• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.315-325
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study was to predict abdominal obesity with 3-Dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) measurements of kidneys by analyzing the correlation between kidney sizes and abdominal obesity level. The subjects were 178 healthy adults without underlying diseases who had a comprehensive health examination at the Health Medical Center of Jesus Hospital in Jeonju. Abdominal obesity was measured by CT cross-sectional image at the level of the umbilicus and divided into visceral fat area, subcutaneous fat area, visceral fat/total fat ratio. The average comparison of kidney sizes classified according to abdominal obesity were performed through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Scheffe test. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to correlate all measurement values. The results of kidney size ANOVA analysis according to abdominal obesity were as follows. The means of kidney measurements according to visceral fat classification were significantly different in all kidney measurements (p<0.05). And in case of subcutaneous fat classification, the means of kidney measurements by 3D CT of the severe obesity group were significantly different in the right kidney width (p<0.05). In case of visceral fat area/total fat area ratio, the means of kidney measurements by 3D CT of the severe obesity group were significantly different in both kidneys width (p<0.05). Pearson correlation between kidneys measurements and CT abdominal obesity showed that visceral fat area had the highest correlation with the left kidney width measured by 3D CT (r=0.467) and subcutaneous fat area had correlation with the right kidney width measured by 3D CT (r=0.249). The visceral fat area/total fat area ratio had correlation with the left kidney width measured by 3D CT (r=0.291).

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.46-61
• /
• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: An increasing life expectancy in society has burdened healthcare systems substantially because of the rising prevalence of age-related metabolic diseases. This study compared the effects of animal protein hydrolysate (APH) and casein on metabolic diseases using aged mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: Eight-week-old and 50-week-old C57BL/6J mice were used as the non-aged (YC group) and aged controls (NC group), respectively. The aged mice were divided randomly into 3 groups (NC, low-APH [LP], and high-APH [HP] and fed each experimental diet for 12 weeks. In the LP and HP groups, casein in the AIN-93G diet was substituted with 16 kcal% and 24 kcal% APH, respectively. The mice were sacrificed when they were 63-week-old, and plasma and hepatic lipid, white adipose tissue weight, hepatic glucose, lipid, and antioxidant enzyme activities, immunohistochemistry staining, and mRNA expression related to the glucose metabolism on liver and muscle were analyzed. RESULTS: Supplementation of APH in aging mice resulted in a significant decrease in visceral fat (epididymal, perirenal, retroperitoneal, and mesenteric fat) compared to the negative control (NC) group. The intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test and area under the curve analysis revealed insulin resistance in the NC group, which was alleviated by APH supplementation. APH supplementation reduced hepatic gluconeogenesis and increased glucose utilization in the liver and muscle. Furthermore, APH supplementation improved hepatic steatosis by reducing the hepatic fatty acid and phosphatidate phosphatase activity while increasing the hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity. Furthermore, in the APH supplementation groups, the red blood cell (RBC) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and hepatic H₂O₂ levels decreased, and the RBC glutathione, hepatic catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities increased. CONCLUSIONS: APH supplementation reduced visceral fat accumulation and alleviated obesity-related metabolic diseases, including insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis, in aged mice. Therefore, high-quality animal protein APH that reduces the molecular weight and enhances the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score has potential as a dietary supplement for healthy aging.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.256-265
• /
• 2020

Objectives: We compared the associations of 3 computed tomography (CT)-based abdominal adiposity indexes with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among middle-aged Korean men and women. Methods: The participants were 1366 men and 2480 women community-dwellers aged 30-64 years. Three abdominal adiposity indexes-visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio (VSR)-were calculated from abdominal CT scans. NAFLD was determined by calculating the Liver Fat Score from comorbidities and blood tests. An NAFLD prediction model that included waist circumference (WC) as a measure of abdominal adiposity was designated as the base model, to which VFA, SFA, and VSR were added in turn. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were calculated to quantify the additional predictive value of VFA, SFA, and VSR relative to WC. Results: VFA and VSR were positively associated with NAFLD in both genders. SFA was not significantly associated with NAFLD in men, but it was negatively associated in women. When VFA, SFA, and VSR were added to the WC-based NAFLD prediction model, the AUC improved by 0.013 (p<0.001), 0.001 (p=0.434), and 0.009 (p=0.007) in men and by 0.044 (p<0.001), 0.017 (p<0.001), and 0.046 (p<0.001) in women, respectively. The IDI and NRI were increased the most by VFA in men and VSR in women. Conclusions: Using CT-based abdominal adiposity indexes in addition to WC may improve the detection of NAFLD. The best predictive indicators were VFA in men and VSR in women.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.144-153
• /
• 2017

