Effect of Momordica saponin- and Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharide-enriched beverages on oxidative stress and fat accumulation in Caenorhabditis elegans

Extraction methods, multiple biological activities, and related mechanisms of Momordica charantia polysaccharide: A review

Momordica Charantia Polysaccharide (MCP) is a key bioactive compound derived from bitter melon fruit. This review summarizes the advancements in MCP research, including extraction techniques, biological activities, and mechanisms. MCP can be extracted using various methods, and has demonstrated hypoglycemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunoregulatory effects. Research suggests that MCP may regulate metabolic enzymes, oxidative stress reactions, and inflammatory pathways. The review highlights the potential applications of MCP in areas such as anti-diabetes, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunoregulatory research. Future research should focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of MCP and optimizing extraction methods. This review provides a foundation for further research and utilization of MCP.

Antiobesity effect of healthy food crops and functional foods: A systematic review of their mechanisms

Diet is a modifiable risk factor in the prevention and management of obesity, and various foods have the potential to aid in obesity management by modulating different pathways involved in the disease's pathology. We performed a systematic review of literature, using CINAHL, PubMed, and Google Scholar, focusing on the antiobesity potential of foods crops and functional food products, and their mechanisms of action and clinical evidence. Sixty-four articles were identified, of which 41 investigated food crops, while 23 investigated functional products. Food crops, such as cereals, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, seaweeds, legumes, herbs, spices, and cocoa seeds, have antiobesity effects through mechanisms such as altering the metabolism of glucolipids by inhibiting enzymes like α-amylase and α-glucosidase, stimulating the bioenergetics of thermogenic fat, modulating gut microbiota, and inhibiting lipogenesis and storage. In addition, developed functional teas, beverages, and yoghurt have antiobesity effects through similar or different mechanisms, such as enhancing energy expenditure and satiety, suppressing adipogenesis and lipolysis, improving glucose and lipid metabolism, and altering hormonal secretion. This review reemphasized the significance of food in the control of obesity, and highlights the distinct methods these explored foods exert their antiobesity effects. In conclusion, foods are safe and effective means of combating obesity without the side effects of conventional drugs, which can help inform dietary choices, assist professionals in providing more accurate advice, and also lead to better understanding of food and its effect on overall health of the public. This approach will eradicate global diseases, especially if more underutilized and indigenous food crops are extensively researched.

Sweet triterpenoid glycoside from Cyclocarya paliurus ameliorates obesity-induced insulin resistance through inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammatory pathway

Our prophase studies have manifested that the sweet triterpenoid glycoside from the leaves of Cyclocarya paliurus (CPST) effectively improved the disorders of glucolipid metabolism in vitro and in patients. The current purpose was to further detect its mechanisms involved. The results demonstrated that CPST could ameliorate high-fat diet (HFD)-induced insulin resistance (IR), which was linked to reducing HFD-induced mice's body weight, serum glucose (GLUO), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (T-CHO) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), lowering the area under the oral glucose tolerance curve and insulin tolerance, elevating the percentage of brown adipose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), reducing fat droplets of adipocytes in interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT) and cross-sectional area of adipocytes. Further studies manifested that CPST obviously downregulated TLR4, MyD88, NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, cleased-caspase-1, IL-18, IL-1β, TXNIP, and GSDMD protein expressions and p-NF-кB/NF-кB ratio in iBAT. These aforementioned findings demonstrated that CPST ameliorated HFD induced IR by regulating TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway, which in turn enhancing insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.

Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo model for the identification of natural antioxidants with anti-aging actions

Natural antioxidants have recently emerged as a highly exciting and significant topic in anti-aging research. Diverse organism models present a viable protocol for future research. Notably, many breakthroughs on natural antioxidants have been achieved in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, an animal model frequently utilized for the study of aging research and anti-aging drugs in vivo. Due to the conservation of signaling pathways on oxidative stress resistance, lifespan regulation, and aging disease between C. elegans and multiple high-level organisms (humans), as well as the low and controllable cost of time and labor, it gradually develops into a trustworthy in vivo model for high-throughput screening and validation of natural antioxidants with anti-aging actions. First, information and models on free radicals and aging are presented in this review. We also describe indexes, detection methods, and molecular mechanisms for studying the in vivo antioxidant and anti-aging effects of natural antioxidants using C. elegans. It includes lifespan, physiological aging processes, oxidative stress levels, antioxidant enzyme activation, and anti-aging pathways. Furthermore, oxidative stress and healthspan improvement induced by natural antioxidants in humans and C. elegans are compared, to understand the potential and limitations of the screening model in preclinical studies. Finally, we emphasize that C. elegans is a useful model for exploring more natural antioxidant resources and uncovering the mechanisms underlying aging-related risk factors and diseases.

