For years, the consumption of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been considered healthy, increasing longevity, and decreasing morbidities. With the assistance of basic research investigating the potential mechanisms, it has become clear that the beneficial effects of plant-based foods are mainly due to the large amount of bioactive phenolic compounds contained. Indeed, substantial dietary intervention studies in humans have supported that the supplementation of polyphenols have various health-promoting effects, especially in the elderly population. In vitro examinations on the anti-aging mechanisms of polyphenols have been widely performed, using different types of natural and synthetic phenolic compounds. The aim of this review is to critically evaluate the experimental evidence demonstrating the beneficial effects of polyphenols on aging-related diseases. We highlight the potential anti-aging mechanisms of polyphenols, including antioxidant signaling, preventing cellular senescence, targeting microRNA, influencing NO bioavailability, and promoting mitochondrial function. While the trends on utilizing polyphenols in preventing aging-related disorders are getting growing attention, we suggest the exploration of the beneficial effects of the combination of multiple polyphenols or polyphenol-rich foods, as this would be more physiologically relevant to daily life.

In diabetes mellitus, the excessive rate of glucose production from the liver is considered a primary contributor for the development of hyperglycemia, in particular, fasting hyperglycemia. In this study, we investigated whether kaempferol, a flavonol present in several medicinal herbs and foods, can be used to ameliorate diabetes in an animal model of insulin deficiency and further explored the mechanism underlying the anti-diabetic effect of this flavonol. We demonstrate that oral administration of kaempferol (50 mg/kg/day) to streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice significantly improved hyperglycemia and reduced the incidence of overt diabetes from 100% to 77.8%. This outcome was accompanied by a reduction in hepatic glucose production and an increase in glucose oxidation in the muscle of the diabetic mice, whereas body weight, calorie intake, body composition, and plasma insulin and glucagon levels were not altered. Consistently, treatment with kaempferol restored hexokinase activity in the liver and skeletal muscle of diabetic mice while suppressed hepatic pyruvate carboxylase activity and gluconeogenesis. These results suggest that kaempferol may exert antidiabetic action via promoting glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle and inhibiting gluconeogenesis in the liver.

In both type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), the deterioration of glycemic control over time is primarily caused by an inadequate mass and progressive dysfunction ofβ-cell, leading to the impaired insulin secretion. Here, we show that dietary supplementation of baicalein, a flavone isolated from the roots of Chinese herbScutellaria baicalensis, improved glucose tolerance and enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in high-fat diet (HFD-) induced middle-aged obese mice. Baicalein had no effect on food intake, body weight gain, circulating lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity in obese mice. Using another mouse model of type 2 diabetes generated by high-fat diet (HFD) feeding and low doses of streptozotocin injection, we found that baicalein treatment significantly improved hyperglycemia, glucose tolerance, and blood insulin levels in these middle-aged obese diabetic mice, which are associated with the improved isletβ-cell survival and mass. In thein vitrostudies, baicalein significantly augmented GSIS and promoted viability of insulin-secreting cells and human islets cultured either in the basal medium or under chronic hyperlipidemic condition. These results demonstrate that baicalein may be a naturally occurring antidiabetic agent by directly modulating pancreaticβ-cell function.

The study conveys an idea to enhance the osseointegration of titanium implant (Ti) through modulating macrophages M2 polarization. The ~ 100 nm spherical mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) that compromised of ~ 4-nm-diameter nano-tunnels were synthesized by the conventional “sol–gel” method, into which the dexamethasone (DEX) was loaded (DEX@MSN). The DEX@MSN could consistently release DEX and showed favorable cytocompatibility in RAW264.7 cells. The arginase-1 expression, a specific marker for macrophages M2 polarization, was also enhanced by DEX@MSN treatment. Then, the Ti was pre-treated with anodization under 5 V to generate the titania nanotubes with ~ 30 nm diameter (NT-30) and the DEX@MSN was introduced onto NT-30 surface via electrophoretic deposition, with the aid of chitosan. After optimizing the deposition parameters, the supernatants of RAW264.7 from the decorated implant surface could significantly promote the osteogenic differentiation of murine primary bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. These findings demonstrate that delivery of DEX from implant surface can modulate the macrophages M2 polarization and result in favorable osteogenesis.