JP2001031586A - Composition for prophylaxis or therapy of both arteriosclerosis and disease caused thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a medicinal and food composition having potentiative effect on vascular tissue, and prophylactic or therapeutic action on arteriosclerosis and disease caused thereby. SOLUTION: This medicinal or food composition for prophylaxis and therapy of arteriosclerosis and disease caused thereby features comprising at least one kind selected from the group consisting of collagen and its degradation product. The above collagen means a protein having in its molecule a repeated structure which has the peptide fragment of glycine-amino acid-amino acid as a structural unit and performing some physiological function by association with other molecule or component inside the body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a medicament and a food composition for preventing or treating arteriosclerosis and diseases caused thereby.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The three major diseases with high mortality in Japan are cerebrovascular disease, heart disease and malignant neoplasms. Of these, cerebrovascular disease and heart disease are very closely related to aging of blood vessels. It is said that there is. In addition, diseases caused by functional aging of blood vessels are prominent in the brain, heart, kidneys, and eyes. Vascular tissue has remarkable differences depending on the location and function, but is basically composed of three layers of the intima, media and adventitia. The most important site in vascular function is vascular endothelial cells that cover the innermost layer of blood vessels, and extracellular matrices such as collagen fibers and proteoglycans and smooth muscle play a role in assisting the function. Therefore, in order to maintain normal vascular function, it is necessary to prevent tissue aging of the extracellular matrix, which is a component of vascular endothelial cells and surrounding tissues, and to maintain normal tissue.

[0003] Specifically, it is thought that the alteration of collagen and elastin, which are the main components of the extracellular matrix, and the above-mentioned tissue aging of blood vessels have a close relationship. It is known that the turnover of collagen and elastin is relatively slow, and undergoes various modifications such as cross-linking between molecules and intramolecules, and undergoes denaturation. Due to this denaturation, not only the functional deterioration of collagen and elastin,
Causes abnormal increase in vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, thickening of blood vessels, decrease in mechanical strength, extensibility, and elasticity of blood vessels, and is involved in the progression of symptoms such as arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and cerebrovascular dementia. It is becoming clear that we are doing.

[0004] Further, as the tissue aging of the blood vessel progresses, the elasticity of the blood vessel tissue decreases and the blood vessel becomes physically fragile. It is also known that when this state occurs, internal bleeding occurs due to insignificant factors, and the likelihood of causing severe symptoms such as cerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and fundus bleeding increases.

[0005] Conventionally, studies have been made on the viewpoint of preventing and treating arteriosclerosis by treating tissue aging of blood vessels as arteriosclerosis, and various results have been reported. However, there has been no research proposal focusing on collagen, which is an extracellular matrix, in conventional studies on prevention and treatment of arteriosclerosis.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a pharmaceutical composition and a food composition for preventing or treating arteriosclerosis and diseases caused by arteriosclerosis, which have an action of strengthening vascular tissues. And

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have conducted intensive studies on physiologically active substances contained in tissues containing hard proteins, and as a result, it has been found that components derived from collagen have an excellent vascular tissue strengthening action (vascular (Improvement of mechanical strength, extensibility and elasticity), that is, it has an effect of preventing or improving aging of vascular tissue, and has completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention provides the inventions described in the following items.

Item 1 A pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating arteriosclerosis and diseases caused by arteriosclerosis, which comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products.

Item 2 A prophylactic food composition for arteriosclerosis and diseases caused by arteriosclerosis, which comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products.

Item 3 A pharmaceutical composition having an action of preventing or improving aging of vascular tissue, comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products.

Item 4 A food composition having an action of preventing or improving aging of vascular tissue, comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products.

Item 5. The composition according to any one of Items 1 to 4, wherein the collagen degradation product is obtained by a hydrolysis treatment.

Item 6: At least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products is at least one selected from the group consisting of type I collagen, type II collagen, and type III collagen.
The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

The "disease caused by arteriosclerosis" in the present invention includes cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present specification, collagen means "-glycine-amino acid-amino acid-" in a molecule.
Refers to a protein that has a repeating structure with a peptide fragment as a unit and performs some physiological function by associating with other molecules or other components in the body. At present, about 19 kinds of such collagens are known. Collagen exists widely and in large amounts in living organisms. Specific examples of existing tissues include skin tissues, cartilage tissues, bone tissues, vascular tissues, organs,
Tendons and the like.

