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that dietary quality and dietary patterns were important for bone health. Nutritional education on eating foods from the five basic food groups has to be emphasized to prevent osteoporosis among older women.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제4권6호
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• pp.455-461
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• 2010

The tumor microenvironment, particularly sufficient nutrition and oxygen supply, is important for tumor cell survival. Nutrition deprivation causes cancer cell death. Since apoptosis is a major mechanism of neuronal loss, we explored neuronal apoptosis in various microenvironment conditions employing neuroblastoma (NB) cells. To investigate the effects of tumor malignancy and differentiation on apoptosis, the cells were exposed to poor microenvironments characterized as serum-free, low-glucose, and hypoxia. Incubation of the cells in serum-free and low-glucose environments significantly increased apoptosis in less malignant and more differentiated N-type IMR32 cells, whereas more malignant and less differentiated I-type BE(2)C cells were not affected by those treatments. In contrast, hypoxia (1 % $O_2$) did not affect apoptosis despite cell malignancy. It is suggested that DLK1 constitutes an important stem cell pathway for regulating self-renewal, clonogenicity, and tumorigenicity. This raises questions about the role of DLK1 in the cellular resistance of cancer cells under poor microenvironments, which cancer cells normally encounter. In the present study, DLK1 overexpression resulted in marked protection from apoptosis induced by nutrient deprivation. This in vitro model demonstrated that increasing severity of nutrition deprivation and knock-down of DLK1 caused greater apoptotic death, which could be a useful strategy for targeted therapies in fighting NB as well as for evaluating how nutrient deprived cells respond to therapeutic manipulation.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제4권6호
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• pp.535-540
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• 2010

In this study, 342 grade 4-6 elementary school students in Gyeonggi-do were recruited to determine their readiness to change food safety behavior and to compare their food safety knowledge and practices by the stages of change. The subjects were divided into three stages of change; the percentage of stage 1 (precontemplation) was 10.1%, the percentage of stage 2 (contemplation and preparation) was 62.4%, and that of stage 3 (action and maintenance) was 27.5%. Food safety knowledge scores in stage 3 (4.55) or stage 2 (4.50) children were significantly higher than those in stage 1 children (4.17) (P < 0.05). The two food safety behavior items "hand washing practice" and "avoidance of harmful food" were significantly different among the three groups (P < 0.05). Stages of change were significantly and positively correlated with food safety knowledge and practice. Age was significantly and negatively correlated with the total food safety behavior score (r = -0.142, P < 0.05). The most influential factor on the stage of change was a mother's instruction about food safety (P < 0.01).

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.332-338
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine consumers' behaviors toward ready-to-eat foods and to develop ready-to-eat food market segmentation in Korea. The food-related lifestyle and purchase behaviors of ready-to-eat foods were evaluated using 410 ready-to-eat food consumers in the Republic of Korea. Four factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis (health-orientation, taste-orientation, convenience-orientation, and tradition-orientation) to explain the ready-to eat food consumers' food-related lifestyles. The results of cluster analysis indicated that "tradition seekers" and "convenience seekers" should be regarded as the target segments. Chi-square tests and t-tests of the subdivided groups showed there were significant differences across marital status, education level, family type, eating-out expenditure, place of purchase, and reason for purchase. In conclusion, the tradition seekers consumed more ready-to-eat foods from discount marts or specialty stores and ate them between meals more often than the convenience seekers. In contrast, the convenience seekers purchased more ready-to-eat foods at convenience stores and ate them as meals more often than the tradition seekers. These findings suggest that ready-to-eat food market segmentation based on food-related lifestyles can be applied to develop proper marketing strategies.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.311-316
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between birth weight and appetite related hormones, insulin resistance, and antioxidant status in overweight children aged 9-10 years. Thirty-four healthy overweight children (18 boys, 16 girls) were evaluated with respect to anthropometric measurement, lipid profiles, leptin, ghrelin, glucose, insulin, C-peptide, lipid soluble vitamins, and antioxidant enzyme activities. I found that birth weight was negatively correlated with insulin resistance parameters, ghrelin, and coenzyme Q10 levels. There was a significant positive correlation between present BMI and leptin level, while a negative correlation was noted between the BMI and $\alpha$-tocopherol and lycopene levels. When total subjects were classified into three groups by tertiles of birth weight, the lowest tertile of birth weight (LTB) group showed higher levels of fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, and ghrelin level than the highest tertile of birth weight (HTB) groups. On the other hand, HTB group showed an increased oxidative stress (decreased coenzyme Q10 level and catalase activity) compared to the LTB group. In conclusion, plasma ghrelin level might play an important role in accelerated growth in overweight children with LTB. Increased insulin resistance is present in overweight children with LTB, while decreased coenzyme Q10 and catalase activity in overweight children with HTB. These results suggest that birth weight might be an important factor for determination of treatment for obesity related complications in childhood obesity.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제4권4호
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• pp.303-310
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• 2010

Consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with a reduced risk of stroke, but it is unclear whether their protective effects are due to antioxidant vitamins or folate and metabolically related B vitamins. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that intake of fruits and vegetables, which are major sources of antioxidant and vitamin B complex vitamins, reduces the risk of stroke. Cases consisted of patients diagnosed with first event of stroke (n = 69). Controls (n = 69) were age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched to cases. Multivariable-adjusted regression analysis showed that subjects who ate four to six servings of vegetable per day had a 32% reduction in the risk of stroke, and those with more than six servings per day had a reduction of 69% after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and family history of stroke. Intakes of total fat, plant fat, calcium, potassium, vitamin $B_1$, vitamin $B_2$, vitamin $B_6$, niacin, and folate were significantly and negatively associated with the risk of stroke. Although the trend was not significant, stroke risk was reduced in the second quartile (1.21-2.66 servings per week) of fish intake. However, intake of fruits (average daily intake of 1.0 serving) and antioxidant vitamins such as carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E was not associated with the risk of stroke. In conclusion, our observational study suggests that intake of fat and vegetables, rich sources of vitamin B complex, calcium, and potassium may protect against stroke.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.507-515
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to investigate whether Gynura procumbens extract (GPE) can improve insulin sensitivity and suppress hepatic glucose production in an animal model of type 2 diabetes. MATERIALS/METHODS: C57BL/Ksj-db/db mice were divided into 3 groups, a regular diet (control), GPE, and rosiglitazone groups (0.005 g/100 g diet) and fed for 6 weeks. RESULTS: Mice supplemented with GPE showed significantly lower blood levels of glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin than diabetic control mice. Glucose and insulin tolerance test also showed the positive effect of GPE on increasing insulin sensitivity. The homeostatic index of insulin resistance was significantly lower in mice supplemented with GPE than in the diabetic control mice. In the skeletal muscle, the expression of phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase, pAkt substrate of 160 kDa, and PM-glucose transporter type 4 increased in mice supplemented with GPE when compared to that of the diabetic control mice. GPE also decreased the expression of glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in the liver. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that GPE might improve insulin sensitivity and inhibit gluconeogenesis in the liver.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.17-21
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In this study, the inhibitory effect of Erythronium japonicum extracts on the metastasis of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line was determined. MATERIALS/METHODS: Cells were cultured with DMSO or with 50, 75, 100 or $250{\mu}g/ml$ of Erythronium japonicum methanol or ethanol extract. RESULTS: Both methanol and ethanol extracts significantly inhibited the growth and induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Erythronium japonicum extracts inhibited the adhesion of MDA-MB-231 cells. The invasion of breast cancer cells was suppressed by Erythronium japonicum extracts in a dose-dependent manner. The motility and MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities were also inhibited by both methanol and ethanol extracts. CONCLUSIONS: Our results collectively indicate that Erythronium japonicum extracts inhibit the growth, adhesion, migration and invasion as well as induce the apoptosis of human breast cancer cells. Clinical application of Erythronium japonicum as a potent chemopreventive agent may be helpful in limiting breast cancer invasion and metastasis.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.99-105
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Compelling evidence indicates that consumption of trans-fatty acids (TFA) is associated with a wide range of diseases. However, few validated tools for TFA intake assessment are available in Korea. We aimed to validate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) estimating usual intake of TFA in Korean adults. MATERIALS/METHODS: Eighty-two healthy adults completed an FFQ with a 3-day diet record (3DDR), and 58 completed a second FFQ at a 1-month interval. To assess the reproducibility of the FFQ, we compared estimated TFA intakes from each FFQ. To assess the validity, we compared estimates from the FFQ with those from the 3DDR. RESULTS: The FFQ was reproducible (Spearman r = 0.71) and provided modest correlations with the 3DDR (Spearman r = 0.38). After adjustment for total energy intake, the correlations increased (r = 0.45). Measurement-error correction also de-attenuated the correlations (r = 0.57). When quintiles of the FFQ and 3DDR were joint-classified, 9% on average were misclassified into extreme quintiles. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the developed FFQ is reproducible and reasonably valid in categorizing individuals according to TFA intakes among healthy young and middle aged adults in Korea.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.237-244
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The current South Korean government policy on food irradiation technology should be reformed based on an in-depth investigation of the communications aspect, because the issue is no longer of a technological nature, given the proven safety and efficacy of the processes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The target population of the education program consisted of elementary, middle, and high school students attending 310 schools in South Korea (2013: 63 schools, 2014: 104 schools, 2015: 143 schools). Data subjected to analysis were 13,327 pre-education and 12,641 post-education questionnaires received from 7,582 elementary, 2,671 middle, and 3,249 high school students who participated in the education program from May 2012 to April 2015 (n = 12,831), after the exclusion of inadequately filled-in questionnaires. RESULTS: Analysis of the three-year educational effect trend was conducted by comparing levels of variables before and after food radiation education. The analysis yielded the finding that the post-education levels were significantly higher for all variables. That is, for interest in education, perception (necessity, safety, subjective knowledge, and information acquisition), objective knowledge, and attitude, with the sole exception of objective knowledge in 2013. CONCLUSIONS: Given that post-education levels of perception, knowledge, and attitude concerning irradiated foods increased considerably compared to pre-education levels, behavior change should be induced by providing continuous education to enhance, these primary variables.