Antioxidant potential evaluation of polysaccharides from Camellia oleifera Abel in vitro and in vivo

The extraction process, structural characterization and free radical scavenging ability of polysaccharides from Camellia oleifera have already been widely studied. However, the antioxidant activities are still lack of systematic experiments. In this study, we used Hep G2 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans to evaluate the antioxidant potential of polysaccharides that from C. oleifera flowers (P-CF), leaves (P-CL), seed cakes (P-CC) and fruit shells (P-CS). The results showed all these polysaccharides could protect cells from oxidative damage induced by t-BHP. The highest cell viabilities were 66.46 ± 1.36 % (P-CF), 55.2 ± 2.93 % (P-CL), 54.49 ± 1.29 % (P-CC) and 61.45 ± 1.67 % (P-CS), respectively. Studies have shown that four polysaccharides may protect cells from apoptosis by reducing ROS levels and maintaining MMP balance. Moreover, P-CF, P-CL, P-CC and P-CS increased the survival rate of C. elegans under thermal stress, which reduced the production of ROS by 56.1 ± 0.67 %, 59.37 ± 1.79 %, 16.63 ± 2.51 % and 27.55 ± 2.62 %, respectively. P-CF and P-CL showed stronger protective effects on C. elegans by increasing the nuclear entry rate of DAF-16 and stimulating the expression of SOD-3. Our study suggested that C. oleifera polysaccharides have the potential to develop into a natural supplement agent.

Evaluation of the In Vivo Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity of Quercetin Isolated from the Hairy Roots of Hedysarum neglectum Ledeb

This study aimed to investigate the anti-atherosclerotic properties of quercetin isolated from the extract of Hedysarum neglectum Ledeb hairy roots. During the study, the hormonal composition of the nutrient medium for cultivation of H. neglectum hairy root biomass was selected: Gamborg's medium enriched with the cytokine 6-benzylaminopurine (1.5 mg/1 dm3). It was found that the extraction of hairy root biomass with a 50% water-ethanol solution (40:1 1 h at 60 ± 2 °C) yielded an extract that contained the highest amount of quercetin (an average of 2.1 times higher than in extracts obtained at other parameters). It was determined that 100 µM quercetin solution showed the greatest bioactivity on Caenorhabditis elegans: on day 61, the percentage of surviving nematodes was 2.06 times higher compared to other samples and 6 times higher compared to control, resulting in a 12.5-fold increase in SOD-3 expression compared to control (without biologically active substance (BAS) addition). Meanwhile, the 10 µM quercetin solution exhibited the best ability to inhibit the accumulation of lipid fractions; the accumulation was 1.06 times less compared to the control. The results of this study show that quercetin, which was isolated from the biomass of H. neglectum hairy roots, can be used as a component of anti-atherosclerotic dietary supplements.

Polysaccharides from natural resource: ameliorate type 2 diabetes mellitus via regulation of oxidative stress network

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia that can occur in children, adults, elderly people, and pregnant women. Oxidative stress is a significant adverse factor in the pathogenesis of DM, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and metabolic syndrome. Natural polysaccharides are macromolecular compounds widely distributed in nature. Some polysaccharides derived from edible plants and microorganisms were reported as early as 10 years ago. However, the structural characterization of polysaccharides and their therapeutic mechanisms in diabetes are relatively shallow, limiting the application of polysaccharides. With further research, more natural polysaccharides have been reported to have antioxidant activity and therapeutic effects in diabetes, including plant polysaccharides, microbial polysaccharides, and polysaccharides from marine organisms and animals. Therefore, this paper summarizes the natural polysaccharides that have therapeutic potential for diabetes in the past 5 years, elucidating their pharmacological mechanisms and identified primary structures. It is expected to provide some reference for the application of polysaccharides, and provide a valuable resource for the development of new diabetic drugs.

The phytochemicals and health benefits of Cyclocarya paliurus (Batalin) Iljinskaja

Cyclocarya paliurus (C. paliurus), a nutritional and nutraceutical resource for human and animal diets, has been constantly explored. The available biological components of C. paliurus were triterpenoids, polysaccharides, and flavonoids. Recent studies in phytochemical-phytochemistry; pharmacological-pharmacology has shown that C. paliurus performed medicinal value, such as antihypertensive, antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and immunological activities. Furthermore, C. paliurus and its extracts added to drinks would help to prevent and mitigate chronic diseases. This review provides an overview of the nutritional composition and functional applications of C. paliurus, summarizing the research progress on the extraction methods, structural characteristics, and biological activities. Therefore, it may be a promising candidate for developing functional ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. However, a more profound understanding of its active compounds and active mechanisms through which they perform biological activities is required. As a result, the plant needs further investigation in vitro and in vivo.

Effects of Vegetal Extracts and Metabolites against Oxidative Stress and Associated Diseases: Studies in Caenorhabditis elegans

Oxidative stress is a natural physiological process where the levels of oxidants, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS), exceed the strategy of antioxidant defenses, culminating in the interruption of redox signaling and control. Oxidative stress is associated with multiple pathologies, including premature aging, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and arthritis. It is not yet clear whether oxidative stress is the cause or consequence of these diseases; however, it has been shown that using compounds with antioxidant properties, particularly compounds of natural origin, could prevent or slow down the progress of different pathologies. Within this context, the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model has served to study the effect of different metabolites and natural compounds, which has helped to decipher molecular targets and the effect of these compounds on premature aging and some diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases and dyslipidemia. This article lists the studies carried out on C. elegans in which metabolites and natural extracts have been tested against oxidative stress and the pathologies associated with providing an overview of the discoveries in the redox area made with this nematode.

