Cardiovascular diseases have overtaken cancers as the number one cause of death. Hypertension is the most dangerous factor linked to deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases. Many researchers have reported that tea has anti-hypertensive effects in animals and humans. The aim of this review is to update the information on the anti-hypertensive effects of tea in human interventions and animal studies, and to summarize the underlying mechanisms, based on ex-vivo tissue and cell culture data. During recent years, an increasing number of human population studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of tea on hypertension. However, the optimal dose has not yet been established owing to differences in the extent of hypertension, and complicated social and genetic backgrounds of populations. Therefore, further large-scale investigations with longer terms of observation and tighter controls are needed to define optimal doses in subjects with varying degrees of hypertensive risk factors, and to determine differences in beneficial effects amongst diverse populations. Moreover, data from laboratory studies have shown that tea and its secondary metabolites have important roles in relaxing smooth muscle contraction, enhancing endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, reducing vascular inflammation, inhibiting rennin activity, and anti-vascular oxidative stress. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of these activities remain to be elucidated.

Background: Androgens are anabolic steroid hormones that exert their function by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). We have previously established that AR deficiency in limb muscles impairs sarcomere myofibrillar organization and decreases muscle strength in male mice. However, despite numerous studies performed in men and rodents, the signalling pathways controlled by androgens via their receptor in skeletal muscles remain poorly understood.Methods: Male AR^skm−/y (n = 7–12) and female AR^skm−/− mice (n = 9), in which AR is selectively ablated in myofibres of musculoskeletal tissue, and male AR^(i)skm−/y, in which AR is selectively ablated in post‐mitotic skeletal muscle myofibres (n = 6), were generated. Longitudinal monitoring of body weight, blood glucose, insulin, lipids and lipoproteins was performed, alongside metabolomic analyses. Glucose metabolism was evaluated in C2C12 cells treated with 5α‐dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and the anti‐androgen flutamide (n = 6). Histological analyses on macroscopic and ultrastructural levels of longitudinal and transversal muscle sections were conducted. The transcriptome of gastrocnemius muscles from control and AR^skm−/y mice was analysed at the age of 9 weeks (P < 0.05, 2138 differentially expressed genes) and validated by RT‐qPCR analysis. The AR (4691 peaks with false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.1) and H3K4me2 (47 225 peaks with FDR < 0.05) cistromes in limb muscles were determined in 11‐week‐old wild‐type mice.Results: We show that disrupting the androgen/AR axis impairs in vivo glycolytic activity and fastens the development of type 2 diabetes in male, but not in female mice. In agreement, treatment with DHT increases glycolysis in C2C12 myotubes by 30%, whereas flutamide has an opposite effect. Fatty acids are less efficiently metabolized in skeletal muscles of AR^skm−/y mice and accumulate in cytoplasm, despite increased transcript levels of genes encoding key enzymes of beta‐oxidation and mitochondrial content. Impaired glucose and fatty acid metabolism in AR‐deficient muscle fibres is associated with 30% increased lysine and branched‐chain amino acid catabolism, decreased polyamine biosynthesis and disrupted glutamate transamination. This metabolic switch generates ammonia (2‐fold increase) and oxidative stress (30% increased H₂O₂ levels), which impacts mitochondrial functions and causes necrosis in <1% fibres. We unravel that AR directly activates the transcription of genes involved in glycolysis, oxidative metabolism and muscle contraction.Conclusions: Our study provides important insights into diseases caused by impaired AR function in musculoskeletal system and delivers a deeper understanding of skeletal muscle pathophysiological dynamics that is instrumental to develop effective treatment for muscle disorders.

Black tea is the most widely consumed tea drink in the world and has consistently been reported to possess anti-aging benefits. However, whether theaflavins, one type of the characteristic phytochemicals in black tea extracts, are involved in regulating aging and lifespan in consumers remains largely unknown. In this study, we show that theaflavins play a beneficial role in preventing age-onset intestinal leakage and dysbiosis, thus delaying aging in Drosophila. Mechanistically, theaflavins regulate the condensate assembly of Imd to negatively govern the overactivation of Imd signals in fruit fly intestines. In addition, theaflavins prevent DSS-induced colitis in mice, suggesting theaflavins play a role in modulating intestinal integrity. Overall, our study reveals a molecular mechanism by which theaflavins regulate gut homeostasis likely through controlling Imd coalescence.

The intestine, a high-turnover tissue, plays a critical role in regulating aging and health in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Maintaining the epithelial barrier function of the intestine by preserving innate immune homeostasis significantly delays aging and prevents mortality. In an effort to explore effective chemicals and materials that can improve intestinal integrity, we performed a nonbiased screen utilizing Drosophila as an animal model. We showed that long-term uptake of aspirin markedly prevented age-onset gut leakage, the over-proliferation of intestinal stem cells, and the dysbiosis of commensal microbiota in fruit flies. Mechanistically, aspirin efficiently downregulated chronic activation of intestinal immune deficiency signaling during aging. Furthermore, our in vivo and in vitro biochemical analyses indicated that aspirin is a negative modulator in control of the K63-linked ubiquitination of Imd. Our findings uncover a novel regulatory mechanism by which aspirin positively modulates intestinal homeostasis, thus delaying aging, in Drosophila.