JP7403241B2 - How to improve visibility of visceral fat - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for improving the visibility of visceral fat, which improves the visibility of visceral fat whose boundaries with organs are inherently difficult to discern.

In recent years, with the Westernization of dietary culture, the amount of fat ingested by Japanese people has increased, and excessively ingested fat is accumulated in the body in the form of fat, causing obesity and the like. Obesity is a state in which fat is excessively accumulated in adipose tissue, and is known to be associated with various health disorders. In particular, the accumulation of visceral fat, which is observed in obesity, causes metabolic syndrome, leading to lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, and further progresses arteriosclerosis, leading to serious diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke. can also occur. For this reason, visceral fat obesity has been widely studied with the aim of countering it. In order to better understand the pathology of visceral fat obesity, it is extremely important to accurately understand visceral fat accumulation.

Furthermore, the development of foods or medicines that have the effect of reducing visceral fat accumulated in the body is being widely conducted. In order to correctly evaluate the effects of such foods or medicines, it is extremely important to accurately understand visceral fat accumulation.

Methods for detecting visceral fat include non-invasive methods and invasive methods. Non-invasive methods for detecting visceral fat include bioelectrical impedance, dual X-ray absorptiometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (Patent Document 1). Among these, the bioelectrical impedance method is a method of detecting fat accumulation using electrical resistance, and the results can only roughly determine the location and amount of fat accumulation. Furthermore, dual X-ray absorption measurement and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging require large-scale and expensive equipment, and therefore lack the convenience of detecting fat.

Invasive methods for detecting visceral fat include, in animal experiments, a method in which visceral fat adhering to organs such as the mesentery, around the genitals, and around the kidneys is excised by site and its weight is directly measured. However, since visceral fat is a milky white tissue that has the same color as the organ, it is difficult to distinguish between the visceral fat attached to the organ and the organ of the same color. In particular, when visceral fat is deposited in an organ in a complicated manner, it is even more difficult to determine the boundary. For this reason, it is difficult to accurately remove all visceral fat, and the weight of visceral fat measured by such methods is inherently inaccurate.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-137916

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving the visibility of visceral fat.

The present inventors came up with a novel method of directly staining the visceral fat attached to the organ by bringing a fat staining solution into direct contact with the organ to which the visceral fat is attached. It was found that the parts where the parts were removed could be easily seen. The present invention was completed through further studies based on this knowledge.

That is, the present invention provides the inventions of the following aspects.
Item 1. A method for improving the visibility of visceral fat, which includes a step of directly staining visceral fat attached to an organ by bringing a fat staining solution into contact with the organ to which visceral fat is attached.
Item 2. Item 2. The method according to item 1, wherein the fat staining solution is injected into the abdominal cavity from outside the body.
Item 3. Item 3. The method according to item 1 or 2, wherein the solvent in the fat staining solution is water and/or alcohol.
Item 4. A presentation method for visually indicating the accumulation site and/or amount of visceral fat, the method comprising:
Obtaining a photographic image of the intraperitoneal cavity in which visceral fat has been stained using the method described in any one of Items 1 to 3 or of the removed organ to which the visceral fat is attached;
A method comprising the step of visually recognizing the accumulation site and/or amount of visceral fat in the abdominal cavity or the extracted organ by showing the photographed image or a simplified illustration of the photographed image.
Item 5. In order to show the effect of reducing visceral fat by the method for reducing visceral fat, the photographed image or the illustration shows how the area occupied by stained visceral fat decreases over time, and/or 5. The method according to item 4, wherein the method shows how the staining intensity of fat decreases over time.
Item 6. Item 6. The method according to item 5, wherein the method for reducing visceral fat is taking an obesity-improving drug.
Section 7. Item 7. The method according to Item 6, wherein the obesity improving drug contains Bofutsushosan as an active ingredient.

According to the method of the present invention, the visceral fat attached to the organ can be directly stained by bringing the fat staining solution into direct contact with the organ to which the visceral fat is attached, thereby improving the visibility of the visceral fat. . Therefore, it becomes possible to easily and accurately grasp the accumulation and/or amount of visceral fat.