The molecular weight of general collagen is tens of thousands to 30.
In the composition of the present invention, a substance obtained by treating collagen by heating, chemical treatment, enzymatic treatment or the like to have a molecular weight smaller than that of collagen (hereinafter, referred to as “collagen degradation product”) can also be used. . Examples of the collagen hydrolyzate include a collagen hydrolyzate and a solubilized collagen whose terminal is rendered water-soluble by esterification, succinylation, or the like. What is collagen hydrolyzate?
It is obtained by subjecting collagen or a heat denatured product obtained by heating collagen to hydrolysis, and further obtained by further performing processes such as separation and purification, as necessary.

[0018] Collagen is present in a great number of organisms from lower organisms to humans, and the collagen used in the present invention is not limited to its original organism. For example,
Mammals such as cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, birds such as chickens and turkeys, fish such as tuna, skipjack, crucian carp, eel, shark, ray, cartilage such as squid and octopus, and arthropods Collagen obtained from tissue can be used. In addition, collagen produced using transgenic animals can also be used.

In the composition of the present invention, collagen or collagen hydrolyzate obtained by treating collagen obtained from the above-mentioned tissue as it is or according to a conventional method when used as a raw material for food or medicine is used. Can be used.

As collagen, mammalian skin tissue,
Collagen derived from cartilage tissue, bone tissue or vascular tissue; collagen derived from fish bone tissue or vascular tissue; collagen derived from cartilage tissue is preferred, and collagen obtained from mammalian skin tissue or vascular tissue is more preferred. As the mammalian collagen, collagen obtained from bovine or porcine tissues is particularly preferable.

The type of collagen used in the composition of the present invention may be any type, but type I collagen, type II collagen and type III collagen are preferred.
These may be used alone or in combination, but it is most preferable to use type I collagen and type II collagen, or type I collagen and type III collagen in combination.

In the composition of the present invention, the molecular weight of each of the active ingredient collagen and collagen degradation product is not particularly limited as long as the desired effect can be obtained. And the average molecular weight of the mixture of collagen degradation products is 150 to 10,000
About 00, about 500 to 5,000, and about 1,30
It is desirable to be about 0 to 4,000.

The molecular weight can be measured using a gel filtration method generally used for measuring the molecular weight of proteins and polypeptides. For example, using a high performance liquid chromatography, a 15 mm × 100 cm column, pH 5.0 Phosphate buffer,
It can be measured under the conditions of 40 ° C., a flow rate of 30 ml / hr, and 220 nm (ultraviolet detector).

The collagen or collagen decomposed product used in the composition of the present invention has a transmittance of 660 nm of 80% or more when a 20% (weight / weight) solution of pure water at 20 ° C. is prepared. Is most preferable from the viewpoint of stability over time.

Such a collagen or collagen degradation product can be obtained by appropriately combining well-known methods according to the type of living tissue as a raw material and the target substance.

For example, when a collagen hydrolyzate is obtained from a bone tissue containing cartilage, the following treatment methods can be exemplified. First, after the bone tissue including cartilage is crushed by a crusher, the bone tissue is stirred and washed in warm water for a certain time, and then degreased. Then
Removal of minerals, that is, mineral removal processing is performed. The mineral removal treatment is carried out by immersing the crushed bone tissue in an aqueous solution of an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid or an organic acid such as acetic acid. For example, an aqueous solution of about 5% (weight / weight) hydrochloric acid is used. Counter flow immersion treatment can be performed.
In the mineral removal treatment, the pH or temperature of the liquid, the immersion time, and the like are important conditions, and these are appropriately set according to the type of bone tissue and the like. Thereafter, in order to remove impurities and improve quality, the bone tissue including cartilage subjected to the mineral removal treatment may be further subjected to an acid treatment or a lime treatment.
The acid treatment is usually carried out in a treatment solution of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, sulfurous acid, phosphoric acid or the like in a dilute aqueous solution of 5% (weight / weight) or less.
It can be carried out by immersing the bone tissue including cartilage for a short time and washing with water. Lime treatment is usually 1-5% by weight
This is a process in which the bone tissue is immersed in a lime suspension at a normal temperature.

