Astaxanthin, a red carotenoid, has been known to possess excellent antioxidant activity and various biological activities, thereby attracting attention as a functional food material.The safety of astaxanthin administered orally has been demonstrated in human clinical studies for about ten years.In this review, we summarized the clinical studies related to safety, as well as studies on genotoxicity, and acute and subchronic toxicity, with a focus on AstaREAL, an astaxanthin product derived from Haematococcus pluvialis which has been reported in numerous human clinical studies to be safe and to have multiple health benefits.Furthermore, based on the latest research, we reviewed the effect of astaxanthin on drug-metabolizing enzymes involved in drug interactions, and concluded that the safety of H. pluvialis-derived astaxanthin, AstaREAL has been widely confirmed.

OBJECTIVE: The concept of platinum sensitivity and cross-resistance among platinum agents are widely known in the management of recurrent ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate two hypotheses regarding the validity of the concept of platinum sensitivity and non-cross-resistance of cisplatin analogue with cisplatin in recurrent cervical cancer. METHODS: In this retrospective study, the clinical data of patients with recurrent cervical cancer, who had a history of receiving cisplatin based chemotherapy (including concurrent chemoradiotherapy [CCRT] with cisplatin) and who received second-line chemotherapy at the time of recurrence between April 2004 and July 2012 were reviewed. RESULTS: In total, 49 patients-34 squamous cell carcinomas (69.4%) and 15 non-squamous cell carcinomas (30.6%)-were enrolled. The median age was 53 years (range, 26 to 79 years). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that a platinum free interval (PFI) of 12 months has a strong relationship with the response rate to second-line chemotherapy. Upon multivariate analysis of survival after second-line platinum-based chemotherapy, a PFI of 12 months significantly influenced both progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.349; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.140 to 0.871; p=0.024) and overall survival (HR, 0.322; 95% CI, 0.123 to 0.842; p=0.021). In patients with a PFI of less than 6 months, the difference of progression-free survival between patients with re-administration of cisplatin (3.0 months) and administration of cisplatin analogue (7.2 months) as second-line chemotherapy was statistically significant (p=0.049, log-rank test). CONCLUSION: The concept of platinum sensitivity could be applied to recurrent cervical cancer and there is a possibility of noncross-resistance of cisplatin analogue with cisplatin.
Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/*therapeutic use ; Carboplatin/administration & dosage ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/*drug therapy/mortality ; Cisplatin/administration & dosage/*analogs & derivatives ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/*drug therapy ; Organoplatinum Compounds/administration & dosage ; Retreatment ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/*drug therapy/mortality

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether peritoneal cytology has prognostic significance in uterine cervical cancer. METHODS: Peritoneal cytology was obtained in 228 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] stages IB1-IIB) between October 2002 and August 2010. All patients were negative for intraperitoneal disease at the time of their radical hysterectomy. The pathological features and clinical prognosis of cases of positive peritoneal cytology were examined retrospectively. RESULTS: Peritoneal cytology was positive in 9 patients (3.9%). Of these patients, 3/139 (2.2%) had squamous cell carcinoma and 6/89 (6.7%) had adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma. One of the 3 patients with squamous cell carcinoma who had positive cytology had a recurrence at the vaginal stump 21 months after radical hysterectomy. All of the 6 patients with adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma had disease recurrence during the follow-up period: 3 with peritoneal dissemination and 2 with lymph node metastases. There were significant differences in recurrence-free survival and overall survival between the peritoneal cytology-negative and cytology-positive groups (log-rank p<0.001). Multivariate analysis of prognosis in cervical cancer revealed that peritoneal cytology (p=0.029) and histological type (p=0.004) were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: Positive peritoneal cytology may be associated with a poor prognosis in adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Therefore, the results of peritoneal cytology must be considered in postoperative treatment planning.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Adenosquamous ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Obstetrics ; Prognosis* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Left-sided diverticulitis is increasing in Japan, and many studies report that left-sided diverticulitis is more likely to be severe. Therefore, it is important to identify the features and risk factors for left-sided diverticulitis. We hypothesized that left-sided diverticulitis in Japan is related to obesity and conducted a study of the features and risk factors for this disorder in Japan. METHODS: Right-sided diverticulitis and left-sided diverticulitis patients (total of 215) were compared with respect to background, particularly obesity-related factors to identify risk factors for diverticulitis. RESULTS: There were 166 (77.2%) right-sided diverticulitis patients and 49 (22.8%) left-sided diverticulitis patients. The proportions of obese patients (body mass index > or =25 kg/m2, p=0.0349), viscerally obese patients (visceral fat area > or =100 cm2, p=0.0019), patients of mean age (p=0.0003), and elderly patients (age > or =65 years, p=0.0177) were significantly higher in the left-sided-diverticulitis group than in the right-sided-diverticulitis group. The proportion of viscerally obese patients was significantly higher in the left-sided-diverticulitis group than in the left-sided-diverticulosis group (p=0.0390). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that obesity, particularly visceral obesity, was a risk factor for left-sided diverticulitis in Japan.
Aged ; Diverticulitis ; Humans ; Japan ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Deep sea water is sea water below a depth of 200 m. Japan is the leading country in the world on industrial applications of deep sea water, which has characteristics such as cleanliness, and is rich in various kinds of minerals and inorganic nutrients compared to surface seawater. In addition, applications of deep sea water as a useful resource have become a world interest, especially in fields of presymptomatic diseases called mibyo and in preventive medicine. Evidence of deep sea water applications in experimental and clinical medicine of the following diseases, lifestyle diseases such as dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, diabetes and arteriosclerosis and atopic dermatitis, osteoporosis, cancer, peptic ulcer, cataracts and constipation are given particular attention in this review.