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The prevalence of cognitive impairments and circadian disturbances increases in the elderly and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. This study investigated the effects of a standardized extract of Asparagus officinalis stem, ETAS ® on cognitive impairments and circadian rhythm status in senescence-accelerated mice prone 8 (SAMP8). ETAS ® consists of two major bioactive constituents: 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF), an abundant constituent, and (S)-asfural, a novel constituent, which is a derivative of HMF. Three-month-old SAMP8 male mice were divided into a control, 200 and 1000 mg/kg BW ETAS ® groups, while senescence-accelerated resistant mice (SAMR1) were used as the normal control. After 12-week feeding, ETAS ® significantly enhanced cognitive performance by an active avoidance test, inhibited the expressions of amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) and BACE-1 and lowered the accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) in the brain. ETAS ® also significantly increased neuron number in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and normalized the expressions of the melatonin receptor 1 (MT1) and melatonin receptor 2 (MT2). In conclusion, ETAS ® enhances the cognitive ability, inhibits Aβ deposition and normalizes circadian rhythm signaling, suggesting it is beneficial for preventing cognitive impairments and circadian rhythm disturbances in aging.

Hyperglycemia, increased inflammatory responses, and dysregulation of mitochondrial function accompanied by type 2 diabetes may eventually lead to kidney damage. We examined the protective effects of oligonol, a low-molecular-weight polyphenol derived from lychee fruit and green tea, on kidney damage in diabetic db/db mice. Dietary oligonol supplementation lowered glucose and insulin levels and improved oral glucose tolerance. Oligonol attenuated serum resistin and IL-6 levels and reduced glomerular hypertrophy and mesangial matrix expansion caused by diabetes. Oligonol reduced activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. Suppressed renal oxidative stress by oligonol was associated with stimulated sirtuin1 expression and restored AMP-activated kinase protein α activity, mitochondrial DNA copy number, and mitochondrial biogenesis associated genes including nuclear respiratory factor 1 and mitochondrial transcription factor A. In conclusion, oligonol reduced fasting glucose level, improved insulin sensitivity, suppressed inflammatory responses, and upregulated metabolic regulators involved in mitochondrial biogenesis, thereby leading to protection against diabetes-induced kidney damage.

Aging is accompanied by pathophysiological changes including insulin resistance and fatty liver. Dietary supplementation with (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) improves insulin sensitivity and attenuates fatty liver disease. We hypothesized that EGCG could effectively modulate aging-associated changes in glucose and lipid metabolism in senescence-accelerated mice (SAM) prone 8 (SAMP8). Higher levels of glucose, insulin, and free fatty acid, inhibited Akt activity, and decreased glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) expression were observed in SAMP8 mice compared to the normal aging group, SAM resistant 1 mice. EGCG supplementation for 12 weeks successfully decreased blood glucose and insulin levels via restoring Akt activity and GLUT4 expression and stimulating AMPKα activation in skeletal muscle. EGCG up-regulated genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and subsequently restored mitochondrial DNA copy number in skeletal muscle of SAMP8 mice. Decreased adipose triglyceride lipase and increased sterol regulatory element binding proteins-1c (SREBP-1c) and carbohydrate responsive element binding protein at mRNA levels were observed in SAMP8 mice in accordance with hepatocellular ballooning and excess lipid accumulation. The pevention of hepatic lipid accumulation by EGCG was mainly attributed to down-regulation of mTOR and SREBP-1c-mediated lipid biosynthesis via suppression of the positive regulator, Akt, and activation of the negative regulator, AMPKα, in the liver. EGCG beneficially modulates glucose and lipid homeostasis in skeletal muscle and liver, leading to alleviation of aging-associated metabolic disorders.

