Phytol: A review of biomedical activities

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Auguist 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyPhytol (PYT) is a diterpene member of the long-chain unsaturated acyclic alcohols. PYT and some of its derivatives, including phytanic acid (PA), exert a wide range of biological effects. PYT is a valuable essential oil (EO) used as a fragrance and a potential candidate for a broad range of applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. There is ample evidence that PA may play a crucial role in the development of pathophysiological states. Focusing on PYT and some of its most relevant derivatives, here we present a systematic review of reported biological activities, along with their underlying mechanism of action. Recent investigations with PYT demonstrated anxiolytic, metabolism-modulating, cytotoxic, antioxidant, autophagy- and apoptosis-inducing, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, immune-modulating, and antimicrobial effects. PPARs- and NF-κB-mediated activities are also discussed as mechanisms responsible for some of the bioactivities of PYT. The overall goal of this review is to discuss recent findings pertaining to PYT biological activities and its possible applications

Rapid multiple-level coevolution in experimental populations of yeast killer and nonkiller strains

Coevolution between different biological entities is considered an important evolutionary mechanism at all levels of biological organization. Here, we provide evidence for coevolution of a yeast killer strain (K) carrying cytoplasmic dsRNA viruses coding for anti-competitor toxins and an isogenic toxin-sensitive strain (S) during 500 generations of laboratory propagation. Signatures of coevolution developed at two levels. One of them was coadaptation of K and S. Killing ability of K first increased quickly and was followed by the rapid invasion of toxin-resistant mutants derived from S, after which killing ability declined. High killing ability was shown to be advantageous when sensitive cells were present but costly when they were absent. Toxin resistance evolved via a two-step process, presumably involving the fitness-enhancing loss of one chromosome followed by selection of a recessive resistant mutation on the haploid chromosome. The other level of coevolution occurred between cell and killer virus. By swapping the killer viruses between ancestral and evolved strains, we could demonstrate that changes observed in both host and virus were beneficial only when combined, suggesting that they involved reciprocal changes. Together, our results show that the yeast killer system shows a remarkable potential for rapid multiple-level coevolution.</p

Gut Microbiota and Its Metabolites in Atherosclerosis Development

Gut microbiota metabolites have a great influence on host digestive function and body health itself. The effects of intestinal microbes on the host metabolism and nutrients absorption are mainly due to regulatory mechanisms related to serotonin, cytokines, and metabolites. Multiple studies have repeatedly reported that the gut microbiota plays a fundamental role in the absorption of bioactive compounds by converting dietary polyphenols into absorbable bioactive substances. Moreover, some intestinal metabolites derived from natural polyphenol products have more biological activities than their own fundamental biological functions. Bioactive like polyphenolic compounds, prebiotics and probiotics are the best known dietary strategies for regulating the composition of gut microbial populations or metabolic/immunological activities, which are called &ldquo;three &ldquo;p&rdquo; for gut health&rdquo;. Intestinal microbial metabolites have an indirect effect on atherosclerosis, by regulating lipid metabolism and inflammation. It has been found that the diversity of intestinal microbiota negatively correlates with the development of atherosclerosis. The fewer the variation and number of microbial species in the gut, the higher the risk of developing atherosclerosis. Therefore, the atherosclerosis can be prevented and treated from the perspective of improving the number and variability of gut microbiota. In here, we summarize the effects of gut metabolites of natural products on the pathological process of the atherosclerosis, since gut intestinal metabolites not only have an indirect effect on macrophage foaming in the vessel wall, but also have a direct effect on vascular endothelial cells

Dietary natural products and their potential to influence health and disease including animal model studies

Although biological and pharmacological effects of dietary natural products have been intensively studied, there has been no bibliometric analysis performed on this research field up to now. The current study has aimed to identify and analyze the manuscripts on dietary natural products and their potential to influence health and disease including studies using animal models. Data, including words from titles and abstracts, publication and citation data, have been extracted from Web of Science database and analyzed by the VOSviewer software. Our search has yielded 1,014 manuscripts. The ratio of original articles to reviews was identified to be 1.5:1. Over half of the manuscripts have been published since 2010. The manuscripts have been contributed by 4,301 authors from 1,445 organizations in 76 countries/territories and published in 499 journals. The results from the current study point out that scientific research focusing on the potential of dietary natural products to affect health and disease status (including animal model studies) is expanding, and suggests an increasing significance of this scientific area. With the progressive development and improvement of animal studies, it should be expected that animal models of different human diseases (especially civilization ones) would be an integral part of the research for the evaluation of pharmaceuticals originated from dietary natural products like plants or plant materials. Moreover, natural products can also be fed to animals to improve the quality of animal products, with numerous resulting functional effects.</p

Dietary natural products and their potential to influence health and disease including animal models

Although biological and pharmacological effects of dietary natural products have been intensively studied, there has been no bibliometric analysis performed on this research field up to now. The current study has aimed to identify and analyze the manuscripts on dietary natural products and their potential to influence health and disease including studies using animal models. Data, including words from titles and abstracts, publication and citation data, have been extracted from Web of Science database and analyzed by the VOSviewer software. Our search has yielded 1,014 manuscripts. The ratio of original articles to reviews was identified to be 1.5:1. Over half of the manuscripts have been published since 2010. The manuscripts have been contributed by 4,301 authors from 1,445 organizations in 76 countries/territories and published in 499 journals. The results from the current study point out that scientific research focusing on the potential of dietary natural products to affect health and disease status (including animal model studies) is expanding, and suggests an increasing significance of this scientific area. With the progressive development and improvement of animal studies, it should be expected that animal models of different human diseases (especially civilization ones) would be an integral part of the research for the evaluation of pharmaceuticals originated from dietary natural products like plants or plant materials. Moreover, natural products can also be fed to animals to improve the quality of animal products, with numerous resulting functional effects