Insulin Sensitivity of Adipocytes is Improved by Pomegranate Mesocarp Through Reduced Oxidative Stress and Inflammation.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory phenomena and increase in oxidative stress in cell physiopathology progression render therapeutic strategies based on nutritional antioxidants necessary. It was thus aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the pomegranate mesocarp extract (PME) on differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes in the presence/absence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a model mimicking insulin resistance. METHOD: The effect of PME on lipid accumulation, protein expression of antioxidant, inflammatory and adipogenic biomarkers, reactive oxygen species production, activity of antioxidant enzymes and secretion of IL-6 has been evaluated during the differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes, in the presence or absence of H2O2. RESULTS: H2O2 reduced the expression of the regulator of insulin sensitivity PPARγ and suppressed adipocyte differentiation. PME counteracted the effect of H2O2. The latter induced a higher level of fat accumulation by promoting the expressions of the adipogenic markers PPARγ, C/EBPα, FABP4 and CD36 as compared to the control and the H2O2-treated differentiating cells. During the progression of adipogenesis, highest increase (p < 0.05) in IL-6 secretion, by 3.16 and 3.85 folds, was observed on day 2 of differentiation in control and H2O2-treated cells, respectively, compared to day 0. PME significantly decreased (p < 0.01) the secretion of the cytokine in addition to suppressing the expression of NFκB. PME also prevented the reduction of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities that occurred during adipogenesis, by at most 33%, 119% and 42%, respectively. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that PME efficiently improves insulin sensitivity and can significantly counteract oxidative stress and inflammation.

Multigene phylogeny, bioactive properties, enzymatic and dye decolorization potential of selected marine fungi from brown algae and sponges of Mauritius.

Marine fungi represent an important proportion of the microbial diversity in the oceans. They are attractive candidates for biotechnological purposes and industrial applications. Despite an increasing interest in mycology, marine fungi associated with sponges and algae have been poorly studied in Mauritius. The objectives of this study were to: 1) use multigene phylogenetic analyses to identify isolated marine fungi; 2) determine the differences in the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the fungal extracts; and 3) assess their enzyme activities and dye decolorization potential. Five fungal isolates viz Aspergillus chevalieri, Aspergillus iizukae, Aspergillus ochraceus, Exserohilum rostratum and Biatriospora sp. were identified based on phylogenetic analyses. There was no significant difference in the antimicrobial properties of the liquid and solid media extracts unlike the antioxidant properties (p < 0.05). The solid media extract of Aspergillus chevalieri (F2-SF) had a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.156 mg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus while Aspergillus ochraceus (F25-SF) had a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.313 and 2.5 mg/ml against Enterococcus faecalis and Salmonella typhi. The solid media extract of Biatriospora sp. (F34-SF) had a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.195 and 1.563 mg/ml against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae. An IC50 of 78.92 ± 4.71 µg/ml in the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value of 11.17 ± 0.20 mM Fe2+/g dry weight extract (DWE) and total phenolic content 360.35 ± 10.31 mg GAE/g DWE was obtained with the solid media extract of Aspergillus chevalieri (F2-SF). Aspergillus ochraceus (F25-SF) and Biatriospora sp. (F34-SF) solid media extracts showed lower IC50 values in the DPPH assay and higher total phenolic content as compared to the liquid media extracts. Aspergillus chevalieri was a good producer of the enzymes DNAse and lipase and had maximum percentage dye decolorization of 79.40 ± 17.72% on Congo red. An enzymatic index ≥ 2 was found for the DNAse and lipase and the maximum percentage dye decolorization of 87.18 ± 3.80% was observed with Aspergillus ochraceus on Methylene blue. Regarding Biatriospora sp., it was a moderate producer of the three enzymes amylase, DNAse and protease and had a maximum dye decolorization potential of 56.29 ± 6.51% on Crystal violet. This study demonstrates that Mauritian marine fungi possess good bioactive properties, enzymatic and dye decolorization potentials, that can potentially be considered for use in pharmaceutical and industrial applications.

Metabolite Profiling of Antioxidant Rich Fractions of Punica granatum L. Mesocarp and CD36 Expression Regulation.

