Frontiers in Nutrition最新文献

Introduction: Quercetin (Que), a physiologically versatile flavonoid, faces application limitations in food and pharmaceuticals due to poor aqueous solubility and stability.

Method: To address this, we developed quercetin-loaded zein-sodium caseinate-fucoidan (Que-ZE-SC-FD) ternary nanoparticles using a green, pH-driven approach.

Results and discussion: The Que-ZE-SC-FD nanoparticle exhibited a spherical morphology stabilized by hydrogen bonding, electrostatic, and hydrophobic interactions, with a mean diameter of 137.8 ± 11.6 nm, PDI of 0.38 ± 0.04, z-potential of 34.9 ± 0.6mV, and high quercetin loading efficiency (92.8% ± 1.1%). Crucially, SC and FD demonstrated synergistic stabilization effects. The Que-ZE-SC-FD nanoparticle exhibited a mean particle size of 150.8 ± 0.6 nm at a pH of 8.0, and solution remained clear and transparent with no observable sediment. Under a NaCl concentration of 3.0 mol/L, the particle size decreased to 127.8 ± 4.5 nm. Upon heating at 80°C for 2 h, the particle size further reduced to 121.3 ± 1.2 nm, with a PDI of 0.34 ± 0.02. After 28 days of storage, the particle size decreased to 125.1 ± 1.9 nm, while the PDI decreased slightly to 0.32 ± 0.01 and the zeta potential increased to 31.6 ± 1.5mV, collectively indicating excellent stability. Under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, the Que release from ZE-SC-FD nanoparticles was only 22.2 ± 0.5% in gastric fluid; however, a significantly higher release rate of 75.0 ± 0.5% was achieved in intestinal fluid. These results demonstrate that ZE-SC-FD nanoparticles serve as a robust nanocarrier system for encapsulating, protecting, and delivering quercetin.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1676619.].

Objective: This study employs bibliometric and network pharmacology methods to systematically analyze the development trends, knowledge structure, and potential biological mechanisms of luteolin research from 2000 to 2025, providing insights for its application in nutritional health and disease prevention.

Methods: Based on the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC), combined with Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and citespace, we conducted analyses of publication characteristics, keywords, journals, and co-citation networks. Simultaneously, integrating TM-MC, string, and Cytoscape, we constructed a luteolin target-pathway-disease network and performed core target and KEGG enrichment analyses.

Results: Luteolin research exhibits sustained growth, with a significant increase after 2021. Research focus has expanded from early antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms to metabolic health, immune regulation, tumor suppression, and multisystem protection. Network pharmacology identified 239 potential targets, with core targets including TP53, TNF, STAT3, and EGFR, significantly enriched in p53, PI3K-Akt, TNF, and IL-17 pathways. Disease association networks indicate luteolin's potential to intervene in neurological, circulatory, metabolic, immune, digestive, respiratory disorders, and multiple tumors, exhibiting typical multi-target comprehensive regulatory characteristics.

Introduction: Insulin resistance (IR) is central to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Composite indices including the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR), triglyceride-glucose index (TyG), and TyG-BMI, are widely used to quantify IR severity. The gut microbiome (GM) has been implicated in metabolic dysregulation, but its associations with IR remain incompletely defined.

Methods: We collected blood test results and stool samples from participants with T2DM and healthy controls. Stool samples underwent 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We trained XGBoost models to distinguish individuals with higher IR from healthy controls based on GM profiles and performed correlation analyses between GM features, clinical measures, and IR indices.

Results: Triglycerides (TG), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) differed significantly between the T2DM and control groups. IR indices (AIP, METS-IR, TyG, and TyG-BMI) were markedly higher in the T2DM group. XGBoost models based on GM profiles showed high discriminatory performance for identifying T2DM individuals with higher IR, with Bacteroides and Faecalibacterium contributing most to model performance. Correlation analyses further indicated that Lachnospiraceae_UCG-010, Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Parasutterella, and Escherichia-Shigella were associated with clinical measures and IR indices.

Conclusions: Specific GM features are associated with IR-related clinical measures and composite indices in T2DM, supporting their potential as intervention targets to improve insulin resistance and restore carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

Background: Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient, yet both its deficiency and overload have been associated with disruptions in lipid metabolism. This study investigated the effects of moderate iron deficiency and high dietary iron on lipid metabolic pathways in mice.

Methods: Five-week male C57BL/6J mice were fed for 16 weeks on one of three diets: a basal iron-deficient diet without iron supplementation (FeD, 19.26 mg/kg Fe), and the same basal diet supplemented with either 200 mg Fe/kg (iron-adequate control, Control) or 1,200 mg Fe/kg (high-iron, FeH). Growth performance, iron status, serum lipids, tissue iron deposition, hepatic fatty acid composition, and expression of key genes and enzymes involved in lipid metabolism were analyzed.

