Theophylline Extracted from Fu Brick Tea Affects the Metabolism of Preadipocytes and Body Fat in Mice as a Pancreatic Lipase Inhibitor

Egg white-derived peptides reduced blood glucose in high-fat-diet and low-dose streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetic mice via regulating the hepatic gluconeogenic signaling and metabolic profile

Food proteins are considered an ideal source for the identification of bioactive peptides with the potential to intervene in nutrition-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. Egg white-derived peptides (EWPs) have been shown to improve glucose tolerance in insulin-resistant rats. However, underlying mechanisms are to be elucidated. Therefore, we hypothesized that EWP exerts a hypoglycemic effect by regulating hepatic glucose homeostasis. Our results showed that 7 weeks of EWP treatment reduced the fasting blood glucose in T2DM mice and the inhibition of the liver gluconeogenic pathway was involved in the mechanisms of actions. Using the untargeted metabolomics technique, we found that EWP treatment also altered the hepatic metabolic profile in T2DM mice, in which, the role of fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids in mediating the hypoglycemic effect of EWPs might be pivotal.

BATMAN-TCM 2.0: an enhanced integrative database for known and predicted interactions between traditional Chinese medicine ingredients and target proteins

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is increasingly recognized and utilized worldwide. However, the complex ingredients of TCM and their interactions with the human body make elucidating molecular mechanisms challenging, which greatly hinders the modernization of TCM. In 2016, we developed BATMAN-TCM 1.0, which is an integrated database of TCM ingredient-target protein interaction (TTI) for pharmacology research. Here, to address the growing need for a higher coverage TTI dataset, and using omics data to screen active TCM ingredients or herbs for complex disease treatment, we updated BATMAN-TCM to version 2.0 (http://bionet.ncpsb.org.cn/batman-tcm/). Using the same protocol as version 1.0, we collected 17 068 known TTIs by manual curation (with a 62.3-fold increase), and predicted ∼2.3 million high-confidence TTIs. In addition, we incorporated three new features into the updated version: (i) it enables simultaneous exploration of the target of TCM ingredient for pharmacology research and TCM ingredients binding to target proteins for drug discovery; (ii) it has significantly expanded TTI coverage; and (iii) the website was redesigned for better user experience and higher speed. We believe that BATMAN-TCM 2.0, as a discovery repository, will contribute to the study of TCM molecular mechanisms and the development of new drugs for complex diseases.

Chemical components of Fu brick tea and its potential preventive effects on metabolic syndrome

As living standards advance, an escalating emphasis is placed on health, particularly in relation to prevalent chronic metabolic disorders. It is necessary to explore safe and effective functional foods or drugs. Fu brick tea (FBT) is a kind of dark tea fermented by fungi. The extracts are rich in compounds that can effectively relieve metabolic diseases such as hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, protect the liver, improve human immunity, enhance antioxidant activity, and regulate intestinal flora. This paper summarizes the biological activities and mechanisms of the extracts, polysaccharides, and small molecular compounds of FBT, which provides a certain theoretical basis for the rational, systematic, comprehensive development and utilization of the FBT resources. It is expected to develop and apply these active substances in health care products and natural medicines and provide more beneficial and diversified FBT products for human beings.

The Membrane Phospholipidomics Research of Oxidatively Damaged INS-1 Pancreatic Beta Cells Intervened by the Effective Constituents of Anemarrhenae Asphodeloides Rhizoma

The rhizoma of Anemarrhenae asphodeloides has a long history of hypoglycemic use in Chinese traditional medicine. In this article, 400 μmol/L H2 O2 induced normal INS-1 pancreatic beta cells to establish experimental model of oxidative damage. Quercetin was used as a positive drug, and mangiferin and its ethanolic extract were selected as therapeutic agents in an oxidative damage model to evaluate the ameliorative effect of the active ingredients of Anemarrhenae asphodeloides rhizoma on oxidative damage in INS-1 pancreatic β-cells. Building a qualitative analysis method of membrane phospholipids of INS-1 pancreatic beta cells and identified 82 phospholipids based on the UPLC/Q-TOF MS technology, which could provide a database for further statistics analysis. OPLS-DA was used to screen the phospholipid biomarkers from the raw data. Exploring the biological significances of these biomarkers, and discussing the toxic effect of the effective components of Anemarrhena asphodeloides rhizoma, on oxidatively damaged INS-1 pancreatic beta cell.

Fu brick tea alleviates high fat induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by remodeling the gut microbiota and liver metabolism

Fu brick tea (FBT) and its extracts have good lipid-lowering effects and have been used in the treatment of obesity in previous studies. Unfortunately, the therapeutic effect of FBT on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has not been thoroughly studied. In this study, we explored the mechanism by which FBT alleviates NAFLD from the perspective of the gut microbiota and liver metabolites. The results showed that FBT could reduce the body weight, liver weight and abdominal fat of NAFLD mice, and improve liver pathological morphology, liver lipid deposition, blood lipids and liver function. Moreover, FBT improved the diversity of the gut microbiota and changed the profile of liver metabolism in NAFLD mice. Further studies showed that FBT could ameliorate the cecum barrier, and regulate the effects of factors related to lipid synthesis in the cecum and liver of NAFLD mice. In conclusion, the present study confirmed that FBT can alleviate high fat induced NAFLD by regulating the homeostasis of the gut microbiota and liver metabolites.