Objective: Resveratrol has been confirmed to improve bone quality and delay osteoporosis, but the mechanisms have not been thoroughly elucidated. In this report, we investigated the osteogenic differentiation effect of resveratrol on senescent bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and the involvement of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/ reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling pathway. Methods: Cell senescence, viability, and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs influenced by resveratrol were investigated and ROS production and AMPK expression were detected. Results: Cell senescence, characterized by senescence β-galactosidase staining and senescence-related genes (p16, p21, and p53) expression, was attenuated by resveratrol. Cell viability, extracellular matrix calcification, and osteogenic-related genes expression were significantly enhanced after resveratrol treatment. ROS production in BMSCs was inhibited while AMPK expression was up-regulated by resveratrol. Inhibition of AMPK expression by compound C reduced resveratrol-prompted osteogenesis and ROS production down-regulation. Conclusion: These results provide a potential mechanism involving AMPK activation/ROS inhibition signaling pathway in osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs enhanced by resveratrol. It suggests that development of therapy towards ROS is an effective way for osteoporosis treatment.

The number of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has increased sharply over the past decades. Apart from genetic predisposition, which may cause some of the diagnosed cases, an unhealthy diet and lifestyle are incentive triggers of this global epidemic. Consumption of probiotics and prebiotics to gain health benefits has become increasingly accepted by the public in recent years, and their critical roles in alleviating T2DM symptoms are confirmed by accumulating studies. Microbiome research reveals gut colonization by probiotics and their impacts on the host, while oral intake of prebiotics may stimulate existing metabolisms in the colon. The use of synbiotics (a combination of prebiotics and probiotics) can thus show a synergistic effect on T2DM through modulating the gastrointestinal microenvironment. This review summarizes the research progress in the treatment of T2DM from the perspective of synbiotics and gut microbiota and provides a class of synbiotics which are composed of lactulose, arabinose, and Lactobacillus plantarum, and can effectively adjust the blood glucose, blood lipid, and body weight of T2DM patients to ideal levels.

The aim of this study was to characterize the influence of Konjac glucomannan (KGM) on the functional and structural properties of wheat starch. Results showed that KGM significantly decreased the starch hydrolysis rate, with a lower level of rapidly digestible starch (RDS), and a higher content of slowly digestible starch (SDS). Besides, KGM decreased the content of leached amylose, while enhanced the swelling power, water‐holding capacity, freeze‐thaw stability, and paste clarity of wheat starch, which indicated a good improvement on the functional properties. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X‐ray diffraction patterns (XRD) manifested that the addition of KGM disrupted the original crystalline structures of wheat starch, which may result in the increased hydrolysis rate of starch. Interestingly, this did not consist with the decreased starch hydrolysis rate showed in the study. Moreover, FTIR results showed the existence of the interaction between KGM and starch. The morphological characterization demonstrated that the addition of KGM contributed to a more compact structure of freeze‐dried wheat starch. And KGM inhibited the expansion of starch granules and formed a barrier around the gelatinized starch. Therefore, the barrier around the starch granules and the interaction between KGM and starch were considered to be the important reasons that affected the starch digestibility.

Dietary tannic acid, as a natural polyphenolic, has many important biological activities. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary tannic acid on obesity and gut microbiota in mice with a high-fat diet. Male C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet were treated with dietary tannic acid for eight weeks. Results showed that dietary tannic acid reduced the body weight gain, regulated glycolipid metabolism, improved the insulin resistance, and attenuated the liver oxidative stress in high-fat diet-fed mice. Moreover, both dietary tannic acid intervention groups repaired the gut barrier damage caused by a high-fat diet, especially in the 50 mg/kg/d dietary tannic acid intervention group. Interestingly, the effect of dietary tannic acid on serum endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) content was correlated with the abundance of the LPS-producing microbiota. In addition, dietary tannic acid altered the abundance of obesity-related gut microbiota (Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Bacteroides, Alistipes, and Odoribacter) in the 150 mg/kg/d dietary tannic acid intervention group, while it was not effective in the 50 mg/kg/d dietary tannic acid intervention group. These findings suggested the potential effect of dietary tannic acid for the prevention and control of obesity.