Journal of Food Biochemistry最新文献

In this study, targeting acetylcholinesterase (AChE) related to Alzheimer’s disease, a screening method, affinity ultrafiltration combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (AUF–UHPLC–Q-TOF MS) was developed for the discovery and identification of AChE inhibitors from Phyllanthus emblica L. fruits, a medicinal and food homologous plant. The 30% ethanol extract of P. emblica fruit was incubated with AChE allowing active components to form complexes with AChE. Subsequently, the complexes were separated from the incubation and dissociated to release active components, followed by UHPLC–Q-TOF MS analysis. Ultimately, a total of 18 compounds bound to AChE were screened out and identified. Among them, elaeocarpusin, putranjivain A, and chebulagic acid were confirmed to possess the highest affinity to AChE by molecular docking. Subsequently, the AChE inhibitory activity of commercially available chebulagic acid and corilagin was verified in vitro. Ultimately, cellular assays demonstrated that both chebulagic acid and corilagin enhanced cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner when compared to a model of AD cells induced by Aβ_25–35. Moreover, it was noted that chebulagic acid exhibited superior protective effects relative to corilagin against Aβ_25–35-induced injury in PC12 cells. These findings indicate that the developed methodology is not only straightforward and rapid but also reliable, offering significant insights for the screening of active compounds from complex medicinal and food homologous plants.

Background: Aging is usually accompanied by a significant decline in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) level. Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is a crucial precursor molecule of NAD⁺ with a variety of bioactivities beneficial to health, and the present study just aimed to explore the antiaging effects of NMN and the mechanism of action by using a nontargeted metabolomic strategy.

Methods: An aging mouse model induced by D-galactosamine (D-gal) was established, which was followed by treatment with NMN (at doses of 100 to 500 mg/kg per day) via oral administration for 10 weeks. The physiological and biochemical changes involved in the aging process were closely monitored to investigate the interventional effects of NMN. Plasma samples were subjected to assay by UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS to reveal the mechanism of action via systematic data mining and statistical analysis.

Results: D-gal injection at a dose of 500 mg/kg per day for 7 weeks successfully induced the aging model in mice. Long-term supplementation with NMN could significantly improve the antioxidant and immune function, boost lipid metabolism, and reduce aging-related inflammatory response in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The nontargeted metabolomic analysis further demonstrated that the interventional effect of NMN on aging mice may be closely related to the regulation of lipid and purine metabolism.

Conclusions: Long-term NMN supplementation could display robust antiaging effects mainly by regulating lipid and purine metabolism, which thus deserves great attention for antiaging intervention.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the potential of medicinal plants for preventing and treating neurodegenerative diseases. This study investigated the neuroprotective properties of aqueous extracts derived from the pulp, seed, and almonds of Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf. and Ziziphus lotus (L.) Lam. These extracts were assessed in vitro for their impact on acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and β-amyloid aggregation, all key factors associated with neurodegenerative disorders (NDs). Given the strong connection between NDs and oxidative damage, as well as the role of metal accumulation in exacerbating oxidative stress and amyloid plaque formation, the antioxidant abilities of the extracts were also evaluated using various methods including ferric-reducing antioxidant power, cupric-reducing antioxidant capacity, and metal chelating assays. Furthermore, the study analyzed the total phenolic and flavonoid contents using standard spectrophotometric techniques, and the secondary metabolite composition was examined through UHPLC-DAD analysis. To better understand the relationship between different plant species and their organ types with specific phenolic compounds and biological activities, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed for data analysis. Results revealed the presence of 25 secondary metabolites categorized into phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Interestingly, the seed extracts exhibited the highest bioactivity, significantly inhibiting antioxidant and cholinergic enzymes. In addition, almond extracts displayed promising antiamyloidogenic properties, effectively suppressing oligomers, fibrillation of Aβ42, and the amyloid cascade. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of seed and almond extracts from Z. spina-christi (L.) Desf. and Z. lotus (L.) Lam. as valuable sources of natural compounds with neuroprotective properties against neurodegenerative diseases.

