The Effect and Mechanism of Fructus lycii on Improvement of Exercise Fatigue Using a Network Pharmacological Approach with in vitro Experimental Verification.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of Fructus lycii in improving exercise fatigue. Methods: A network pharmacological approach was used to explore potential mechanisms of action of Fructus lycii. Skeletal muscle C2C12 cells and immunofluorescence were employed to verify the effect and mechanism of the representative components in Fructus lycii predicted by network pharmacological analysis. Results: Six potential active components, namely quercetin, ß-sitosterol, stigmasterol, 7-O-methylluteolin-6-C-beta-glucoside_qt, atropine, and glycitein, were identified to have potency in improving exercise fatigue via multiple pathways, such as the PI3K-Akt, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, IL-17, TNF, and MAPK signaling pathways. The immunofluorescence results indicated that quercetin, a significant active component in Fructus lycii, increased the mean staining area of 2-NBDG, TMRM, and MitoTracker, and decreased the area of CellRox compared to the control. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of p-38 MAPK, p-MAPK, p-JNK, p-PI3K, and p-AKT markedly increased after quercetin treatment. Conclusion: Fructus lycii might alleviate exercise fatigue through multiple components and pathways. Among these, quercetin appears to improve exercise fatigue by enhancing energy metabolism and reducing oxidative stress. The PI3K-AKT and MAPK signaling pathways also appear to play a role in this process.

Refined grains intake in high fat, high protein, low carbohydrate and low energy levels subgroups and higher likelihood of abdominal obesity in Chinese population.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between refined grains intake and obesity in China. Refined grain intake was considered in relation to energy intake and at varied levels of macronutrient distribution. A cross-sectional study of 6913 participants was conducted using internet-based dietary questionnaire for Chinese (IDQC). The associations and dose-response relationships between refined grains intake and obesity were investigated using multivariable logistic regression analyses and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models. There was a positive association between refined grains intake and abdominal obesity for all participants (forth quartile OR, 1.313; 95% CI, 1.103-1.760; p < .05) and this association persisted in low energy, low carbohydrate, high fat and high protein level subgroups. A range of favourable refined grains intake was 88-116 g/d (3-4 servings/d), which might decrease the likelihood of obesity for Chinese residents. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Associations of dietary phytosterols with blood lipid profiles and prevalence of obesity in Chinese adults, a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: It has been established in RCTs that high dose of phytosterols can significantly reduce blood cholesterol. However, it was uncertain whether low dose of phytosterols from daily diets was effective. In this study, we evaluated the associations between dietary phytosterols and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood glucose, serum lipid profiles and prevalence of overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity in healthy subjects. METHODS: Four hundred nine men and 503 women aged 18-60 years were included in this study. Dietary intakes of phytosterols were estimated using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Height, body weight, WC and blood pressure were measured, an oral glucose tolerance test was performed. Moreover, fasting serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) were further determined. RESULTS: When comparing extreme quartiles of dietary phytosterols, significant differences of BMI, WC, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), serum TC and LDLc were found. Dietary phytosterols presented a negative association with BMI, WC, SBP, DBP, serum TC and LDLc (with and without adjustment for energy). After adjustment for confounders, we found higher dietary phytosterols were linked with lower prevalence of overweight/obesity (OR highest vs. lowest quartile = 0.487; 95% CI 0.234, 0.918 for men; OR highest vs. lowest quartile = 0.277; 95% CI 0.124, 0.619 for women) and abdominal obesity (OR highest vs. lowest quartile = 0.344; 95% CI 0.144, 0.819 for men; OR highest vs. lowest quartile = 0.321; 95% CI 0.140, 0.571 for women). CONCLUSIONS: Higher dietary phytosterols were associated with lower BMI, WC, blood pressure, serum TC and LDLc and lower prevalence of overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity in Chinese adults.