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Host health and disease are influenced by changes in the abundance and structure of intestinal flora. Current strategies are focused on regulating the structure of intestinal flora to ensure host health by alleviating disease. However, these strategies are limited by multiple factors, such as host genotype, physiology (microbiome, immunity, and gender), intervention, and diet. Accordingly, we reviewed the prospects and limitations of all strategies regulating the structure and abundance of microflora, including probiotics, prebiotics, diet, fecal microbiota transplantation, antibiotics, and phages. Some new technologies that can improve these strategies are also introduced. Compared with other strategies, diets and prebiotics are associated with reduced risk and high security. Besides, phages have the potential for application in the targeted regulation of intestinal microbiota due to their high specificity. Notably, the variability in individual microflora and their metabolic response to different interventions should be considered. Future studies should use artificial intelligence combined with multi-omics to investigate the host genome and physiology based on factors, such as blood type, dietary habits, and exercise, in order to develop individualized intervention strategies to improve host health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria control various processes in cellular metabolic homeostasis, such as adenosine triphosphate production, generation and clearance of reactive oxygen species, control of intracellular Ca2+ and apoptosis, and are thus a critical therapeutic target for metabolic syndrome (MetS). The mitochondrial targeted antioxidant mitoquinone (MitoQ) reduces mitochondrial oxidative stress, prevents impaired mitochondrial dynamics, and increases mitochondrial turnover by promoting autophagy (mitophagy) and mitochondrial biogenesis, which ultimately contribute to the attenuation of MetS conditions, including obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The regulatory effect of MitoQ on mitochondrial homeostasis is mediated through AMPK and its downstream signaling pathways, including MTOR, SIRT1, Nrf2 and NF-κB. However, there are few reviews focusing on the critical role of MitoQ as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of MetS. The purpose of this review is to summarize the mitochondrial role in the pathogenesis of MetS, especially in obesity and type 2 diabetes, and discuss the effect and underlying mechanism of MitoQ on mitochondrial homeostasis in MetS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insect tea is a traditional and special tea in China. After the HepG2 cancer cells were treated with insect tea ethanol extracts (ITEE) for 48 h, HepG2 cell proliferation was inhibited, with 40, 80 and 160 μg/mL of ITEE showing inhibitory rates of 35.1%, 59.7% and 86.3%, respectively. Compared to the lower concentration, 160 μg/mL ITEE significantly induced apoptosis as determined by flow cytometry analysis, which showed the content of sub-G1 cancer cells was 38.8%. By RT-PCR, ITEE induced apoptosis in HepG2 cancer cells by increasing caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, Bax, p53, p21, E2F1, p73 and decreasing Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, HIAP-1 and HIAP-2 mRNA expression levels. Insect tea is rich in polyphenols, caffeine, flavones, vitamin C and amino acids. There were 17 kinds of amino acids in insect tea. The functional components of insect tea induce apoptosis in HepG2 cancer cells. Insect tea is a good functional food by its anticancer effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The impacts of probiotics on maintaining the host’s intestinal health have been extensively confirmed. Organoid technology revolutionizes intestinal health research by providing a unique platform to study the effects of probiotics. It overcomes challenges posed by animal models and 2D cell models in accurately simulating the in vivo environment. This review summarizes the development of intestinal organoid technology and its potential applications in intestinal health research as well as highlights the regulatory mechanisms of probiotics on intestinal health, which have been revealed using intestinal organoid technology. Furthermore, an overview of its potential applications in probiotic research has also been provided. This review aims to improve the understanding of intestinal organoid technology’s applications in this field as well as to contribute to its further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]