內(nèi)容: Identifying a potential dietary non-pharmacological treatment to prevent cerebrovascular damage in Alzheimer’s disease is crucial for alleviating cognitive decline in older adults and enhancing quality of life. This study featured the combined supplementation of soy lecithin (SL) and soy isoflavones (SIF), using in vivo animal models, in vitro vascular ring preparation, and cell studies to investigate the potential advantages and mechanisms of SL combined with SIF on cognitive function and cerebrovascular health from multiple perspectives. The results show that Aβ can significantly induce learning and memory impairment in rats, as well as pathological changes in brain blood vessels, exacerbating damage to cerebral vasodilation function and subsequently reducing cerebral blood flow in the brain. The above-mentioned phenomena induced by Aβ can be significantly improved by the combined intervention of SL and SIF. Further research has revealed that the combined intervention of SL and SIF can reverse the downregulation of the PI3K/PIP3/PDK-1/Akt/eNOS signaling pathway and phosphorylated protein expression induced by Aβ in rat brain vascular tissues and bEND.3 cells. Silencing PDK-1 expression in bEND.3 cells showed that the upregulation effect of SL and SIF on Akt and eNOS disappeared. Here we find that prophylactically supplementation with SL in conjunction with SIF appears to effectively activate the PI3K/PIP3/PDK-1/Akt/eNOS pathway within cerebral vascular. This activation improves cerebrovascular vasodilation, offering potential protective effects for both cerebral vascular health and cognitive function.

內(nèi)容: Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis and Bifidobacterium adolescentis play important roles in the guts of infants and adolescents, respectively. In this study, using a neonatal rat model, we compared the protective effects of these 2 bifidobacterial species against Salmonella infection. The results demonstrated that B. longum subsp. infantis was more effective than B. adolescentis in alleviating the severity of infection in newborn rats exposed to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain SL1344. B. longum subsp. infantis attenuated intestinal inflammation and mucosal damage induced by Salmonella infection, as well as protecting intestinal nerves and intestinal barrier function through TLR4/MyD88 signalling. B. longum subsp. infantis also displayed the potential to modulate gut metabolites by promoting the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and α-linolenic acid) and purine metabolism (guanine, adenine, inosine and adenosine), thereby regulating metabolic disturbances. Additionally, the benefits of B. longum subsp. infantis were also observed in the liver, spleen and brain, improving nerve reflexes and suppressing hepatosplenomegaly. Overall, these findings provide novel insights into the prevention and treatment of gut-related diseases in newborns, highlighting the potentially significant role of B. longum subsp. infantis in clinical applications.

內(nèi)容: In this study, polysaccharides were extracted from blueberry fruit (BFP) and isolated to 3 components (BFP-1, BFP-2 and BFP-3). The molecular weight, monosaccharide composition, characteristic groups, microscopic morphology, and triple helical conformation of the polysaccharides were characterized using high performance permeation chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatographymass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, scanning electron microscope and Congo red staining. Moreover, the hypolipidemic and immunological activities of the polysaccharides were also assessed. Results showed that the molecular weights of polysaccharides BFP-1, BFP-2, and BFP-3 were 5.547 × 104, 5.671 × 104, and 3.951 × 104 Da, respectively, the main monosaccharides were glucose (Glc), galactose (Gal) and arabinose (Ara), but BFP-3 was mainly composed of galacturonic acid (GalA), Glc, Gal, and Ara. The backbone of BFP-1 was →4)-Glcp-(1→, which branches to Ara and xylose (Xyl) residues, while the backbone of BFP-2 was →5)-Araf-(1→, which branches to Xyl, Glc, rhamnose (Rha) and Gal residues, in particularly, BFP-3 has a more complex branching with a →3,6)-Galp-(1→) backbone, the side chain is dominated by Araf-(1→). Blueberry polysaccharides are pyran-type polysaccharides with α-glycosidic bonds, and BFP-1 has a typical triple-helical structure. The activity assay revealed that the binding of BFP-3 to sodium glycylcholate hydrate and sodium taurocholate was 79.95% and 78.50%, respectively, indicating that it had better hypolipidemic activity than the others. Immunoactivity assay showed that BFP promoted NO secretion through activating the NF-κB signalling pathway in RAW264.7 cells, which played a role in enhancing the immune function of the organism. These findings may provide a reference for the development and application of blueberry polysaccharides in functional food and medicine.

