Nutraceuticals are principally extracted from natural products that are frequently safe and well-tolerated. Lycopene and berberine are natural plants with a wide range of beneficial effects including ...protective activities against metabolic disorders such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. These compounds might be considered technically more as a drug than a nutraceutical and could be prescribed as a product. However, further studies are needed to understand if these supplements could affect metabolic syndrome outcomes. Even if nutraceuticals exert a prophylactic activity within the body, their bioactivity and bioavailability have high interindividual variation, and precise assessment of biological function of these bioactive compounds in randomized clinical trials is critical. However, these reports must be interpreted with more considerations due to the low quality of the trials. The aim of this paper is to bring evidence about the management of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes through the use of nutraceuticals with particular attention to lycopene and berberine effectiveness.
•No anti-oxidative synergy between lycopene and anthocyanins.•Lycopene combined with methoxylated anthocyanins showed synergy of IL8 reduction.•Anthocyanins, except for peonidin-3-glucoside (7.5 μM), ...decreased lycopene uptake.•The reduced lycopene uptake adversely affected cellular antioxidant activity.•The lower the intracellular lycopene content, the higher the reduction of IL8.
Lycopene was combined with the glucosides of each of the six common anthocyanidins at 3 different ratios to investigate their interactions on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, and cellular uptake. The bioactivity interaction between lycopene and anthocyanins was studied in both chemical and cellular models. Anti-oxidative synergy was not seen in any of the tested lycopene-anthocyanin mixtures, nor in the models studied. When lycopene was paired with the methoxylated anthocyanins, the anti-inflammatory effect on the inhibition of the cytokine IL-8, which is a pro-inflammatory biomarker, was increased by 15–69% of the expected additive activity, indicating synergistic interaction between the compounds. The cellular uptake of lycopene was significantly impaired by the presence of the anthocyanins: reduced by 50–80% at the lycopene: anthocyanin combinatory ratios of 2.5:7.5 μM (1:3) or 5:5 μM (1:1). The reduced intracellular lycopene content might be partly responsible for the antagonistic cellular antioxidant property seen in some of the tested mixtures.
Gut microbes play significant roles in colitis development. The current study was aimed to uncover the preventive effects of lycopene (LYC), a functional carotenoid component, on colitis and the ...accompanied behavior disorders. The current study demonstrated that LYC treatment (50 mg/kg body weight/day) for 40 days prevented the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced gut barrier damages and inflammatory responses in male mice. LYC improved DSS-induced depression and anxiety-like behavioral disorders by suppressing neuroinflammation and prevented synaptic ultrastructure damages by upregulating the expressions of neurotrophic factor and postsynaptic-density protein. Moreover, LYC reshaped the gut microbiome in colitis mice by decreasing the relative abundance of proteobacteria and increasing the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. LYC also elevated the generation of short-chain fatty acids and inhibited the permeability of lipopolysaccharide in colitis mice. In conclusion, LYC ameliorate DSS-induced colitis and behavioral disorders via mediating microbes–gut–brain axis balance.
Oral mucosal lesions have many etiologies, including viral or bacterial infections, local trauma or irritation, systemic disorders, and even excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption. Folk knowledge ...on medicinal plants and phytochemicals in the treatment of oral mucosal lesions has gained special attention among the scientific community. Thus, this review aims to provide a brief overview on the traditional knowledge of plants in the treatment of oral mucosal lesions. This review was carried out consulting reports between 2008 and 2018 of PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Database, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. The chosen keywords were plant, phytochemical, oral mucosa, leukoplakia, oral lichen planus and oral health. A special emphasis was given to certain plants (e.g., chamomile,
, green tea, and
) and plant-derived bioactives (e.g., curcumin, lycopene) with anti-oral mucosal lesion activity. Finally, preclinical (in vitro and in vivo) and clinical studies examining both the safety and efficacy of medicinal plants and their derived phytochemicals were also carefully addressed.
Dunaliella bardawil is a marine unicellular green algal that produces large amounts of β-carotene and is a model organism for studying the carotenoid synthesis pathway. However, there are still many ...mysteries about the enzymes of the D. bardawil lycopene synthesis pathway that have not been revealed. Here, we have identified a CruP-like lycopene isomerase, named DbLyISO, and successfully cloned its gene from D. bardawil. DbLyISO showed a high homology with CruPs. We constructed a 3D model of DbLyISO and performed molecular docking with lycopene, as well as molecular dynamics testing, to identify the functional characteristics of DbLyISO. Functional activity of DbLyISO was also performed by overexpressing gene in both E. coli and D. bardawil. Results revealed that DbLyISO acted at the C-5 and C-13 positions of lycopene, catalyzing its cis–trans isomerization to produce a more stable trans structure. These results provide new ideas for the development of a carotenoid series from engineered bacteria, algae, and plants.
•The emulsify properties of PZDs were susceptible to the DM values of pectin.•The formation of hydrogen bonds was the driving force as DM higher than 35.50 %.•Pickering emulsions showed good ...stability against pH and Ca2+.•Pickering emulsion exhibited good protective effects on lycopene.
Although the stabilization of Pickering emulsions based on the interaction of pectin and zein is known to be effective, the effects of the degree of methylation (DM) of pectin on the stability of Pickering emulsions remains unclear. In the present study, pectin/zein particle dispersions (PZDs) were fabricated by anti-solvent precipitation based on different DM values of pectin (13.70 %–71.42 %). Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) curves and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the methyl ester carbonyl and carbonyl groups significantly affected the formation of hydrogen bonds, which consequently resulting in the secondary conformation of PZDs as reflected by circular dichroism (CD). The PZDs fabricated by pectin with DM values higher than 35.50 % formation of the network between the barriers of the droplets, showed high stability against pH (3.0–9.0) and Ca2+ (60–300 mM) at an oil fraction (φ) of 0.60. Furthermore, the Pickering emulsions showed good lycopene protective effects.
