In Vivo Effects of Crataegus pinnatifida Extract for Healthy Longevity

Aging is a complex series of multi-organ processes that occur in various organisms. As such, an in vivo study using an animal model of aging is necessary to define its exact mechanisms and identify anti-aging substances. Using Drosophila as an in vivo model system, we identified Crataegus pinnatifida extract (CPE) as a novel anti-aging substance. Regardless of sex, Drosophila treated with CPE showed a significantly increased lifespan compared to those without CPE. In this study, we also evaluated the involvement of CPE in aging-related biochemical pathways, including TOR, stem cell generation, and antioxidative effects, and found that the representative genes of each pathway were induced by CPE administration. CPE administration did not result in significant differences in fecundity, locomotion, feeding amount, or TAG level. These conclusions suggest that CPE is a good candidate as an anti-aging food substance capable of promoting a healthy lifespan.

Autophagy and its therapeutic potential in diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN), the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, is the most significant microvascular complication of diabetes and poses a severe public health concern due to a lack of effective clinical treatments. Autophagy is a lysosomal process that degrades damaged proteins and organelles to preserve cellular homeostasis. Emerging studies have shown that disorder in autophagy results in the accumulation of damaged proteins and organelles in diabetic renal cells and promotes the development of DN. Autophagy is regulated by nutrient-sensing pathways including AMPK, mTOR, and Sirt1, and several intracellular stress signaling pathways such as oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress. An abnormal nutritional status and excess cellular stresses caused by diabetes-related metabolic disorders disturb the autophagic flux, leading to cellular dysfunction and DN. Here, we summarized the role of autophagy in DN focusing on signaling pathways to modulate autophagy and therapeutic interferences of autophagy in DN.

Dietary therapy in abdominal aortic aneurysm - Insights from clinical and experimental studies

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a prevalent vascular disease with high mortality rates upon rupture. Despite its prevalence in elderly populations, there remain limited treatment options; invasive surgical repair, while risky, is the only therapeutic intervention with proven clinical benefits. Dietary factors have long been suggested to be closely associated with AAA risks, and dietary therapies recently emerged as promising avenues to achieve non-invasive management of a wide spectrum of diseases. However, the role of dietary therapies in AAA remains elusive. In this article, we will summarize the recent clinical and pre-clinical efforts in understanding the therapeutic and mechanistic implications of various dietary patterns and therapeutic approaches in AAA.

Dietary Supplements and Natural Products: An Update on Their Clinical Effectiveness and Molecular Mechanisms of Action During Accelerated Biological Aging

Accelerated biological aging, which involves the gradual decline of organ or tissue functions and the distortion of physiological processes, underlies several human diseases. Away from the earlier free radical concept, telomere attrition, cellular senescence, proteostasis loss, mitochondrial dysfunction, stem cell exhaustion, and epigenetic and genomic alterations have emerged as biological hallmarks of aging. Moreover, nutrient-sensing metabolic pathways are critical to an organism’s ability to sense and respond to nutrient levels. Pharmaceutical, genetic, and nutritional interventions reverting physiological declines by targeting nutrient-sensing metabolic pathways can promote healthy aging and increase lifespan. On this basis, biological aging hallmarks and nutrient-sensing dependent and independent pathways represent evolving drug targets for many age-linked diseases. Here, we discuss and update the scientific community on contemporary advances in how dietary supplements and natural products beneficially revert accelerated biological aging processes to retrograde human aging and age-dependent human diseases, both from the clinical and preclinical studies point-of-view. Overall, our review suggests that dietary/natural products increase healthspan—rather than lifespan—effectively minimizing the period of frailty at the end of life. However, real-world setting clinical trials and basic studies on dietary supplements and natural products are further required to decisively demonstrate whether dietary/natural products could promote human lifespan.