OBJECTIVE: It was aimed at determining which polyphenolic compound(s) in pomegranate mesocarp extract (PME) is liable for the antioxidant, anti-glycation and anti-CD36 activities. METHODS: The PME was fractionated using liquid-liquid extraction method. The fractions were tested for their polyphenolic content, antioxidant potency, anti-glycation activity and anti-CD36 potential. The metabolite compositions of PME and derived fractions were investigated in an untargeted manner using metabolomics in relation to its antioxidant and anti-glycation activities. RESULTS: The ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions of the pomegranate mesocarp demonstrated highest antioxidant and anti-glycation potencies. These fractions, represented by gallic and ellagic acids monomers, were enriched in tannins and phenolic acids. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) modeling of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) metabolite profiles from the different pomegranate mesocarp fractions indicated that gallic and ellagic acids were potential contributors to the antioxidant and anti-glycation effects of the pomegranate mesocarp. At cellular level, the polyphenolic-rich crude extract as well as the ethyl acetate, n-butanol and aqueous residual fractions suppressed the protein expression of CD36. The anti-CD36 activity of these extracts and fractions was attributed to the presence of punicalagin, the ellagitannins that occurred in equal amount in the different fractions. CONCLUSION: This work demonstrated the protective effect of the non-edible part of the pomegranate fruit and showed that gallic and ellagic acids account for the antioxidant and anti-glycation activities while punicalagin is liable for the anti-CD36 activity of PME.

Metabarcoding assessment of fungal diversity in brown algae and sponges of Mauritius.

Marine fungi are largely associated with second most inhabitants of the marine ecosystem such as sponges and algae. They are important colonizers and play vital ecological roles, such as nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, and symbiosis with other organisms. High throughput sequencing methods have been used successfully to reveal unknown fungal communities associated with a number of hosts particularly in the marine environment. However, the diversity of marine fungi associated with sponges and brown algae in Mauritius remains largely unknown. Traditional methods based on culturing do not provide reliable estimate of fungal diversity as only those that are able to grow under laboratory conditions are dominant; in addition, a large proportion of fungi, cultured in vitro remain most of the time unidentifiable, given that there are no sporulating structures to be examined morphologically. To overcome these limitations, we employed Illumina sequencing to unravel fungi species present in the sponges, Iotrochota sp. and Biemna sp. and the brown algae Turbinaria conoides, Sargassum pfeifferae, and Sargassum obovatum, collected from the north of Mauritius. Diversity analyses revealed that Biemna sp. had the highest diversity from the sampled sponges with fungi from 24 orders being recovered while from brown algae; Turbinaria conoides had the highest diversity with recovery of fungal taxa of the orders Botryosphaeriales, Chaetothyriales, Eurotiales, Hypocreales, and Mucorales with the latter four orders being common in both sampled algae and sponges. Beta diversity analyses revealed clustering only in the algae, Turbinaria conoides, and Sargassum pfeifferae and not in the co-occurring sponges, indicating that sampling location did not have much influence on fungal diversity. Our findings provide the first amplicon sequencing based insights of the fungal communities associated with macro-algae and sponges in Mauritius and supplements research on the fungal community existing in the oceans around the world.

Regulation of cancer cell signaling pathways as key events for therapeutic relevance of edible and medicinal mushrooms.

Mushrooms, both edible and medicinal have received considerable attention against cancer due to their polysaccharides, polysaccharides-protein complexes and low molecular weight secondary metabolites content. Every year, millions of people die because of this disease. Existing cancer therapies are poised with questions of efficacy, toxicity and adverse effects, hence justifying the search for finding new, alternative and efficient means to fend off the disease. Mushrooms and their derived active molecules can prevent oncogenesis and tumour metastasis via directly inhibiting tumour cells growth or indirectly improving immunity functions and by acting as chemotherapy adjuvants. While the mechanisms of such effects are not fully known, the roles of the bioactive compounds on cell signaling pathways involved in the promotion and progression of the disease appear to be key, particularly in view of their role(s) in multiple cellular processes, including cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. This review discusses the aberrant cell signaling pathways involved in inhibition of tumour cell growth as target for mushrooms and their bioactive compounds as well as the associated challenges for the molecules therein to be successfully considered as preventive/therapeutic agents against cancer.

Antimicrobial properties of marine fungi from sponges and brown algae of Mauritius.

