Plant Extracts: From Extract Technology to Health Benefits—Volume II

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 2863

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetables Nutrition and Processing, Institute of Nutrition and School of Food Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China
Interests: phytochemicals; polyphenol; functional foods; gut health; intestinal microbiota; metabolic syndrome; metabolomics; molecular nutrition
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Volume I of this Special Issue (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods/special_issues/Plant_Extracts_From_Extract_Technology_Health_Benefits) was a great success and gained the attention and interest of many scholars. I take the opportunity here to thank them for their contributions and support. As the topic continues to gain the attention of scholars and play a pivotal role, we are looking forward to the launch of Volume II. I hope it will be as successful as Volume I and add significant value to the field.

The extraction of plant-specialized metabolites remains a challenge today. Indeed, the recovery of bioactive compounds from by-products deriving from agri-food chains fits the concept of environmental sustainability and circular economy. For this reason, optimizing extraction processes based on green technologies, characterized by low energy consumption, represents the goal of developing large-scale methods to be implemented at an industrial level.

This topical issue regards the validation of the functional activity of extracts on specific experimental models that account for the poor bioavailability and structural changes of these compounds, which is also due to the modulation of gut microbiota. Thus, this study on the biological effects of in vivo bio-transformed metabolites could represent another important advancement in the knowledge of the mechanisms of action triggered by these compounds.

Prof. Dr. Zheng Ruan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • phytochemicals
  • green extraction
  • natural extracts
  • bioavailability
  • gut microbiota
  • health effects

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 6428 KiB  
Article
The Molecular Mechanism Underlying the Therapeutic Effect of Dihydromyricetin on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Based on Network Pharmacology, Molecular Docking, and Transcriptomics
by Xinnian Wen, Chenghao Lv, Runze Zhou, Yixue Wang, Xixin Zhou and Si Qin
Foods 2024, 13(2), 344; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13020344 - 22 Jan 2024
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2422
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and complex disease, and traditional drugs have many side effects. The active compound dihydromyricetin (DHM), derived from natural plants, has been shown in our previous study to possess the potential for reducing blood glucose levels; [...] Read more.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and complex disease, and traditional drugs have many side effects. The active compound dihydromyricetin (DHM), derived from natural plants, has been shown in our previous study to possess the potential for reducing blood glucose levels; however, its precise molecular mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, network pharmacology and transcriptomics were performed to screen the molecular targets and signaling pathways of DHM disturbed associated with T2DM, and the results were partially verified by molecular docking, RT-PCR, and Western blotting at in vivo levels. Firstly, the effect of DHM on blood glucose, lipid profile, and liver oxidative stress in db/db mice was explored and the results showed that DHM could reduce blood glucose and improve oxidative stress in the liver. Secondly, GO analysis based on network pharmacology and transcriptomics results showed that DHM mainly played a significant role in anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and fatty acid metabolism in biological processes, on lipoprotein and respiratory chain on cell components, and on redox-related enzyme activity, iron ion binding, and glutathione transferase on molecular functional processes. KEGG system analysis results showed that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, IL17 signaling pathway, HIF signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, and TNF signaling pathway were typical signaling pathways disturbed by DHM in T2DM. Thirdly, molecular docking results showed that VEGFA, SRC, HIF1A, ESR1, KDR, MMP9, PPARG, and MAPK14 are key target genes, five genes of which were verified by RT-PCR in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, Western blotting results revealed that DHM effectively upregulated the expression of AKT protein and downregulated the expression of MEK protein in the liver of db/db mice. Therefore, our study found that DHM played a therapeutic effect partially by activation of the PI3K/AKT/MAPK signaling pathway. This study establishes the foundation for DHM as a novel therapeutic agent for T2DM. Additionally, it presents a fresh approach to utilizing natural plant extracts for chemoprevention and treatment of T2DM. Full article
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