Viewpoint: Agri-nutrition research: Revisiting the contribution of maize and wheat to human nutrition and health.

Research linking agriculture and nutrition has evolved since the mid-20th century. The current focus is on child-stunting, dietary diversity and 'nutrient-rich' foods in recognition of the growing burdens of malnutrition and non-communicable diseases. This article concerns the global dietary and health contribution of major cereals, specifically maize and wheat, which are often considered not to be 'nutrient-rich' foods. Nevertheless, these cereals are major sources of dietary energy, of essential proteins and micronutrients, and diverse non-nutrient bioactive food components. Research on bioactives, and dietary fibre in particular, is somewhat 'siloed', with little attention paid by the agri-nutrition research community to the role of cereal bioactives in healthy diets, and the adverse health effects often arising through processing and manufacturing of cereals-based food products. We argue that the research agenda should embrace the whole nutritional contribution of the multiple dietary components of cereals towards addressing the triple burden of undernutrition, micronutrient malnutrition, overweight/obesity and non-communicable diseases. Agri-nutrition and development communities need to adopt a multidisciplinary and food systems research approach from farm to metabolism. Agriculture researchers should collaborate with other food systems stakeholders on nutrition-related challenges in cereal production, processing and manufacturing, and food waste and losses. Cereal and food scientists should also collaborate with social scientists to better understand the impacts on diets of the political economy of the food industry, and the diverse factors which influence local and global dietary transitions, consumer behavioural choices, dietary change, and the assessment and acceptance of novel and nutritious cereal-based products.

The Influence of Diet on MicroRNAs that Impact Cardiovascular Disease.

Food quality and nutritional habits strongly influence human health status. Extensive research has been conducted to confirm that foods rich in biologically active nutrients have a positive impact on the onset and development of different pathological processes, including cardiovascular diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms by which dietary compounds regulate cardiovascular function have not yet been fully clarified. A growing number of studies confirm that bioactive food components modulate various signaling pathways which are involved in heart physiology and pathology. Recent evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs), small single-stranded RNA chains with a powerful ability to influence protein expression in the whole organism, have a significant role in the regulation of cardiovascular-related pathways. This review summarizes recent studies dealing with the impact of some biologically active nutrients like polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), vitamins E and D, dietary fiber, or selenium on the expression of many miRNAs, which are connected with cardiovascular diseases. Current research indicates that the expression levels of many cardiovascular-related miRNAs like miRNA-21, -30 family, -34, -155, or -199 can be altered by foods and dietary supplements in various animal and human disease models. Understanding the dietary modulation of miRNAs represents, therefore, an important field for further research. The acquired knowledge may be used in personalized nutritional prevention of cardiovascular disease or the treatment of cardiovascular disorders.

A critical review on hepatoprotective effects of bioactive food components.

BACKGROUND: Bioactive food components are nonessential biomolecules, which help to give beneficial effects to human being against several diseases. Natural bioactive food components derived from plants and animals, such as phytosterols, carotenoids, polyphenols and fatty acids, have been proposed as valuable substitutions for anticipation and management of hepatotoxic effects and its chronic complications based on in vitro and in vivo studies. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: To summarize drugs and chemical-induced hepatotoxicity and review how various bioactive food components attenuate the hepatotoxicity via cellular mechanisms. RESULTS: Remarkable studies demonstrated that the health promoting effects of bioactive components originated from plants have been frequently attributed to their antioxidant properties and facilitate to increase cellular antioxidant defense system and thereby scavenge free radicals, inhibit lipid peroxidation, augment anti-inflammatory potential, and further protect the liver from damage. CONCLUSION: In this critical review, we summarize current progress in clarifying the molecular mechanism in hepatotoxicity and curative potential of the bioactive food components and its successive clinical outcomes in the field of drug discovery and overcome the problems of medication and chemical-induced hepatotoxic effects.

Can Bioactive Food Substances Contribute to Cystic Fibrosis-Related Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?