The bone tissue containing the cartilage thus pretreated can be hydrolyzed, for example, by the following method to obtain a desired collagen hydrolyzate.
As a method for hydrolyzing collagen, a method using an acid, an alkali, or an enzyme is generally used. In the hydrolysis using an enzyme, since the hydrolysis point can be limited to some extent by utilizing the substrate specificity of the enzyme, the composition of the peptide in the hydrolysis mixture obtained after the treatment becomes almost constant. The molecular weight distribution can be made almost constant. Therefore, the hydrolysis of collagen is preferably performed using an enzyme.

The enzyme used for the hydrolysis is not particularly limited as long as it is a peptide hydrolase. For example, α-aminoacyl peptide hydrolase (Leucine Aminopeptida)
se, Aminopeptidase M, etc., dipeptidyl peptide hydrolase (Dipeptidyl peptidase, etc.), peptidyl peptide hydrolase (Dipeptidyl carboxypeptidas
e), serine carboxypeptidase (Serine car
boxypeptidase, etc.), metal carboxypeptidase (Carboxypolypeptidase, Glycine carboxypeptidase, etc.), cysteine carboxypeptidase (Cathepsin)
IV), aspartic proteases (Pepsin A, P
epsin B, Pepsin C, Cathepsin D, Microbial aspartic
proteinases, etc.), serine proteases (Chymotryp
sin, Chymotrypsin C, Tryp sin, Plasmin, Kallikrei
n, Elastase, Microbial serine proteinase, Cathepsi
n G, Uca pugilator collagenolytic proteinase, Ento
mophthora collagenolytic proteinase), cysteine proteases (Cathepsin B, Papain, Bromelain,
Clostripain, Actinidin, Cathepsin L, etc.), metalloproteases (Collagenase I, Micro metalloproteinas
es, leuconostoma neutral proteinase, Vertebrate co
llagenase, Achromobacter iophagus collagenase, Tri
chophyton mentagrophytes keratinase) and other peptide hydrolases (Euphorbain, Hurain, Tabern
amontanain, Pz-peptidase, etc.) can be used.

In the hydrolysis treatment, it is generally desirable to use an enzyme having a high substrate specificity selected in consideration of the type of collagen (primary structure). Alternatively, two or more types can be selected and used. The hydrolysis treatment can be carried out once or several times depending on the situation, for example, when the optimum treatment conditions of the enzyme are different or when a selective decomposition treatment is carried out. Processing conditions are
Since optimum conditions vary depending on the type of tissue to be treated, the presence or absence of pretreatment, the pretreatment method, the type of enzyme, and the like, it can be appropriately set in consideration of the yield.

In the case where a tissue other than a bone tissue including cartilage is used as a raw material, a collagen hydrolyzate can be obtained by the same method as described above after performing appropriate pretreatment as necessary.

These hydrolysates are separated if necessary,
Processing such as fractionation, purification, concentration, and drying is carried out according to the usual methods, and if necessary, processed into liquid or powder form to facilitate incorporation into various dosage forms or to adjust the molecular weight distribution for each application. In addition, the intended effect of the present invention can be enhanced by reducing the molecular weight.

As the collagen hydrolyzate, specifically, a compound represented by the formula ZZ′-Z ″ (wherein Z, Z ′ and Z ″ may be the same or different and each represents a peptide and constitutes About 33% of the amino acids are glycine and do not contain tryptophan.Z is composed of 0 to about 90 amino acids and has a CO
It is a peptide having arginine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, leucine or methionine as the OH-terminal amino acid. Z ′ is a peptide having a molecular weight of about 150 to 20,000, and arginine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine,
Preferably, the peptide has leucine or methionine. Z ″ is a peptide composed of 0 to about 90 amino acids. The number of amino acids constituting the peptide of Z and / or Z ″ is preferably as small as possible, and it is most preferable that both are zero. Preferred examples include those containing the peptide represented by the formula (1).

