JP2021078481A - Composition for preventing or improving fatty liver containing processed yacon as active ingredient - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a new composition for preventing or improving fatty liver.SOLUTION: A composition for preventing or improving fatty liver contains processed yacon as an active ingredient.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

The present invention relates to a composition for preventing or improving fatty liver containing a processed Yacon product as an active ingredient.

Metabolic syndrome is a modern disease that has rapidly surfaced due to changes in the living environment in recent years, and various difficult-to-control disease groups such as type 2 diabetes and arteriosclerosis develop domino-effect. Among a series of diseases, fatty liver is one of the diseases that becomes prominent from the beginning along with obesity. Fatty liver was once thought to be a benign disease, but it has been revealed that dozens of percent of patients with fatty liver progress to a disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The perception of fatty liver has changed. In NASH, the liver parenchyma becomes extensively fibrotic in an alcohol-independent manner, and cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma often develop. Insulin resistance improving drugs, antioxidants, liver protectants, antihyperlipidemic drugs, antihypertensive drugs, etc. are used for the treatment of NASH, but there is no established treatment method, and fatty liver is the previous stage. The importance of prevention or improvement of insulin has come to be recognized (Non-Patent Document 1).

Currently, the main therapeutic agent for fatty liver is the polyenephosphatidylcholine preparation (EPL). The mechanism of action of EPL is thought to be that ingestion of EPL promotes the transport and burning of triglycerides in the liver, resulting in the suppression of fatty liver. However, treatment with EPL is recognized as a supplementary treatment method that is performed in addition to the treatment of the underlying disease that causes fatty liver, diet therapy, and exercise therapy, and it cannot be said that the contribution to the fundamental treatment is sufficient. .. In fact, despite the fact that EPL is a classic drug that went on sale in the 1960s, NASH has only recently become a problem, so the use of EPL is sufficient to improve fatty liver. You can see that they are not connected. Moreover, as the liver is described as a silent organ, there are few subjective symptoms in the early stages of liver disease. In the case of fatty liver, there is no subjective symptom at the beginning, and as it progresses, general symptoms of liver disease such as tiredness, tiredness, and loss of appetite appear, but it is rarely noticed as liver disease, and it is mistaken for a cold. It is often worsened by leaving it unattended.

As described above, fatty liver therapeutic agents cannot dramatically improve the symptoms of fatty liver patients, and in the first place in the reserve army of fatty liver patients and patients with early fatty liver who may develop fatty liver. Symptoms are likely to be exacerbated due to low awareness of treatment. Under these circumstances, it is important to practice daily exercise and control eating habits, but at the same time, there is still a need for a method for preventing or improving fatty liver that can be easily and easily carried out in daily life. ing.

Brunt E.M. et al., Nature Reviews Disease Primers, Vol.1, 1-22 (2015)

An object of the present invention is to provide a new composition for the prevention or improvement of fatty liver.

The present inventors have found that when mice fed a high-fat diet were fed with a Yacon-derived sample, suppression of an increase in liver fat droplets was observed as compared with mice not fed with the sample. It was.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] A composition for preventing or improving fatty liver, which contains a processed yacon product as an active ingredient.
[2] The composition according to [1], wherein the processed product of yacon is a processed product of a mass root of yacon. [3] The composition according to [1] or [2], wherein the processed product is a pulverized product, an extract, a juice or a dry powder.
[4] The composition according to any one of [1] to [3], which suppresses the accumulation of lipid droplets in liver tissue under high-fat diet conditions.
[5] The composition according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the composition is a food composition.
[6] The composition according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical.

Fatty liver can be prevented or ameliorated by ingesting a sample derived from yacon. In particular, under high-fat diet conditions, ingestion of yacon-derived samples can suppress the accumulation of lipid droplets in liver tissue.

FIG. 1 shows the water-normal group, the water-HFD (cotrol-HFD) group, the dextrin-HFD (dextrin-HFD) group, and the yacon-HFD (yacon-HFD) group in liver tissue. It is a photograph of paraffin-hematoxylin and eosin staining comparing the accumulation of lipid droplets.

The present invention provides a composition for preventing or improving fatty liver (hereinafter referred to as the composition of the present invention) containing a processed product of yacon as an active ingredient.