Advances in cystic fibrosis (CF) care have significantly improved the quality of life and life expectancy of patients. Nutritional therapy based on a high-calorie, high-fat diet, antibiotics, as well as new therapies focused on CFTR modulators change the natural course of the disease. They do so by improving pulmonary function and growing BMI. However, the increased weight of such patients can lead to unwanted long-term cardiovascular effects. People with CF (pwCF) experience several cardiovascular risk factors. Such factors include a high-fat diet and increased dietary intake, altered lipid metabolism, a decrease in the level of fat-soluble antioxidants, heightened systemic inflammation, therapeutic interventions, and diabetes mellitus. PwCF must pay special attention to food and eating habits in order to maintain a nutritional status that is as close as possible to the proper physiological one. They also have to benefit from appropriate nutritional counseling, which is essential in the evolution and prognosis of the disease. Growing evidence collected in the last years shows that many bioactive food components, such as phytochemicals, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and antioxidants have favorable effects in the management of CF. An important positive effect is cardiovascular prevention. The possibility of preventing/reducing cardiovascular risk in CF patients enhances both quality of life and life expectancy in the long run.

Dietary Oncopharmacognosy as a Crosswalk between Precision Oncology and Precision Nutrition.

While diet and nutrition are modifiable risk factors for many chronic and infectious diseases, their role in cancer prevention and control remains under investigation. The lack of clarity of some diet-cancer relationships reflects the ongoing debate about the relative contribution of genetic factors, environmental exposures, and replicative errors in stem cell division as determinate drivers of cancer risk. In addition, dietary guidance has often been based upon research assuming that the effects of diet and nutrition on carcinogenesis would be uniform across populations and for various tumor types arising in a specific organ, i.e., that one size fits all. Herein, we present a paradigm for investigating precision dietary patterns that leverages the approaches that led to successful small-molecule inhibitors in cancer treatment, namely understanding the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of small molecules for targeting carcinogenic mechanisms. We challenge the scientific community to refine the paradigm presented and to conduct proof-in-concept experiments that integrate existing knowledge (drug development, natural products, and the food metabolome) with developments in artificial intelligence to design and then test dietary patterns predicted to elicit drug-like effects on target tissues for cancer prevention and control. We refer to this precision approach as dietary oncopharmacognosy and envision it as the crosswalk between the currently defined fields of precision oncology and precision nutrition with the goal of reducing cancer deaths.

HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn and UHPLC-ESI/QTOF/MSn characterization of polyphenols in the leaves of Neocarya macrophylla (Sabine) Prance ex F. White and cytotoxicity to gastric carcinoma cells.

Among several extracts from species from Guinea-Bissauan flora, the hydroethanol extract obtained from the leaves of gingerbread plum (Neocarya macrophylla (Sabine) Prance ex F. White.) revealed to be one of the most cytotoxic towards human gastric AGS carcinoma cells. Considering the increasing use of N. macrophylla in the food industry and the abundant biomass of agricultural wastes being generated, the identification of phenolic bioactives has been attained by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn and UHPLC-ESI/QTOF/MSn. Twenty-seven phenolic constituents were identified for the first time in the monotypic genus Neosartorya, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid being detected as the major constituent (4.90 ± 0.20 mg g-1 dry extract). While 15 flavan-3-ols derivatives were determined, the extract is predominantly characterized by the occurrence of quercetin, kaempferol, apigenin and chrysoeriol glycosides. Typical apoptotic changes in gastric adenocarcinoma AGS cells upon exposure to N. macrophylla leaf extract were observed. The apoptotic cell death is mediated by the activation of the mitochondrial pathway, as loss of mitochondrial membrane potential was detected, as well as increased caspase-9 and -3 activities. The industrial relevance of this plant material, along with the data presented here on the potential anticancer effects of N. macrophylla and the efficient extraction of phenolic bioactives using water and ethanol (GRAS substance), calls for further research on the leaves as a potential functional food and/or ingredient.

Enriched Riceberry Bran Oil Exerts Chemopreventive Properties through Anti-Inflammation and Alteration of Gut Microbiota in Carcinogen-Induced Liver and Colon Carcinogenesis in Rats.