In the above formula, when Z and the number of amino acids of Z are both 0, the molecular weight of Z ′ is from 150 to 5.0
About 00 is more preferable, about 500 to 4,000 is more preferable, and about 1,300 to 4,000 is most preferable.

When the composition of the present invention is used as a pharmaceutical, it may be used in the form of powders, granules, tablets, capsules, enteric agents, solutions, injections (solutions, suspensions), etc., depending on the purpose of prevention or treatment. It can be prepared in various forms according to a conventional method. When used for therapy, it is preferable to use an enteric solution that dissolves in the small intestine in order to efficiently absorb the drug.

The method of administration is not particularly limited, and it can be carried out according to various forms. For example, powders, granules, tablets, capsules, enteric agents, solutions and the like can be administered orally, and injections can be administered intravenously. Among these administration methods, oral administration is preferable as the administration method of the composition of the present invention.

When the composition of the present invention is used as a food, for example, it is prepared in various forms such as bulk, liquid (liquid, viscous fluid, paste, etc.), jelly, powder, granule and the like according to a conventional method. be able to. Specific examples of such a form include beverages (drinks) such as soft drinks, juices and teas; powdered beverages such as powdered juices and powdered soups; cookies, biscuits, cereals, chewable tablets, chewing gum, candy, Gummies, wafers, rice crackers and other confectionery; dressings, sauces,
Seasonings such as powder seasonings; staple food products such as bread, noodles, and rice cakes; and the like. Further, the composition of the present invention can also be used as a food material (for example, a food additive or the like) that can be used to prepare any food.

Among these, liquid, powdery or granular food forms are preferred for ingesting a large amount of the active ingredient collagen or collagen decomposed product. Among them, the liquid or powder form has the advantage that the intake volume of the food as a whole is small, and that no labor is required when ingesting.

When the composition is in a liquid state, it is preferable to set the acidity to 1 or more because stability is enhanced, and it is more preferable that the acidity is 2 or more. The acidity can be calculated by an acid measurement method specified for fruit drinks of Japanese Agricultural Standards, and is usually measured by a color reaction of phenolphthalein or titration using a hydrogen ion concentration measurement device.

The food composition of the present invention has an action of strengthening vascular tissue, exhibits an action of preventing or improving aging of vascular tissue, and further prevents or prevents arteriosclerosis and diseases caused by arteriosclerosis. In order to exhibit therapeutic effects, in addition to general foods, special purpose foods such as foods for the sick, foods for the elderly, foods for specified health use, quasi-drugs, functional foods, health foods, etc. Can be used widely.

The composition of the present invention may contain, if necessary, components normally contained in pharmaceuticals and foods, such as other proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins, as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. Nutrients such as pulverized products, defatted products, extracted extracts, extracted powders, and other animal and plant components; disaccharides, sugar alcohols, polysaccharides, water-soluble polymers, and other excipients; extenders; sweeteners; flavors; Preservatives; surfactants such as emulsifiers, solubilizers, foam stabilizers and defoamers; and hydrotropes such as alcohols and polyhydric alcohols. The amount of these components in the composition of the present invention is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately set depending on the dosage form, form, application, and the like. For example, 0.1 to 99.9 weight% based on the total weight of the composition. %.

The dose or intake of at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen hydrolyzate as active ingredients of the composition of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the desired effect of the present invention can be obtained. However, it is appropriately determined according to the form of the composition, the degree of the disease, the age and sex of the patient or the user, other conditions, and the like.

More specifically, when taken orally for a long period of time in a daily diet for prevention, at least one member selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen hydrolyzate per adult per day, About 0.1 to 20 g, preferably about 1 to 20 g, more preferably 5 to 1 g
It is good to take about 0g. In addition, in the case of active administration or ingestion for the purpose of alleviation or treatment of symptoms, in the case of oral administration or ingestion, usually per adult per day,
At least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen hydrolyzate, about 1 to 40 g, preferably 5 to 40 g;
It is good to take about 30 g, more preferably about 10 to 30 g. When administered directly into the body, such as by infusion or intravenous injection, at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen hydrolyzate per adult per day is used in an amount of 0.1%.
It is preferable to administer about 01 to 1 g.

