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Molecules
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Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases
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Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 17729

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Chiara Tonelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of BioSciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Interests: polyphenols; anthocyanins; functional foods; nutrigenomics; water stress
Prof. Dr. Katia Petroni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of BioSciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Interests: flavonoids; anthocyanins; nutrigenomics; cardioprotection; obesity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The alarming increase of chronic diseases has become a prominent problem for many industrialized countries and emerging economies with both societal and economic consequences. Among non-pharmacological interventions, nutritional recommendations represent a feasible means of developing preventive strategies against chronic diseases. A number of studies suggest that plant bioactives have protective effects against cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. However, for many of them a clear understanding of the contribution or the exact mechanism of action as health-protecting components of our daily diet is still incomplete.

This Special Issue aims to attract and review the latest research concerning plant bioactives and the prevention of chronic diseases, focusing on the biochemical, molecular and health-promoting effects.

Prof. Chiara Tonelli
Prof. Katia Petroni
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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

  • Bioactive phytochemicals
  • Polyphenols
  • Carotenoids
  • Glucosinolates
  • Nutraceuticals
  • Functional foods
  • Chronic diseases
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Obesity
  • Cancer prevention
  • Neurodegenerative diseases

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 1974 KiB  
Article
Antiglycation Activity of Aucubin In Vitro and in Exogenous Methylglyoxal Injected Rats
by Eunsoo Jung, Su-Bin Park, Woo Kwon Jung, Hyung Rae Kim and Junghyun Kim
Molecules 2019, 24(20), 3653; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24203653 - 10 Oct 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3195
Abstract
Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is a causative factor of various chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease and atherosclerosis. AGE inhibitors, such as aminoguanidine and pyridoxamine, have the therapeutic activities for reversing the increase in AGEs burden. This study evaluated the inhibitory effects [...] Read more.
Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is a causative factor of various chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease and atherosclerosis. AGE inhibitors, such as aminoguanidine and pyridoxamine, have the therapeutic activities for reversing the increase in AGEs burden. This study evaluated the inhibitory effects of aucubin on the formation of methylglyoxal (MGO)-modified AGEs in vitro. We also determined the potential activity of aucubin in reducing the AGEs burden in the kidney, blood vessel, heart, and retina of exogenously MGO-injected rats. Aucubin inhibited the formation of MGO-modified AGE-bovine serum albumin (IC50 = 0.57 ± 0.04 mmol/L) and its cross-links to collagen (IC50 = 0.55 ± 0.02 mmol/L) in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, aucubin directly trapped MGO (IC50 = 0.22 ± 0.01 mmol/L) in vitro. In exogenous MGO-injected rats, aucubin suppressed the formation of circulating AGEs and its accumulation in various tissues. These activities of aucubin on the MGO-derived AGEs in vitro and in vivo showed its pharmacological potential for inhibiting AGEs-related various chronic diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases)
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11 pages, 3605 KiB  
Article
Hydrophobic Interactions Drive Binding between Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGFA) and Polyphenolic Inhibitors
by Natalia Perez-Moral, Paul W. Needs, Christina W.A. Moyle and Paul A. Kroon
Molecules 2019, 24(15), 2785; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24152785 - 31 Jul 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2366
Abstract
Some polyphenols have been shown to inhibit, at physiological levels, the VEGF-induced VEGF receptor-2 signaling that causes angiogenesis, allegedly by direct interaction with VEGF and reducing the binding to its receptor VEGFR2. Surface plasmon resonance was used to measure the parameters of binding [...] Read more.
Some polyphenols have been shown to inhibit, at physiological levels, the VEGF-induced VEGF receptor-2 signaling that causes angiogenesis, allegedly by direct interaction with VEGF and reducing the binding to its receptor VEGFR2. Surface plasmon resonance was used to measure the parameters of binding between VEGF and polyphenols as well as the nature of the interactions by assessing the effect of physico-chemical changes in the solution. CD spectrometry was used to determine any change in the secondary structure of the protein upon binding. The kinetic parameters (ka, kd, and KD) that characterise the binding to VEGF were measured for both inhibitor and non-inhibitor polyphenolic molecules. The effect of changes in the physico-chemical conditions of the solution where the binding occurred indicated that the nature of the interactions between VEGF and EGCG was predominantly of a hydrophobic nature. CD studies suggested that a change in the secondary structure of the protein occurred upon binding. Direct interaction and binding between VEGF and polyphenol molecules acting as inhibitors of the signaling of VEGFR2 has been measured for the first time. The binding between VEGF and EGCG seemed to be based on hydrophobic interactions and caused a change in the secondary structure of the protein. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases)
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Graphical abstract

