We confirmed the results of a study showing that ingestion of Kalahari watermelon suppresses the symptoms of alcoholic liver damage.

Euglena Co., Ltd.

　Euglena Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President: Mitsuru Izumo) has collaborated with Associate Professor Akiko Kojima of Osaka City University to show that watermelon juice suppresses alcoholic liver disease in rats. I confirmed.
　The results of this research were announced at the "74th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Nutrition and Food Science" * 1.​
　* 1 The 74th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Nutrition and Food Science was canceled due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection, but the announcement was made by posting the abstracts of the conference lectures on the conference website. https://square.umin.ac.jp/jsnfs74/colona2.html

■ Purpose of research
　Ingestion of an appropriate amount of alcohol has the effects of promoting blood flow and providing a relaxing effect, while excessive alcohol intake accompanied by addiction promotes the generation of active oxygen in the liver, burdens the liver, and is alcoholic. It may lead to the onset of liver damage. If left untreated, alcoholic liver damage can lead to loss of liver function, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
　In this study, rats with alcoholic liver disease were fed with watermelon juice and the effect on the preventive effect on alcoholic liver disease was investigated.

■ Implementation method and results
　Rats that developed alcoholic liver damage due to ethanol intake and drug administration were treated with a group that ingested a diet without watermelon juice (hereinafter, treatment control) and a diet containing watermelon juice (hereinafter, treatment control). We divided them into groups that took Kala Harris squid) and observed the progress of each group for 3 weeks. As a result, blood ALT activity * 2, which is an index of liver damage, was significantly increased in the treatment control group, but blood ALT activity was significantly suppressed in the group that ingested Kalahari watermelon (Fig. 1). In addition, in the group that took Kalahari watermelon, liver fibrosis and hepatocellular injury, which are symptoms of liver damage, were significantly improved (Fig. 2).
　From these results, it was shown that Kalahari watermelon juice may have a preventive effect on alcoholic liver damage.
　* 2 ALT is an enzyme contained in hepatocytes, and when the liver cells are destroyed, it increases in the blood, so the increase or decrease of the enzyme is used as an index of liver damage.

　We will continue to work on research and development with the aim of clarifying the effectiveness of ingesting Kalahari watermelon juice.

<About Kalahari Watermelon>
Kalahari squid is a wild watermelon that grows naturally in the Kalahari Desert in Africa. In addition to the original characteristics of watermelon, it has excellent ability to protect its cells from severe desert environmental stress and to retain water. Therefore, it stores anti-stress components such as citrulline, which is a type of amino acid, and components related to water retention. Euglena Co., Ltd. made the Plant High-Tech Research Institute a wholly owned subsidiary in November 2013, taking over the research of Kalahari watermelon, and is working to elucidate its functionality with the aim of contributing to the promotion of people's health.

<About Euglena Co., Ltd.>
Euglena 's edible outdoor mass culture technology on Ishigaki Island for the first time in the world. In addition to developing and selling functional foods and cosmetics that utilize Euglena and chlorella produced on Ishigaki Island, we are also conducting research toward the production of biofuels. Listed on TSE Mothers in December 2012. The market was changed to the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2014. The management philosophy is "to make people and the earth healthy". https://euglena.jp

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