The composition of the present invention can be administered or ingested once or several times a day.

[0044]

The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to experimental examples and prescription examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. In addition, the numerical value of the compounding amount means "% by weight" unless otherwise specified.

Experimental Example 1: Effect of improving physical properties of blood vessels and effect of suppressing the occurrence of stroke As a collagen degradation product, bovine bone including cartilage was crushed, defatted, and minerals were removed, and then hydrolyzed with a protease to obtain an average molecular weight of about 3500. Bone-derived collagen hydrolyzate [trade name GELITA-SOL D]
2. DGF Co., Ltd.] and a skin-derived collagen hydrolyzate prepared by using protein hydrolase to obtain an average molecular weight of about 3000 using collagen obtained from cow hide [Product name G]
ELITA-SOL D1, manufactured by DGF).

Animal experiments were performed by dividing 18 6-week-old male SD rats into the following three groups. That is, (1) a control diet group in which 0.02% NG-nitro-L-arginine was added to a standard experimental diet, (2) a bone collagen degradation product group in which 5% bone-derived collagen degradation product was added to a control diet, and ( 3) A control diet supplemented with 5% skin-derived collagen hydrolyzate to form a skin collagen hydrolyzate group,
Administration was free. After rearing for 10 weeks, the animals were sacrificed and dissected, and the presence or absence of cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage in the brain tissue was confirmed. In addition, the thoracic aorta was collected and subjected to load by EZ-test (Shimadzu Corporation) until it was broken, and Win-AGS
The biomechanical parameters of the vascular tissue were calculated by obtaining a stress-strain curve using (Shimadzu Corporation). Maximum stress value; maximum load value at break point divided by arterial wall cross-sectional area Maximum strain value; percentage of extension at break point compared to load-free sample length (%) Elastic modulus: stress-strain curve Slope value obtained by the least-squares method from the equation: Breaking energy value: The amount of energy required to break

[0047]

[Table 1]

In the control group, cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage was 5
While four cases were observed in the examples, none was observed in the bone and skin collagen degradation product groups.

The bone and skin collagen hydrolyzate group showed significantly higher strain values and maximum stress values of vascular tissues as compared with the control group. Furthermore, as for the elastic modulus, the bone and skin collagen hydrolyzate group showed a lower value than the control group, and it was confirmed that the elasticity of the vascular tissue was improved. From the above, the ingestion of collagen hydrolyzate has the effect of improving biomechanical parameters such as extensibility and mechanical strength of vascular tissue to strengthen vascular tissue, that is, has the effect of preventing aging of vascular tissue. Was confirmed. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the onset of stroke was suppressed by preventing aging of the vascular tissue.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 2 Stroke Inhibition Effect As a collagen degradation product, collagen obtained from cow hide was treated with protein hydrolase to have an average molecular weight of about 3000.
A skin-derived collagen decomposed product (brand name: GELITA-SOL D1, manufactured by DGF) was used.

The animal experiment was performed by removing the ovaries from 18-week-old female stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP / izm) and bringing them into a climacteric state.
For comparison, a sham operation was performed, and the same experiment was performed for a sham (Sham) group from which no ovaries were removed.

A powdered feed SP (manufactured by Funabashi Farm Co., Ltd.) was used as a control diet, and the feed obtained by adding 5% of the above-mentioned skin collagen decomposition product to the feed was used as a skin collagen decomposition product diet. Food was freely available and the animals were reared for 8 weeks.

At the end of the test, cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage was observed in 4 out of 5 cases in the control group, but was not observed in the skin collagen hydrolyzate group. Therefore, it was confirmed that the collagen hydrolyzate had an effect of suppressing the onset of stroke.