20 pages, 8511 KiB  
Article
Anti-Diabetic Effect of a Shihunine-Rich Extract of Dendrobium loddigesii on 3T3-L1 Cells and db/db Mice by Up-Regulating AMPK–GLUT4–PPARα
by Xue-Wen Li, Meixiang Huang, Kakei Lo, Wei-Li Chen, Ying-Yan He, Yongli Xu, Huizhen Zheng, Haiyan Hu and Jun Wang
Molecules 2019, 24(14), 2673; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24142673 - 23 Jul 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4828
Abstract
The stems of Dendrobium loddigesii, a Chinese herb, are often used to treat diabetes and its polar extract is rich in shihunine, a water-soluble Orchidaceae alkaloid, but little is known about the anti-diabetes effects and mechanism of shihunine. This study investigated the [...] Read more.
The stems of Dendrobium loddigesii, a Chinese herb, are often used to treat diabetes and its polar extract is rich in shihunine, a water-soluble Orchidaceae alkaloid, but little is known about the anti-diabetes effects and mechanism of shihunine. This study investigated the anti-diabetic effect of a shihunine-rich extract of D. loddigesii (DLS) based on 3T3-L1 cells and db/db mice. The underlying mechanisms were primarily explored using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining. The 3T3-L1 cell experiments showed that DLS can reduce the intracellular accumulation of oil droplets as well as triglycerides (p < 0.001) and promote the 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]-2deoxyglucose (2-NBDG) uptake of 3T3-L1 cells (p < 0.001). The animal experiments confirmed that after 8 weeks of DLS treatment, the body weight, fasting blood sugar, and serum lipid levels of mice were significantly lowered, and the oral glucose tolerance test and serum insulin level were significantly improved compared to the no-treatment diabetes mellitus group. Further histomorphology observation led to the conclusion that the quantities of islet cells were significantly increased and the increase in adipose cell size was significantly suppressed. The immunohistochemical test of pancreatic tissue revealed that DLS inhibited the expression of cleaved cysteine aspartic acid-specific protease 3 (cleaved caspase-3). Western blot experiments showed that DLS had agonistic effects on adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase phosphorylation (p-AMPK) and increased the expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in liver or adipose tissues. These data suggest that the shihunine-rich extract of D. loddigesii is an anti-diabetic fraction of D. loddigesii. Under our experimental condition, DLS at a dose of 50 mg/kg has good anti-diabetic efficacy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases)
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Graphical abstract

7 pages, 1329 KiB  
Communication
Enoxacin and Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) Act Synergistically to Inhibit the Growth of Cervical Cancer Cells in Culture
by Anna Margaret McDonnell, Holly M. Pyles, Edgar S. Diaz-Cruz and Christopher E. Barton
Molecules 2019, 24(8), 1580; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24081580 - 22 Apr 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3064
Abstract
Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in females worldwide. While survival rates have historically improved, there remains a continuous need to identify novel molecules that are effective against this disease. Here, we show that enoxacin, a drug most commonly used to [...] Read more.
Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in females worldwide. While survival rates have historically improved, there remains a continuous need to identify novel molecules that are effective against this disease. Here, we show that enoxacin, a drug most commonly used to treat a broad array of bacterial infections, is able to inhibit growth of the cervical cancer cells. Furthermore, our data show that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a plant bioactive compound abundant in green tea, and known for its antioxidant effects, similarly functions as an antiproliferative agent. Most importantly, we provide evidence that EGCG functions synergistically against cancer cell proliferation in combined treatment with enoxacin. These data collectively suggest that enoxacin and EGCG may be useful treatment options for cases of cervical cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases)
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10 pages, 2589 KiB  
Article
Aloin Inhibits Müller Cells Swelling in a Rat Model of Thioacetamide-Induced Hepatic Retinopathy
by Eunsoo Jung and Junghyun Kim
Molecules 2018, 23(11), 2806; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23112806 - 29 Oct 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3787
Abstract
Swelling of retinal Müller cells is implicated in retinal edema and neuronal degeneration. Müller cell swelling is observed in patients with liver failure and is referred to as hepatic retinopathy. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of aloin, an anthraquinone-C-glycoside present [...] Read more.
Swelling of retinal Müller cells is implicated in retinal edema and neuronal degeneration. Müller cell swelling is observed in patients with liver failure and is referred to as hepatic retinopathy. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of aloin, an anthraquinone-C-glycoside present in various Aloe species, on Müller cell dysfunction in a rat model of thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatic retinopathy. Experimental hepatic retinopathy was induced by three injections of TAA (200 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneal injection) for 3 days in rats. After the last injection of TAA, aloin (50 and 100 mg/kg) was orally gavaged for 5 days. The effects of aloin on the liver injury, serum ammonia levels, Müller cell swelling, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression, and gene expression of Kir4.1 and aquaporin-4 were examined. TAA-injected rats exhibited liver failure and hyperammonemia. In the TAA-injected rats, Müller cell bodies were highly enlarged, and GFAP, an indicator of retinal stress, was highly expressed in the retinas, indicating a predominant Müller cell gliosis. However, administration of aloin suppressed liver injury as well as Müller cell swelling through the normalization of Kir4.1 and aquaporin-4 channels, which play a key role in potassium and water transport in Müller cells. These results indicate that aloin may be helpful to protect retinal injury associated with liver failure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Bioactives in Preventing Chronic Diseases)
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