Editorial Antioxidant Phytochemicals at the Pharma-Nutrition … · 2019. 7. 30. · Editorial...

EditorialAntioxidant Phytochemicals at the Pharma-Nutrition Interface

Elena Azzini,1 Jasminka Giacometti,2 and Gian Luigi Russo3

1Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Research Center for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546,00178 Rome, Italy2Department of Biotechnology, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia3Institute of Food Sciences, National Research Council, 83100 Avellino, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Elena Azzini; elena.azzini@crea.gov.it

Received 25 October 2017; Accepted 25 October 2017; Published 8 November 2017

Copyright © 2017 Elena Azzini et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work isproperly cited.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including obesity,diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, represent anemerging global health issue. Nutrition, as known, repre-sents one of the most important aspects of health; severalresearchers have shown that nutrition plays a crucial rolein the prevention of food deficiencies, behavioural disor-ders, and chronic diseases. The last decades saw the prolif-eration of studies on the healthy benefits of specific classesof nutrients. Among these, phytochemicals took the leadfor their capacity to act as antioxidants, a function whichinspired the so-called “antioxidant hypothesis” or “freeradical theory” for degenerative diseases originated backin the late 1980s–middle 1990s. After more than twentyyears of intense researches, phytochemicals remain an émi-nence grise in the area of the natural remedies againstdegenerative diseases. In fact, if, from one side, their func-tional pleiotropy guarantees multiple therapeutic and pre-ventive effects, their low bioavailability and high metabolictransformation represent an unsolved issue on the wayto demonstrate a clear structure-function relationship inregulating cellular physiology.

The aim of the present special issue was not to propose asolution for all the questions surrounding the mechanisms ofaction of phytochemicals but to bring the attention of thereaders on specific themes with a selection of high qualityresearch articles and reviews, hoping to stimulate their think-ing. This special issue comprising nine papers is focused onvarious aspects of phytochemicals effects when administered

as extracts in animal and cellular models. The articles havebeen selected on the basis of fundamental ideas/conceptsrather than the thoroughness of techniques employed. Thepapers are organised as follows.

D. de Almeida Bauer Guimarães et al. suggest that pitayaextract (PE) may have a protective effect against breastcancer. PE showed high antioxidant activity, and highvalues of anthocyanins induced a selective decrease in cellproliferation caused by PE in MCF-7 (ER+) cell line andan increase in G0/G1 phase followed by a decrease in G2/Mphase. Also, PE induced apoptosis in MCF-7 (ER+) cellline and suppressed BRCA1, BRCA2, PRAB, and Erαgene expression.

D. Załuski et al. highlighted the fruits of Eleutherococcusspecies rich in polyphenols as a new income source ofagriculture and industry in natural products and foods. Thesefruits act as antioxidants, induce apoptosis in Jurkat 45leukemic cell line, and inhibit the activity of MMP-1,MMP-2, MMP-3, and MMP-9.

L. Song et al. reported a preclinical systematic reviewabout G-Rg1 as a promising potential neuroprotective againstPD model through different mechanisms including antineur-oinflammatory, antioxidative, and antiapoptotic effects. Onthe other hand, a letter by Yi-bo et al. expressed commenton “A Preclinical Systematic Review of Ginsenoside-Rg1 inExperimental Parkinson’s Disease” by inviting the authorsto a more conservative conclusion. Thus, further controlledstudies in animals should be attempted to establish the

HindawiOxidative Medicine and Cellular LongevityVolume 2017, Article ID 6986143, 3 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6986143

https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6986143

G-Rg1 as a drug candidate, rather than confirmed byclinical trials immediately.

V. R. Pasupuleti et al. have given a review of severalhealth benefits of honeybee products used as food, such ashoney, propolis, and royal jelly, on metabolic diseases,cancers, and others diseases.

T. Bonamigo et al. described how the chemical constitu-ents of propolis, such as phytosterols, terpenes, aromaticacids, and tocopherol, are important in the control ofdiseases. In the study of antioxidant, cytotoxic, and toxicactivities of ethanol extracts of propolis (EEPs) obtainedfrom the Brazilian stingless bees Scaptotrigona depilis(EEP-S) and Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (EEP-M),they indicated the cytotoxic activity of EEPs against ery-throleukemic cells and necrosis as the main mechanismof death observed. In addition, cytotoxic doses of EEPswere not toxic against Caenorhabditis elegans. Bioactivemixture found in EEP-S and EEP-M can be used in thecontrol of diseases associated with oxidative stress andtumour cell proliferation.

Z. Tuzcu et al. showed that cinnamon reduces thehyperlipidemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress throughactivating transcription factors and antioxidative defensesignaling pathway in high-fat diet- (HFD-) fed rats.Cinnamon polyphenol also suppressed the expression ofhepatic sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c(SREBP-1c), liver X receptor (LXR-α), ATP-citrate lyase,fatty acid synthase (FAS), and nuclear factor kappa Bp65 (NF-κB p65) and enhanced the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α), insulin receptor sub-strate 1 (IRS-1), nuclear factor-E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2),and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) expressions in the HFDrat livers.

J.-T. Liu et al. investigated the molecular mechanismsupporting the protective effect of red yeast rice (RYR;Monascus purpureus-fermented rice) in limiting the vascu-lar complications of diabetes. Using an ex vivo cellularmodel represented by human bone marrow-derived proan-giogenic cells (PACs) isolated from healthy donors andtreated with nontoxic concentrations of RYR extract(

Acknowledgments

The Editors wish to thank all authors who submitted theirresearch to this special issue sharing our interest for thisspecial issue.

Elena AzziniJasminka Giacometti

Gian Luigi Russo

3Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

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Editorial Antioxidant Phytochemicals at the Pharma-Nutrition … · 2019. 7. 30. · Editorial...

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