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ABSTRACT
Angelica keiskei koidzumi (ashitaba) is consumed as a traditional folk medicine and health food in Japan. Ashitaba extract contains abundant flavonoids containing chalcones. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is the primary physiological inhibitor of tissue plasminogen activator. Excessive amounts of PAI-1 in plasma disrupt the fibrinolytic balance and promote a prothrombotic state with which thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases are associated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of ashitaba yellow exudate (AE) on enhanced PAI-1 levels in Tsumura Suzuki obese diabetic (TSOD) mice. AE significantly decreased food efficiency and plasma PAI-1 in TSOD mice but did not affect lean control Tsumura Suzuki nonobese (TSNO) mice. AE also decreased some parameters in the plasma, such as glucose, insulin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and gains in body weight, subcutaneous, mesenteric fat weight in TSOD mice but had little effect on these parameters in TSNO mice. Levels of adipose PAI-1 were significantly higher in TSOD than in TSNO mice. Major sources of plasma PAI-1 are thought to be adipose tissue and liver. AE significantly suppressed PAI-1 protein levels in the livers of both TSOD and TSNO mice. These results suggest that AE decreased plasma PAI-1 levels by suppressing both the adipose tissue retention of PAI-1 protein and liver PAI-1 production in TSOD mice. Supplementing the diet with AE might help to prevent thrombotic diseases or alleviate the risk of thrombotic diseases as well as to suppress metabolic state in obese individuals.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.
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Notes on contributors
Mitsuhiro Ohta
Mitsuhiro Ohta has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science. He is a superintendent of Biomarker Laboratory at Research Institute for Production Development. His research interests are effects of metabolic syndrome from dietary supplements and development of biomarker in various diseases.
Aya Fujinami
Aya Fujinami has a PhD in Pharmacy. She is a senior lecturer of Kobe Pharmaceutical University. Her research interests are in obesity, adipokine and metabolic syndrome.
Katsutaka Oishi
Katsutaka Oishi has a PhD in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine. He is a group leader of Biological Clock Research Group of National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan.
Norihiro Kobayashi
Norihiro Kobayashi has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science. He is a professor of Kobe Pharmaceutical University. His research interest is antibody engineering.
Katsunori Ohnishi
Katsunori Ohnishi has a PhD in Biotechnology and he is a Manager of Sales and Development Section at Japan Bio Science Laboratory. His major is genetic engineering.
Naoki Ohkura
Naoki Ohkura has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science. He is an associate professor of School of Pharma-Sciences in Teikyo University. His research interest is exploration of antithrombotic substances from dietary supplements.