Structure characterization of pectin from the pollen of Typha angustifolia L. and the inhibition activity of lipid accumulation in oleic acid induced L02 cells

The pollen of Typha angustifolia L. decoction was clinically used to treat hyperlipidemia in China. A pectin polysaccharide (PTPS-2-2) was obtained from T. angustifolia pollen through water extraction, ion-exchange chromatography, and gel chromatography. Structural characterization showed that PTPS-2-2 had a molecular weight of 54 kDa and was composed of rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, galactose, and galacturonic acid with a molar ratio of 11.5: 36.5: 4.1: 36.7: 11.2. PTPS-2-2 consisted of rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) and arabinogalactan II (AG-II) domains. Its backbone was predominantly composed of →4-α-D-GalpA-(1 → 2)-α-L-Rhap-(1→, with branches of 1,3-Galp, 1,6-Galp, 1,3,6-Galp, T-Araf, 1.5-Araf and T-Xylp, connected to the 4-position of 1,2-Rhap and the 3-position of 1,4-GalpA. The inhibitory effect of PTPS-2-2 on lipid accumulation was studied in vitro, using L02 cells induced by oleic acid. This experiment shows that PTPS-2-2 treatment at 100-400 μg/mL dose-dependently reduce cellular triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (TC), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, while elevated superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. This indicated that PTPS-2-2 potentially ameliorated oleic acid-induced hepatic steatosis by inhibiting lipid accumulation and oxidative stress.

Litchi flower essential oil balanced lipid metabolism through the regulation of DAF-2/IIS, MDT-15/SBP-1, and MDT-15/NHR-49 pathway

Many litchi flowers are discarded in China every year. The litchi flower is rich in volatile compounds and exhibits strong anti-obesity activity. Litchi flower essential oil (LFEO) was extracted by the continuous phase transformation device (CPTD) independently developed by our research group to recycle the precious material resources in litchi flowers. However, its fat-reducing effect and mechanism remain unclear. Employing Caenorhabditis elegans as a model, we found that LFEO significantly reduced fat storage and triglyceride (TG) content in normal, glucose-feeding, and high-fat conditions. LFEO significantly reduced body width in worms and significantly decreased both the size and number of lipid droplets in ZXW618. LFEO treatment did not affect energy intake but increased energy consumption by enhancing the average speed of worms. Further, LFEO might balance the fat metabolism in worms by regulating the DAF-2/IIS, sbp-1/mdt-15, and nhr-49/mdt-15 pathways. Moreover, LFEO might inhibit the expression of the acs-2 gene through nhr-49 and reduce β-oxidation activity. Our study presents new insights into the role of LFEO in alleviating fat accumulation and provides references for the large-scale production of LFEO to promote the development of the litchi circular economy.

Nutritional Function and Flavor Evaluation of a New Soybean Beverage Based on Naematelia aurantialba Fermentation

The soy beverage is a healthy product rich in plant protein; however, its unpleasant flavor affects consumer acceptance. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of using Naematelia aurantialba as a strain for the preparation of fermented soybean beverages (FSB). Increases in Zeta potential, particle size, and viscosity make soy beverages more stable. We found that nutrient composition was increased by fermenting N. aurantialba, and the antioxidant activity of soybean beverages significantly increased after 5 days of fermentation. By reducing the content of beany substances such as hexanal and increasing the content of 1-octen-3-ol, the aroma of soybean beverages fermented by N. aurantialba changed from “beany, green, and fatty” to “mushroom and aromatic”. The resulting FSB had reduced bitterness but considerably increased sourness while maintaining the fresh and sweet taste of unfermented soybean beverages (UFSB). This study not only provides a theoretical basis for the market promotion of FSB but also provides a reference for basidiomycetes-fermented beverages.

Potential Role of Natural Plant Medicine Cyclocarya paliurus in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a common chronic metabolic disease that has become increasingly prevalent worldwide. It poses a serious threat to human health and places a considerable burden on global social medical work. To meet the increasing demand for T2DM treatment, research on hypoglycemic drugs is rapidly developing. Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja is a medicinal plant that grows in China. The leaves of C. paliurus contain polysaccharides, triterpenoids, and other chemical components, which have numerous health benefits. Therefore, the use of this plant has attracted extensive attention in the medical community. Over the past few decades, contemporary pharmacological studies on C. paliurus extracts have revealed that it has abundant biological activities. Multiple in vitro and in vivo experiments have shown that C. paliurus extracts are safe and can play a therapeutic role in T2DM through anti-inflammatory and antioxidation activities, and intestinal flora regulation. Its efficacy is closely related to many factors, such as extraction, separation, purification, and modification. Based on summarizing the existing extraction methods, this article further reviews the potential mechanism of C. paliurus extracts in T2DM treatment, and we aimed to provide a reference for future research on natural plant medicine for the prevention and treatment of T2DM and its related complications.