內(nèi)容: Bone loss and deterioration of bone microarchitecture would increase the bone fragility and fracture risk, leading to the osteoporosis. More and more evidences proved that plant-derived polysaccharides could have a remarkable influence on osteoblasts and osteoclasts, exerting anti-osteoporosis effects. According to the previous research, the extract of Cibotium barumoz, Achyranthes bidentata, Curculigo orchioides, Epimedium brevicornum, Angelica sinensis, Polygonatum sibiricum, Dendrobium officinale, Morinda officinalis, Nelumbo nucifera, Diospyros kaki, Hordeum vulgare, Cistanche deserticola, Commiphora Myrrha and other plant-derived polysaccharides could benefit to the osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The essential mechanisms are mainly related to the activation or inhibition of many factors, including runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), β-catenin, osterix (Osx), activator protein-1 (AP-1), osteocalcin (OCN/BGP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteopontin (OPN), bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK), osteoprotegerin (OPG), receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANK), monocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF-6), receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-κB ligand (RANKL), nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATc1), c-Fos, matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9), glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β)/β-catenin, nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), as well as these related pathways, such as Wnt/β-catenin, BMP-2/SMAD1/5/8, PI3K/AKT, OPG/RANKL/RANK, NF-κB, MAPKs, etc. These plant-derived polysaccharides could improve the dynamic balance of bone formation and resorption through promoting the differentiation and maturation of osteoblast or inhibiting its formation. The reviewed plant-derived polysaccharides and their regulating mechanisms on the osteoclasts and osteoblasts provide the evidences for the development of osteoporosis therapeutics.

內(nèi)容: Polyphenols are widely recognized as the effective antioxidants, which are divided into flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, lignans, tannins and so on. They could regulate internal functions and protect the body from diseases related to oxidative damage. Due to the fact that their antioxidant capacity is influenced by the structure, stability and bioavailability, the detection of their bioactivity should be considered comprehensively. Currently, the methods for measuring the antioxidant capacity of phenolic compounds are divided into chemical, cell-based and in vivo assays. The chemical assays include 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), ferric reducing /antioxidant power (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), peroxyl radical scavenging capacity (PSC), which are rapid identification method, but their reaction mechanism has a great gap with the internal body response. The cell-based assays are more consistent with biological reaction, but still do not take the bioavailability into consideration. The in vivo assays, which commonly utilized Caenorhabditis elegans or rats as models, are more representative, but these methods are more complex and spend longer. This review summarizes the antioxidant evaluation methods of phenolic compounds and discusses their advantages and limitations comparatively, which could help discriminate and select the appropriate assay in the actual operation, and facilitate the development of comprehensive approaches as well.

內(nèi)容: Walnuts are rich in protein and are a high-quality plant protein resource. In recent years, with the growth of consumer demand for functional food and food for special medical purpose, the use of walnut protein for the preparation of functional walnut peptide ingredients or additives and other compositions has received increasing attention. However, the improvement of the yield of walnut peptides and the clarification of their functional activities are the bottlenecks that limit the development of these peptides. To this end, this article reviews the pretreatment, preparation, purification and identification processes of walnut peptides, as well as their biological activities such as antioxidant activity, antitumour activity, improvement of memory, antihypertension and regulation of metabolic disorders are elaborated to provide a reference for the industrial development of walnut peptides.

內(nèi)容: Dietary intake has an impact on the development of gut microbiota. Humans require carbohydrates, protein, fat, and other nutrients on a daily basis to provide energy for the growth, maintenance, and repair of body tissues. These nutrition-induced changes in gut microbiota may be used to alter host physiology, including disease development and progression, such as obesity and diabetes. More research is needed to fully understand how diet influences microbiota and how microbiota influence host health. The pathways of carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism, as well as their interactions and regulatory mechanisms, are described in this review, as well as how diet shapes the microbiota, how dietary-microbiome crosstalk may affect disease development and progression, and how this information could be used to maintain intestinal health.

內(nèi)容: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common type of end-stage renal disease and glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs) are widely used as a cell model for DN. This study firstly investigated the inhibitory effects of the Apostichopus japonicus and Acaudina leucoprocta hydrolysates on cellular growth under high-glucose treatment, better inhibitory effect of A. japonicus hydrolysate was observed compared to that of A. leucoprocta hydrolysate. Subsequently, the global transcription profiles obtained via microarray analysis showed that 6 070 and 7 015 genes were identified in the A. japonicus and A. leucoprocta groups compared with the model group, respectively. Among them, transcriptions of the slc30a4, slc35d1, tppp3, tp53inp1, bcl-2, apaf1, alox12b and adrala genes were restored from the levels of the model group to those of the control group, contributed to cell mitosis and proliferation in both treatment groups. In addition, other apoptosis-related genes, such as bcl-6, clu, foxo3 and aktl, showed opposite trends between two groups, which might cause the difference in inhibitory effect. We preliminarily proposed that the regulation effects of A. japonicus and A. leucoprocta on the genes involved in cellular mitosis, proliferation and apoptosis, might contribute to their inhibitory activity on GMCs under high-glucose environment.

