• 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.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.123-131
• /
• 2010

This study was performed to examine the combined effects of gamma linolenic acid and isoflavone supplementation on menopausal symptoms and serum lipids in 73 postmenopausal women. A total subjects were randomly assigned to isoflavone (30 mg) + gamma-linolenic acid (110 mg) group or placebo group. We measured menopausal symptoms by modified Kupperman Index (KI) and oxidized LDL, lipid peroxides, blood components and anthropometric parameters before and after the 12 week intervention period. After the 12 weeks of supplementation, supplement group and placebo group showed a significant reduction of modified kupperman index (p < 0.001). Isoflavone (30 mg) + gamma-linolenic acid (110 mg) supplement group showed a significant reduction of oxidized LDL cholesterol concentration (p = 0.006) whereas placebo group did not show significant change. Isoflavone and gamma-linolenic acid consumption did not significantly affect plasma concentrations of total, LDL, HDL cholesterol, triglyceride, apo A1, B and blood components. The result of present study demonstrated the supplementation of 30 mg isoflavone and 110 mg gamma-linolenic acid per day for 12 weeks may protect LDL cholesterol from oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition Conference
• /
• 2004.11a
• /
• pp.271-274
• /
• 2004

Nutritional genomics is a new field of study of how nutrition interacts with an individual's genome or individual responds to individual diets. Systematic approach of nutritional genomics will likely provide important clues about responders and non-responders. The current interest in personalizing health stems from the breakthroughs emerging in integrative technologies of genomics and epigenomics and the identification of genetic and epigentic diversity in individual's genetic make-up that are associated with variations in many aspects of health, including diet-related diseases. Microarray is a powerful screen system that is being also currently employed in nutritional research. Monitoring of gene expression at genome level is now possible with this technology, which allows the simultaneous assessment of the transcription of tens of thousands of genes and of their relative expression of pathological cells such tumor cells compared with that of normal cells. Epigenetic events such as DNA methylation can result in change of gene expression without involving changes in gene sequence. Recent developed technology of DNAarray-based methylation assay will facilitate wide study of epigenetic process in nutrigenomics. Some of the areas that would benefitfrom these technologies include identifying molecular targets (Biomarkers) for the risk and benefit assessment. These characterized biomarkers can reflect expose, response, and susceptibility to foods and their components. Furthermore the identified new biomarker perhaps can be utilized as a indicator of delivery system fur optimizing health.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.101-102
• /
• 2010

During the last decade, large community cohorts have been established by the Korea National Institutes of Health (KNIH), and enormous epidemiological and clinical data have been accumulated. Using these information and samples in the cohorts, KNIH set out to do a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 2007, and the Korea Association REsource (KARE) consortium was launched to analyze the data to identify the underlying genetic risk factors of diseases and diverse health indexes, such as blood pressure, obesity, bone density, and blood biochemical traits. The consortium consisted of 6 research divisions, formed by 25 principal investigators in 19 organizations, including 18 universities, 2 institutes, and 1 company. Each division focused on one of the following subjects: the identification of genetic factors, the statistical analysis of gene-gene interactions, the genetic epidemiology of gene-environment interactions, copy number variation, the bioinformatics related to a GWAS, and a GWAS of nutrigenomics. In this special issue, the study results of the KARE consortium are provided as 9 articles. We hope that this special issue might encourage the genomics community to share data and scientists, including clinicians, to analyze the valuable Korean data of KARE.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 2016

It has long been known that nutritional and environmental influences during the early developmental period affect the biological mechanisms which determine animal metabolism. This phenomenon, termed 'metabolic imprinting', can cause subtle but long-lasting responses to prenatal and postnatal nutrition and even be passed onto the next generation. A large amount of research data shows that nutrient availability, in terms of quantity as well as quality, during the early developing stages can decrease the number of newborn piglets and their body weight and increase their susceptibility to death before weaning. However, investigation of potential mechanisms of 'the metabolic imprinting' effect have been scant. Therefore, it remains unknown which factors are responsible for embryonic and early postnatal nutrition and which factors are major determinants of body weight and number of new born piglets. Intrauterine undernutrition, for example, was studied using a rat model providing dams 50% restricted nutrients during pregnancy and the results showed significant decreases in birth weight of newborns. This response may be a characteristic of a subset of modulations in embryonic development which is caused by the metabolic imprinting. Underlying mechanisms of intrauterine undernutrition and growth retardation can be explained in part by epigenetics. Epigenetics modulate animal phenotypes without changes in DNA sequences. Epigenetic modifications include DNA methylation, chromatin modification and small non-coding RNA-associated gene silencing. Precise mechanisms must be identified at the morphologic, cellular, and molecular levels by using interdisciplinary nutrigenomics approaches to increase pig production. Experimental approaches for explaining these potential mechanisms will be discussed in this review.