As used herein, Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) refers to a perennial plant that is native to the Andean highlands of South America and belongs to the genus Sigesbeckia, Asteraceae. The yacon used in the composition of the present invention is not particularly limited in variety and strain as long as it is usually available. For example, the varieties include "Salad Otome (Yacon Norin No. 1)" and "Salad Okame (Yacon Norin)". "No. 2)", "Andean Snow (Yacon Norin No. 3)", etc. are "Bolivia", "Peru A", "Shirai", "Yu 1", "Yu 2", "Peru 1", " Peru 3 ”,“ Peru 4 ”,“ CIP205002 ”,“ CIP205004 ”,“ CIP205009 ”,“ CIP205028 ”,“ CIP205029 ”and the like. "Salad Otome (Yacon Agriculture and Forestry No. 1)", "Salad Okame (Yacon Agriculture and Forestry No. 2)", and "Andean Snow (Yacon Agriculture and Forestry No. 3)" can be obtained from the National Research and Development Corporation Agriculture and Food Industry Technology Research Organization. .. In addition, "CIP205002", "CIP205004", "CIP205009", "CIP205028", and "CIP205029" can be obtained from the International Potato Center.

The composition of the present invention contains a processed Yacon product as an active ingredient. Yacon plants are composed of above-ground parts (tubers, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, etc.) and underground parts (tuberous roots, inside tuberous roots, tuberous root bark, etc.). The yacon contained in the composition of the present invention may be any part above the ground, below the ground, or both, but the root of the yacon contains a large amount of sugar, polyphenol, water-soluble dietary fiber and the like. , These can be active ingredients for the prevention or amelioration of fatty liver. Therefore, the processed product of yacon contains the processed product of the underground part of yacon, preferably the processed product of the mass root of yacon. Examples of sugars contained in the roots of yacon include fructooligosaccharides, glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Examples of polyphenols contained in the roots of yacon include chlorogenic acid, 3,5-di-O-cafe oil quinic acid, 2,4-di-O-cafe oil altralic acid, and 3,5-di-O-. Café Oil Altral Acid, 2,5-di-O-Café Oil Altral Acid, 2,3,5-Tri-O-Café Oil Altral Acid, 2,4,5-Tri-O-Café Oil Altral Acid, 4-O-Café Oil-2,7-Anhydro-D-glycero-β-D-galacto-Octo-2-uropyranosonic Acid, 4,5-di-O-Café Oil-2,7-Anhydro-D -glycero-β-D-galacto-oct-2-uropyranosonic acid, 4,5-di-O-cafe oil-2,7-anhydro-D-glycero-β-D-galacto-methyl octo-2-uropyranosonic acid And so on. Examples of the water-soluble dietary fiber contained in the root of Yacon include inulin, poorly soluble dextrin, β-glucan and pectin.

In the present specification, the processed product of yacon refers to a sample obtained by processing yacon. Here, the processing is not particularly limited as long as it is a treatment capable of extracting the above-mentioned active ingredient contained in yacon, but for example, a pulverization treatment, an extraction treatment, a juice squeezing treatment, or a combination of these treatments may be used. It may include.

The method of pulverization treatment is not particularly limited, but extraction may be performed by a conventional method that can be used for foods, pharmaceuticals, and the like. For example, yacon may be crushed by friction or by the action of shear stress. For example, a method of mechanically shearing by appropriately combining a kitchen knife, a hand mixer, a comitrol (registered trademark), or the like can be adopted. Further, as a pretreatment for pulverizing the yacon, a drying treatment or a freeze-drying treatment may be performed in advance.

The method of the extraction treatment is not particularly limited, but it may be extracted by a conventional method using a solvent that can be used for foods, pharmaceuticals and the like. For example, 1 to 50 times, preferably 10 to 30 times the amount of water or a hydrous organic solvent is added to a crushed sample obtained by crushing yacon, and the temperature is at room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent used for about 1 to 24 hours. Immersion or heat extraction treatment can be performed in the range. If necessary, the enzyme treatment or the extraction treatment under pressure may be performed. This enzyme treatment may preferably be treatment with cellulase, amylase, or protease. Further, these extraction processes may be performed only once or twice or more.

Extraction with water can be carried out at a predetermined temperature by adding water to the above-mentioned crushed sample of Yacon and heating if necessary. When water is added for extraction, the extraction temperature is preferably 5 to 100 ° C, more preferably 30 to 100 ° C. If the temperature is too low, it is difficult to extract the active ingredient contained in yacon, and if it is too high, the active ingredient may be decomposed.
Further, the extraction with the hydrous organic solvent can be carried out at a predetermined temperature by adding the hydrous organic solvent to the above-mentioned pulverized sample of Yacon and heating it if necessary. Examples of the organic solvent used for the hydrous organic solvent include lower alcohols (methanol, ethanol, etc.), ethyl acetate, acetone, chloroform, n-hexane, etc., preferably ethanol. When extraction is performed by adding a hydrous organic solvent, the extraction temperature varies depending on the type of the organic solvent, but for example, when hydrous ethanol is used, it is preferably 5 to 70 ° C, more preferably 30 to 70 ° C. Similar to extraction with water, if the temperature is too low, the active ingredient contained in yacon is difficult to extract, and if it is too high, the active ingredient may be decomposed. The solvent content of the hydrous organic solvent used in the extraction treatment is preferably 100% (v / v) or less, more preferably 5 to 70% (v / v), and 20 to 50% (v). / v) is the most preferable. In particular, it is more preferable to carry out the extraction using hydrous ethanol having an ethanol concentration of preferably 5 to 70% (v / v), more preferably 20 to 50% (v / v). As described above, an extract can be obtained by extracting the active ingredient contained in Yacon in a solvent and then filtering to remove the extraction residue.

