A Botanical Composition from Morus alba, Ilex paraguariensis, and Rosmarinus officinalis for Body Weight Management

The use of cellulose, chitosan and hyaluronic acid in transdermal therapeutic management of obesity: A review

Obesity is a clinical condition with rising popularity and detrimental impacts on human health. According to the World Health Organization, obesity is the sixth most common cause of death worldwide. It is challenging to combat obesity because medications that are successful in the clinical investigation have harmful side effects when administered orally. The conventional approaches for treating obesity primarily entail synthetic compounds and surgical techniques but possess severe adverse effects and recurrences. As a result, a safe and effective strategy to combat obesity must be initiated. Recent studies have shown that biological macromolecules of the carbohydrate class, such as cellulose, hyaluronic acid, and chitosan, can enhance the release and efficacy of medications for obesity but due to their short biological half-lives and poor oral bioavailability, their distribution rate is affected. This helps to comprehend the need for an effective therapeutic approach via a transdermal drug delivery system. This review focuses on the transdermal administration, utilizing cellulose, chitosan, and hyaluronic acid via microneedles, as it offers a promising solution to overcome existing therapy limitations in managing obesity and it also highlights how microneedles can effectively deliver therapeutic substances through the skin's outer layer, bypassing pain receptors and specifically targeting adipose tissue.

Targeting Nanotechnology and Nutraceuticals in Obesity: An Updated Approach

HYPOTHESIS

This review article represents a brief layout of the risk factors and pathophysiology responsible for obesity, customary treatment strategies, and nanotechnology-based nutraceutical for the therapeutics of obesity.

EXPERIMENTS

An exhaustive search of the literature was done for this purpose, using Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases. A literature study was conducted using publications published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2022.

FINDINGS

This was revealed that risk factors responsible for obesity were genetic abnormalities and environmental and socio-economic factors. Several research articles published between 2000 and 2022 were based on phytoconstituents-based nanoformulation for obesity therapeutics and, therefore, have been systematically compiled in this review. Various nutraceuticals like Garcinia cambogia, quercetin, resveratrol, capsaicin, Capsicum, Curcuma longa, Camella Sinensis, Zingiber officinalis, Citrus aurantium, Aegle marmelos, Coffea canephora, Asparagus officinalis, Gardenia jasminoides, Catha edulis, Clusia nemroisa, Rosmarinus officinalis, Cirsium setidens, Betula platyphylla, Tripterygium wilfordi possessing anti-obesity actions are discussed in this review along with their patents, clinical trials as well as their nanoformulation available.

CONCLUSION

This review illustrates that nanotechnology has a great propensity to impart a promising role in delivering phytochemicals and nutraceuticals in managing obesity conditions and other related disorders.

A Review on Obesity Management through Natural Compounds and a Green Nanomedicine-Based Approach

Obesity is a serious health complication in almost every corner of the world. Excessive weight gain results in the onset of several other health issues such as type II diabetes, cancer, respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis), and cardiovascular diseases. As allopathic medications and derived pharmaceuticals are partially successful in overcoming this health complication, there is an incessant need to develop new alternative anti-obesity strategies with long term efficacy and less side effects. Plants harbor secondary metabolites such as phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids and other specific compounds that have been shown to have effective anti-obesity properties. Nanoencapsulation of these secondary metabolites enhances the anti-obesity efficacy of these natural compounds due to their speculated property of target specificity and enhanced efficiency. These nanoencapsulated and naive secondary metabolites show anti-obesity properties mainly by inhibiting the lipid and carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes, suppression of adipogenesis and appetite, and enhancing energy metabolism. This review focuses on the plants and their secondary metabolites, along with their nanoencapsulation, that have anti-obesity effects, with their possible acting mechanisms, for better human health.

Exploring Phytotherapeutic Alternatives for Obesity, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Mellitus

At present, the pathologic spectrum of obesity-insulin resistance (IR)-diabetes mellitus (DM) represents not only a pressing matter in public health but also a paramount object of study in biomedical research, as they constitute major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD). Phytotherapy, the use of medicinal herbs (MH) with treatment purposes, offers a wide array of opportunities for innovation in the management of these disorders; mainly as pharmacological research on small molecules accumulates. Several MH has displayed varied mechanisms of action relevant to the pathogenesis of obesity, IR and DM, including immunological and endocrine modulation, reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress (OS), regulation of appetite, thermogenesis and energy homeostasis, sensitisation to insulin function and potentiation of insulin release, among many others. However, the clinical correlates of these molecular phenomena remain relatively uncertain, with only a handful of MH boasting convincing clinical evidence in this regard. This review comprises an exploration of currently available preclinical and clinical research on the role of MH in the management of obesity, IR, and DM.

