The potential health benefits and mechanisms of sesame lignans in age-related diseases

Abstract

As the population ages, the occurrence of diseases related to aging increases, often accompanied by comorbidities and complications affecting multiple systems. Extracting multi-target pharmacologically active compounds from natural foods with health promotion or disease prevention capabilities is an important approach to improving age-related diseases. Sesame lignans, constituting the primary bioactive compounds in sesame seeds, possess considerable nutritional and health benefits. They have been proven to have beneficial effects on improving neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases, various tumors, cardiovascular diseases, and osteoporosis. However, it cannot be ignored that sesame and its products also have serious allergenicity, which can pose a threat to health. How to make rational use of sesame lignans to maximize benefits and avoid harm, is a direction that researchers need to focus on. Based on this, this review provides a systematic overview of how sesame lignans contribute to the enhancement of various age-related diseases and elucidates their associated mechanisms. It also substantiates their safety with pharmacokinetic data, with a particular focus on introducing the most recent desensitization approaches for their allergenic properties. In summary, as a component of functional foods, sesame lignans possess significant potential for advancement. The expectation is that the article will act as a beneficial resource for the creation and clinical application of novel functional foods sourced from nature.