These are digital camera images of the intraperitoneal cavity and removed intestine (small intestine) of a mouse that was intraperitoneally injected with physiological saline. These are digital camera images of the intraperitoneal cavity and removed intestine (small intestine) of a mouse in which a fat staining solution was intraperitoneally injected. These are the intraperitoneal staining results of mice in the control group (without Bofutsushosan administration) and test group (with Bofutsushosan administration), and compare the stained visceral fat of the mesentery removed from each mouse. This is an image captured by a digital camera. An illustration (P) that is a simplified version of the captured image of the control group in Figure 3, and a color similar to that of the surrounding tissue by removing the color of the region corresponding to visceral fat in the illustration (P). It is a figure which compares with the illustration (Q) shown.

1. Method for improving visibility of visceral fat The method for improving visibility of visceral fat of the present invention is a step of directly staining visceral fat attached to an organ by bringing a fat staining solution into contact with the organ to which visceral fat is attached. including. Hereinafter, the method for improving visibility of visceral fat of the present invention will be described in detail.

In the method for improving visibility of the present invention, a fat staining solution is brought into direct contact with organs to which visceral fat is attached. The organ that is contacted with the fat staining solution may be present within the animal's body or may be exposed outside the animal's body.

If the organ to be contacted with the fat stain exists within the animal's body, the fat stain is injected into the abdominal cavity from outside the body. As a result, the fat staining solution is brought into contact with the organs in the abdominal cavity and stains the visceral fat attached to the organs. Note that, after the fat staining solution is injected externally, it is preferable to rub the abdomen so that the fat staining solution is distributed throughout the internal organs in the abdominal cavity.

If the organs to be contacted with the fat staining solution are exposed outside the animal's body, the fat staining solution can be dripped directly onto the organs within the abdominal cavity after the animal's abdomen is opened or the trunk is cut to expose the abdominal cavity. Alternatively, after exposing the abdominal cavity and removing the organ, it can be directly instilled into the removed organ. After about 3 minutes have passed after dropping, it is preferable to wipe off excess fat dyeing solution with cotton or the like.

A fat staining solution is a liquid in which a fat staining agent is dissolved in a solvent. Examples of the solvent in the fat staining solution include low polar solvents such as acetone and chloroform, and polar solvents such as water and alcohol. Water and alcohol may be used alone or in combination. In the visibility improvement method of the present invention, the solvent in the fat staining solution is preferably water and/or alcohol, which are polar solvents, from the viewpoint of suppressing dissolution of the fat to be colored. Note that the alcohol is a monohydric alcohol having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, such as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, and isopropyl alcohol, with ethanol being preferred.

The fat staining agent is not particularly limited, and for example, staining agents used for staining fat droplets in tissue sections can be used. Specific examples include Sudan III, Sudan II (Oil Red O), Sudan Black B (SBB), Nile Blue, and Nile Red. Among these, Nile Blue is preferred in that water can be used as a solvent. Further, Sudan III and Sudan II are preferable in that alcohol can be used as a solvent.

By directly staining the visceral fat attached to organs in this way, the visceral fat, which is normally milky white with the same color as the organ, takes on a color that is clearly different from the color of the organ, improving the visibility of visceral fat. do. This makes it easier to determine the boundary between the visceral fat attached to the organ and the organ. In particular, even when visceral fat is deposited in an organ in a complicated manner, it becomes easy to determine the boundary.

The site of visceral fat accumulation can be determined by visually checking the stained site. Furthermore, the amount of visceral fat accumulated can be determined by visually observing the size and/or staining intensity (darkness of staining) of the stained area. Therefore, the location and/or amount of visceral fat accumulation can be easily determined without removing only visceral fat.

In addition, in the method for improving visibility of the present invention, even when removing visceral fat, accurate removal is possible because the boundary between the dyed visceral fat and the organ is clear. Therefore, by accurately removing visceral fat, the weight of visceral fat can also be accurately measured.

2. Presentation method for visually indicating visceral fat accumulation site and/or amount can. The present invention also provides a presentation using the above method for improving visibility of visceral fat.

