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In this study, the antihypertensive effect of microcapsules containing a mixture of goji berry, hawthorn and cassia seed at a mass ratio of 4:1:1 and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) was assessed. The ACE inhibition rate of the microcapsules containing the mixture and ACE inhibitory peptide at a mass ratio of 1:2 was 78.19%, which was significantly higher than those of the mixture of medicinal and culinary plant materials (69.46%) and ACE inhibitory peptide (71.48%) alone (P < 0.05). Under optimized encapsulation conditions (solid content of 10%, inlet air temperature of 160 ℃, core-to-wall ratio of 1:15, and a 1:4 mixture of modified starch and maltodextrin as wall material), an encapsulation efficiency of 82.76% was obtained. After intestinal digestion for 240 min, the release rate of the as-prepared microcapsules was 81.40%, and the bitter taste was significantly reduced (P < 0.05). Animal experiments showed that the microcapsules significantly reduced blood pressure in SHR, significantly increased the plasma contents of ACE2 and angiotensin 1-7 (Ang(1-7)), and reduced plasma ACE content and the contents of angiotensin II (AngII) in the plasma, heart, kidney and thoracic aorta (P < 0.05). The effect was more pronounced than those of the mixture of medicinal and culinary plant materials and ACE inhibitory peptide, confirming the synergism between them. The composite microcapsules can not only reduce blood pressure by regulating the renin-angiotensin system but also significantly reduce the degree of cardiac and thoracic aorta fibrosis in SHR, thereby improving organ damage caused by hypertension.

In this study, Akkermansia muciniphila (Akk) was cultured to a concentration of more than 109 CFU/mL in optimized liquid thioglycolate medium. Besides, the differential metabolites in the fermentation supernatants from the original and optimized medium were analyzed by non-targeted metabolomics, and the physiological functions of the characteristic products were evaluated. The results showed that when cultured in the optimized medium, Akk produced higher amounts of various functional metabolites such as propionic acid, bardoxifene, docetaxel and vinblastine by affecting protein digestion and absorption, aminoacyl tRNA biosynthesis, bile secretion, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, and the metabolic pathways of amino acid biosynthesis. These metabolites could be directly related to anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-obese and other functions. This study provides solid evidence that Akk can function as a probiotic agent and postbiotic to regulate many diseases, and lays a theoretical foundation for future industrial production.

The global prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled in the past 40 years and continues to rise at an alarming rate. High fat and high carbohydrate diets can cause gut microbiota disturbance and impairment of intestinal barrier function in obese individuals. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota and its metabolites crossing the intestinal barrier lead to insulin resistance, imbalance in energy metabolism, reduced fat browning capacity and increased levels of inflammatory factors, which in turn induce chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. In this paper, the molecular mechanism of obesity mediated by the gut microbiota is systematically elucidated. Based on this, we propose that the intestinal microecology can be regulated by supplementing probiotics and prebiotics or by changing lifestyle and dietary pattern, which in turn will help to prevent and control obesity.

Diabetes is a metabolic disease characterized by insulin secretion disorder. When serious, it can cause various complications (cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cataract and other eye diseases, kidney disease and cancer), bringing a huge economic burden to the society and families and torturing patients. The risk of diabetes is not only related to genes, living pressure and working environment, but also directly related to patients’ lifestyles and dietary habits. An unhealthy diet (high in fat and sugar) can induce the intestinal flora to produce adverse metabolites, which can in turn promote the occurrence and development of diabetes. Intestinal flora imbalance is widespread in the pathogenesis of various types of diabetes. As an important factor influencing the intestinal flora, diet is not only essential to maintain body functions, but also can contribute to intestinal immunity. Regulation of the intestinal environment through diet is expected to be an effective preventive means and auxiliary therapy for diabetes. By synthesizing the existing literature, this article discusses the features of the intestinal flora and the mechanism of the effect of diet-mediated regulation of the intestinal flora on diabetes based on systematic medical theory, and reviews the role scientific diet plays in regulating intestinal homeostasis and immunity and consequently reducing the incidence and complications of diabetes. We hope that this review will provide a basis for early diagnosis and prevention and adjuvant treatment of diabetes.