Results: The FeD group exhibited increased body weight and feed intake, and reduced systemic iron parameters. Molecular analysis revealed a distinct pattern of lipid metabolic disruption in FeD, characterized by the upregulation of certain hepatic lipogenic transcripts (ACLY, SREBP1c, PPARγ) but without a concomitant increase in functional lipogenic output or hepatic triglycerides. Notably, the elevation in SCD1 protein occurred alongside a decreased hepatic C18:1 n-9/C18:0 ratio in the FeD group. In adipose tissue, FeD specifically enhanced lipolysis gene expression (ATGL, HSL, FABP4), indicating elevated lipid mobilization. In contrast, FeH mice developed hyperlipidemia and hepatic iron overload, which was driven by direct activation of the hepatic SREBP1c pathway and its lipogenic targets (ACC, FAS, SCD1). Hamp expression was significantly upregulated in the FeH group compared to both the control and FeD groups (p < 0.05). Although both diets altered hepatic fatty acid composition, they operated through fundamentally distinct mechanisms.

Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that moderate iron deficiency and high iron intake disrupt hepatic lipid metabolism via different pathways: FeD primarily through systemic adaptations leading to post-translational constraints on iron-dependent enzymes, whereas FeH acts through direct transcriptional activation of hepatic de novo lipogenesis, potentially involving hepcidin-mediated cross-talk. The study underscores the critical importance of iron homeostasis in preventing dyslipidemia and hepatic steatosis and provides mechanistic insights that could inform dietary recommendations for populations at risk of metabolic disorders.

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in prostate cancer patients. Compared with previous reviews, this study is the first to systematically grade and evaluate the quality of evidence regarding the association between PNI and prostate cancer prognosis using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) framework, which can provide more reliable and transparent evidence for clinical practice.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases up to June 2025. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Outcomes included associations between PNI and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Meta-analysis, Egger's test, and sensitivity analysis were performed using Review Manager 5.4.1 and Stata 15.1. The certainty of evidence for each outcome was evaluated and graded according to GRADE.

Results: The systematic search identified 857 related studies, with 11 studies included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that a lower PNI was significantly associated with shorter OS (hazard ratio (HR): 2.03; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.68, 2.46; P < 0.00001) and PFS (HR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.65, 2.50; P < 0.00001). There was no significant publication bias for OS (P = 0.051), but there was significant publication bias for PFS (P = 0.014). Sensitivity analyses confirmed that the results for OS and PFS were stable and reliable. Regarding the certainty of evidence, OS was rated as moderate quality evidence, while the PFS was rated as low quality.

Conclusions: Low PNI is associated with shorter OS and PFS in prostate cancer patients. Considering the inherent limitations of this study, more prospective studies are needed to confirm the association between PNI and the prognosis of prostate cancer patients.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251154118, identifier: CRD420251154118.

Background: The coexistence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) is common and portends a poorer prognosis. This study evaluated whether the Advanced Lung Cancer Inflammation Index (ALI) and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score-composite biomarkers of inflammation and malnutrition-are associated with AF prevalence in COPD patients.

Methods: This multicenter, cross-sectional study included 1,510 hospitalized patients with COPD. AF was diagnosed according to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines, encompassing both a documented clinical history and electrocardiographic evidence. The ALI and CONUT scores were calculated from baseline data. Their independent and combined associations with AF were assessed using multivariate logistic regression, restricted cubic splines (RCS), and analyses of joint groups based on optimal cut-off values. Model performance and improvement were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and decision curve analysis (DCA). The robustness of the findings was further tested through extensive subgroup and sensitivity analyses.

Results: Among 1,510 patients with COPD, 425 (28.15%) had AF. After comprehensive adjustment for confounders, both a lower ALI and a higher CONUT score were independently associated with increased odds of AF. A nonlinear, L-shaped relationship was identified for ALI (inflection point: 16.09), while CONUT exhibited a linear, positive association. Patients in the combined "low ALI and high CONUT" group had the highest odds of AF (OR = 2.420, 95% CI: 1.721-3.403). The integration of both indices into the baseline model yielded a statistically significant improvement in discriminative power (AUC: 0.842 vs. 0.835, p = 0.031), accompanied by substantial reclassification improvement (NRI = 0.273, p < 0.001). The findings remained consistent across extensive sensitivity analyses and most clinical subgroups, with a notable interaction observed specifically in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Conclusion: Lower ALI and higher CONUT scores were significantly associated with a higher prevalence of AF in COPD patients. These readily available composite indices, particularly when used in combination, may aid in identifying patients at increased odds of AF, who could be prioritized for further evaluation.