The method of squeezing the juice can be carried out by squeezing yacon or a crushed sample of yacon as it is. The juice can be obtained by squeezing the active ingredient of Yacon in a solvent and then filtering to remove the squeezed residue.

Further, in order to obtain an extract or juice containing a high concentration of the active ingredient of yacon, it may be concentrated, fractionated or purified by a method usually used by those skilled in the art. Further, the obtained extract or juice may be dried and powdered by means such as freeze-drying, vacuum-drying, and spray-drying.

By processing as described above, a pulverized yacon, an extract, a juice or a dry powder can be obtained from the yacon.

As described in Examples described later, it was found that the formation of lipid droplets in the liver tissue of mice fed a high-fat diet was suppressed by ingesting a Yacon-derived sample. Therefore, the processed Yacon product is contained in the composition of the present invention as an active ingredient for the prevention or improvement of fatty liver.

In the present specification, fatty liver refers to a state in which lipid droplets (neutral fat) are accumulated in 30% or more of the cells of the liver. Dietary lipids are absorbed in the small intestine and broken down into fatty acids in the liver, sugars are broken down into glucose, absorbed through the small intestine, and then converted to triglycerides in the liver. If the energy intake and energy consumption are not balanced, and if you consume too much lipids and sugars and lack exercise, the fatty acids and glucose that cannot be used up are stored in the liver as neutral fat, causing fatty liver. To do. Fatty liver progresses to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and may progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer through fibrosis of the liver parenchyma.

As used herein, the term "prevention of fatty liver" refers to suppressing or delaying the onset of fatty liver in a subject including a healthy person who may develop fatty liver. In addition, improvement of fatty liver means reducing the proportion of liver cells in which fatty droplets have accumulated in a subject having fatty liver, preferably 30% of the proportion of liver cells in which lipid droplets have accumulated. Less than, less than 25%, less than 20%, less than 15%, less than 10%, less than 5% or 0%. In particular, since the Yarcon-derived sample suppressed the formation of lipid droplets in the liver tissue of mice fed a high-fat diet, the composition of the present invention accumulated lipid droplets in the liver tissue under high-fat diet conditions. Prevention or amelioration of fatty liver in high-fat diet conditions can be achieved by suppressing. Here, the high-fat diet refers to a diet in which fat energy accounts for 30 to 40% or more of the total energy intake.

In the present specification, the subject is a human or an animal such as a mouse, a guinea pig, a chimpanzee, a sheep, a goat, a dog, a cat, a cow or a horse, and is preferably a human.

The composition of the present invention can be used as a food composition for preventing or improving fatty liver (hereinafter, the food composition of the present invention). The food composition of the present invention may be in a form that can be orally ingested, such as a solution, a suspension, a powder, or a solid molded product, and is not particularly limited. Specific examples include supplements (powder, granules, soft capsules, hard capsules, tablets, chewable tablets, quick-disintegrating tablets, syrups, liquids, etc.), beverages (carbonated beverages, lactic acid beverages, sports beverages, fruit juice beverages, vegetable beverages, soy milk beverages, etc.) , Coffee drinks, tea drinks, powdered drinks, concentrated drinks, nutritional drinks, alcoholic drinks, etc.), sweets (gummy, jelly, gum, chocolate, cookies, candy, caramel, Japanese sweets, snacks, etc.), instant foods (instant noodles, Retort foods, canned foods, microwave foods, instant soups, miso soups, freeze-dried foods, etc.), oils, fats and oils foods (mayonnaise, dressings, butter, cream, margarine, etc.), flour products (bread, pasta, noodles, cake mix, etc.) Bread flour, etc.), seasonings (sauce, processed tomato seasoning, flavor seasoning, cooking mix, soups, etc.), processed livestock products (meat ham, sausage, etc.).

The food composition of the present invention comprises prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharide, galactooligosaccharide, trehalose, sorbitol, or xylose, and dietary fiber such as pectin, glucomannan, guar gum, indigestible dextrin, polydextrose or inulin, if necessary. Alternatively, it may contain hepatoprotective components such as ornithine, turmeric, S-adenosylmethionine, milsuccil, zinc, or selenium.

