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Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases
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Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 28641

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2133, USA
Interests: secondary metabolism of plants under stress conditions; functional foods and cell molecular targets; postharvest biology and technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ivan Torre-Villalvazo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Fisiología de la Nutrición, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, México City, Mexico
Interests: metabolic syndrome; nutrigenomics; lipotoxicity; adipose tissue dysfunction; endoplasmic reticulum stress

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, "Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases", will cover a selection of recent research topics and current review articles in the field of nutraceuticals, focusing on in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies evaluating their potential application as preventive and therapeutic agents against chronic disease. Experimental papers, up-to-date review articles, and commentaries are all welcome.

Today, chronic diseases are the leading causes of death worldwide, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular (ischemic heart disease, stroke), respiratory (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and neurological disorders (Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias). Two main approaches have been used to combat chronic diseases: prevention and treatment. Some treatments exist that ease symptoms and can sometimes cure chronic diseases if diagnosed early but are very expensive and may have adverse side effects. Developing a new drug is highly costly. Thus, researchers have been increasingly investigating a group of compounds naturally found in foods, known as nutraceuticals, for the management of chronic diseases. Nutraceuticals possess many attractive advantages; they are natural, safe for consumption, less expensive than drugs, and have preventive and therapeutic activities against chronic diseases. Hence, nutraceuticals have potential as alternative treatments for CDDs.

There are three states linked to developing a chronic disease as indicated in the following figure: the healthy, pre-disease, and disease states. The pre-disease state is a condition where an individual presents certain symptoms that if not attended might develop into disease (e.g., high level of glucose in the blood might lead to diabetes; polyps in the colon might develop into colon cancer). In this Special Issue, we would like to receive contributions that add information about specific nutraceuticals that can reverse the pre-disease state to the healthy state and the disease state to the pre-disease state. Studies evaluating nutraceuticals by in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos
Dr. Ivan Torre-Villalvazo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Nutraceuticals
  • Chronic diseases
  • In vitro studies
  • In vivo studies
  • Clinical studies
  • Preventive effect
  • Therapeutic effect

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3211 KiB  
Article
Pachymic Acid Attenuated Doxorubicin-Induced Heart Failure by Suppressing miR-24 and Preserving Cardiac Junctophilin-2 in Rats
by Nahla N. Younis, Alaa Salama, Mohamed A. Shaheen and Rana G. Eissa
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(19), 10710; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms221910710 - 2 Oct 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2746
Abstract
Defects in cardiac contractility and heart failure (HF) are common following doxorubicin (DOX) administration. Different miRs play a role in HF, and their targeting was suggested as a promising therapy. We aimed to target miR-24, a suppressor upstream of junctophilin-2 (JP-2), which is [...] Read more.
Defects in cardiac contractility and heart failure (HF) are common following doxorubicin (DOX) administration. Different miRs play a role in HF, and their targeting was suggested as a promising therapy. We aimed to target miR-24, a suppressor upstream of junctophilin-2 (JP-2), which is required to affix the sarcoplasmic reticulum to T-tubules, and hence the release of Ca2+ in excitation–contraction coupling using pachymic acid (PA) and/or losartan (LN). HF was induced with DOX (3.5 mg/kg, i.p., six doses, twice weekly) in 24 rats. PA and LN (10 mg/kg, daily) were administered orally for four weeks starting the next day of the last DOX dose. Echocardiography, left ventricle (LV) biochemical and histological assessment and electron microscopy were conducted. DOX increased serum BNP, HW/TL, HW/BW, mitochondrial number/size and LV expression of miR-24 but decreased EF, cardiomyocyte fiber diameter, LV content of JP-2 and ryanodine receptors-2 (RyR2). Treatment with either PA or LN reversed these changes. Combined PA + LN attained better results than monotherapies. In conclusion, HF progression following DOX administration can be prevented or even delayed by targeting miR-24 and its downstream JP-2. Our results, therefore, suggest the possibility of using PA alone or as an adjuvant therapy with LN to attain better management of HF patients, especially those who developed tolerance toward LN. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases)
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16 pages, 3618 KiB  
Article
Complexation with Random Methyl-β-Cyclodextrin and (2-Hidroxypropyl)-β-Cyclodextrin Enhances In Vivo Anti-Fibrotic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Chrysin via the Inhibition of NF-κB and TGF-β1/Smad Signaling Pathways and Modulation of Hepatic Pro/Anti-Fibrotic miRNA
by Alina Ciceu, Cornel Balta, Hidegard Herman, Sami Gharbia, Simona-Rebeca Ignat, Sorina Dinescu, Judit Váradi, Ferenc Fenyvesi, Szilvia Gyöngyösi, Anca Hermenean and Marieta Costache
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(4), 1869; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22041869 - 13 Feb 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3126
Abstract
Chrysin (CHR) is a natural flavonoid with a wide range of pharmacological activities, including hepatoprotection, but poor water solubility. By including water-soluble hydroxypropyl (HPBCD) and randomly methylated (RAMEB) β-cyclodextrin, we aimed to increase its biodisponibility and the effectiveness of the antifibrotic effects of [...] Read more.
Chrysin (CHR) is a natural flavonoid with a wide range of pharmacological activities, including hepatoprotection, but poor water solubility. By including water-soluble hydroxypropyl (HPBCD) and randomly methylated (RAMEB) β-cyclodextrin, we aimed to increase its biodisponibility and the effectiveness of the antifibrotic effects of chrysin at oral administration. Liver fibrosis in mice was induced in 7 weeks by CCl4 i.p. administration, and afterwards treated with 50 mg/kg of CHR-HPBCD, CHR-RAMEB, and free chrysin. CCl4 administration increased hepatic inflammation (which was augmented by the upregulation of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) and induced fibrosis, as determined using histopathology and electron microscopy. These results were also confirmed by the upregulation of Collagen I (Col I) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression, which led to extracellular fibrotic matrix proliferation. Moreover, the immunopositivity of alpha-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) in the CCl4 group was evidence of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation. The main profibrotic pathway was activated, as confirmed by an increase in the transforming growth factor- β1 (TGF-β1) and Smad 2/3 expression, while Smad 7 expression was decreased. Treatment with CHR–HPBCD and CHR–RAMEB considerably reduced liver injury, attenuated inflammation, and decreased extracellular liver collagen deposits. CHR–RAMEB was determined to be the most active antifibrotic complex. We conclude that both nanocomplexes exert anti-inflammatory effects and antifibrotic effects in a considerably stronger manner than for free chrysin administration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases)
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26 pages, 5925 KiB  
Article
Goat’s Milk Intake Prevents Obesity, Hepatic Steatosis and Insulin Resistance in Mice Fed A High-Fat Diet by Reducing Inflammatory Markers and Increasing Energy Expenditure and Mitochondrial Content in Skeletal Muscle
by Claudia Delgadillo-Puga, Lilia G. Noriega, Aurora M. Morales-Romero, Antonio Nieto-Camacho, Omar Granados-Portillo, Leonardo A. Rodríguez-López, Gabriela Alemán, Janette Furuzawa-Carballeda, Armando R. Tovar, Luis Cisneros-Zevallos and Ivan Torre-Villalvazo
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(15), 5530; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21155530 - 1 Aug 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 7156
Abstract
Goat’s milk is a rich source of bioactive compounds (peptides, conjugated linoleic acid, short chain fatty acids, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols such as phytoestrogens and minerals among others) that exert important health benefits. However, goat’s milk composition depends on the type [...] Read more.
Goat’s milk is a rich source of bioactive compounds (peptides, conjugated linoleic acid, short chain fatty acids, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols such as phytoestrogens and minerals among others) that exert important health benefits. However, goat’s milk composition depends on the type of food provided to the animal and thus, the abundance of bioactive compounds in milk depends on the dietary sources of the goat feed. The metabolic impact of goat milk rich in bioactive compounds during metabolic challenges such as a high-fat (HF) diet has not been explored. Thus, we evaluated the effect of milk from goats fed a conventional diet, a conventional diet supplemented with 30% Acacia farnesiana (AF) pods or grazing on metabolic alterations in mice fed a HF diet. Interestingly, the incorporation of goat’s milk in the diet decreased body weight and body fat mass, improved glucose tolerance, prevented adipose tissue hypertrophy and hepatic steatosis in mice fed a HF diet. These effects were associated with an increase in energy expenditure, augmented oxidative fibers in skeletal muscle, and reduced inflammatory markers. Consequently, goat’s milk can be considered a non-pharmacologic strategy to improve the metabolic alterations induced by a HF diet. Using the body surface area normalization method gave a conversion equivalent daily human intake dose of 1.4 to 2.8 glasses (250 mL per glass/day) of fresh goat milk for an adult of 60 kg, which can be used as reference for future clinical studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases)
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Review

