L cystine

Cellulose, α- and β-cornstarch, and sucrose were purchased from Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). t-Butylhydroquinone, casein, l-cystine, and soybean oil were from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. (Osaka, Japan). The lard, mineral mixture (AIN-93M-Mix), and vitamin mixture (AIN-93-VX) were purchased from MP Biomedicals, LLC (Irvine, CA, USA). All other reagents were of the highest grade available.

EPA (95.0% purity) was purchased from Combi-blocks, Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA). α-LA (>98.0% purity), casein, soybean oil, l-cystine, and t-butylhydroquinone were purchased from Wako Pure Chemical Industries (Osaka, Japan). Cellulose, α-cornstarch, β-cornstarch, and sucrose were obtained from Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Vitamin mix (AIN-93-VX) and mineral mix (AIN-93G-Mix) were from MP Biomedicals, LLC (Irvine, CA, USA). All other reagents were of the highest grade available.

Specific-pathogen-free male C57BL/6N CrlCrlj mice were purchased from Charles River Japan and were acclimatised for 7 d on the basal diet before experiments were performed. The basal diet was based on the American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-93G diet⁽²⁵ (link)⁾. α-Maize starch, casein, soyabean oil, cellulose powder, AIN-93G mineral mixture, and AIN-93 vitamin mixture were purchased from Oriental Yeast Co. Maize starch and sucrose were obtained from Matsutani Chemical Industry and Mitsui Sugar Co., Ltd., respectively. Choline bitartrate, l-cystine and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) were purchased from Wako Pure Chemicals. Throughout the experiments, mice were housed individually in cages and maintained under specific-pathogen-free conditions in a controlled environment (room temperature: 23 ± 1°C, relative humidity: 55 ± 5 %, and 12 h light–12 h dark cycle). All experiments were performed with 9-week-old male C57BL/6N mice (19–22 g) in accordance with the guidelines of the Animal Care and Use Committee of the House Wellness Foods Corporation.