Purpose of the study: Marine fungi of Mauritius have been poorly studied. There are numerous reports on the bioactive secondary metabolites that are produced by fungi around the world. Yet, research on the molecular characterisation and the pharmaceutical potential of marine fungi in Mauritius is rather scanty. Method: The samples, which consisted of three sponges Haliclona sp., Iotrochota sp. and Biemna sp. and two brown algae Turbinaria conoides and Sargassum portierianum, were collected in the North of Mauritius during winter. No sporulating structures were observed from the fungal cultures making morphological analysis impossible. The molecular characterisation of the selected isolates was carried out by the amplification of the ITS regions and phylogenetic analysis. The antimicrobial properties were then determined using the disc diffusion and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay. Results: Genus level identification was made from molecular data and for some isolates, species-level identification was even possible. Twelve fungi that showed the best antimicrobial properties were identified as Peniophora sp., Aspergillus cristatus, Acremonium sp., Cordyceps memorabilis, Aspergillus ochraceus, Biscogniauxia sp., Aspergillus keratitidis, Exserohilum rostratum, Chromocleista sp., Nigrospora oryzae, Aspergillus flavipes and Mycosphaerella. The lowest MIC result of 0.0098 mg/mL was obtained with Chromocleista sp. mycelium extract against Staphylococcus aureus. The MIC of the mycelium extracts was lower than the broth extracts for most isolates indicating that the antimicrobial compounds are not secreted. Conclusion: Marine fungi from the Mauritian waters have immense potential in the search for natural products against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Antiproliferative activity of Syzygium coriaceum, an endemic plant of Mauritius, with its UPLC-MS metabolite fingerprint: A mechanistic study.

Flowering plants from the Syzygium genus have long been used in different ethnomedicinal systems worldwide and have been under scrutiny for their biological activities. Syzygium coriaceum, an endemic plant of Mauritius has been poorly studied for its potential application against cancer. Herein, Syzygium coriaceum leaf extract has been investigated for its anticancer effect against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. The anticancer activity was assessed using cell proliferation assays, flow cytometry, JC-1 mitochondrial membrane potential assay, and the COMET assay. Un-targeted metabolite profiling via ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution qTOF-MS (UPLC-MS) and aided by molecular networking was employed to identify the crude extract metabolites. S. coriaceum treatment induced a dose-dependent increase in lactate dehydrogenase leakage into the culture media, peaking up to 47% (p ≤ 0.0001), compared to untreated control. Moreover, at 40 µg/mL, S. coriaceum led to 88.1% (p ≤ 0.0001) drop in mitochondrial membrane potential and 5.7% (p ≤ 0.001) increased in the number of the cell population in G0/G1 phase as well as increased (p < 0.05) the proportion of cells undergoing apoptotic/necrotic cell death. More so, at 10 µg/mL, S. coriaceum induced DNA damage which was 19 folds (p < 0.001) higher than that of untreated control cells. Metabolite profiling indicated the presence of 65 metabolites, out of which 59 were identified. Tannins, flavonoids, nitrogenous compounds, and organic acids were the most predominant classes of compounds detected. Our findings showed that the presence of tannins and flavonoids in S. coriaceum leaf extract could account for the multiple mechanisms of actions underlying the antiproliferative effect against HepG2 cells.

Terminalia bentzoë, a Mascarene Endemic Plant, Inhibits Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Growth In Vitro via G0/G1 Phase Cell Cycle Arrest.

Tropical forests constitute a prolific sanctuary of unique floral diversity and potential medicinal sources, however, many of them remain unexplored. The scarcity of rigorous scientific data on the surviving Mascarene endemic taxa renders bioprospecting of this untapped resource of utmost importance. Thus, in view of valorizing the native resource, this study has as its objective to investigate the bioactivities of endemic leaf extracts. Herein, seven Mascarene endemic plants leaves were extracted and evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant properties and antiproliferative effects on a panel of cancer cell lines, using methyl thiazolyl diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and clonogenic cell survival assays. Flow cytometry and comet assay were used to investigate the cell cycle and DNA damaging effects, respectively. Bioassay guided-fractionation coupled with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (MS), gas chromatography-MS, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analysis were used to identify the bioactive compounds. Among the seven plants tested, Terminaliabentzoë was comparatively the most potent antioxidant extract, with significantly (p < 0.05) higher cytotoxic activities. T. bentzoë extract further selectively suppressed the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and significantly halted the cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase, decreased the cells' replicative potential and induced significant DNA damage. In total, 10 phenolic compounds, including punicalagin and ellagic acid, were identified and likely contributed to the extract's potent antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. These results established a promising basis for further in-depth investigations into the potential use of T. bentzoë as a supportive therapy in cancer management.

The role of endemic plants in Mauritian traditional medicine - Potential therapeutic benefits or placebo effect?