Tilapia is a kind of fish with a huge amount of aquaculture, and a lot of byproducts are wasted in processing. Of these, fish skin is the most valued due to its high content of gelatin, which has good characteristics such as low hypoallergenic, biocompatibility, and permeability. In this study, a novel pentapeptide (Leu-Ser-Gly-Tyr-Gly, LYG) was isolated from gelatin gastrointestinal digests of tilapia skin and verified the anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic activity of LYG, which can inhibit scar formation. In addition, the active sites were analyzed using molecular docking. The key active amino acids Leu and Tyr of LYG were able to form hydrogen bonds and good hydrophobic structures with transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1). Hyperplastic scar (HS) is a common fibrous proliferative disorder of the skin, and fibrosis is the process of scar formation. It is well known that the inhibition of collagen and angiogenesis is an effective way to combat HS. The results of this study show that LYG inhibited collagen synthesis and inflammatory stress in mouse fibroblasts (L929), suppressed the angiogenic signaling pathway in vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs), and reduced scar formation after wound healing in mice. This study provides new ideas for improving the diversified use of tilapia resources.

To explore the effects of hydroxyl-α-sanshool (HAS) administration on the intestinal health of high-fat diet-fed mice, mice were separated into a control (CN) group, a model (MC) group, a HAS (8 mg/kg bw) (HD) group, and a HAS (8 mg/kg bw) + Compound C (10 mg/kg·4 d) (HA) group. After 4 weeks of treatment, the mice were fasted for 12 h prior to sacrifice, and autopsy samples were taken for analysis. HAS improved inflammatory and metabolic imbalances by activating AMPK, as shown by biochemical, microbiota composition, and metabolomics analyses. These findings suggest that HAS can maintain intestinal health through AMPK-mediated amino acid metabolism.

Honey contains vital compounds capable of ameliorating oxidative stress damage. Two markers of total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (TAC) have been selected for the classification of honey samples for investigating the protective effects of different honey samples on hepatotoxicity induced by CCl₄. Hence, 56 male Wistar rats in 8 groups were selected and were given a daily single dose (20%) of honey samples classified as weak, medium, and strong based on TPC and TAC. After four weeks of pretreatment, acute liver damage (ALD) was induced in treated groups using CCl4 mixed with corn oil in a 1:1 ratio. Following ALD induction, the animals were sacrificed. Various samples were then collected for analysis, including serum samples for biochemistry tests (ALT, AST, ALP, and FBS) and antioxidant status assessment (DPPH, FRAP, THIOL, and MDA); urine samples for antioxidant status evaluation (DPPH, FRAP, and MDA); liver tissue homogenate for oxidative stress marker analysis (SOD, CAT, GPx, and MDA); and tissue samples for histopathological examination. Biochemical results showed a significant decrease (p ≤ 0.05) in ALT, AST, ALP, and FBS values in ALD groups treated with honey; antioxidant and oxidative stress evaluations also exactly approved the same results by an insignificant decrease (p ≥ 0.05) in serum MDA and a significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) in THIOL and DPPH and also a reduction in urinary MDA and increase of urinary DPPH all compared to positive control (p ≤ 0.05). SOD, CAT, and GPx activities and MDA values in liver homogenate also ameliorated in honey-treated group (p ≤ 0.05). Histopathological evaluations confirmed less damage in treated groups, especially in stronger honey. Potent honey samples based on TPC and TAC have more protective effects in hepatotoxicity.