Toona Sinensis leaf (TSL) extract with a beneficial effect for managing hyperglycemia has been reported, however the underlying mechanism by which TSL extract acts as an insulin sensitizer remains uncertain, especially in peripheral tissues. TSL 95% ethanol extract exhibited the highest transactivity of PPARγ and contained the highest amounts of natural PPARγ ligands including palmitic acid, linoleic acid, and α-linolenic acid among different TSL ethanol extracts (0, 10, 50, 70, and 95%). The efficacy and the mechanism of TSL ethanol extract (95%) mediated anti-diabetic effects were examined by both in vivo and in vitro models in this study. An improved whole-body insulin sensitivity was observed in high-fat diet-fed (HFD) mice after 14 weeks of TSL treatment, as evidenced by a faster rate of plasma glucose clearing. The improved insulin sensitivity was through direct stimulation of PPARγ and adiponectin expression in adipose tissues of HFD mice. In addition to the PPARγ pathway, TSL stimulated glucose uptake via directly inducing AMPKα but not AS160 activation in C2C12 myotubes under palmitate-induced insulin resistance. TSL successfully induced sirtuin 1 and restored PGC1α, but failed to restore mitochondrial electron transport complexes I, III, IV and V in mRNA levels. Loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential coupled with AMPK activation suggests that TSL acts as a mitochondrial inhibitor to stimulate AMPK-mediated glucose uptake. This study demonstrated that TSL stimulated glucose uptake via AMPK activation in skeletal muscles and promoted PPARγ and normalized adiponectin expression in adipose tissues, thereby ameliorating insulin resistance.

Toona sinensis leaf (TSL) has been shown to lower plasma triacylglycerol levels and diminish the size of visceral fat cells in vivo. The molecular mechanism of TSL ethanol extract (TSL-E) on lipid metabolism in 3T3-L1 adipocytes was investigated in this study. Oil Red O staining as well as immunoblotting, real-time PCR, and dual-Luciferase reporter system were performed to investigate the effect of TSL-E on lipid accumulation and the regulation of lipid metabolism, respectively. In addition, active compounds in the TSL-E were analyzed by HPLC. TSL-E significantly decreased lipid accumulation, stimulated free fatty acid (FFA) release, and up-regulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) and genes involved in peroxisomal (acyl-CoA oxidase) and mitochondrial (uncouple protein 3) fatty acid oxidation. TSL-E also up-regulated cytoplasmic triacylglycerol hydrolysis gene (adipose triglyceride lipase) and genes related to fatty acid oxidation (AMP-activated protein kinase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, PPARγ, and adiponectin). The major constituents directly inducing PPARα transactivity in TSL-E are gallic acid, rutin, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, and α-linolenic acid. These results indicate that the inhibitory effect of TSL-E on lipid accumulation was through PPARα activation and further up-regulation of PPARα-mediated genes plus up-regulation of cytoplasmic genes involved in lipid catabolism.

Although the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has increased the survival rate of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), certain patients do not respond well to the treatment and have a poor prognosis. Therefore, novel therapeutic drugs and strategies to improve prognosis of patients with NPC are required. As certain plant extracts can suppress the viability of cancer cells, the present study investigated whether oligonol, a polyphenolic compound primarily found in lychee fruit, exerts anticancer activities in NPC cells. MTT, ELISA and immunoblotting were performed to investigate cell survival, cytokeratin-18 fragment release, and the expression of apoptosis and autophagy markers, respectively. Oligonol decreased the viability of NPC-TW01 and NPC/HK1NPC cell lines. Oligonol increased the protein expression of several apoptosis markers, including cleaved caspase-8 and -3, cleaved PARP and cytokeratin 18 fragment. Moreover, it also increased expression of autophagy markers Beclin 1 and LC3-II, as well as LC3-II/LC3-I ratio in both NPC cell lines. Furthermore, treatment with autophagy inhibitors 3-methyladenine or LY294002 significantly increased oligonol-induced viability inhibition in NPC-TW01 cells. Combined treatment of oligonol + LY294002 reduced LC3-II expression and the LC3II/LC3I ratio while increasing cleaved caspase-8 and -3, cleaved PARP and cytokeratin 18 fragment expression in NPC-TW01 cells. These findings indicated autophagy inhibitors could enhance viability inhibition and apoptotic effects induced by oligonol in NPC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Toona sinensis Roem (TS) is an herbal plant widely cultivated in Asia. Recently, several antioxidant compounds in TS leaf (TSL) extracts were chemically identified including quercetin, gallic acid, and others. However, in vivo experiments regarding the antioxidative function of TSL are limited. In this study, Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with oxidative stress were successfully established by intraperitoneal injection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (1mmol/kg BW) and fed with different TSL extracts for in vivo antioxidation evaluation. Among the TSLs tested in this study, TSL6 exhibited the best antioxidative effects which increased the enzyme activities of catalase, cupper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and Glutathione S transferase (GST) activities in liver compared to those in TSL-2 and TSL-2P groups. In conclusion, we provide the strong in vivo evidences for the first time that TSL extracts ameliorate the antioxidant enzymes (AOEs) activity in liver and is beneficial for the hepatic detoxification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]