It was demonstrated that Gangjihwan (DF), which is the herbal composition composed of Ephedra intermedia, Lithospermum erythrorhizon, and Rheum palmatum, inhibits obesity and hepatic steatosis in high fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of DF on visceral obesity, hepatic inflammation and fibrosis and the mechanism of actions involved in this process using in vivo and in vitro approaches. DF was extracted with water (DF-FW), 30% grain alcohol (DF-GA30), and 70% grain alcohol (DF-GA70). Administration of DF to HFD-fed control mice decreased visceral tissue mass and visceral adipocyte size without adverse effects. Visceral fat mass was decreased by DF-GA30 and DF-GA70, and visceral adipocyte size by all three DF extracts compared with obese control mice. Histological analysis revealed that three kinds of DF extracts reduced toluidine blue-stained mast cells and collagen accumulation in the liver, the extents of which were most eminent in DF-GA70-treated mice. DF-GA70 decreased the mRNA levels of the inflammation ($TNF{\alpha}$ and VCAM-1), fibrosis (${\alpha}-SMA$), and apoptosis (caspase 3) genes, but increasing the anti-apoptosis gene (Bcl-2) mRNA levels in the liver of obese control mice. Consistent with the in vivo data, GA-70 also altered the expression of inflammation genes ($TNF{\alpha}$ and MCP-1) in HepG2 cells. These results indicate that DF not only inhibits visceral obesity, but also ameliorates visceral obesity-induced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis and that this process may be mediated by regulating the hepatic expression of inflammatory and fibrogenic genes.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.283-288
• /
• 2015

In this study, we investigated anti-obesity effect of isoegomaketone (IK) isolated from leaves extract of Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. cv. We verified differentiation and lipid accumulation by Oil Red O staining in 3T3-L1 cells after IK treatment with differentiation media. IK inhibited mRNA expression of adipocyte specific genes that were related with differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. We confirmed the effects of IK on body weight and visceral fat mass in obese mice. Mice were randomly divided into three groups; normal diet group (ND), high-fat diet group (HFD) and high-fat diet with IK group (HFD-IK). The obesity mice were induced by feeding the 45% high-fat diet to the C57BL/6J mice during 4 weeks. After HFD-IK was orally administered 10 mg/kg of IK. As a result, the body weight of HFD and HFD-IK was increased 2.4 times and 1.7 times of ND, respectively. Also visceral fat mass of HFD was increased 24 times but in the case of HFD-IK was increased to 13 times in comparison with ND. Taken together, our findings suggest that IK reduced differentiation and adiogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells, decreased the body weight and visceral fat mass in obesity mice. These results suggest that IK may have a potential benefit as anti-obesity material.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.49-55
• /
• 1999

The effect of fat supplementation of high calcium (Ca) diets on the performance, intestinal pH, body composition and size and weight of organs in growing chickens were investigated in two experiments. Growing chickens tolerated a high dietary level of Ca (22.5 vs 12.1 g/kg) in the presence of 6.3 g/kg of available phosphorus without any significant effect on performance. Intestinal pH was significantly increased by the addition of excess Ca and fat which probably created the right pH for the formation of insoluble Ca soaps. Excess dietary Ca increased carcass linoleic acid concentration at the expense of palmitic and stearic acid contents, whilst the addition of sunflower oil (80 g/kg diet) to the diet increased carcass linoleic acid concentration at the expense of palmitic acid content of the carcass. Intestinal and visceral organ size and weight were not influenced by excess Ca or fat. However, there was a non significant increase in the intestinal dry weight per unit of length caused by excess dietary Ca. It was concluded that excess dietary Ca of 22.5 g/kg did not significantly influence the performance of meat chickens. However, excess Ca increased intestinal pH and altered carcass fatty acid composition. Fat supplementation did not alter intestinal pH with high Ca diets. Excess dietary fat altered carcass fatty acid composition and reduced protein content. Intestinal and visceral organ size and weights were not influenced by excess dietary levels of Ca of fat.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.69-80
• /
• 2006