Despite the number of nutritional and medicinal plant-based products that have been studied for decades, there are still many rare and underutilized plants of biological importance, whose nutritional and biochemical properties are unmatched, especially the wild doum palm, Hyphaene thebaica. Therefore, it is necessary to unveil the potential advantages of the wild fruit Hyphaene thebaica. The edible wild palm fruit is a rich source of novel nutraceutical and pharmaceutical constituents. It is a rare, underutilized but highly nutritious fruit found in the tropics, and it is rich in a variety of time-proven healthy macro- and micronutrients. In addition to its domestic uses, it has a variety of significant healing potentials such as antioxidant properties, antihypertensive properties, hypolipidemic properties, antidiabetic properties, antimicrobial properties, cytotoxic/anticancer properties, hypolipidemic and neuroprotective properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and hepatoprotective properties, among others. We hereby present a review of this multifunctional palm fruit, a rare and highly potent edible palm fruit with a broad spectrum of biochemical, domestic, nutraceutical, and pharmacological properties, which makes it a rare gem in the class of plant-based functional food products. Much research and more clinical trials are necessary to further ascertain the veracity of the reported bioactivities through isolation, purification, and identification of the bioactive compounds. The multipurpose nature of the plant necessitates more research on its utilization in the fulfilment of various aspects of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder requiring continuous care and treatment. Therefore, exploring the therapeutic potential of natural ingredients for AD is essential. This study conducted a network analysis to investigate the anti-AD effects of propolis and its underlying mechanism, with a focus on the compositional differences between Korean and Brazilian propolis. To identify the bioactive components and related mechanisms, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in AD-induced HaCaT cells with and without propolis treatment were identified. NCBI, SwissTargetPrediction, STITCH, and the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) were used to identify target genes of the propolis compounds, and these genes were compared with the DEGs to identify the shared target genes. Notably, CXCL10 and CCL2 were highly associated with target genes shared between Korean and Brazilian propolis, with Korean propolis affecting TLR4, RIPK2, and PYCARD and Brazilian propolis influencing CEBPB, PTGS2, and DAB2IP. Korean propolis was found to predominantly impact the regulation of mast cell activation and the cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway, whereas Brazilian propolis primarily affects Type I interferon–mediated regulation and the TNF signaling pathway. Additionally, both the TNF and IL-17 signaling pathways were implicated in the mechanisms of both Brazilian propolis and Korean propolis. Furthermore, our study validated the therapeutic potential of propolis in AD treatment, as evidenced by significant reductions in TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-13, CXCL10, CCL2, and histamine release in an AD-induced model. This study confirms the efficacy of Korean and Brazilian propolis in treating AD and reveals molecular mechanism differences due to variations in major components and target genes.

Browning reactions caused by oxidative stress occurring during postharvest procedures significantly compromise the quality of ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetables, negatively affecting their market value. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) are two major enzymes involved in this phenomenon, as they oxidize phenolic compounds to quinones, which in turn polymerize to brown pigments. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in developing antibrowning treatments using food by-products. Herein, the efficiency of a kiwi peel extract in reducing enzymatic browning of minimally processed lettuce (Lactuca sativa) has been investigated. PPO and POD activities showed an opposite spatial distribution within the leaf, with a higher POD activity in the midvein (MV) and in the inner lamina tissues, and a prevalence of PPO activity in the mesophyll. Considering that MV lignified tissues are those mainly affected by browning, the temporal trend of POD activity over a 20-day storage period at 4°C was investigated. Data showed that treatment with a kiwi peel extract hinders both the increasing trend of POD activity and browning development compared to control leaves. These results could be potentially useful for the industry as they confirm that natural extracts, such as kiwi peel extract, can be valuable for extending the shelf-life of RTE products.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a very aggressive cancer and CCA treatments with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) often cause side effects and drug resistance. This study aimed to investigate the combined effects of Valencia KK4-type peanut’s (Arachis hypogaea L.) skin ethanolic extract (KK4-PSE) and cisplatin or 5-FU on CCA cells in vitro and in nude mouse xenografts. Antiproliferative activity was evaluated using MTT assay. The in vitro drug interaction was studied by the Chou–Talalay method. Apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest were analyzed by flow cytometry. The levels of proteins involved in apoptosis were evaluated by western blot analysis. Mouse xenograft models were used to evaluate the anticancer activity of KK4-PSE in animals (in vivo). KK4-PSE inhibited the proliferation of CCA cell line (IC₅₀ = 37.22 ± 4.31, 26.27 ± 0.78, and 17.72 ± 0.50 μg/mL at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h exposures, respectively) more effectively than that of the noncancer H69 cholangiocyte cell line (IC₅₀ = 193.35 ± 6.55, 75.35 ± 1.00, and 57.41 ± 0.96 μg/mL at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h exposures, respectively). In KKU-M213B cells, KK4-PSE treatments in combination with cisplatin caused cell cycle arrest at G2/M, whereas combined KK4-PSE and 5-FU caused a significant increase of Sub G1 population for 24 h exposure. Furthermore, a significant increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells was also observed in combination treatments. The combination treatments of KK4-PSE with cisplatin and 5-FU caused downregulation of pERK1/2 and Bcl2 and caused a decrease in the Bcl2/Bax ratio, resulting in enhanced apoptosis. In addition, KK4-PSE treatments in combination with 5-FU suppressed tumor growth in BALB/cAJcl-Nu/Nu xenograft models more effectively than the combinations with cisplatin. Taken together, KK4-PSE may be an effective synergistic agent with 5-FU and cisplatin for CCA chemotherapy, warranting further clinical examination.