Nutrients and the Risk of Lifestyle-Related Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are chronic health disorders that currently affect millions of people around the world. The risk for developing these diseases increases exponentially with age because of the reduction in anti-oxidation enzymes, so each disease has a close relation with each other. For example, patients with T2DM have an increased risk of developing AD. Dietary supplementation of antioxidants, B vitamins, polyphenols, and ω-3 fatty acid-rich polyunsaturated fatty acids is beneficial to preventing lifestyle-related disease, and consumption of fish, fruits, vegetables, coffee, and light-to-moderate alcohol reduces the risk. During the last four decades, lipid peroxidation products have been shown to be involved in a great number of pathologies, such as metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancers. In particular, elevation of the ω-6 fatty acid oxidation product ‘hydroxynonenal’ in serum and various organs was recently reported to be responsible for the occurrence of organ damage in both experimental animals and humans. However, the precise role of hydroxynonenal in each disease or in the disease interaction is not well understood. Since Hsp70.1 has dual functions as a molecular chaperone and lysosomal stabilizer, hydroxynonenal conceivably has a crucial impact on cell death fate by the oxidation of Hsp70.1. It is probable that the dietary ω-6 fatty acid (exogenous; from cooking oils, deep-fried foods, etc.) and the biomembrane phospholipid (intrinsic; associated with electromagnetic waves, air pollution, etc.) peroxidation product hydroxynonenal plays crucial roles in lysosomal cell death in the brain, pancreas, and liver, via oxidation of diverse house-keeping proteins, including Hsp70.1. It is likely that these lifestyle-related diseases might occur in response to the exogenous and intrinsic hydroxynonenal, causing long-standing cell degeneration/death in the corresponding organ. The Special Issue aims at elucidating the common mechanism or causative factor of AD, T2DM and/or NASH, particularly focusing on the detrimental effects of nutrients, especially ω-6 fatty acids.

Dr. Tetsumori Yamashima
Guest Editor

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