Riceberry has recently been acknowledged for its beneficial pharmacological effects. Riceberry bran oil (RBBO) exhibited anti-proliferation activity in various cancer cell lines. However, animal studies of RBBO on anti-carcinogenicity and its molecular inhibitory mechanism have been limited. This study purposed to investigate the chemopreventive effects of RBBO on the carcinogen-induced liver and colorectal carcinogenesis in rats. Rats were injected with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) and further orally administered with RBBO equivalent to 100 mg/kg body weight of γ-oryzanol 5 days/week for 10 weeks. RBBO administration suppressed preneoplastic lesions including hepatic glutathione S-transferase placental form positive foci and colorectal aberrant crypt foci. Accordingly, RBBO induced hepatocellular and colorectal cell apoptosis and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression. Interestingly, RBBO effectively promoted the alteration of gut microbiota in DEN- and DMH-induced rats, as has been shown in the elevated Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. This outcome was consistent with an increase in butyrate in the feces of carcinogen-induced rats. The increase in butyrate reflects the chemopreventive properties of RBBO through the mechanisms of its anti-inflammatory properties and cell apoptosis induction in preneoplastic cells. This would indicate that RBBO containing γ-oryzanol, phytosterols, and tocols holds significant potential in the prevention of cancer.

Potential of Bioactive Food Components against Gastric Cancer: Insights into Molecular Mechanism and Therapeutic Targets.

Gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Accumulated evidence and epidemiological studies have indicated that bioactive food components from natural products play an important role in gastric cancer prevention and treatment, although its mechanism of action has not yet been elucidated. Particularly, experimental studies have shown that natural bioactive food products display a protective effect against gastric cancer via numerous molecular mechanisms, such as suppression of cell metastasis, anti-angiogenesis, inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, and modulation of autophagy. Chemotherapy remains the standard treatment for advanced gastric cancer along with surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, as well as immunotherapy, and its adverse side effects including neutropenia, stomatitis, mucositis, diarrhea, nausea, and emesis are well documented. However, administration of naturally occurring bioactive phytochemical food components could increase the efficacy of gastric chemotherapy and other chemotherapeutic resistance. Additionally, several studies have suggested that bioactive food components with structural stability, potential bioavailability, and powerful bioactivity are important to develop novel treatment strategies for gastric cancer management, which may minimize the adverse effects. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to summarize the potential therapeutic effects of natural bioactive food products on the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer with intensive molecular mechanisms of action, bioavailability, and safety efficacy.

Natural Products in the Prevention of Metabolic Diseases: Lessons Learned from the 20th KAST Frontier Scientists Workshop.

The incidence of metabolic and chronic diseases including cancer, obesity, inflammation-related diseases sharply increased in the 21st century. Major underlying causes for these diseases are inflammation and oxidative stress. Accordingly, natural products and their bioactive components are obvious therapeutic agents for these diseases, given their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Research in this area has been significantly expanded to include chemical identification of these compounds using advanced analytical techniques, determining their mechanism of action, food fortification and supplement development, and enhancing their bioavailability and bioactivity using nanotechnology. These timely topics were discussed at the 20th Frontier Scientists Workshop sponsored by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on 23 November 2019. Scientists from South Korea and the U.S. shared their recent research under the overarching theme of Bioactive Compounds, Nanoparticles, and Disease Prevention. This review summarizes presentations at the workshop to provide current knowledge of the role of natural products in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases.

Nutritional and Behavioral Approaches to Body Composition and Low-Grade Chronic Inflammation Management for Older Adults in the Ordinary and COVID-19 Times.

As more insight is gained into personalized health care, the importance of personalized nutritional and behavioral approaches is even more relevant in the COVID-19 era, in addition to the need for further elucidation regarding several diseases/conditions. One of these concerning body composition (in this context; bone, lean and adipose tissue) is osteosarcopenic adiposity (OSA) syndrome. OSA occurs most often with aging, but also in cases of some chronic diseases and is exacerbated with the presence of low-grade chronic inflammation (LGCI). OSA has been associated with poor nutrition, metabolic disorders and diminished functional abilities. This paper addresses various influences on OSA and LGCI, as well as their mutual action on each other, and provides nutritional and behavioral approaches which could be personalized to help with either preventing or managing OSA and LGCI in general, and specifically in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressed in more detail are nutritional recommendations for and roles of macro- and micronutrients and bioactive food components; the microbiome; and optimal physical activity regimens. Other issues, such as food insecurity and nutritional inadequacy, circadian misalignment and shift workers are addressed as well. Since there is still a lack of longer-term primary studies in COVID-19 patients (either acute or recovered) and interventions for OSA improvement, this discussion is based on the existing knowledge, scientific hypotheses and observations derived from similar conditions or studies just being published at the time of this writing.