The presentation method of the present invention is a presentation method that visually shows the accumulation site and/or amount of visceral fat, and comprises intraperitoneal or said visceral fat stained using the method for improving visibility of visceral fat. A step of obtaining a photographed image of the extracted organ to which fat is attached (hereinafter referred to as "Step 1"); By showing the photographed image or a simplified illustration of the photographed image, The method includes a step of visualizing the accumulation site and/or amount of visceral fat in the extracted organ (hereinafter referred to as "Step 2").

In step 1, a photographic image of an intra-abdominal cavity in which visceral fat has been stained using the method for improving visibility of visceral fat or a removed organ to which the visceral fat is attached is acquired. Specifically, when staining is performed by injecting a fat staining solution into the abdominal cavity from outside the body, after staining, the abdomen is opened or the trunk is cut to expose the inside of the abdominal cavity, and the exposed inside of the abdominal cavity is photographed. In addition, if staining is performed by exposing the inside of the abdominal cavity and then dripping directly onto the organs in the abdominal cavity, or after exposing the inside of the abdominal cavity and removing the organs, staining is performed by dripping directly onto the removed organs. The removed internal organs with intra-abdominal or visceral fat attached are photographed as they are. Before photographing, wipe off excess fat staining solution with cotton, etc. Photography can be done with a digital camera. The photographed image can be acquired as photographic data.

In step 2, by showing the photographed image obtained in step 1 or a simplified illustration of the photographed image, the site and/or amount of visceral fat accumulation in the abdominal cavity or in the removed organ is visually recognized.

The captured image obtained in step 1 is substantially the same as the visible image. In the captured image, the visceral fat in the abdominal cavity or in the removed organ is shown with a clear boundary between the fat and the organ, so the site and/or amount of visceral fat accumulation can be visually recognized as is.

In addition, the illustration that is a simplified captured image is simpler than the visible image, and the visceral fat can be visually recognized even more clearly. As a method for simplifying a captured image, any known method capable of converting a captured image into an illustration can be used without particular limitation. For example, there may be a method of performing edge extraction, posterization processing, and/or binarization processing on a captured image. This makes it easier to visually recognize the location and/or amount of visceral fat accumulation.

Furthermore, by processing the captured image or illustration to indicate the location of visceral fat, it becomes easier to visually recognize the location and/or amount of visceral fat accumulation.

In addition, regarding the visceral fat accumulation site, the stained site is visually recognized. Furthermore, regarding the amount of visceral fat accumulation, the size of the stained area and/or the staining intensity (staining density) are visually recognized.

The presentation method of the present invention can also be used to demonstrate the effect of reducing visceral fat by the method for reducing visceral fat. In this case, the captured image or the illustration shows how the area occupied by stained visceral fat decreases over time, and/or how the staining intensity of visceral fat decreases over time.

For example, an animal A to which a method for reducing visceral fat has been applied and a control animal B to which the method has not been applied are prepared. Animal B can be considered a model before applying the method of reducing visceral fat, and Animal A can be considered a model after applying the method of reducing visceral fat. The above step 1 is performed for animal A and animal B, respectively, and a captured image a or a simplified illustration a' of animal A and a captured image b or simplified illustration b of animal B are obtained. ' and get. The method for obtaining the simplified illustration is as described in step 2 above. Then, by presenting the captured image b and the captured image a side by side so that they can be compared, or the illustration b' and the illustration a' so that they can be compared, the former (captured image b or illustration b') can be changed from the latter (captured image a or illustration a'), it can be shown as if it had changed over time.

Such a pseudo change over time can be shown as a decrease in the area occupied by stained visceral fat from the former to the latter when the area occupied by the stained visceral fat is larger in the former. Furthermore, if the staining intensity of visceral fat is higher in the former case, this can be shown as a manner in which the staining intensity of visceral fat decreases from the former to the latter. Furthermore, both the area occupied by the stained visceral fat and the staining intensity may be shown as decreasing from the former to the latter. In this way, it is possible to simulate a reduction in visceral fat from the former to the latter.

The method for reducing visceral fat is not particularly limited. Examples of such methods include exercise therapy, diet therapy, and taking an obesity-improving drug, and preferably, taking an obesity-improving drug. In addition, the obesity improving drug is not particularly limited, but preferably includes Bofutsushosan, which has a high obesity improving effect.

