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Dietary Antioxidants in Human Health

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 523

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical, Dental and Morphological and Functional Imaging, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, 98125 Messina, Italy
Interests: oxidative stress; nutrition; cell physiology; animal model; inflammation; molecular pathways
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, 98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: biochemistry; diet; mithocondrial disfunction; oxidative stress; molecular pathways
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For millennia, there has been a documented correlation between human health and sickness and nutrition. Due to the geographic origin of humans, there is a great deal of variation in diet composition among different populations. The human diet is a rich source of bioactive molecules and antioxidants, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and animal sources. Ninety percent of the human diet is composed of plant-based sources, primarily flavonoids and phenolic acids, which are polyphenols with antioxidant potential. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), diabetes, renal disease, cancer, neurological disorders, obesity, and aging are among the degenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress, which is caused by an excess of free radicals that are not neutralized by antioxidant defense enzymes. Antioxidant dietary supplements are therefore a promising way to treat these illnesses. Therefore, in this Special Issue, we aim to provide an overview of the topics of diet, antioxidants, and the function of various antioxidant constituents of plants. In vitro or in vitro studies and reviews on the beneficial effects of various antioxidant-derived foods and other antioxidant system stimulators are welcome.

Dr. Marika Cordaro
Dr. Roberta Fusco
Prof. Dr. Rosanna Di Paola
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • diet
  • functional food
  • oxidative stress
  • mitochondrial disfunction
  • human health
  • animal models
  • nutrition
  • molecular pathways
  • human pathology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 4815 KiB  
Article
Spinach Extract Reduces Kidney Damage in Diabetic Rats by Impairing the AGEs/RAGE Axis
by Javier Flores-Estrada, Agustina Cano-Martínez, Luz Ibarra-Lara, Adriana Jiménez, Carmen Palacios-Reyes, Luis J. Pinto García, María G. Ortiz-López, Olga Nelly Rodríguez-Peña and Luis Barbo Hernández-Portilla
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(10), 4730; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26104730 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 107
Abstract
The interaction between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their RAGE receptor (AGEs/RAGE axis) triggers several signaling pathways that lead to the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). One of the most studied AGEs is Nε-(1-Carboxymethyl)-L-lysine (CML). Spinacia oleracea is an edible plant with [...] Read more.
The interaction between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their RAGE receptor (AGEs/RAGE axis) triggers several signaling pathways that lead to the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). One of the most studied AGEs is Nε-(1-Carboxymethyl)-L-lysine (CML). Spinacia oleracea is an edible plant with beneficial health properties, but its effect on the AGE/RAGE axis in kidney damage is unknown. Objective: We aimed to investigate the functional role of spinach methanolic extract (SME) on kidney damage in diabetic rats associated with the CML/RAGE axis. Methods: Forty adult male Wistar rats were used in this study and divided into four groups: control rats (CTRL), SME-administered CTRL (400 mg/kg; SME), streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy rats (STZ), and SME-treated STZ (STZ-SME); treatments were administered daily. After 12 weeks, serum AGEs, creatinine in urine, and lipid peroxidation in kidneys were measured. The distribution and expression levels of inflammatory and fibrotic mediators and RAGE signaling were evaluated through immunohistochemistry (NOX4, CML, RAGE, nuclear NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β, TGF-β1, SMAD2/3, CTGF, and a-SMA) and immunolocalization of CML/RAGE. Results: Glycoside flavonoid derivatives, such as patuletin and spinacetin, were primarily identified in the extract. Kidneys from the STZ group showed altered morphology, dead cells in the proximal tubules, and increased oxidative stress markers; notably, these effects were improved by SME treatment (STZ-SME). The STZ-SME group showed a lower staining intensity for CML and RAGE, which was associated with a decrease in the expression of inflammatory and fibrotic factors compared with the STZ group. In all groups, the distribution of these markers varied among proximal tubule, glomerular, and interstitial cells. Conclusions: SME treatment may help to prevent or delay kidney damage in diabetic rats by regulating inflammatory and fibrotic processes associated with the AGEs/RAGE pathway, a mechanism involved in the development of nephropathy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Antioxidants in Human Health)
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