Beneficial Effects of Citrus Flavonoids on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increasing over time. CVD is a comorbidity in diabetes and contributes to premature death. Citrus flavonoids possess several biological activities and have emerged as efficient therapeutics for the treatment of CVD.

Obesity: Pathophysiology, monosodium glutamate-induced model and anti-obesity medicinal plants.

Obesity and overweight have increased at an alarming rate in the world during the last three decades. Obesity is a crucial factor in the development of metabolic abnormalities, including glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress. A similar scinario occurs during the aging process where alterations of the energetic metabolism homeostasis and a chronic systematic low-grade inflammation have been observed.

GPR55: a new promising target for metabolism?

GPR55 is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that has been identified as a new cannabinoid receptor. Given the wide localization of GPR55 in brain and peripheral tissues, this receptor has emerged as a regulator of multiple biological actions. Lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) is generally accepted as the endogenous ligand of GPR55.

Biochemical alterations during the obese-aging process in female and male monosodium glutamate (MSG)-treated mice.

Obesity, from children to the elderly, has increased in the world at an alarming rate over the past three decades, implying long-term detrimental consequences for individual's health. Obesity and aging are known to be risk factors for metabolic disorder development, insulin resistance and inflammation, but their relationship is not fully understood. Prevention and appropriate therapies for metabolic disorders and physical disabilities in older adults have become a major public health challenge.

Effect of fructooligosaccharides fraction from Psacalium decompositum on inflammation and dyslipidemia in rats with fructose-induced obesity.

Psacalium decompositum, commonly known as "Matarique," is a medicinal plant used in Mexico for diabetes mellitus empirical therapy. Previous studies have shown that the fructooligosaccharides (FOS) present in the roots of this plant exhibit a notable hypoglycemic effect in animal models; this effect might be associated with the attenuation of the inflammatory process and other metabolic disorders. In this study, we examined the effects of FOS fraction administration in a fructose-fed rat model for obesity.

[Hormesis: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger].

Living organisms have always had to cope with harsh environmental conditions and in order to survive, they have developed complex mechanisms to deal with them. These responses have been assembled in a concept called hormesis, which has been identified as an evolutionarily conserved process in which a low dose of a stressful stimulus activates an adaptive response that increases the resistance of the cell or organism to higher stress level. The main hormetic agents identified so far are irradiation, heat, heavy metals, antibiotics, ethanol, pro-oxidants, exercise and food restriction.