內(nèi)容: Calycosin, Astragali Radix most prominent ingredient, has drawn more attention as a result of its ability to treat atherosclerosis (AS). However, the mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. We investigated the effects of calycosin on bile acid (BA) metabolism and gut microbiome in ApoE–/– mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). The data showed that the aorta of ApoE–/– mice treated with HFD showed significant atheromatous plaque formation and lipid accumulation, and the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were significantly increased, while the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were significantly decreased. Calycosin can substantially regulate lipid levels, thereby alleviating liver lipid deposition induced by atherosclerosis. In addition, 16S rRNA sequencing showed that calycosin treatment has reshaped the gut microbiota disturbed by HFD, in particular, increasing the ratio of Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes, and improving the relative abundance of Bilophila, Desulfovibrio, Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, etc. Meanwhile, targeted metabolomics analysis showed that calycosin treatment significantly modulated glycodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), taurocholic acids (TCA), lithocholic acid (LCA), deoxycholic acid (DCA), taurodeoxycholic acid (TDCA) and BA pool composition, which were associated with atherosclerotic plaque areas. In addition, calycosin treatment also down-regulated farnesoid X receptor (FXR) protein levels and up-regulated cytochrome P450 family 7 subfamily A member 1 (CYP7A1) protein levels in the hepatic. At the same time, calycosin inhibits the ileum FXR/TGR5 signaling pathway, inhibits BA reabsorption, promotes BA excretion, and reduces hepatic cholesterol accumulation by enterohepatic circulation. In addition, we found that calycosin significantly promoted the expression of hepatic ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and ABCG1 to mediate cholesterol efflux. Meanwhile, calycosin regulates gut microbiota, and Bacteroides, Alistipes, Desulfovibrio, Lactobacillus, Bilophila and Odoribacter are closely related to specific BAs. This enables us to further understand the relationship between BA metabolism and gut microbiota. Calycosin may reduce high-fat diet-induced hepatic cholesterol accumulation in ApoE–/– mice through gut microbiota and BA metabolism, and play a role in treating AS. Finally, we confirmed that calycosin-altered gut microbiota by fecal microbiota transplantation was sufficient to alleviate atherosclerosis. Taken together, our findings provide important insights into the pharmacological mechanisms underlying the efficacy of calycosin on atherosclerosis.

內(nèi)容: Background: Evidence regarding the effectiveness of prenatal nutritional supplements has mainly considered anthropometric pregnancy outcomes. The effect on markers of health and disease, such as offspring telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA content (mtDNAc) is unknown. Objectives: We assessed the efficacy of maternal multiple micronutrient (MMN)-fortified balanced-energy protein (BEP) and iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation on newborn TL as a secondary outcome and mtDNAc as a non-declared outcome. Design: We conducted a randomized controlled trial in rural Burkina Faso, among pregnant females (15-40 years old) enrolled at < 21 weeks of gestation. Mothers received either MMN-fortified BEP and IFA (intervention) or IFA only (control) throughout pregnancy. Whole arterial blood samples were collected from the umbilical cord of 104 control and 90 intervention group infants, respectively. Average relative TL and mtDNAc were measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Linear regression models were fitted to assess TL and mtDNAc differences across trial arms. Results: We found that a combined daily MMN-fortified BEP supplement and IFA tablet did not affect newborn TL [β = -0.010 (95% CI: -0.057, 0.036); P = 0.662] or mtDNAc [β = 0.065 (95% CI: -0.203, 0.073); P = 0.354], as compared to an IFA tablet alone. These findings were confirmed (P > 0.05) by adjusting the regression models for potential prognostic factors of study outcomes at enrollment. Exploratory analyses indicated higher, but non-significantly different mtDNAc among children born either small-for-gestational age, low birthweight, or preterm. Conclusion: Newborns from mothers who received daily nutritional supplements across gestation did not have different relative TL or mtDNAc.

內(nèi)容: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide. Gut microbiota and its metabolites alteration are closely related to NAFLD. Nootkatone is an edible flavorant derived from grapefruit which has a variety of biological activities. However, the precise mechanisms of nootkatone on NAFLD remains to be defined. Our results showed that nootkatone prevented body weight gain and decreased serum lipid level, hepatic lipogenesis, hepatic proinflammatory cytokines secretion in NAFLD mice. Also, nootkatone attenuated inflammatory response via inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway. Moreover, nootkatone restored intestinal barrier damage through increasing tight junction proteins and short chain fatty acids contents. Further 16S rRNA sequencing of colonic content suggested that nootkatone recovered the disturbed gut microbiota to improve NAFLD. Spearman correlation analysis between gut microbiota and NAFLD related parameters indicated that nootkatone regulated lipid metabolism and immunity via altering the gut microbiota. In conclusion, these findings revealed that nootkatone alleviated hepatic lipid homeostasis and inflammatory response in NAFLD mice, which associated with intestinal barrier integrity and the regulation of gut microbiota. This study provides new perspectives that nootkatone has efficacy on NAFLD via “gut-liver axis”, and nootkatone is expected to be developed as a functional food additive.

