Studies of food components having anti-oxidant effects on the 'depository gene' expression and its clinical application.

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Excessive intracellular lipid accumulation causes various diseases such as atherosclerosis, fatty liver, etc. Specific proteins as we named 'depository genes' are involved in this process. We tested effects of an extract of French maritime pine, a widely used dietary supplement, on the expression of these genes in macrophages and liver cells. The compound suppressed the gene expression and lipid accumulation in both cells by different molecular mechanisms. We also analyzed the change in mRNA expression in white blood cells before and after ingestion of this compound using DNA microarray analysis. We identified 12 increased and 64 decreased genes, although physiological significance remains to be clarified at this moment.