Natural Compounds as Integrative Therapy for Liver Protection against Inflammatory and Carcinogenic Mechanisms: From Induction to Molecular Biology Advancement.

The liver is exposed to several harmful substances that bear the potential to cause excessive liver damage ranging from hepatitis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to extreme cases of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver ailments have been effectively treated from very old times with Chinese medicinal herbal formulations and later also applied by controlled trials in Japan. However, these traditional practices have been hardly well characterized in the past till in the last decades when more qualified studies have been carried out. Modern advances have given rise to specific molecular targets which are specifically good candidates for affecting the intricate mechanisms that play a role at the molecular level. These therapeutic regimens that mainly affect the progression of the disease by inhibiting the gene expression levels or by blocking essential molecular pathways or releasing cytokines may prove to play a vital role in minimizing the tissue damage. This review, therefore, tries to throw light upon the variation in the therapies for the treatment of benign and malignant liver disease from ancient times to the current date. Nonetheless, clinical research exploring the effectiveness of herbal medicines in the treatment of benign chronic liver diseases as well as prevention and treatment of HCC is still warranted.

Prevotella histicola Protects From Arthritis by Expansion of Allobaculum and Augmenting Butyrate Production in Humanized Mice.

Bacterial therapeutics are the emergent alternatives in treating autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis [RA]. P. histicola MCI 001 is one such therapeutic bacterium that has been proven to treat autoimmune diseases such as RA and multiple sclerosis [MS] in animal models. The present study characterized P. histicola MCI 001 isolated from a human duodenal biopsy, and evaluated its impact on the gut microbial and metabolic profile in a longitudinal study using the collagen-induced arthritis model in HLA-DQ8.AEo transgenic mice. P. histicola MCI 001 though closely related to the type strain of P. histicola, DSM 19854, differed in utilizing glycerol. In culture, P. histicola MCI 001 produced vitamins such as biotin and folate, and was involved in digesting complex carbohydrates and production of acetate. Colonization study showed that duodenum was the predominant niche for the gavaged MCI 001. A longitudinal follow-up of gut microbial profile in arthritic mice treated with MCI 001 suggested that dysbiosis caused due to arthritis was partially restored to the profile of naïve mice after treatment. A taxon-level analysis suggested an expansion of intestinal genus Allobaculum in MCI001 treated arthritic mice. Eubiosis achieved post treatment with P. histicola MCI 001 was also reflected in the increased production of short-chain fatty acids [SCFAs]. Present study suggests that the treatment with P. histicola MCI 001 leads to an expansion of Allobaculum by increasing the availability of simple carbohydrates and acetate. Restoration of microbial profile and metabolites like butyrate induce immune and gut homeostasis.

Beyond Physical Exercise: The Role of Nutrition, Gut Microbiota and Nutraceutical Supplementation in Reducing Age-Related Sarcopenia.

Sarcopenia is a commonly prevalent geriatric condition mainly characterized by progressive loss of the skeletal muscle mass that results in noticeably reduced muscle strength and quality. Most of the geriatric population above 60 years of age are overweight, leading to the accumulation of fat in the muscles resulting in abated muscle function. The increased loss of muscle mass is associated with high rates of disability, poor motility, frailty and mortality. The excessive degeneration of muscles is now also being observed in middle-aged people. Therefore, geriatrics has recently started shifting towards the identification of early stages of the disability in order to expand the life span of the patient and reduce physical dependence. Recent findings have indicated that patients with increased physical activity are also affected by sarcopenia, therefore indicating the role of nutritional supplements to enhance muscle health which in turn helps to counteract sarcopenia. Various interventions with physical training have not provided substantial improvements to this disorder, thereby highlighting the crucial role of nutritional supplementation in enhancing muscle mass and strength. Nutritional supplementation has not only been shown to enhance the positive effects of physical interventions but also have a profound impact on the gut microbiome that has come forward as a key regulator of muscle mass and function. This brief review throws light upon the efficiency of nutrients and nutraceutical supplementation by highlighting their ancillary effects in physical interventions as well as improving the gut microbiome status in sarcopenic adults, thereby giving rise to a multimodal intervention for the treatment of sarcopenia.