Ensuring optimal infant nutrition is crucial for the health and development of children. Many infants aged 0–6 months are fed with infant formula rather than breast milk. Research on cancer cell lines and animal models is limited to examining the nutrition effects of formula and breast milk, as it does not comprehensively consider absorption, metabolism, and the health and social determinants of the infant and its physiology. Our study utilized small intestine organoids induced from human embryo stem cell (ESC) to compare the nutritional effects of breast milk from five donors during their postpartum lactation period of 1–6 months and three types of Stage 1 infant formulae from regular retail stores. Using transcriptomics and untargeted metabolomics approaches, we focused on the differences such as cell growth and development, cell junctions, and extracellular matrix. We also analyzed the roles of pathways including AMPK, Hippo, and Wnt, and identified key genes such as ALPI, SMAD3, TJP1, and WWTR1 for small intestine development. Through observational and in-vitro analysis, our study demonstrates ESC-derived organoids might be a promising model for exploring nutritional effects and underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation was to study the effects of different formula components on the brain growth of rats. Fifty male SD rats were randomly divided into five groups: a basic diet group; a 20% ordinary milk powder group; a 20% special milk powder group; a 30% ordinary milk powder group; and a 30% special milk powder group by weight. LC-MS was used to detect brain lipidomics. After 28 days of feeding, compared with the basic diet group, the brain/body weights of rats in the 30% ordinary milk powder group were increased. The serum levels of 5-HIAA in the 30% ordinary milk powder group were lower than in the 20% ordinary milk powder group. Compared with the basic diet group, the expressions of DLCL, MePC, PI, and GM1 were higher in the groups with added special milk powder, while the expressions of LPE, LdMePE, SM, and MGTG were higher in the groups with added ordinary milk powder. The expression of MBP was significantly higher in the 20% ordinary group. This study found that different formula components of infant milk powder could affect brain growth in SD rats. The addition of special formula infant milk powder may have beneficial effects on rat brains by regulating brain lipid expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scoping review aims to investigate longitudinal changes in minerals and vitamins concentrations in human milk among the Chinese population. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted using both English and Chinese databases. Data were extracted and categorized into six defined lactation stages. We found that the concentration of most minerals decreased throughout the lactation period, although calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) fluctuated slightly across lactation periods. Fat-soluble vitamins also showed a decline throughout the lactation period, while water-soluble vitamins exhibited an increasing trend. However, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid demonstrated a downward trend. Overall, this review has identified the longitudinal changes in minerals and vitamins concentrations in human milk among the Chinese population. In order to conduct a more in-depth examination of maternal characteristics and nutritional factors of the composition of human milk, it is recommended to utilize standardized protocols for the collection and analysis of human milk samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new four-dimensional hyper-chaotic system capable of generating multi-wing chaotic attractors by introducing active magnetron memristors, multi-segmented square functions and trigonometric functions. The dynamical properties of this new hyper-chaotic system, such as equilibrium point, dissipation, Lyapunov exponential spectrum, bifurcation diagram and Poincaré cross-section and attraction basin, are analyzed theoretically and simulated numerically, and the complexity of this system with different parameters is analyzed. It is observed that this hyper-chaotic system has periodic, chaotic and hyper-chaotic variations with an infinite number of equilibria and coexisting attractors under different parameter conditions. The circuit simulation was performed using Multisim and the results obtained were consistent with the numerical analysis of the dynamics, and the chaotic circuit system is designed by FPGA to verify the realizability of the system. Finally, an image encryption algorithm is designed in conjunction with the DNA algorithm to enable a new system chaotic sequence for image encryption. The results show that the hyper-chaotic system has rich dynamical behavior and has high-security performance when applied to image encryption with strong chaotic key and plaintext sensitivity and large key space in image encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]