The Administration of Panax Ginseng Berry Extract Attenuates High-Fat-Diet-Induced Sarcopenic Obesity in C57BL/6 Mice

Ginseng Berry Juice (GBJ) Regulates the Inflammation in Acute Ulcerative Mouse Models and the Major Bioactive Substances Are Ginsenosides Rb3, Rc, Rd, and Re

Panax ginseng fruit is known to have various biological effects owing to its large amount of saponins such as ginsenosides. In the present study, ginseng berry juice was confirmed to be effective against acute inflammation. Ginseng berry juice was used for analysis of active constituents, antioxidant efficacy, and in vivo inflammation. A high-performance liquid chromatography method was used for analysis of ginsenosides. In an HCl/ethanol-induced acute gastric injury model, microscopic, immunofluorescent, and immunohistochemical techniques were used for analysis of inhibition of gastric injury and mechanism study. In a mouse model of acute gastritis induced with HCl/ethanol, ginseng berry juice (GBJ, 250 mg/kg) showed similar gastric injury inhibitory effects as cabbage water extract (CB, 500 mg/kg, P.O). GBJ dose-dependently modulated the pro-inflammatory cytokines such as Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin-13 (IL-13). GBJ inhibited the activation of Nuclear Factor kappa bB (NF-κB) and suppressed the expressions of cyclooxigenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin 2 (PGE2). The anti-inflammatory effect of GBJ is attributed to ginsenosides which have anti-inflammatory effects. Productivity as an effective food source for acute gastritis was analyzed and showed that GBJ was superior to CB. In addition, as a functional food for suppressing acute ulcerative symptoms, it was thought that the efficacy of gastric protection products would be higher if GBJ were produced in the form of juice rather than through various extraction methods.

Therapeutic applications of ginseng for skeletal muscle-related disorder management

Skeletal muscle (SM) is the largest organ of the body and is largely responsible for the metabolism required to maintain body functions. Furthermore, the maintenance of SM is dependent on the activation of muscle satellite (stem) cells (MSCs) and the subsequent proliferation and fusion of differentiating myoblasts into mature myofibers (myogenesis). Natural compounds are being used as therapeutic options to promote SM regeneration during aging, muscle atrophy, sarcopenia, cachexia, or obesity. In particular, ginseng-derived compounds have been utilized in these contexts, though ginsenoside Rg1 is mostly used for SM mass management. These compounds primarily function by activating the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, upregulating myogenin and MyoD to induce muscle hypertrophy, downregulating atrophic factors (atrogin1, muscle ring-finger protein-1, myostatin, and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production), and suppressing the expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in cachexia. Ginsenoside compounds are also used for obesity management, and their anti-obesity effects are attributed to peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) inhibition, AMPK activation, glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) translocation, and increased phosphorylations of insulin resistance (IR), insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), and Akt. This review was undertaken to provide an overview of the use of ginseng-related compounds for the management of SM-related disorders.

Publication trends in nutrition research for sarcopenic obesity: A 20-year bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

We used bibliometric methods to evaluate publications on the role of nutrition in sarcopenic obesity and analyzed the current situation and developmental trends over the past 2 decades.

METHODS

Publications from 2002 to 2022 related to the role of nutrition in sarcopenic obesity were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and the Bibliometrix R package were applied to build relevant network diagrams.

RESULTS

One thousand ninety-four articles from 64 countries were included. The annual number of publications in this field has shown an intense growth trend. The University of Alberta, Yonsei University, and Korea University are the major research institutions. Clinical Nutrition has published the most papers on the role of nutrition in sarcopenic obesity, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is the most co-cited journal. A total of 5834 authors conducted the relevant studies. Yves Boirie has published the most papers in this field, and AJ Cruz-Jentoft is the most co-cited author.

CONCLUSION

This is the first bibliometric study of the role of nutrition in sarcopenic obesity. This study systematically summarizes the research hotspots and development directions in this field, and provides a reference for scholars studying the role of nutrition in sarcopenic obesity.

Nutrition and Regulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis

Skeletal muscles are an indispensable actor for daily activities, playing an essential role in locomotion through both the control of posture and position and by joint stabilization [...].

Azilsartan Ameliorates Skeletal Muscle Wasting in High Fat Diet (HFD)-induced Sarcopenic Obesity in Rats via Activating Akt Signalling Pathway

An association between the loss of skeletal muscle mass and obesity in the geriatric population has been identified as a disease known as sarcopenic obesity. Therefore, therapeutic/preventive interventions are needed to ameliorate sarcopenia. The present study investigates the effect of azilsartan (AZL) on skeletal muscle loss in High-Fat Diet (HFD)-induced sarcopenic obese (SO) rats. Four- and fourteen-months male Sprague Dawley rats were used and randomized in control and azilsartan treatment. 14 months animals were fed with HFD for four months and labeled as HFD-fed SO rats. Young & old rats received 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose as a vehicle/AZL (8 mg/kg, per oral) treatment for six weeks. Grip strength and body composition analysis were performed after the last dose of AZL. Serum and gastrocnemius (GN)muscles were collected after animal sacrifice. AZL treatment significantly increased lean muscle mass, grip strength, myofibrillar protein, and antioxidant (superoxide dismutase & nitric oxide) levels in SO rats. AZL also restored the muscle biomarkers (creatine kinase, myostatin & testosterone), and insulin levels. AZL improves cellular, and ultracellular muscle structure and prevents type I to type II myofiber transitions in SO rats. Further, immunohistochemistry results showed increased expressions of pAkt and reduced expression of MuRF-1 and TNF-α exhibiting that AZL intervention could decrease protein degradation in SO rats. In conclusion, present results showed that AZL significantly increased lean mass, and restored muscle biomarkers, and muscle architecture. Taken together, the aforementioned findings suggest that azilsartan could be a possible therapeutic approach to reduce muscle wasting in sarcopenic obesity.

Potential Effects of Resistant Exercise on Cognitive and Muscle Functions Mediated by Myokines in Sarcopenic Obese Mice

Recently, it has been demonstrated that in sarcopenic obesity (SO), physical activity could improve cognitive functions. Moreover, previous studies suggested that muscle contraction could influence cognitive function via myokines. This study investigated the potential effects of resistant exercise on cognitive and muscle functions in SO. SO was induced by a high-fat diet treatment for 8 weeks in 8-month-old male C57BL/6J mice. Then, resistant exercise (ladder climbing) for 8 weeks was performed. Muscle and cognitive function tests and morphological analysis were conducted. The protein levels of myokines were investigated in muscle, plasma, and the hippocampus in sarcopenic obese mice. Muscle and cognitive functions were significantly elevated in the obesity-exercise group (EX) compared to the obesity-control group (OB). Interestingly, muscle function was positively correlated with cognitive function. Abnormal morphological changes in the hippocampus were ameliorated in EX compared to OB, but not in the muscle. Protein levels of cognitive function-related myokines and energy metabolism-related markers in EX were significantly elevated in both muscle and hippocampus compared to those in OB. Interestingly, the protein level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in EX was simultaneously increased in all tissues including muscle, plasma, and hippocampus compared to that in OB. In conclusion, modulation of muscle-derived cognitive function-related myokines in various pathological conditions via a resistant exercise could be a possible way of relieving muscle and cognitive dysfunction.