Nutrition
-
This study investigated the effects of a Taiwanese yam, Dioscorea japonica Thunb var. pseudojaponica Yamamoto, on upper gut function and lipid metabolism in adult Balb/c mice. ⋯ A 25% uncooked yam diet may benefit upper gut function and prevent hypercholesterolemia in humans, but the 50% yam diet negatively affected protein absorption.
-
Macrophages are the primary targets of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The effects of cocoa extract on production of nitric oxide (NO) by murine J774.1 macrophages activated by LPS and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were examined. ⋯ These data suggested that cocoa extract contains a suppressor of NO production in murine macrophages activated by LPS and IFN-gamma. This effect does not appear to be caused merely by neutralization of LPS.