Professor Yuji Hiramatsu of the University of Tsukuba School of Medicine, Ken Kawamata graduate student, and a joint research group from natto manufacturer Takano Foods have elucidated the mechanism by which natto intake suppresses arteriosclerosis through changes in intestinal flora and metabolites such as vitamin K2. did.
According to the University of Tsukuba, the research group fed mice high-vitamin K natto, low-vitamin K natto, and regular natto with different vitamin K2 contents along with a high-cholesterol diet, and examined the effects of each type of natto on arteriosclerosis.
As a result, the number of arteriosclerotic lesions decreased in mice fed any type of natto, but the decrease in lesions was particularly noticeable with high-vitamin K natto. Furthermore, follow-up observations showed that Bacillus natto increased in the intestines, indicating that high-vitamin K natto was highly effective in inhibiting arteriosclerosis. In the serum of mice fed high-vitamin K natto, the concentration of a protein secreted by intestinal macrophages that promotes arteriosclerosis was significantly reduced.
When we investigated whether natto suppressed macrophage activation, we found that the expression of anti-inflammatory proteins was particularly increased in macrophages treated with high-vitamin K natto. The research group believes that the results suggest that natto increases the number of Bacillus natto in the intestines, changes the bacterial flora, and suppresses intestinal inflammation by acting on immune cells that promote arteriosclerosis.
Arteriosclerosis is a chronic disease in which lipids and inflammatory cells accumulate on the walls of blood vessels, causing heart disease and stroke. Natto was said to have an inhibitory effect, but the mechanism was not understood.