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The Mauritian endemic flora has been recorded to be used as medicines for nearly 300 years. Despite acceptance of these endemic plants among the local population, proper documentation of their therapeutic uses is scarce. This review aims at summarising documented traditional uses of Mauritian endemic species with existing scientific data of their alleged bioactivities, in a view to appeal for more stringent validations for their ethnomedicinal uses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A comprehensive bibliographic investigation was carried out by analysing published books on ethnopharmacology and international peer-reviewed papers via scientific databases namely ScienceDirect and PubMed. The keywords "Mauritius endemic plants" and "Mauritius endemic medicinal plants" were used and articles published from 1980 to 2016 were considered. 675 works of which 12 articles were filtered which documented the ethnomedicinal uses and 22 articles reported the biological activities of Mauritian endemic plants. Only materials published in English or French language were included in the review. Available data on the usage of Mauritian endemic plants in traditional medicine and scientific investigation were related. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We documented 87 taxa of Mauritian endemic plants for their medicinal value. Endemic plants are either used as part of complex herbal formulations or singly, and are prescribed by herbalists to mitigate a myriad of diseases from metabolic disorders, dermatological pathologies, arthritis to sexually transmissible diseases. However, these species have undergone a limited consistent evaluation to validate their purported ethnomedicinal claims. As the World Health Organization Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023 emphasises on moving traditional medicine into mainstream medicine on an equally trusted footage, the re-evaluation and modernization of Mauritius cultural heritage become necessary. CONCLUSIONS: With a consumer-driven 'return to nature', scientific validation and valorization of the herbal remedies, including efficacy and safety are, therefore, important. This review reports the scarcity of research on validating the efficacy and safety of medicinal endemic plants. This calls for the use of optimised methodologies to investigate the claims of therapeutic effects resulting from the use of these traditional medicines.

Functional Foods and Lifestyle Approaches for Diabetes Prevention and Management.

Functional foods contain biologically active ingredients associated with physiological health benefits for preventing and managing chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A regular consumption of functional foods may be associated with enhanced anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, insulin sensitivity, and anti-cholesterol functions, which are considered integral to prevent and manage T2DM. Components of the Mediterranean diet (MD)-such as fruits, vegetables, oily fish, olive oil, and tree nuts-serve as a model for functional foods based on their natural contents of nutraceuticals, including polyphenols, terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, sterols, pigments, and unsaturated fatty acids. Polyphenols within MD and polyphenol-rich herbs-such as coffee, green tea, black tea, and yerba maté-have shown clinically-meaningful benefits on metabolic and microvascular activities, cholesterol and fasting glucose lowering, and anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation in high-risk and T2DM patients. However, combining exercise with functional food consumption can trigger and augment several metabolic and cardiovascular protective benefits, but it is under-investigated in people with T2DM and bariatric surgery patients. Detecting functional food benefits can now rely on an "omics" biological profiling of individuals' molecular, genetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, but is under-investigated in multi-component interventions. A personalized approach for preventing and managing T2DM should consider biological and behavioral models, and embed nutrition education as part of lifestyle diabetes prevention studies. Functional foods may provide additional benefits in such an approach.

Extracts of Mauritian Carica papaya (var. solo) protect SW872 and HepG2 cells against hydrogen peroxide induced oxidative stress.

In line with literature documenting the pluripotent activities of tropical fruits, this study evaluated the antioxidant effects of Carica papaya fruit extracts at cellular level. Investigations using cellular models of oxidative stress provided complementary evidence of the antioxidant activities of papaya fruit. At 2 mg dry weight ml-1, extracts of seed from ripe and unripe fruit significantly reduced oxidative stress levels within human pre-adipocytes (SW872) and hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Maintenance of mitochondrial viability, reduction of intracellular reactive oxygen species levels and mediation of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretory levels (tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) were all indicative of its cytoprotective effects against oxidative-inflammation. This work demonstrates that the Mauritian Solo papaya is an important source of natural antioxidants that could be used for the dietary modulation of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Lactic Fermentation as an Efficient Tool to Enhance the Antioxidant Activity of Tropical Fruit Juices and Teas.

Tropical fruits like pineapple, papaya, mango, and beverages such as green or black teas, represent an underestimated source of antioxidants that could exert health-promoting properties. Most food processing technologies applied to fruit beverages or teas result in an impairment of inherent nutritional properties. Conversely, we hypothesise that lactic acid fermentation may constitute a promising route to maintain and even improve the nutritional qualities of processed fruits. Using specific growth media, lactic acid bacteria were selected from the fruit phyllosphere diversity and fruit juice, with the latter undergoing acidification kinetics analyses and characterised for exopolysaccharide production. Strains able to ferment tropical fruit juices or teas into pleasant beverages, within a short time, were of particular interest. Strains Weissella cibaria 64 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides 12b, able to increase antioxidant activity, were specifically studied as potential starters for lactic fermented pineapple juice.