Berries containing anthocyanins with enhanced methylation profiles are more effective at ameliorating high fat diet-induced metabolic damage.

Driven by the need for alternative whole food options to manage metabolic syndrome, multiple dietary interventions are suggested to achieve a better control of metabolic risk factors and molecular networks that regulate cellular energy metabolism. It is generally accepted that anthocyanin-rich diets are beneficial for maintaining healthy body weight, improving glucose and lipid metabolism, and determining inflammatory status of key metabolic tissues. However, anthocyanins are a structurally diverse group of phenolic compounds and their individual contributions to improving metabolic health are not clear. In this study, we show that consumption of berries containing anthocyanins with enhanced methylation profiles (malvidin and petunidin) is more effective at reducing high fat diet-induced metabolic damage in the C57BL/6 mouse model of polygenic obesity. Blueberries and Concord grapes (57% and 33% anthocyanins as malvidin, petunidin, or peonidin, respectively) improved body composition through individual significant effects on energy expenditure and increased activity. Methylated anthocyanins are also more effective at enhancing mitochondrial respiration and dissipation of the mitochondrial proton gradient (proton leak) in adipose tissue, thus counteracting mitochondrial dysfunction associated with metabolic stress. Together, these results provide direct proof of the higher protective potential of methylated anthocyanins against the metabolic consequences of chronic exposure to calorie-dense foods.

Lactic Acid Bacteria May Impact Intestinal Barrier Function by Modulating Goblet Cells.

SCOPE: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are recognized to promote gastrointestinal health by mechanisms that are not fully understood. LABs might modulate the mucus and thereby enhance intestinal barrier function. Herein, we investigate effects of different LAB strains and species on goblet cell genes involved in mucus synthesis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Gene expression profiles of goblet-cell-associated products (mucin MUC2, trefoil factor 3, resistin-like molecule ß, carbohydrate sulfotransferase 5, and galactose-3-O-sulfotransferase 2) induced by LAB or their derived conditioned medium in human goblet cell line LS174T are studied. Effects of LAB on gene transcription are assessed with or without exposure to TNF-α, IL-13, or the mucus damaging agent tunicamycin. LAB do impact the related genes in a species- and strain-specific fashion and their effects are different in the presence of the cytokines and tunicamycin. Bioactive factors secreted by some strains are also found to regulate goblet cell-related genes. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide novel insights in differences in modulatory efficacy on mucus genes between LAB species and strains. This study further unravels direct interactions between LAB and intestinal goblet cells, and highlights the importance of rationally selecting appropriate LAB candidates to achieve specific benefits in the gut.

A Critical Review of Bioactive Food Components, and of their Functional Mechanisms, Biological Effects and Health Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Eating behaviours are closely related to some medical conditions potentially leading to death such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Healthy eating practices, maintaining a normal weight, and regular physical activity could prevent up to 80% of coronary heart disease, 90% of type-2 diabetes and onethird of all cancers [1]. METHOD: Over the last two decades, the food industry has invested much effort in research and development of healthier, more nutritious foods. These foods are frequently designated "functional" when they contain nutritional components required for healthy living or "nutraceuticals" when intended to treat or prevent disease or disorders through a variety of bioactive (e.g., antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, hypocholesterolaemic) functions that are performed by functional enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, fibres, phytosterols, peptides, proteins, isoflavones, saponins or phytic acid, among other substances. RESULTS: Some agricultural and industrial residues have proven to be excellent choices as raw materials for producing bioactive compounds and have been proposed as potentially safe natural sources of antimicrobials and/or antioxidants for the food industry. Functional food ingredients containing bioactive compounds could be used as plant extracts by pharmaceutical and food industries. CONCLUSION: Bioactive food components influence health outcomes.

Linking Diet to Colorectal Cancer: The Emerging Role of MicroRNA in the Communication between Plant and Animal Kingdoms.

