To clarify the associations between local dietary habits and disease risks, hepatic enzyme system of drug metabolism and aortic connective tissue component levels were investigated in rats fed the complete human diet consumed in the two Japanese prefectures, Akita (A) and Okinawa (O), where the incidence of cancers was quite different : Okinawa had the lowest and Akita the highest age-adjusted mortality rate.
Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups of 10 animals each : the first (control, C) group was fed the MF animal diet (Oriental Yeast, Tokyo, Japan), the second (Akita, A) group the freeze-dried powder from Akita's meals, and the third (Okinawa, O) group the mill of Okinawa's meals.
After animals were given the corresponding diets for eight weeks, the final body weight of the O diet group was significantly higher than that of the A diet group, presumably because of the difference in food efficiency.
However, there were no changes between two groups in the hepatic drug-metabolizing enzyme system (cytochrome P-450 content and activities of sulfotransferase, UDP-glucuronyltransferase, glutathione S-transferase) and aortic connective tissue component levels (collagen, elastin and cholesterol). Moreover, the CClィイD24ィエD2 treatment changed, regardless of human (A and O) diets, the serum and hepatic enzyme levels.