Antibacterial and antibiotic potentiating activities of tropical marine sponge extracts.

Increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance has led research to focus on discovering new antimicrobial agents derived from the marine biome. Although ample studies have investigated sponges for their bioactive metabolites with promising prospects in drug discovery, the potentiating effects of sponge extracts on antibiotics still remains to be expounded. The present study aimed to investigate the antibacterial capacity of seven tropical sponges collected from Mauritian waters and their modulatory effect in association with three conventional antibiotics namely chloramphenicol, ampicillin and tetracycline. Disc diffusion assay was used to determine the inhibition zone diameter (IZD) of the sponge total crude extracts (CE), hexane (HF), ethyl acetate (EAF) and aqueous (AF) fractions against nine standard bacterial isolates whereas broth microdilution method was used to determine their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) and antibiotic potentiating activity of the most active sponge extract. MIC values of the sponge extracts ranged from 0.039 to 1.25mg/mL. Extracts from Neopetrosia exigua rich in beta-sitosterol and cholesterol displayed the widest activity spectrum against the 9 tested bacterial isolates whilst the best antibacterial profile was observed by its EAF particularly against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus with MIC and MBC values of 0.039mg/mL and 0.078mg/mL, respectively. The greatest antibiotic potentiating effect was obtained with the EAF of N. exigua (MIC/2) and ampicillin combination against S. aureus. These findings suggest that the antibacterial properties of the tested marine sponge extracts may provide an alternative and complementary strategy to manage bacterial infections.

Fermented papaya preparation modulates the progression of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea induced hepatocellular carcinoma in Balb/c mice.

AIM AND MAIN METHOD: The medicinal properties of fermented papaya preparation (FPP) derived from Carica papaya fruit was investigated in order to determine its ability to modulate the progression of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea induced hepatocellular carcinoma in Balb/c mice. KEY FINDINGS: As well as reducing the physical symptoms associated with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma, supplementation of Balb/c mice with 500mg FPP/kg BW for 92days normalized the blood cell count, led to an increased activity of several key antioxidant enzymes (SOD: +20%, CAT: +81%, GPx: +66.1%, GR: +54.4%; P<0.001 vs. MNU control), increased the ferrous reducing antioxidant potential (+36.7%, P<0.001 vs. MNU control) and reduced the extent of lipid peroxidation in the liver by 44.3% (P<0.001 vs. MNU control). SIGNIFICANCE: Results demonstrated the ability of FPP to preserve the integrity of liver against oxidative damage and protect hepatocytes against irreversible DNA structural modifications induced by MNU, highlighting its potential role as an immune-defense modulator during hepatocarcinoma.

Modulation of hepatocarcinogenesis in N-methyl-N-nitrosourea treated Balb/c mice by mushroom extracts.

The hepatoprotective potential of edible mushrooms from Mauritius, namely Pleurotus sajor-caju and Agaricus bisporus was evaluated using an N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis Balb/c mice model. Mushroom extracts restored normal weight in MNU treated mice over a 3 month supplementation period. Blood parameter analyses indicated a clear modulation of hemoglobin concentration, leukocyte, platelet, lymphocyte, neutrophil, monocyte and eosinophil counts in MNU-induced mice (p < 0.05). Mushroom extract supplementation effectively reduced oxidative damage in MNU-primed mice, which was marked by a significant decrease in the extent of lipid peroxidation (p < 0.05) and a concomitant increase in the enzymatic antioxidant levels, primarily catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase and peroxidase, and FRAP values (p < 0.05). DNA protective effects of the extracts were confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, where, the MNU-DNA interaction, as evidenced by an intense peak at 1254 cm(-1), was normalized. The findings demonstrate hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory and anti-carcinogenic effects and suggest the use of mushrooms as potential dietary prophylactics in cancer chemoprevention.

Cytoglobin as a Biomarker in Cancer: Potential Perspective for Diagnosis and Management.

