The anti-diabetic activity of ginger powder (Zingiber officinale) has been recently promoted, with the recommendation to be included as one of the dietary supplements for diabetic patients. However, previous studies presented different results, which may be caused by degradation and metabolic changes of ginger components, gingerols, shogaols and paradols. Therefore, we prepared 10 ginger active components, namely 6-, 8-, 10-paradols, 6-, 8-, 10-shogaols, 6-, 8-, 10-gingerols and zingerone, and evaluated their anti-hyperglycemic activity. Among the tested compounds, 6-paradol and 6-shogaol showed potent activity in stimulating glucose utilization by 3T3-L1 adipocytes and C2C12 myotubes. The effects were attributed to the increase in 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. 6-Paradol, the major metabolite of 6-shogaol, was utilized in an in vivo assay and significantly reduced blood glucose, cholesterol and body weight in high-fat diet-fed mice.

The critical factors for regulating cancer metabolism are oxidative stress and phosphoinositide-3-kinase/AKT serine-threonine kinase/mechanistic target of the rapamycin kinase (PI3K/AKT/mTOR). However, the metabolic impacts of oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT/mTOR on individual mechanisms such as glycolysis (Warburg effect), pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), fatty acid synthesis, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycle, glutaminolysis, and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) are complicated. Therefore, this review summarizes the individual and interacting functions of oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT/mTOR on metabolism. Moreover, natural products providing oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT/mTOR modulating effects have anticancer potential. Using the example of brown algae-derived fucoidan, the roles of oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT/mTOR were summarized, although their potential functions within diverse metabolisms were rarely investigated. We propose a potential application that fucoidan may regulate oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling to modulate their associated metabolic regulations. This review sheds light on understanding the impacts of oxidative stress and PI3K/AKT/mTOR on metabolism and the future direction of metabolism-based cancer therapy of fucoidan.

Four new sulfur-containing compounds, named clinamides A-C (1–3), and 2-cis-entadamide A (4), were isolated together with three known compounds from the bioactive ethanol extract of the aerial parts of Clinacanthus nutans. These secondary metabolites possess sulfur atoms and acrylamide functionalities. The structures of the isolated components were established by interpretation of their spectroscopic data, especially 1D and 2D NMR.