Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Comparative Studies on Health Beneficial Activities of Lipophilic Food Components

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Micronutrients and Human Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 September 2021) | Viewed by 6288

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yuki Manabe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Laboratory of Marine Bioproducts Technology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Interests: carotenoids; inflammation; LC-MS; lipidomics; molecular biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, analytical methods such as mass spectrometry have been remarkably advanced, so that numerous compounds have been identified from foods. However, except for nutrients and nutraceuticals, health-beneficial functions of many other food components are still largely unknown. Various lipophilic food components, such as carotenoids, sterols, and sphingolipids, have been identified, but probably because of how difficult they are to handle, their bioregulatory functions have not been fully elucidated. To establish knowledge about food functions, human studies are required, but how should we select the target food component for the studies? High-quality comparative studies would answer this question and hence be important to unveil the health-beneficial functions of foods.

In this Special Issue, we would like to collect the latest comparative studies to know which food components should be the focus of future human studies. Cultured cell, animal, and of course human studies are welcomed if they compare the health beneficial activities of lipophilic food components.

Dr. Yuki Manabe
Guest Editor

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. Nutrients 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 2900 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

lipophilic food components
carotenoid
sterol
sphingolipid
flavonoid
fatty acid
terpenoid
lipophilic vitamin-related compound
structure and activity relationship
antioxidant
coronary heart disease
cardiovascular disease

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 1683 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multivariate Analysis Reveals That Unsubstituted β-Ring and C8-Keto Structures Are Important Factors for Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Carotenoids

by Yuki Manabe, Nami Tomonaga, Takashi Maoka and Tatsuya Sugawara

Nutrients 2021, 13(11), 3699; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu13113699 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2279

Abstract

Carotenoids are natural lipophilic pigments with substantial health benefits. Numerous studies have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory activities of carotenoids, especially toward lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses. As such, there are few reports on the evaluation and comparison of the anti-inflammatory activities of carotenoids against inflammation induced by other stimuli. In this study, we used pathogen-associated molecular patterns, proinflammatory cytokines, degenerated proteins, and chemical irritants as inflammatory inducers to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activities of eight different carotenoids. Each carotenoid showed characteristic anti-inflammatory activities; thus, we conducted a multivariate analysis to clarify the differences among them. Unsubstituted β-ring (i.e., provitamin A) and C8-keto structures of carotenoids were found to be crucial for their inhibitory effects on the activation of nuclear factor-kappa B and interferon regulatory factors, respectively. Furthermore, we found that β-carotene and echinenone treatment increased intracellular retinoid levels in monocytes and that the retinoids showed the similar activities to β-carotene and echinenone. Taken together, the intake of both provitamin A and C8-keto carotenoids (e.g., siphonaxanthin and fucoxanthin) might be effective in improving the inflammatory status of individuals. A multivariate analysis of anti-inflammatory activities is a useful method for characterizing anti-inflammatory compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Comparative Studies on Health Beneficial Activities of Lipophilic Food Components)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

22 pages, 1998 KiB

Open AccessReview

Potential Protective Effects of Equol (Soy Isoflavone Metabolite) on Coronary Heart Diseases—From Molecular Mechanisms to Studies in Humans

by Xiao Zhang, Cole V. Veliky, Rahel L. Birru, Emma Barinas-Mitchell, Jared W. Magnani and Akira Sekikawa

Nutrients 2021, 13(11), 3739; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu13113739 - 23 Oct 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3358

Abstract

Equol, a soy isoflavone-derived metabolite of the gut microbiome, may be the key cardioprotective component of soy isoflavones. Systematic reviews have reported that soy isoflavones have no to very small effects on traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors. However, the potential mechanistic mode of action of equol on non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors has not been systematically reviewed. We searched the PubMed through to July 2021 by using terms for equol and each of the following markers: inflammation, oxidation, endothelial function, vasodilation, atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness, and coronary heart disease. Of the 231 records identified, 69 articles met the inclusion criteria and were summarized. Our review suggests that equol is more lipophilic, bioavailable, and generally more potent compared to soy isoflavones. Cell culture, animal, and human studies show that equol possesses antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and vasodilatory properties and improves arterial stiffness and atherosclerosis. Many of these actions are mediated through the estrogen receptor β. Overall, equol may have a greater cardioprotective benefit than soy isoflavones. Clinical studies of equol are warranted because equol is available as a dietary supplement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Comparative Studies on Health Beneficial Activities of Lipophilic Food Components)

► Show Figures