Introduction: Rice bran oil (RBO) is used in Asian countries as a daily dietary supplement. RBO is known in particular for its hypolipidemic effect. There has been increasing interest recently in the use of RBO as a means to maintain body weight and prevent obesity, though the mechanism of how this happens is still not well understood. We have investigated the effect of RBO on expression of genes that might influence energy homeostasis and feed intake. Methods: This study assessed Sprague-Dawley male rats at 12-weeks that were split into three groups over a 28-day period. A control group was fed a diet of standard rat chow, a standard group was fed standard rat chow with Orlistat (10.8 mg/kg bw/day), and a treatment group was fed standard rat chow with RBO (57.6 mg oryzanol/day). All supplementation was given by oral gavage. Possible adiposity was investigated through a histological analysis of adipocytes size measurement of intra-abdominal white adipose tissue in the rats. Changes in gene expression in the liver were determined by microarray. Results: The data suggest that RBO supplementation of a regular diet did not result in excess body weight and adiposity. A microarray analysis of the rats’ livers found that RBO altered the expression of genes related to energy homeostasis and feeding behavior, by upregulating genes such as Olr522, RGD1561231 and Rgs16. Conclusion: It is suggested that RBO supplementation can be used to maintain body weight by lowering appetite.

Introduction: Low glycaemic snacks may help to improve blood glucose control. However, data on the effect of soybean snack bars on postprandial glucose levels of the diabetic population is scarce. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the effect of consuming soy flour snack bars on glycaemic response (GR) over a 180-minute period in individuals with diabetes by estimating postprandial glucose levels variation and total area under the curve (AUC). Methods: Nine subjects (age: 54.6±4.0 years; BMI: 25.0±2.5 kg/m2) with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) diagnoses without complication enrolled in this randomised, open-label, cross-over trial. On three separate sessions, they consumed glucose standard solution, soy flour snack bar (SF), and wheat flour snack bar (WF) containing 25 g of available carbohydrate, respectively. Finger prick capillary method was executed to measure blood glucose levels at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 minutes after test product ingestion. Results: Overall, significantly lower postprandial glucose levels were observed at 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes (122.3±17.6, 136.3±24.9, 125.7±25.3, and 107.2±24.1 mg/dL; p<0.001) in those who consumed SF snack bars than WF snack bars (147.9±41.3, 168.0±43.6, 152.6±30.0, and 140.6±33.4 mg/dL). The AUC level after the ingestion of SF snack bar was 2044.8±503.1 mg.min/dL, >20% lower compared to ingestion of WF snack bar (4735.0±666.8 mg.min/dL), p<0.001. These glycaemic control benefits can be explained due to the high fibre and protein content linked to the physicochemical properties of SF. Conclusion: With high nutritional properties, SF snack bar has a low GR and might help control blood glucose in T2DM subjects.