According to the "Guideline for Prescribing Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine" (supervised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Pharmaceutical Affairs Bureau, edited by the Japan Pharmaceutical Federation's Traditional Chinese Medicine Expert Committee, and published by Yakugyo Jihosha), the herbal medicines that make up Bofutsushosan include Angelica sinensis, Peony, Senkyu, These are forsythia, forsythia, mentha, ginger, staghorn, staghorn, ephedra, rhubarb, sardine, sandalwood, bellflower, scutellariae, licorice, gypsum, and kasseki. Depending on the letter, some of the above-mentioned herbal medicines do not contain sandalwood (e.g., "Experienced Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescription Quantity Collection," edited by Keisetsu Otsuka and Michiaki Yakazu, published by Ido Nippon Sha), and others do not contain scutellariae (e.g., There is a book titled ``Zoku Kanpo Various Things'' (edited by Osaka Yomiuri Shimbun, published by Naniwasha). The Bofutsushosan extract used in the present invention may be obtained from any of these Bofutsushosan.

In addition, the amounts of each herbal medicine that make up Bofutsushosan can be found in the ``Guidebook for Prescribing Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine'' (supervised by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, edited by the Japanese Pharmaceutical Federation's Traditional Chinese Medicine Expert Committee, published by Yakugyo Jihosha), According to the Revised Japanese Pharmacopoeia, etc., 1.2 parts by weight of Japanese apricot, 1.2 parts by weight of peonies, 1.2 parts by weight of Japanese nebula, 1.2 parts by weight of Japanese forsythia, 1.2 parts by weight of forsythia, and 1.2 parts by weight of peppermint. part, 0.3 to 1.2 parts by weight of ginger, 1.2 parts by weight of staghorn, 1.2 parts by weight of porcupine or 1.2 parts by weight of yellowtail, 1.2 parts by weight of ephedra, 1.5 parts by weight of rhubarb, 1.5 parts by weight of rhubarb. (Amount converted to anhydrous sodium sulfate) 0.6 to 1.5 parts by weight, 2 parts by weight of Sandalwood, 2 parts by weight of Bellflower, 2 parts by weight of Scutellariae, 2 parts by weight of Licorice, 2 to 3 parts by weight of Gypsum, and 3 to 5 parts by weight of Kasseki Parts by weight. Furthermore, in some letters, all 1.2 parts by weight of the above amounts are 1.5 parts by weight (for example, "Meikai Kampo Prescription", co-authored by Kazuo Nishioka and Shintaro Takahashi, published by Naniwasha).

The presentation method of the present invention can be used in any means to explain the effectiveness of the method of reducing visceral fat. Examples of such means include presentation materials and papers showing research results on methods for reducing visceral fat, commercial messages regarding obesity-improving drugs, websites, product packages, and the like.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

Test Example 1: Evaluation of visceral fat visibility improvement effect
1. Preparation of reagents 2 g of Sudan III (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) was dissolved in 100 mL of 70 v/v% ethanol to prepare a saturated solution, thereby obtaining Sudan III staining solution as a fat staining solution.

2. Animal Test A mouse (C57BL/6J mouse, 30 weeks old, male) with fat accumulation due to aging was sacrificed by excessive anesthesia, and 2 mL of Sudan III staining solution was injected into the abdominal cavity from outside the body. Furthermore, the abdomen was lightly massaged for 3 minutes to facilitate infiltration of the injected liquid into the entire abdominal cavity. Thereafter, the abdomen was opened, the inside of the abdominal cavity was exposed while wiping off the leaked staining solution with cotton, etc., and the stained area was observed and photographed with a digital camera. Furthermore, the entire small intestine was removed, and the stained mesentery was observed and photographed using a digital camera. As a control experiment, mice (C57BL/6J mice, 30 weeks old, male) were subjected to the same treatment except that 2 mL of physiological saline was intraperitoneally injected.

