Energy Metabolism in Relation to Diet and Physical Activity: A South Asian Perspective.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is on the rise around the world, not only in the West, but also in Asian countries. South Asian countries in particular are experiencing a rapid increase in overweight and obesity, that coexists with the rapid increase in non-communicable diseases linked to obesity such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease than any other country in Asia. The phenomena observed in South Asian countries are due to the size of the population, the ageing of the population, the high degree of urbanization and the lifestyle changes in favor of increased energy consumption and reduced physical activity.

Malabaricone C-containing mace extract inhibits safrole bioactivation and DNA adduct formation both in vitro and in vivo.

Safrole, present in mace and its essential oils, causes liver tumors in rodents at high dose levels due to formation of a DNA reactive 1'-sulfooxysafrole. The present study identifies malabaricone C as a mace constituent able to inhibit safrole DNA adduct formation at the level of sulfotransferase mediated bioactivation. This inhibition was incorporated into physiologically based biokinetic rat and human models.

Physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) modeling of safrole bioactivation and detoxification in humans as compared with rats.

A physiologically based biokinetic (PBBK) model for the alkenylbenzene safrole in humans was developed based on in vitro- and in silico-derived kinetic parameters. With the model obtained, the time- and dose-dependent formation of the proximate and ultimate carcinogenic metabolites, 1-hydroxysafrole and 1-sulfooxysafrole in human liver were estimated and compared with previously predicted levels of these metabolites in rat liver. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to predict interindividual variation in the formation of these metabolites in the overall population.