Object : Waist circumference(WC), waist-hip ratio(WHR), waist-stature ratio(WSR), and body mass index(BMI) are commonly used for evaluating obesity. This Research were done to determine what is more sensitive obesity indexes(WC, WHR, WSR, BMI) Correlated with body composition such as body fat mass, body fat(%), visceral fat area, and fat free mass. And what is more sensitively correlated obesity indexes with % changes of body composition during weight reduction treatment. Methods : This clinical retrospective research were carried out 127 cases of female obese outpatients with weight reduction treatment during 1 month. Bioelectrical impedence analysis(for body composition) and body size(for anthropometric obesity indexes) were estimated in pre-treatment and post-treatment to evaluate the obesity indexes. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to select useful obesity index. Result & Conclusion : BMI is useful index for diagnosis and evaluation of obesity. WSR is sensitively correlated with visceral fat area and body fat(%). So, WSR is useful index for evaluating abdominal obesity and risk factors of metabolic syndrome. WC is correlated with both body fat mass and fat free mass. WHR is not optimal for diagnosis and evaluation of obesity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.46 no.9
• /
• pp.1137-1142
• /
• 2017

This study examined the effects of apios (Apios americana Medikus) supplementation on visceral obesity in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. C57BL/6N mice were fed a high-fat diet (40% calories from fat) with or without apios powder (10%, w/w) for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment, apios supplementation reduced visceral fat mass significantly by 14.3% compared to the control group. Apios decreased significantly the atherogenic index, serum leptin level, hepatic lipid (free fatty acid and triglyceride) content, and lipid droplets, whereas it increased the serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio. Hepatic lipogenic gene expression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma, fatty acid synthase, and diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 was down-regulated by apios supplementation. These results suggest that apios is a healthy food for preventing high-fat diet-induced visceral obesity and fatty liver.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.40 no.7
• /
• pp.630-638
• /
• 2007

This study was performed to examine the combined effects of L-carnitine and isoflavone supplementation on weight reduction and body fat distribution in overweight women. Overweight/obese women (body mass index > $23kg/m^2$) who were not diagnosed any type of diseases were included in this study and sixty subjects ($41.1{\pm}1.5$ years, $25.9{\pm}0.3kg/m^2)$ were randomly assigned to a placebo (n=30) or a supplement group (n=30, L-carnitine 300 mg+isoflavone 40 mg/day). We measured anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat distribution by computerizd tomography and blood components before and after the 12 week intervention period. After the 12 weeks of supplementation, subjects in L-carnitine and isoflavone supplement group showed a significant reduction of body weight (p < 0.001), body fat % (p < 0.05), and waist to hip ratio (p < 0.01) whereas placebo group did not show any changes. In a CT-scanned results, total fat area at L4 level was significantly reduced by 8.1% (p < 0.01) with the reduction of visceral fat area (-11.1%, p < 0.001) and subcutaneous fat area (-7.0%, p < 0.05) in the supplement group. The supplementation of L-carnitine and isoflavone showed the significant improvement of HDL-C (p < 0.01) and apoB (p < 0.05) concentrations, however, change values in those markers were not significant compared with those of the placebo group. In addition, a significant increase of adiponectin level (p<0.001) was observed in the supplement group after the intervention. The result of present study demonstrated that supplementation of 300 mg L-carnitine and 40 mg isoflavone per day fur 12 weeks can give beneficial effects on weight reduction and visceral fat accumulation. These potential antiobesity supplement can produce more favorable effects when combined with lifestyle modification.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.520-526
• /
• 2012

Various forms of fermented soybean products are well documented for their health benefits. The efficacy of anti-obesogenic effect of Doenjang, one of the most commonly used seasonings in Korean cuisine, has been reported only in animal models; thus, an evaluation of Doenjang needs to be conducted in human studies. We aimed to test the hypothesis that Doenjang supplementation reduces body weight and changes body composition in overweight adults. A total of 51 overweight adults participated in this study. A group of males with BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$ and waist to hip ratio (WHR) ${\geq}$ 0.90, and a group of females with BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$ and WHR ${\geq}$ 0.85 were randomly assigned to either a Doenjang supplement (9.9 g dry/day) group or a placebo group for a 12-week randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat distribution by computerized tomography (CT) and blood components were measured before and after the intervention period. After the 12-week study, the Doenjang supplementation group had significant reductions in body weight (kg), body fat mass (kg) and body fat (%) compared to the placebo group, the supplementation of Doenjang resulted in a significant reduction in visceral fat ($cm^2$), although no changes were observed in total and subcutaneous fat are as ($cm^2$), serum lipid profiles and dietary intakes. The present study demonstrated that daily supplementation of 9.9 g dry/day of Doenjang for 12 weeks reduces body weight and visceral fat in overweight adults.