內(nèi)容: Delphinium brunonianum Royle belongs to Ranunculaceae family and has the effects of dispelling wind to relieve itching and cooling blood to detoxify. It was found that the extracts of D. brunonianum had good anticoagulant activity which was extracted with 70% ethanol in our previous researches. Then, 16 compounds were isolated and identified from the extract of D. brunonianum, among which compounds 5, 7-10, 12, 14, 15-16 were isolated from this genus for the first time, and compounds 2-4 were isolated from this plant for the first time. And the coagulation activity assay showed that compounds 10, 14 and 15 had good anticoagulant activity by activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT) and prothrombin time (PT) in vitro.

內(nèi)容: In the present study, the antioxidant and anti-human liver cancer (HepG2) cells effects of bioactive peptides from cowhide collagen (BPCC) were evaluated. BPCC exhibited significant scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals ((60.09 ± 3.51)%), 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radicals ((77.40 ± 3.10)%) and hydroxyl radicals ((56.00 ± 2.30)%) as well as strong reducing power (0.320 ± 0.025). Meanwhile, BPCC effectively protected biomacromolecules including proteins, lipids and DNA from oxidative damage induced by Cu2+/H2O2 and 2,2’-azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AAPH). Moreover, BPCC significantly inhibited cell viability of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner with an estimated IC50 of 7.61 mg/mL. The results of 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining demonstrated the apoptotic morphological changes and cell mediated death in BPCC treated HepG2 cells. In addition, BPCC induced decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in HepG2 cells. Therefore, the present finding proved that BPCC encompasses significant antioxidant activity and anticancer property on HepG2 cells and can be used as alternative food antioxidants for cancer prevention benefits.

內(nèi)容: Highland barley is a well-known cereal in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau area with high nutritional value, which has been reported to be a health-promoting grain for the obesity and the diabetes. Fermentation by certain microbiota can improve the flavor property and nutritional characteristics. In the present study, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were singly or jointly applied to ferment highland barley, and the profile of volatile substances and lipid-lowering effects of the respective extracts were analyzed. Results indicated that either L. plantarum or S. cerevisiae or co-fermentation could consume the polysaccharides of highland barley to provide energy, and dramatically increase the contents of total protein and polyphenol. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that the presence of S. cerevisiae was critical for production of the pleasant flavors, especially for the ethyl ester substances including hexadecanoic acid ethyl, hexanoic acid ethyl ester and so on. Meanwhile, we found that fermented highland barley extracts by L. plantarum exhibited stronger lipid-lowering effects in Caenorhabditis elegans than that by S. cerevisiae, while the co-fermentation not only emitted pleasant odors but also exerted high hypolipidemic function. In all, co-fermentation by L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae was proposed to be a promising processing to improve the flavor and functional properties of highland barley.

內(nèi)容: Wogonin (WOG) has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer activity, but the mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, new targets of WOG were predicted for lung cancer, bladder cancer, and colon cancer by using bioinformatics methods. WOG might primarily suppress cancers via regulating arachidonic acid, Ras, MAPK, linoleic acid, PI3K-Akt, and folate biosynthesis pathways. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) assay showed that WOG inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) results indicated that anti-lung cancer effect of WOG was achieved by regulating the expression of 18 target genes, including AKR1B10, AKR1C3, BDNF, CAV1, CXCL2, CYP2B6, CYP4F3, DAO, EGF, ENO3, IL6, PLA2G1B, PLA2G2F, PLA2G4A, PTGES, SLCO1B1, SLCO1B3, and TFAP2A. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves further confirmed that DAO, PLA2G1B, SLCO1B3 and TFAP2A were essential targets via which WOG affected lung cancer survival. Moreover, BDNF, FGF2, and PTGS1 were predicted to be the targets via which WOG alleviated cancer proliferation and invasion in bladder cancer. As for colon cancer, WOG might induce autophagy and inhibit proliferation by down-regulating NTF4 and TH. The study will provide clue for using WOG as a promising antineoplastic agent in basic and translational research, and bring light to the application of herbs containing WOG as food supplements.

內(nèi)容: Angiogenesis in atherosclerosis (AS) promotes plaque destabilization. miR-126 has a significant role in angiogenesis. Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) and paeoniflorin (PF) have anti-atherosclerotic effects. However, the miR-126-related mechanisms of TMP and PF combination (TMP-PF) on angiogenesis in AS have not been understood. To explore the mechanism of TMP-PF on angiogenesis in AS targeting miR-126. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were assigned into the control, model, TMP-PF, TMP-PF + miR-126 inhibitor, and simvastatin groups. HUVECs were transfected with miR-126 inhibitor or negative control, incubated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) to establish AS model, and then treated with TMP-PF or simvastatin. Cell proliferation, migration, and tube formation assays are conducted, and the expression of angiogenesis-related factors were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting. The expression level of miR-126 was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). ox-LDL promoted HUVECs proliferation, migration, and tube formation, downregulated miR-126 expression, and increased the expression of VEGF, VEGFR2, bFGF, and FGFR1. TMP-PF inhibited proliferation, migration, and tube formation, upregulated miR-126 expression and decreased the expression of VEGF, VEGFR2, bFGF, and FGFR1 in ox-LDL-induced HUVECs. However, the effects of TMP-PF on angiogenesis and the expression of miR-126, VEGF, VEGFR2, and FGFR1 were abolished by miR-126 inhibitor. TMP-PF suppressed angiogenesis in AS by regulating miR-126/VEGF/VEGFR2 pathway, which might elucidate the underlying mechanism of TMP-PF in alleviating AS.