We reported 2 cases of plantar keratosis (59 years of age, female/39 years of age, male) successfully improved by intake of hot water extract of Coix lacryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf with Husks. Both subjects were administered coix seed extract containing food for 20 weeks. The lesions improved gradually after 12 weeks, and almost cured by 20 weeks of administration. Although the food seemed to be effective in these cases, further studies are needed to define the optimal dose and duration.

BACKGROUND: Focusing on the respiratory function for health effect indices, we conducted a cross-sectional study on workers who did and did not handle toner to compare the longitudinal changes. METHODS: Among 116 individuals who worked for a Japanese business equipment manufacturer and participated in the study, the analysis included 69 male workers who we were able to follow up for 4 years. We categorized the 40 workers engaged in toner-handling work as the exposed group and the 29 workers not engaged in these tasks as the referent group, and compared their respiratory function test results: peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), vital capacity (VC), predicted vital capacity (%VC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and forced expiratory volume in 1 second as a percent of forced vital capacity (FEV1%). RESULTS: The cross-sectional study of the respiratory function test results at the baseline and at the 5th year showed no statistically significant differences in PEFR, VC, %VC, FEV1, and FEV1% between the exposed and referent workers. Also, respiratory function time-course for 4 years was calculated and compared between the groups. No statistically significant differences were shown. CONCLUSION: Our study does not suggest any toner exposure effects on respiratory function. However, the number of subjects was small in our study; studies of larger populations will be desired in the future.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cohort Studies* ; Commerce ; Copying Processes ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Male ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Vital Capacity

We examined the influence of hot water extract of coix seed (Coix lacryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) with husks on facial skin. Ten females (28-58 years old) took hot water extract of coix seed with husks 1 g/day for 8 weeks, and various skin parameters were measured. The results showed that the total amount of subsurface reflection of blue light, which is an index of skin translucency, increased significantly after 8 weeks of intake (p = 0.011). In addition, skin texture improved significantly after 4 and 8 weeks of intake (p = 0.007, p = 0.042). Additionally, the condition of tape-stripped stratum corneum also indicated significant improvement after 4 and 8 weeks intake (p = 0.0002, p = 0.020). These results suggested that the hot water extract of coix seed with husks exhibited effects even at 1 g/day, which is less than in previous reports.