Fruits and vegetables are generally considered as important contributors to a healthy diet and their intake is extremely helpful to reduce the risk of specific diseases like cancers, cardiovascular ...diseases, neural tube defects, and cataracts. Bioactive constituents from fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, folic acid and dietary fiber appear to play important roles in the prevention of these diseases. Carotenoids and their derivatives are versatile isoprenoids and play a vital role in plants and animals, starting from cellular antioxidant to gene regulation and so their importance at cellular and molecular level is well established. The most significant aspect of carotenoids in our diet is the antioxidant and provitamin A activity, and also the color that they impart to our food. The composition and bioavailability of carotenoids in food are significantly influenced by processing and other post-harvest technologies. This review discusses the theoretical aspects and recent developments in structural properties, biosynthesis and enhancement, processing, methods of analysis, composition in fruits and vegetables, and bioaccessibility and bioavailability of carotenoids. Additionally, future research challenges in this context are identified.
•Versatile use of carotenoids makes them potential candidates for genetic enhancement.•The food matrix plays a significant role in bioavailability of carotenoids.•All the available processing methods cause significant degradation of carotenoids.•HPLC is the gold standard for analysis of carotenoids in biological and food samples.
Few environmentally friendly solvents are available to extract carotenoids for use in foods. The most effective known solvents are products of the petroleum industry and toxic for human consumption. ...Yet carotenoid extracts are desirable for use in dietary supplements and as additives to enhance the health benefits of processed foods. Ethyl lactate is an excellent solvent to extract both trans- and cis-lycopene isomers from dried tomato powder, the extraction efficiency of which is enhanced by the addition of the antioxidants α-tocopherol and α-lipoic acid, both of which are known to benefit human health. It is also useful to extract lutein and β-carotene from dried powders prepared from white corn and carrots. Because of its low flammability and its origin as a byproduct of the corn and soybean industries, it is more advantageous than ethyl acetate, which is a petroleum product.
In order to discover new drug delivery approaches and to understand the mechanism of iron overload in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), we aimed to investigate the effects of lycopene (LYC) in the ...form of nano-liposomes (L-LYC) on iron-regulating proteins and ischemic brain injury. We found that L-LYC significantly increased the LYC content in serum and the brain. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats treated with L-LYC for 14 days were subjected to 60 min of ischemia and 7 days of reperfusion. The effects of L-LYC were evaluated by infarction volume, neurological score, neuronal apoptosis, and markers for oxidative stress. Levels of iron-regulating protein such as hepcidin and ferroportin (FPN1) were examined. L-LYC reduced cerebral infarction and improved neurobehavior of the rats more efficiently than “naked” LYC. L-LYC reduced protein levels of oxidases (e.g. nitric oxide synthase and NOX2), increased the level of Bcl-2, lowered caspase-3, and suppressed apoptosis through inhibiting MAPK-JNK. Furthermore, L-LYC suppressed hepcidin-mediated decrease in FPN1, a sole iron exporter, and normalized the levels of iron. We further demonstrated that the effect of L-LYC on hepcidin expression might result from its ability to attenuate the release of the inflammatory factor interleukin 6. The results demonstrated that nano-liposomal encapsulation significantly improved LYC efficacy in providing neuronal protection against I/R injury. The data also revealed a novel mechanism of L-LYC's neuroprotection by regulating iron metabolism in an ischemic brain.
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•L-LYC reduced cerebral infarction and improved neurobehavior of the rats more efficiently than “naked” LYC.•L-LYC reduced protein levels of oxidases (e.g. nitric oxide synthase and NOX2), increased the level of Bcl-2, lowered caspase-3, and suppressed apoptosis through inhibiting MAPK-JNK.•L-LYC suppressed the level of IL-6 and hepcidin-mediated decrease in FPN1, a sole iron exporter, and normalized the levels of iron.•The results demonstrated that nano-liposomal encapsulation significantly improved LYC efficacy in providing neuronal protection against I/R injury.•The data also revealed a novel mechanism of L-LYC's neuroprotection by regulating iron metabolism in an ischemic brain.
Retinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) often results in intractable visual impairments, where blood retinal barrier (BRB) homeostasis mediated by retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and retinal ...microvascular endothelium (RME) is crucial. However, strategies targeting the BRB are limited. Thus, we investigated the inconclusive effect of lycopene (LYC) in retinal protection under I/R. LYC elevated cellular viability and reversed oxidative stress in aRPE-19 cells/hRME cells under I/R conditions based on oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in vitro. Molecular analysis showed that LYC promoted NRF2 expression and enhanced the downstream factors of the KEAP1/NRF2/ARE pathway: LYC increased the activities of antioxidants, including SOD and CAT, whereas it enhanced the mRNA expression of HO-1 (ho-1) and NQO-1 (nqo-1). The activation resulted in restrained ROS and MDA. On the other hand, LYC ameliorated the damage to retinal function and morphology in a mouse I/R model, which was established by unilateral ligation of the left pterygopalatine artery/external carotid artery and reperfusion. LYC promoted the expression of NRF2 in both the neural retina and the RPE choroid in vivo. This evidence revealed the potential of LYC in retinal protection under I/R, uncovering the pharmacological effect of the KEAP1/NRF2/ARE pathway in BRB targeting. The study generates new insights into scientific practices in retinal research.
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•LYC is found to stabilize the BRB homeostasis in retinal I/R for the first time.•LYC protects against retinal I/R injury via increasing NRF2.•Antioxidants are the major facors in KEAP1/NRF2/ARE pathway activation by LYC.
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