Formulation Example 1: Beverage Each component was mixed according to the following formulation to prepare a beverage according to a conventional method. Ingredients Blended amount (wt%) Collagen hydrolyzate derived from bovine aorta (average molecular weight 1000) 20 Flavor 0.2 Vitamin B ₆ 0.02 Vitamin B ₂ 0.01 Vitamin B ₁ 0.01 Vitamin B ₁₂ 0.00005 Stevia extract Micro- purified water Remainder Total 100.00000

Formulation Example 2: Tablet Each component was mixed according to the following formulation to prepare a tablet according to a conventional method. Ingredients Blended amount (% by weight) Hydrolyzate of collagen derived from tuna bone (average molecular weight 2500) 30 Powdered reduced maltose starch syrup 15 Sucrose fatty acid ester 5 Grape (fruit crushed fruit including peel) Extracted polyphenol powder 0.1 Lactose Residual total 100 .0

Formulation Example 3: Tablet A tablet was prepared according to a conventional method by mixing the components according to the following formulation. Ingredients Amount (% by weight) Hydrolyzate of collagen derived from pig skin (average molecular weight: about 500) 40 Palatinose 20 Tonaka leaf glycoside 5 Sucrose fatty acid ester 2 Fragrance 0.3 Lactose Residual total 100.0

Formulation Example 4: Powdered Beverage A powdered beverage to be drunk by mixing and dissolving or suspending in a liquid according to the following formulation was prepared according to a conventional method. Ingredients Blended amount (% by weight) Hydrolyzate of collagen derived from bovine aorta (average molecular weight of about 1000) 40 Fructose 20 Dietary fiber (digestible dextrin) 10 Powdered fragrance Trace amount of milk casein Total 100

Formulation Example 5: Jelly The components were mixed according to the following formulation to prepare a jelly according to a conventional method. Ingredients Compounding amount (% by weight) Hydrolyzate of collagen derived from bovine bone (average molecular weight: about 20,000) 10 Reduced starch syrup 30 Apple juice (5 times concentrated solution) 5 Calcium lactate 3 Citric acid 1 Flavoring trace water Total 100

Formulation Example 6: High-protein-containing food A high-protein-containing food was prepared by mixing the components according to the following formulation. Ingredients Compounding amount (% by weight) Hydrolyzate of collagen derived from cowhide (average molecular weight about 1000) 5 Hydrolyzate of defatted soybean protein 7 Dietary fiber 1 Coconut milk 1 Water Remaining total 100 The above food is, for example, a food for the sick Can be used.

Formulation Example 7: Soup Each component was mixed according to the following formulation to prepare a soup according to a conventional method. Ingredients Blended amount (% by weight) Hydrolyzate of collagen derived from cowhide (average molecular weight about 3000) 5 Vegetables (onions, peppers, etc.) Appropriate amount Bouillon Appropriate amount Potassium seasoning, pepper Trace water Total 100

[0061]

The composition of the present invention has the effect of improving the extensibility, elasticity and mechanical strength of vascular tissue. That is, it has the effect of strengthening the vascular tissue to prevent or improve aging of the vascular tissue. Therefore, the composition of the present invention is useful for preventing or treating arteriosclerosis, and is also useful for preventing or treating diseases caused by arteriosclerosis.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the results (elastic modulus of blood vessels) of Experimental Example 1.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4C084 AA02 BA43 BA44 CA25 CA34 CA59 DA40 MA17 MA23 MA35 MA37 MA41 MA43 MA52 MA66 NA14 ZA452 4J002 AB001 AD032 GB00

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating arteriosclerosis and diseases caused by arteriosclerosis, comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products. 2. A preventive food composition for arteriosclerosis and diseases caused by arteriosclerosis, which comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products. 3. A pharmaceutical composition having an action of preventing or improving aging of vascular tissue, characterized by containing at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products. 4. A food composition having an action of preventing or improving aging of vascular tissue, characterized by containing at least one selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products. 5. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the collagen degradation product is obtained by a hydrolysis treatment. 6. At least one member selected from the group consisting of collagen and collagen degradation products is a type I collagen,
2. The at least one kind selected from the group consisting of type II collagen and type III collagen.
The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5.