內(nèi)容: Red wine has a good potential for alleviating atherosclerosis, but the mechanisms related to hepatointestinal circulation remain to be elucidated. This study showed that administration of a high-polyphenol red wine (16 mL/(kg·day)) for 16 weeks significantly reduced the atherosclerotic lesion in high-fat diet-fed ApoE?/? mice. The total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels of plasma were lowered by 11.54% and 18.98%. The pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels were decreased by 27.59% and 31.92%. Red wine also reduced triglyceride (TG) level and lipid deposition in the liver, and increased the concentration of total bile acids (TBA). Untargeted metabolomics analysis indicated that red wine modulated the disorder of liver metabolism by regulating sphingolipid signaling pathway, sphingolipid metabolism, glycerophosphlipid metabolism, choline metabolism and bile secretion. 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that red wine increased the abundance of Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium and reduced the abundance of Mucispirillum, Romboutsia, Lactobacillus, Bilophila and Blautia, along with the increased concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in feces. These findings indicated that red wine could exert anti-atherosclerotic effect by regulating gut microbiota, restoring SCFAs, alleviating liver metabolic disorders.

內(nèi)容: Depression is a prevalent mental disorder with limited effective treatments, posing a significant global issue. This study explored L-theanine and geniposide, key components in “food-medicine homology” materials, to determine if their combination (TG) could alleviate depression-like behaviors and hippocampal neuronal damage in a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) mouse model. Male C57BL/6J mice were divided into control, CUMS model, and CUMS + TG groups with varying doses. The CUMS group displayed depression-like behaviors, including reduced activity and sucrose preference. TG treatment partially reversed these changes, significantly increasing antioxidant enzyme activities, decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, and improving neuromodulator levels. RNA-seq analysis identified the transthyretin (TTR) gene, upregulated in the model group but downregulated after TG treatment. TG treatment modulated intestinal microbiota composition compared to the CUMS group, including increased Firmicutes, reduced Bacteroidetes and Prevotella, and variable changes in Bifidobacterium abundance. In conclusion, our study indicates that CUMS exposure upregulates stress hormones and TTR expression, associated with neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, monoamine depletion, depression-like behaviors, and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis. TG treatment alleviates these effects and modulates intestinal microbiota, suggesting L-theanine and geniposide’s potential as a novel depression therapy.

內(nèi)容: Polygonati rhizoma is often used in Chinese medicine and as food. In this study, atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization and quadruple-time-of-flight (MALDI-Q-TOF) mass spectrometry techniques were applied to P. rhizoma samples from Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua species. Positive ions were mainly detected in the mass range of m/z 200–600, while negative ions were mainly observed in the mass range of m/z 100–450. A total of 263 components were identified and the spatial distribution and changes in saccharides contents during the steaming process of P. rhizoma were investigated. Monosaccharide and disaccharide exhibit a relatively uniform distribution, while the oligosaccharides were mainly found in the bast of fresh P. rhizoma. Although the contents of monosaccharide and disaccharide were increased during steaming, that of trisaccharide, tetrasaccharide, and pentasaccharide were decreased. We used the 5 saccharide types with the greatest variation in content as variables for the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis. Both PCA and cluster analysis showed that these 5 saccharides can be used as markers in the steaming process of the P. rhizoma. Present study of mass spectrometry imaging provides novel insights into the spatiotemporal accumulation patterns of saccharides in P. rhizoma, improving our understanding of the steaming process.

內(nèi)容: During obesity treatment, clinicians have been burdened by the ever-increasing number of patients and the side effects of drug treatment. Finding new plant-derived active ingredients as an intervention for obesity has become a research focus. In this study, Plackett-Burman and Central Composite Design experiments, plant-wide target metabolomics technology, simulated human colon fermentation test, and cell experiment in vitro were successively used to investigate the effects of fermented and unfermented polyphenols (FP and UP, respectively) of blue honeysuckle on obesity. After the optimization of the response surface method, polyphenol content ((1 878.08 ± 14.53) mg/100 g) increased by 2.63 times after Lactobacillus rhamnosus 6224 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae W5 mixed fermentation. There were 23 significantly different metabolites were observed in FP and UP. Of them, 7 different metabolites were significantly and positively correlated with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), whereas negatively correlated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The contents of these 7 metabolites were significantly increased in FP. Furthermore, the effects of FP and UP on the SCFA biosynthesis pathway were different. Cell experiments revealed that polyphenols can significantly promote the secretion of gastrointestinal endogenous hormones and insulin and inhibit interleukin-6 levels. Linear regression analysis revealed SCFAs had a positive regulatory effect on glycolipid metabolism, whereas LPS had a negative effect. Overall, these crucial findings provide an economical and simple method for obtaining blue honeysuckle polyphenols and laying a theoretical foundation for its application in the therapeutic intervention against obesity.