Purpose: This study examined the demographics, health status, dietary habits, energy, nutrient intake, and protein intake based on levels of inclusion of animal food among females in their 20s by using data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: The subjects (n = 912) were divided into 4 groups according to the frequency of animal foods consumed which were categorized as meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy products, or other animal-derived foods. Results: The subjects with a lower frequency of animal food intake ate out less frequently.As the frequency of animal food intake decreased, the total energy intake too decreased with higher carbohydrate and lower protein intake ratios. In the low frequency of animal food intake group, a higher proportion of subjects had energy intake below the estimated energy requirement and the intake of protein, vitamin B 1 , vitamin B 2 , niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and iron were below the estimated average requirements. The average protein intake was more than the recommended 45 g in all four groups. However, the lower the frequency of animal food intake, the higher the proportion of people having lower protein intake compared to the recommended intake of 0.91 g per kg body weight. It became apparent that people who do not consume animal foods at all did not meet the recommended levels of protein intake. Thus, people pursuing a vegan diet may be at risk of low protein intake. Conclusion This study suggests that economic characteristics, dietary habits, energy, and nutrient intake are affected by the frequency of animal food consumed, or in other words, by the degree of vegetable-centered diet. Thus, this study would help improve the perception of vegetarianism, develop individualized dietary guidance and nutrition education programs for people practicing vegan or vegetarian diets to ensure that they have a balanced diet.

The method of single-cell RNA sequencing has been rapidly developed, and numerous experiments have been conducted over the past decade. Their results allow us to recognize various subpopulations and rare cell states in tissues, tumors, and immune systems that are previously unidentified, and guide us to understand fundamental biological processes that determine cell identity based on single-cell gene expression profiles. However, it is still challenging to understand the principle of comprehensive gene regulation that determines the cell fate only with transcriptome, a consequential output of the gene expression program. To elucidate the mechanisms related to the origin and maintenance of comprehensive single-cell transcriptome, we require a corresponding single-cell epigenome, which is a differentiated information of each cell with an identical genome. This review deals with the current development of single-cell epigenomic library construction methods, including multi-omics tools with crucial factors and additional requirements in the future focusing on DNA methylation, chromatin accessibility, and histone post-translational modifications. The study of cellular differentiation and the disease occurrence at a single-cell level has taken the first step with single-cell transcriptome and is now taking the next step with single-cell epigenome.

PURPOSE: Cavernous nerve resection (CNR) in rats is a standard model of animal experiments on erectile dysfunction (ED) that occurs after radical prostatectomy (RP). Injured cavernous nerves after surgery can cause fibrosis and apoptosis that lead to penile structural changes that may be accompanied by alterations of protein expression. This study aimed to analyze the changes in protein after CNR in Wistar Kyoto rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using 8-week-old male Wistar Kyoto rats, sham and CNR operation under a microscope were performed. Two and 8 weeks after surgery, we applied 2-DE and MALDI-TOF/TOF (AB 4700) to identify differently expressed penile proteins after CNR. 2-DE gels were stained with silver nitrate and were analyzed with PDQuest. After in-gel digestion, peptide mass spectra were obtained by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry in the positive ion reflector mode. The obtained data were screened with a rat database from both the NCBI and the Swiss-Prot/TrFMBL home page. RESULTS: The proteins that were changed more than 1.5-fold compared with the sham group were annexin A4 and pyruvate kinase (PK). Annexin A4 was increased by 1.75-fold after 2 weeks, whereas PK was decreased by 4.16 after 8 weeks. These results were confirmed by immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSIONS: Annexin A4 in the CNR group was increased, which may be related to emiocytosis during apoptosis. The decrease in PK of the CNR group is assumed to be related to a decrease in efficacy during glycolysis. Further study will be needed to elucidate the molecular pathophysiology of ED after cavernous nerve injury.
Animal Experimentation ; Animals ; Annexin A4 ; Apoptosis ; Caves ; Digestion ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Fibrosis ; Gels ; Glycolysis ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry ; Prostatectomy ; Proteins ; Proteomics ; Pyruvate Kinase ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred WKY ; Salicylamides ; Silver Nitrate

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia, and it corresponds highly with exercise intensity. Here, we induced AF in mice using acetylcholine (ACh)-CaCl2 for 7 days and aimed to determine the appropriate exercise intensity (no, low, moderate, high) to protect against AF by running the mice at different intensities for 4 weeks before the AF induction by ACh-CaCl2 . We examined the AF-induced atrial remodeling using electrocardiogram, patch-clamp, and immunohistochemistry. After the AF induction, heart rate, % increase of heart rate, and heart weight/body weight ratio were significantly higher in all the four AF groups than in the normal control; highest in the high-ex AF and lowest in the low-ex (lower than the no-ex AF), which indicates that low-ex treated the AF. Consistent with these changes, G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K + currents, which were induced by ACh, increased in an exercise intensity-dependent manner and were lower in the low-ex AF than the no-ex AF. The peak level of Ca2+ current (at 0 mV) increased also in an exercise intensity-dependent manner and the inactivation time constants were shorter in all AF groups except for the low-ex AF group, in which the time constant was similar to that of the control. Finally, action potential duration was shorter in all the four AF groups than in the normal control; shortest in the high-ex AF and longest in the low-ex AF. Taken together, we conclude that low-intensity exercise protects the heart from AF, whereas high-intensity exercise might exacerbate AF.