Extensive knowledge related to medicinal characteristics of plants by living in forest or semi-forest habitats and close observations of indigenous communities have led to the discoveries of the genus Lepisanthes and its traditional uses. The genus Lepisanthes is a member of the Sapindaceae family and is found in various regions of the world. Six species of Lepisanthes such as L. alata, L. amoena, L. fruticosa, L. senegalensis, L. rubiginosa, and L. tetraphylla are widely utilized in traditional and folk medicinal systems. They have been used for centuries for the treatment of ailments or symptoms such as pain, dizziness, high fever, frequent passing of watery stool (diarrhea), abscess, and healing of cuts and wounds. Various methodological approaches, mainly in vitro studies, have been employed to further explore the roles of the genus Lepisanthes. The studies identified that the genus Lepisanthes exerts beneficial effects such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, antimalarial, analgesic, and antidiarrheal. However, the summary of the available literature remains inconclusive. This review aims to comprehensively address the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, methods, and pharmacological properties of the six commonly used Lepisanthes species. Hence, our review provides a scientific consensus that may be essential in translating the pharmacological properties of the genus Lepisanthes into future novel cost-effective medicines.

Obesity is known as a transgenerational vicious cycle and has become a global burden due to its unavoidable complications. Modern approaches to obesity management often involve the use of pharmaceutical drugs and surgeries that have been associated with negative side effects. In contrast, natural antioxidants, such as flavonoids, have emerged as a promising alternative due to their potential health benefits and minimal side effects. Thus, this narrative review explores the potential protective role of flavonoids as a natural antioxidant in managing obesity. To identify recent in vivo studies on the efficiency of flavonoids in managing obesity, a comprehensive search was conducted on Wiley Online Library, Scopus, Nature, and ScienceDirect. The search was limited to the past 10 years; from the search, we identified 31 articles to be further reviewed. Based on the reviewed articles, we concluded that flavonoids offer novel therapeutic strategies for preventing obesity and its associated co-morbidities. This is because the appropriate dosage of flavonoid compounds is able to reduce adipose tissue mass, the formation of intracellular free radicals, enhance endogenous antioxidant defences, modulate the redox balance, and reduce inflammatory signalling pathways. Thus, this review provides an insight into the domain of a natural product therapeutic approach for managing obesity and recapitulates the transgenerational inheritance of obesity, the current available treatments to manage obesity and its side effects, flavonoids and their sources, the molecular mechanism involved, the modulation of gut microbiota in obesity, redox balance, and the bioavailability of flavonoids. In toto, although flavonoids show promising positive outcome in managing obesity, a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the advantageous impacts of flavonoids—achieved through translation to clinical trials—would provide a novel approach to inculcating flavonoids in managing obesity in the future as this review is limited to animal studies.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major public health challenge and is increasingly associated with an imbalance in gut microbiota composition. Recent advances in chrononutrition, which focus on synchronising meal timing with the body’s internal biological clock (circadian rhythm), have gained attention as a potential modifiable factor of host metabolism and gut microbial diversity. Nonetheless, whether chrononutrition, circadian rhythm biomarkers, gut microbiota and cardiometabolic outcomes are associated, specifically in T2DM, remains fragmented. Therefore, we aim to conduct a systematic review of studies that evaluated the effects of chrononutrition-related dietary patterns on circadian rhythm biomarkers, gut microbial diversity and cardiometabolic outcomes in T2DM. We have structured the protocol following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols 2015 guidelines. Search of relevant studies will be executed using four databases, such as PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library, which involve records from their respective inception up to February 2026. The eligibility criteria for the population are adults with T2DM or rodent models of diabetes, whereas chrononutrition-related interventions include eating windows, breakfast skipping, nocturnal and evening eating. Primary outcomes are circadian rhythm biomarkers, composition and diversity of gut microbiota and cardiometabolic parameters. We will use validated tools tailored to each study design to assess methodological quality and risk of bias in the studies. Results will be integrated narratively, followed by meta-analysis where appropriate. Registration: INPLASY; Registration ID: INPLASY2025110030.