The search for biomarkers to detect the earliest glimpse of cancer has been one of the primary objectives of cancer research initiatives. These endeavours, in spite of constant clinical challenges, are now more focused as early cancer detection provides increased opportunities for different interventions and therapies, with higher potential for improving patient survival and quality of life. With the progress of the omics technologies, proteomics and metabolomics are currently being used for identification of biomarkers. In this line, cytoglobin (Cygb), a ubiquitously found protein, has been actively reviewed for its functional role. Cytoglobin is dynamically responsive to a number of insults, namely, fibrosis, oxidative stress, and hypoxia. Recently, it has been reported that Cygb is downregulated in a number of malignancies and that an induced overexpression reduces the proliferative characteristics of cancer cells. Thus, the upregulation of cytoglobin can be indicative of a tumour suppressor ability. Nevertheless, without a comprehensive outlook of the molecular and functional role of the globin, it will be most unlikely to consider cytoglobin as a biomarker for early detection of cancer or as a therapeutic option. This review provides an overview of the proposed role of cytoglobin and explores its potential functional role as a biomarker for cancer and other diseases.

Polyphenolic rich traditional plants and teas improve lipid stability in food test systems.

The deleterious effects of lipid autoxidation are of major concern to the food industry and can be prevented by food antioxidants. In this vein, the phenolic contents and antioxidant potential of traditional plants of Mauritius such as P. betle L. (Piperaceae), M. koenigii L. Sprengel. (Rutaceae), O. gratissimum L. (Lamiaceae), O. tenuiflorum L. (Lamiaceae), and commercially available Mauritian green and black teas were evaluated. Their ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were compared to that of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) with the following order of potency: BHT > "Natural" commercial green tea > "Black Label" commercial black tea > O. gratissimum > P. betle > O. tenuiflorum > M. koenigii. The trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay reflected a similar antioxidative order for BHT and "Natural" commercial green tea, with however P. betle, O. tenuiflorum and O. gratissimum exhibiting higher activities than "Black Label" commercial black tea and M. koenigii. Based on their potent antioxidant capacity, P. betle (0.2 % m/m) and O. tenuiflorum (0.2 % m/m) extracts, and green tea (0.1 % m/m) infusate were compared with BHT (0.02 % m/m) on their ability to retard lipid oxidation in unstripped sunflower oil and mayonnaise during storage at 40 °C. P. betle and green tea were more effective than BHT in both food systems. Moreover, odour evaluation by a sensory panel showed that the plant extracts and green tea infusate effectively delayed the development of rancid odours in unstripped sunflower oil and mayonnaise (p < 0.05).

Diabetes as a risk factor to cancer: functional role of fermented papaya preparation as phytonutraceutical adjunct in the treatment of diabetes and cancer.

Oncologists and diabetologists quote scientific data from epidemiological and in vitro studies to show that high levels of insulin and glucose, in combination with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, can heighten the risk of developing cancer amongst patients with diabetes. Although the cancers that have been consistently associated with type 2 diabetes include pancreatic, colorectal, breast and liver cancer, the preponderance of the disease risk factors such as obesity, inflammation, hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinaemia (as a result of insulin resistance and oxidative ß-cell damage) and the indirect influence of anti-diabetic medications are increasingly being defined. Fermented papaya preparation (FPP) has defined antioxidant and immune-modulating potentials. The ability of FPP influence signaling cascades associated with cell growth and survival presents a rational for chemopreventive adjunct that can be used in combination with traditional redox based therapies that target oxidative stress in the cancer micro environment. It is further suggested that the demonstrated efficacy FPP to control blood glucose, excessive inflammation and modulate free radical-induced oxidative damage which are triggers of liver, bladder, breast and prostate cancers in type 2 diabetics, may favorably mitigate the side effects of ensuing diabetes and cancer therapy. What remains paramount is early cancer detection and early determination of propensity risks for diabetes. The education of patients, proper dietary management and compliance with therapeutic regime directed at cancer and diabetes encapsulate challenges of global magnitude.

Apoptosis inducing lead compounds isolated from marine organisms of potential relevance in cancer treatment.

Apoptosis is a critical defense mechanism against the formation and progression of cancer and exhibits distinct morphological and biochemical traits. Targeting apoptotic pathways becomes an intriguing strategy for the development of chemotherapeutic agents particularly if the process is selective to cancer cells. Marine natural products have become important sources in the discovery of antitumour drugs, especially when recent technological and methodological advances have increased the scope of investigations of marine organisms. A high number of individual compounds from diverse organisms have induced apoptosis in several tumour cell lines via a number of mechanisms. Here, we review the effects of selected marine natural products and their synthetic derivatives on apoptosis signalling pathways in association with their pharmacological properties. Providing an outlook into the future, we also examine the factors that contribute to new discoveries and the difficulties associated with translating marine-derived compounds into clinical trials.