Aspacochioside C (ACC) is a steroidal saponin isolated from Asparagus cochinchinensis. Steroidal saponins, such as pseudoprotodioscin and dioscin, are known to inhibit melanogenesis, but the role of ACC in melanogenesis remains unknown. Due to the toxic effect of the commonly used skin whitening agents like arbutin, kojic acid and α-lipoic acid alternative plant products are recentlybeen studied for their anti-hypergmentation effect. This study explores the role of ACC in melanogenesis in both in vivo and in vitro models. Here, we for the first time demonstrate that ACC attenuated α-MSH- and UVB-induced eumelanin production by inhibiting tyrosinase-related protein (TRP)-2 protein expression in both murine B16F10 and human melanoma MNT1 cells. However, ACC had no significant effect on pheomelanin concentration. ACC also decreased the pigmentation density in zebrafish embryos, which indicates that ACC targets TRP2 and inhibits eumelanin synthesis. Our results demonstrate that ACC inhibits TRP2, thereby attenuating eumelanin synthesis both in in vitro and in vivo zebrafish model. Therefore, ACC can potentially be used as an anti-melanogenic agent for both aesthetic and pharmaceutical purposes.

Dong Yoon Kim, Seong-Min Hong, Jeong-Seok Cho, Sae-Byuk Lee, and Hyun-Dong Cho. Prev Nutr Food Sci 2024;29:321-31. https://doi.org/10.3746/pnf.2024.29.3.321

Lipid metabolism disorders such as hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia collectively characterize dyslipidemia, a condition marked by an imbalance in blood lipid levels and impaired lipid homeostasis. Policosanol, a mixture of long-chain alcohols derived from sugarcane, has been reported to improve lipid metabolism, but its cellular mechanisms remain underexplored. This study investigated the effects of policosanol (Reduchole22®) extracted using ethanol on lipid metabolism in HepG2 hepatocytes and Caco-2 enterocytes. The data were compared with atorvastatin, a widely used hyperlipidemia drug. Compared to the control group, 250-500 μg/mL of policosanol significantly reduced intracellular cholesterol and lipid accumulation via downregulating SREBP, ACAT, and APOB and upregulating LDL-receptor, ABCA1, and APOA1 in HepG2 cells. In addition, treatment of policosanol (250-500 μg/mL) markedly inhibited HMG-CoA reductase and ACAT2 expression, leading to decreased cholesterol and total lipid accumulation in Caco-2 cells. Moreover, policosanol suppressed H2O2-induced LDL oxidation in HepG2 cells, resulting in potential activity in preventing dyslipidemia. These findings suggest that policosanol (Reduchole22®) mediates cholesterol metabolism through mechanisms similar to atorvastatin. Moreover, it could be applied as a functional food ingredient for hyperlipidemia management in endogenous and exogenous cholesterol metabolism, providing a beneficial alternative in the food industry.

Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders are associated with progressive cognitive decline, primarily driven by cholinergic dysfunction and impaired synaptic signaling. Hericium erinaceus, also known as lion’s mane mushroom, has been reported to promote neuronal differentiation and synaptic plasticity. In this study, a standardized H. erinaceus extract powder (HEP) was prepared from fruiting bodies and quantified using hericene A as a marker compound. The neuroprotective effects of HEP were then evaluated in both cellular and animal models of scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction. Pretreatment of SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells with HEP (5–25 μg/mL) significantly improved cell viability and reduced scopolamine-induced apoptosis, while enhancing the activation of neuroplasticity-related signaling proteins, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). In vivo, oral administration of HEP (300 mg/kg) to scopolamine-treated ICR mice markedly improved cognitive performance, increasing the recognition index to 63.8% compared with 41.6% in the scopolamine group, and enhancing spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze test to 59.6%. These cognitive improvements were accompanied by preserved hippocampal neuronal structure and increased BDNF immunoreactivity. Additionally, HEP improved cholinergic function by restoring serum acetylcholine levels and reducing acetylcholinesterase activity. Collectively, these findings suggest that standardized HEP exerts neuroprotective and cognition-enhancing effects via modulation of cholinergic markers and activation of BDNF-mediated neuroplasticity, highlighting its potential as a functional food ingredient or nutraceutical for preventing cognitive decline related to cholinergic dysfunction.

Pyrogallol (PG), a naturally occurring dihydroxyphenol, was shown to suppress the proliferation of numerous cancer cell lines (e.g., lymphoma, lung, and breast cancer cells). However, its effects on human prostate cancer remain largely unexplored. Thus, we evaluated the anti-cancer effects of PG in prostate cancer cells (i.e., PC-3, RC-58T, and LNCaP) and a xenograft mouse model. In the in vitro assays, cells were treated with PG at various concentrations (2.5-200 μM) for 1 day, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were determined to be 55.53 μM for PC-3, 65.03 μM for RC-58T, 71.78 μM for LNCaP, and >200 μM for RWPE-1. Mechanistic analyses on PC-3 cell lines revealed that PG induced mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis, as evidenced by increased expression of apoptosis signaling (i.e., Bax, cytochrome C, caspase-3, and PARP), and decreased expression of anti-apoptosis signaling as Bcl-2. Additionally, PG modulated MAPK pathways, which were associated with the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-8. Furthermore, PG treatment induced G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest. In our in vivo model, groups treated with PG (2.5-5 mg/kg, p.o.) for 2 weeks exhibited a significant reduction in tumor growth, along with increased expression of apoptotic signaling markers in tumor tissues. We suggest that PG may serve as a promising therapeutic agents for prostate cancer, highlighting their potential applications in phytomedicine and phytotherapy.

Dong Yoon Kim, Soo-Sung Kim, Eun-Jin Choi, Hoon Kim, Dong Hyeon Kim, Seong-Min Hong, Sae-Byuk Lee, and Hyun-Dong Cho. Prev Nutr Food Sci 2024;29:474-84. https://doi.org/10.3746/pnf.2024.29.4.474