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23 pages, 1265 KiB  
Review
Utilization of Isoflavones in Soybeans for Women with Menopausal Syndrome: An Overview
by Li-Ru Chen and Kuo-Hu Chen
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(6), 3212; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22063212 - 22 Mar 2021
Cited by 69 | Viewed by 14449
Abstract
Based on their nutrient composition, soybeans and related foods have been considered to be nutritious and healthy for humans. Particularly, the biological activity and subsequent benefits of soy products may be associated with the presence of isoflavone in soybeans. As an alternative treatment [...] Read more.
Based on their nutrient composition, soybeans and related foods have been considered to be nutritious and healthy for humans. Particularly, the biological activity and subsequent benefits of soy products may be associated with the presence of isoflavone in soybeans. As an alternative treatment for menopause-related symptoms, isoflavone has gained much popularity for postmenopausal women who have concerns related to undergoing hormone replacement therapy. However, current research has still not reached a consensus on the effects of isoflavone on humans. This overview is a summary of the current literature about the processing of soybeans and isoflavone types (daidzein, genistein, and S-equol) and supplements and their extraction and analysis as well as information about the utilization of isoflavones in soybeans. The processes of preparation (cleaning, drying, crushing and dehulling) and extraction of soybeans are implemented to produce refined soy oil, soy lecithin, free fatty acids, glycerol and soybean meal. The remaining components consist of inorganic constituents (minerals) and the minor components of biologically interesting small molecules. Regarding the preventive effects on diseases or cancers, a higher intake of isoflavones is associated with a moderately lower risk of developing coronary heart disease. It may also reduce the risks of breast and colorectal cancer as well as the incidence of breast cancer recurrence. Consumption of isoflavones or soy foods is associated with reduced risks of endometrial and bladder cancer. Regarding the therapeutic effects on menopausal syndrome or other diseases, isoflavones have been found to alleviate vasomotor syndromes even after considering placebo effects, reduce bone loss in the spine and ameliorate hypertension and in vitro glycemic control. They may also alleviate depressive symptoms during pregnancy. On the other hand, isoflavones have not shown definitive effects regarding improving cognition and urogenital symptoms. Because of lacking standardization in the study designs, such as the ingredients and doses of isoflavones and the durations and outcomes of trials, it currently remains difficult to draw overall conclusions for all aspects of isoflavones. These limitations warrant further investigations of isoflavone use for women’s health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preventive and Therapeutic Nutraceuticals against Chronic Diseases)
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