The composition of the present invention can also be used as a medicine for preventing or improving fatty liver (hereinafter, the medicine of the present invention). The dosage form of the medicament of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is an oral preparation, and for example, a solid preparation such as a powder, a tablet, a granule, a coated tablet, a powder, or a capsule, or a liquid or suspension. It can be a liquid preparation such as an emulsion or a syrup.

The medicament of the present invention always uses excipients, binders, lubricants, surfactants, diluents, preservatives, stabilizers, flavoring agents, moisturizers, preservatives, antioxidants and the like. The above formulations can be prepared according to the law.

The dose of the medicament of the present invention can be appropriately determined depending on the age and body weight of the subject of fatty liver, symptoms, administration time, dosage form and the like. For example, when the drug of the present invention is orally administered, the total amount of the processed product of Yacon, which is the active ingredient, is 0.1 to 10,000 mg / kg body weight per day for adults, preferably 5 to 500 mg / kg body weight per day. It can be administered in divided doses or in several doses (2 to 5 doses).

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

We investigated the effect of processed yacon material on hepatic lipid droplet accumulation when a high-fat diet was ingested. In this experiment, powdered yacon processed by Fine Co., Ltd. was used. This powdered yacon is composed of 50% of dried powder of yacon root extract + 50% of dextrin, and is hereinafter referred to as yacon powder.

Thirty 9-week-old C57BL / 6JJmsSlc male mice were used in the experiment. Nine-week-old mice were fed standard diet and distilled water. Experiments were conducted for 12 weeks (ie, until 22 weeks of age) to examine the effect of yacon administration on the intake of a high-fat diet in 10-week-old mice after 1-week pre-breeding. As the sample water containing yacon, one in which yacon powder was dissolved in distilled water at a concentration of 1.0% was used. Further, dextrin-containing water in which the dextrin used in the yacon powder was dissolved at a concentration of 0.5% was prepared. High Fat Diet 32 (hereinafter referred to as HFD) of Nippon Claire Co., Ltd. was used as a high-fat diet. This feed is an ultra-high fat feed with a ratio of fat-derived calories in total energy of about 60%.

Thirty male mice were divided into the 6 groups described below (n = 5). That is, (1) the group that ingested HFD and drank the sample water containing yacon (Yacon-HFD), (2) the group that ingested the standard feed and drank the sample water containing yacon (Yacon-standard feed), ( 3) HFD and dextrin-containing water (dextrin-HFD), (4) standard diet and dextrin-containing water (dextrin-standard diet), (5) HFD A group was set to ingest and drink distilled water (water-HFD), and (6) a group to ingest standard feed and drink distilled water (water-standard feed). Mice were bred in a plastic cage lined with sawdust in an air-conditioned room with a room temperature of 22-23 ° C, a humidity of 40-60%, and a 12-hour light-dark cycle. Feed and drinking water were allowed to be ingested freely.

Twelve weeks (22 weeks of age) after the start of administration of Yacon-containing sample water, dextrin-containing water, or distilled water, the mice in each group were sacrificed, and muscle (right leg) and fat (white adipocytes near the testis) were killed. ), And the liver was collected. After storage in phosphate buffer, Paraffin sections were prepared for liver, frozen sections were prepared for muscle and fat, and hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was performed at Applied Medical Search.

As a result of histological autopsy, no difference was observed between the muscle tissue and the adipose tissue due to the administration of Yacon. However, in liver tissue, the effect of yacon administration was observed (Fig. 1). In Fig. 1, the upper left is the group that ingested the standard feed and drank distilled water (water-standard feed), the upper right was the group that ingested HFD and drank the dextrin-containing water (dextrin-HFD), and the lower left was the HFD. Micrographs of the livers of the group ingested and given distilled water (water-HFD), and the lower right is the group ingested HFD and ingested sample water containing yacon (Yacon-HFD) (20x observation). ..

Clear lipid droplet formation was observed in the liver in the water-HFD group and the dextrin-HFD group, but no such lipid droplet formation was observed in the Yacon-HFD group. The formation of lipid droplets in liver tissue in the Yacon-HFD group was comparable to the control water-standard diet. Therefore, it was shown that ingestion of yacon suppresses fat accumulation in liver tissue due to ingestion of a high-fat diet.

By ingesting the composition of the present invention, the accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver tissue of a subject who has ingested a high-fat diet can be suppressed.

Claims (6)

A composition for preventing or improving fatty liver, which contains a processed yacon product as an active ingredient. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the processed product of yacon is a processed product of a mass root of yacon. The composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processed product is a pulverized product, an extract, a juice or a dry powder. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which suppresses the accumulation of lipid droplets in liver tissue under a high-fat diet condition. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the composition is a food composition. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical.

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