Nutrients

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Dr. Lara Testai

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
2. Interdepartmental Research Centre “Nutraceuticals and Food for Health (NUTRAFOOD)”, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Interests: cardiovascular; aging; citrus; glucosinolate; hydrogen sulfide; pharmaceutical development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the past decades, the exploration of the relationship between dietary phytochemicals and chronic disease prevention has emerged as an important topic, and nowadays, a great number of pieces of preclinical and clinical evidence have been collected. Indeed, the adherence to a healthy diet (i.e., Mediterranean) or the supplementation of a diet with micronutrients (vitamins or minerals) or products that are isolated from vegetables (including phytosterols, carotenoids or flavonoids) or foods (such as cacao or extra-virgin olive oil) may contribute to health and to the prevention of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer. Moreover, the development of innovative and green extractive techniques recently gained great attention, first to minimize the by-products of the food chain and then to possibly improve the bioavailability of the bioactive phytochemicals.

This Special Issue calls for original research as well as review articles and meta-analyses in which a non-traditional use of phytochemicals is taken into consideration. The contributions of high-quality research based on the identification of new insights into cellular and molecular mechanisms and the evaluation in vitro or in vivo as well as in human effectiveness in conditions that are not yet considered pathological are welcome.

Dr. Lara Testai
Guest Editor

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Keywords

dietary supplementation
nutraceuticals
healthy diet
green extraction

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2868 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improved Cardiovascular Effects of a Novel Pomegranate Byproduct Extract Obtained through Hydrodynamic Cavitation

by Giada Benedetti, Lorenzo Flori, Jacopo Spezzini, Vincenzo Miragliotta, Giulia Lazzarini, Andrea Pirone, Cosimo Meneguzzo, Luca Tagliavento, Alma Martelli, Michele Antonelli, Davide Donelli, Cecilia Faraloni, Vincenzo Calderone, Francesco Meneguzzo and Lara Testai

Nutrients 2024, 16(4), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16040506 - 10 Feb 2024

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Abstract

The healthy properties of pomegranate fruit, a highly consumed food, have been known for a long time. However, the pomegranate supply chain is still rather inefficient, with the non-edible fraction, whose weight is roughly half the total and is endowed with plenty of valuable bioactive compounds, either disposed of or underutilized. A novel extract obtained from non-edible byproducts (called PPE), using hydrodynamic cavitation, a green, efficient, and scalable technique, was investigated for its cardiovascular effects in vivo. PPE showed efficacy in an acute phenylephrine (PE)-induced hypertensive rat model, similar to the extract of whole fruit (PFE) obtained using the same extractive technique, along with good intestinal bioaccessibility after oral administration. Finally, when chronically administered for 6 weeks to spontaneously hypertensive rats, PPE was shown to significantly contain the increase in systolic blood pressure, comparable to the reference drug Captopril, and at a dose remarkably lower than the reported effective dose of ellagic acid. The extract from the non-edible fraction of the pomegranate fruit also showed good anti-inflammation and anti-fibrotic effects. The findings of this study, along with the extraction technique, could contribute to enhancing the value of the pomegranate supply chain, relieve the related environmental burden, and potentially improve public health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Phytochemicals and Chronic Diseases)

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Review

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33 pages, 3720 KiB

Open AccessReview

Selected Flavonols Targeting Cell Death Pathways in Cancer Therapy: The Latest Achievements in Research on Apoptosis, Autophagy, Necroptosis, Pyroptosis, Ferroptosis, and Cuproptosis

by Dominika Wendlocha, Robert Kubina, Kamil Krzykawski and Aleksandra Mielczarek-Palacz

Nutrients 2024, 16(8), 1201; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16081201 - 18 Apr 2024

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Abstract

The complex and multi-stage processes of carcinogenesis are accompanied by a number of phenomena related to the potential involvement of various chemopreventive factors, which include, among others, compounds of natural origin such as flavonols. The use of flavonols is not only promising but also a recognized strategy for cancer treatment. The chemopreventive impact of flavonols on cancer arises from their ability to act as antioxidants, impede proliferation, promote cell death, inhibit angiogenesis, and regulate the immune system through involvement in diverse forms of cellular death. So far, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis occurring with the participation of flavonols have remained incompletely elucidated, and the results of the studies carried out so far are ambiguous. For this reason, one of the therapeutic goals is to initiate the death of altered cells through the use of quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, isorhamnetin, galangin, fisetin, and morin. This article offers an extensive overview of recent research on these compounds, focusing particularly on their role in combating cancer and elucidating the molecular mechanisms governing apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis. Assessment of the mechanisms underlying the anticancer effects of compounds in therapy targeting various types of cell death pathways may prove useful in developing new therapeutic regimens and counteracting resistance to previously used treatments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Phytochemicals and Chronic Diseases)

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