3. Results Images captured by a digital camera for mice in the control experiment are shown in FIG. 1, and images captured by a digital camera for mice subjected to intraperitoneal fat staining are shown in FIG. 2. As is clear from the comparison between Figures 1 and 2, the fat around the testicles can be clearly identified when intraperitoneal fat staining (Figure 2) is performed compared to the control experiment (Figure 1). was confirmed. Furthermore, regarding the mesentery of the excised small intestine, the boundary between adipose tissue and organs was unclear in the control experiment (Figure 1), but when intraperitoneal fat staining was performed (Figure 2), it was found that the border between adipose tissue and organs was not clear. The boundaries between organs were clear, and it was confirmed that visceral fat was deposited in a complicated manner in the mesentery. When five people with normal vision were shown the images shown in Figures 1 and 2 to confirm the identifiability of visceral fat, all of the five people answered that it was easier to identify visceral fat in Figure 2. .

Test Example 2: Evaluation of the effect of visually recognizing the effect of reducing visceral fat
1. Manufacture of Bofutsushosan Extract Each crude drug shown in Table 1 was cut into pieces, predetermined amounts were mixed, and chopped to obtain a crude drug preparation. Twenty times the amount of water by weight was added to the crude drug preparation, and extraction was performed at about 100° C. with stirring for 1 hour. Thereafter, the extract was collected by centrifugation, concentrated under reduced pressure, and then dried using a spray dryer to obtain Bofutsushosan extract powder.

2. Animal Test Mice (C57BL/6J mice, 30 weeks old, male) with fat accumulation due to aging were divided into a control group (control example) and a test group (5 mice in each group). The test group was fed for one week with a high-fat diet (HFD32, CLEA Japan Co., Ltd.) mixed with the above-mentioned Bofutsushosan extract at a concentration of 2% by weight. The control group was fed a high-fat diet containing no Bofutsushosan extract for one week. After one week of feeding, intraperitoneal fat staining was performed in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and the entire small intestine was removed.

3. Results FIG. 3 shows a diagram in which digital camera images of small intestines removed from mice in the control group and the test group are arranged side by side for comparison. As is clear from Figure 3, the stained visceral fat was clearly visible in the mice in the control group, while the stained visceral fat in the mice in the test group administered with Bofutsushosan extract was small or stained. The intensity was weak and visible. Therefore, it was found that FIG. 3 can pseudo-illustrate how visceral fat is reduced over time by taking Bofutsushosan extract.

Furthermore, a simplified illustration was created based on the captured image of the control group in FIG. 3, and further processing was performed to indicate the location of visceral fat. The illustration created in this way is shown in FIG. 4P. In addition, as a comparison, processing was performed to remove the coloring in the visceral fat region in the illustration of FIG. 4P. The illustration created in this way is shown in FIG. 4Q. When 13 people with normal vision were shown Figure 4, which shows Figures 4P and 4Q side by side so that they could be compared, all 13 people agreed that the illustration in Figure 4P was easier to visually recognize visceral fat. I answered. Therefore, it was found that when FIG. 3 is illustrated, it is possible to similarly show how visceral fat is reduced over time by taking Bofutsushosan extract.

Claims (6)

It involves the process of directly staining the visceral fat attached to the organ by bringing a fat staining solution into contact with the organ to which visceral fat is attached,
A method for improving the visibility of visceral fat, comprising injecting the fat staining solution into the abdominal cavity from outside the body (excluding the human body) . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the solvent in the fat staining solution is water and/or alcohol. A presentation method for visually indicating the accumulation site and/or amount of visceral fat, the method comprising:
A step of obtaining a photographic image of an intra-abdominal cavity in which visceral fat has been stained using the method according to claim 1 or 2 or of a removed organ to which the visceral fat is attached;
A method comprising the step of visually recognizing the accumulation site and/or amount of visceral fat in the abdominal cavity or the extracted organ by showing the photographed image or a simplified illustration of the photographed image. In order to show the effect of reducing visceral fat by the method for reducing visceral fat, the photographed image or the illustration shows how the area occupied by stained visceral fat decreases over time, and/or 4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the method shows how the staining intensity of fat decreases over time. 5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the method for reducing visceral fat is taking an obesity-improving drug. 6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the obesity improving drug contains Bofutsushosan as an active ingredient.