Environmental and lifestyle factors, including diet and nutritional habits have been strongly linked to colorectal cancer (CRC). Of note, unhealthy dietary habits leading to adiposity represent a main risk factor for CRC and are associated with a chronic low-grade inflammatory status. Inflammation is a hallmark of almost every type of cancer and can be modulated by several food compounds exhibiting either protective or promoting effects. However, in spite of an extensive research, the underlying mechanisms by which dietary patterns or bioactive food components may influence tumor onset and outcome have not been fully clarified yet. Growing evidence indicates that diet, combining beneficial substances and potentially harmful ingredients, has an impact on the expression of key regulators of gene expression such as the non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Since the expression of these molecules is deranged in chronic inflammation and cancer, modulating their expression may strongly influence the cancer phenotype and outcomes. In addition, the recently acquired knowledge on the existence of intricate inter-kingdom communication networks, is opening new avenues for a deeper understanding of the intimate relationships linking diet to CRC. In this novel scenario, diet-modulated ncRNA may represent key actors in the interaction between plant and animal kingdoms, capable of influencing disease onset and outcome. In this review, we will summarize the studies demonstrating a link between bioactive food components, including food-derived, microbiota-processed, secondary metabolites, and host ncRNA. We will focus on microRNA, highlighting how this plant/animal inter-kingdom cross-talk may have an impact on CRC establishment and progression.

The Nutraceutical Bioavailability Classification Scheme: Classifying Nutraceuticals According to Factors Limiting their Oral Bioavailability.

The oral bioavailability of a health-promoting dietary component (nutraceutical) may be limited by various physicochemical and physiological phenomena: liberation from food matrices, solubility in gastrointestinal fluids, interaction with gastrointestinal components, chemical degradation or metabolism, and epithelium cell permeability. Nutraceutical bioavailability can therefore be improved by designing food matrices that control their bioaccessibility (B*), absorption (A*), and transformation (T*) within the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This article reviews the major factors influencing the gastrointestinal fate of nutraceuticals, and then uses this information to develop a new scheme to classify the major factors limiting nutraceutical bioavailability: the nutraceutical bioavailability classification scheme (NuBACS). This new scheme is analogous to the biopharmaceutical classification scheme (BCS) used by the pharmaceutical industry to classify drug bioavailability, but it contains additional factors important for understanding nutraceutical bioavailability in foods. The article also highlights potential strategies for increasing the oral bioavailability of nutraceuticals based on their NuBACS designation (B*A*T*).

Nutrigenomics and Cancer Prevention.

Mounting evidence continues to point to dietary habits as a modifier of cancer risk and tumor behavior; although it is clear that considerable variability occurs across studies. While genetic public health messages can be developed, the use of mean values may result in underexposure to some essential and nonessential food components, yet precipitate overexposure to nutrients. Undeniably, inconsistencies in the literature may reflect variation in timing of exposures to specific dietary constituents, interactions with the food matrix, processing technologies, or the genomic variation among individuals, which can influence absorption, metabolism, and/or the molecular target. Inter-individual variability in genetics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, or microbiomics can influence the magnitude and direction of response to bioactive food components, as briefly reviewed in this article. Unquestionably, understanding nutrigenomics holds promise to reveal those who will benefit most from dietary interventions plus identify any who might be placed at risk due to overexposures.

Nutrigenomics and cancer.

Cancer incidence is projected to increase in the future and an effectual preventive strategy is required to face this challenge. Alteration of dietary habits is potentially an effective approach for reducing cancer risk. Assessment of biological effects of a specific food or bioactive component that is linked to cancer and prediction of individual susceptibility as a function of nutrient-nutrient interactions and genetics is an essential element to evaluate the beneficiaries of dietary interventions. In general, the use of biomarkers to evaluate individuals susceptibilities to cancer must be easily accessible and reliable. However, the response of individuals to bioactive food components depends not only on the effective concentration of the bioactive food components, but also on the target tissues. This fact makes the response of individuals to food components vary from one individual to another. Nutrigenomics focuses on the understanding of interactions between genes and diet in an individual and how the response to bioactive food components is influenced by an individual's genes. Nutrients have shown to affect gene expression and to induce changes in DNA and protein molecules. Nutrigenomic approaches provide an opportunity to study how gene expression is regulated by nutrients and how nutrition affects gene variations and epigenetic events. Finding the components involved in interactions between genes and diet in an individual can potentially help identify target molecules important in preventing and/or reducing the symptoms of cancer.