Modeling Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in Rodents

Standardized animal models represent one of the most valuable tools available to understand the mechanism underlying the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to seek for new therapeutic strategies. However, there is considerable variability in the studies conducted with this essential purpose. This review presents an updated discussion of the most recent studies using diverse experimental conditions to induce MetS in rodents with unbalanced diets, discusses the key findings in metabolic outcomes, and critically evaluates what we have been learned from them and how to advance in the field. The study includes scientific reports sourced from the Web of Science and PubMed databases, published between January 2013 and June 2020, which used hypercaloric diets to induce metabolic disorders, and address the impact of the diet on metabolic parameters. The collected data are used as support to discuss variables such as sex, species, and age of the animals, the most favorable type of diet, and the ideal diet length to generate metabolic changes. The experimental characteristics propose herein improve the performance of a preclinical model that resembles the human MetS and will guide researchers to investigate new therapeutic alternatives with confidence and higher translational validity.

Ilex paraguariensis, white mulberry and chromium picolinate in patients with pre-diabetes

AIM

to evaluate if a nutraceutical compound containing Ilex paraguariensis, White Mulberry and Chromium Picolinate can ameliorate glycemic status in patients with pre-diabetes.

METHODS

we enrolled patients with IFG or IGT, not taking other hypoglycemic compounds. Patients were randomized to take placebo or the nutraceutical compound for 3 months, in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Both treatments were self-administered once a day, 1 tablet during the breakfast.

RESULTS

a reduction of FPG was observed with the nutraceutical combination (-7.8%). Furthermore, there was a decrease of HOMA-IR with the nutraceutical combination (-7.9%). M value was higher (p < 0.05 vs baseline and p < 0.05 vs placebo) at the end of the treatment. We obtained a reduction of Tg with the nutraceutical combination (-8.3%). About 16.6% of patients treated with nutraceutical returned to have a normal glycemia (< 100 mg/dL), and all patients had an improvement of insulin-resistance, in particular 67% of patients returned to have a M value inside range of normal insulin sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS

a nutraceutical containing Ilex paraguariensis, White Mulberry and Chromium Picolinate at 500 mg can be helpful in improving glycemia and Tg value, in patients with pre-diabetes.

Nutraceutical and Medicinal Potential of the Morus Species in Metabolic Dysfunctions

Many populations use medicinal plants as a therapeutic treatment, due to their lower cost and greater access. Among the plant species used for medicinal purposes are those of the genus Morus. The most known species are Morus alba, rubra, and nigra. This review aims to collect data from the literature, predominantly from cell and animal studies, which presents a possible nutraceutical and medicinal potential of the species Morus for use in metabolic dysfunctions. The fruits and leaves of mulberry are used for therapeutic purposes. For scientific confirmation of these effects, they were studied for laxative properties, antibacterial activity, anti-atherogenic activity, and hepatoprotective function. Furthermore, the genus Morus is recognized for the treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus, through its hypoglycemic action. It may also provide health benefits through immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-nociceptive effects. It has been found that the Morus species have phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and anthocyanins that act as important antioxidants and promote beneficial effects on human health. These phytochemical compounds differ among species. Blackberry (Morus nigra) are rich in flavonoids, while the white mulberry (Morus alba) has low concentrations of flavonoids and anthocyanins. In addition, another important factor is to ensure a complete exemption of toxic risks in the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of diseases. Studies have shown no toxic effects by the administration of extracts of Morus species. Thus, the mulberry tree presents nutraceutical potential. It is therefore a promising alternative for medicinal products based on medicinal plants.

Natural anti-obesity agents and their therapeutic role in management of obesity: A future trend perspective

In the present scenario, obesity is a challenging health problem and its prevalence along with comorbidities are on the rise around the world. According to world health organization and organisation for economic co-operation and development epidemiology reports, overweight and obesity are the fifth foremost causes of deaths globally. The increasing rate of obesity is becoming a mammoth problem which enormously affects an individual's quality of life. The conventional therapy of obesity mainly involves synthetic moieties and surgical procedures, which has many harmful side effects and chances of recurrence with severity. Hence, the Present review is a metanalysis of all the available data on the use of the plants with their biological source, active phytochemical constituents and a probable mechanism of action as natural anti-obesity agents. The metanalysis of data during the period of 2000-2018 was performed with the help of scientific data search engine National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI/PubMed). This data reveals the need and scope of further research in the development of new natural phytoconstituents for the management of obesity.