Diabetic encephalopathy (DE) is often a complication in patients with Alzheimer’s disease due to high blood sugar induced by diabetic mellitus. Ergothioneine (EGT) and hispidin (HIP) are antioxidants present in Phellinus linteus. Methylglyoxal (MGO), a toxic precursor of advanced glycated end products (AGEs), is responsible for protein glycation. We investigated whether a combination EGT and HIP (EGT + HIP) protects against MGO‐induced neuronal cell damage. Rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells were preincubated with EGT (2 μM), HIP (2 μM), or EGT + HIP, then challenged with MGO under high‐glucose condition (30 μM MGO + 30 mM glucose; GLU + MGO) for 24–96 h. GLU + MGO markedly increased protein carbonyls and reactive oxygen species in PC12 cells; both of these levels were strongly reduced by EGT or HIP with effects comparable to those of 100 nM aminoguanidine (an AGE inhibitor) but stronger than those of 10 μM epalrestat (an aldose reductase inhibitor). GLU + MGO significantly increased the levels of AGE and AGE receptor (RAGE) protein expression of nuclear factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB) in the cytosol, but treatment with EGT, HIP, or EGT + HIP significantly attenuated these levels. These results suggest that EGT and HIP protect against hyperglycemic damage in PC12 cells by inhibiting the NF‐κB transcription pathway through antioxidant activities.

Phyllanthus emblica L. is traditionally used as both medicine and food in Taiwan. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotection bioactivities of P. emblica fruit. P. emblica fruit extracts had a high content of total phenol and flavonoids, and chlorogenic acids. For antioxidant capacity, 95% ethanol-extracted P. emblica had the best DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferrous ion chelating ability, and reducing power as compared with hot water, 50% ethanol, and commercial extracts, and showed the highest reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition. The present results have demonstrated that the P. emblica extracts can protect the oxidative degradation of lipids by inhibiting FeCl₃-ascorbate-mediated lipid peroxidation. For anti-inflammatory activity, P. emblica fruit extracts showed dose-dependent inhibition of nitric oxide in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and significantly high COX-2 inhibition. For neuroprotection bioactivity, P. emblica extracts had higher percentages of pheochromocytoma cell protection than commercial extracts. Hot water and ethanol extracts showed higher percentages of PC12 cell protection than commercial extracts. P. emblica hydroalcoholic extracts had a neuroprotective effect against oxidative damage, which could be due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. P. emblica extracts could be used in daily health beverages, foods, and cosmetic products.

The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is one of the major grain legume crops of the tropical world and recent evidence indicates that it possesses various health benefits. However, to the best of our knowledge, no comparison has been made on the nutritional composition and biological functions of its leaves, seeds, and roots. Therefore, the present study investigates which part of the C. cajan (L.) Millsp plant has the highest potential for development as a health food product. Results show that C. cajan (L.) Millsp roots (CCR) have a higher total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoids flavonoid (TFC) contents than leaves and seeds. The antioxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, and anti-bacterial activities of CCR extracted with hot water (HWCR), 50% ethanol (EECR50), and 95% ethanol (EECR95) were determined. We found that EECR95 had the strongest antioxidant activity, as evaluated by 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS⁺) scavenging, and reducing power. EECR95 exhibited higher anti-hyperglycemic ability (inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase activities) and anti-glycation effects (IC₅₀ = 39, 120 and 229 μg/mL, respectively) than HWCR and EECR50. EECR95 also exhibited potent anti-bacterial activities on E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Streptococcus mutans, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 113, 180, 16, and 100 μg/mL, respectively. Based on above results, we conclude that CCR has considerable potential for health food development and further studies of CCR in animals to confirm these biological effects and safety issues are warranted.

Eucalyptus globulus possesses important pharmacological activities, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. We investigated the anti-fatigue, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects of eucalyptus essential oil after swimming exercise using an animal model. Male Sprague- Dawley rats were administered eucalyptus oil (200 μL/h) daily via inhalation (15 min), and anti-fatigue effects were assessed following eucalyptus essential oil administration for 2 or 4 weeks when forced to swim until exhaustion while carrying ~5% body weight-equivalent. To assess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, control and oil-treated groups were subjected to swimming, which was intensified from 90 min to 120 min daily over 4 weeks, with non-swimming groups included as controls. The 2- and 4-week-treated rats increased their swimming-to-exhaustion time by 46 s and 111 s, respectively. Additionally, lactate (LA), creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities increased significantly in the non-treated swimming relative to levels observed in the non-swimming groups (P ＜ 0.05); however, no significant differences in these markers were observed between the treated groups. The anti-fatigue effects were related to LA clearance and reduced LDH and CK concentrations. Moreover, compared to the corresponding levels in the non-swimmers, the non-treated swimmers showed markedly elevated levels of liver malondialdehyde (MDA), xanthine oxidase (XO), and other factors, but significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05) glutathione (GSH) concentrations. However, compared with that of the non-swimmer group, the treated swimming group showed no significant changes in these levels (P ＞ 0.05), suggesting stable XO and MDA production and maintenance of GSH levels. These results suggested that eucalyptus oil aromatherapy increased rat swimming performance and antioxidant capacity and decreased oxidative damage and inflammatory reactions in tissues, indicating good anti-fatigue, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects after high-intensity endurance exercise.

Pine (Pinus morrisonicola Hay, PM) needles have been used as folk medicine for their antihypertension and lipid-lowering effects. As supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is considered an ideal technique for the extraction of essential oil from plant materials, the present work investigated the optimal SFE conditions and the protective effects of different resulting fractions of PM needles on lipid peroxidation and foam cell production in macrophages. Nine PM needle extracts (PME1–9) were obtained in 1%–4% yields using different SFE conditions, of which PME1 had the lowest yield (1.1%) and PME3 the highest (3.9%). PME3 exhibited lower cytotoxic effects and stronger inhibition of lipid peroxidation and formation of foam cell in RAW 264.7 macrophages than those of other PME extracts. PME3-1 purified from PME3 by column and thin layer chromatography inhibited LDL oxidation more effectively than did PME3 in a cell-free system oxidized by Cu²⁺. PME3-1 dose-dependently (25–100 μg/mL) decreased conjugated diene levels and foam cell formation induced by ox-LDL. GC/MS analyses revealed that 1-docosene, neophytadiene, and methyl abietate were increased 5.2-, 1.7- and 4.3-fold in PME3-1 relative to PME3. A new hydrocarbon compound, cedrane-8,13-diol, was identified in PME3-1. Overall, the present study demonstrates the optimal extraction conditions of SFE of PM and identifies the most potent antioxidant fractions and possible active compounds in PM.

Banana peel (BP) has potent antioxidative properties; however, the anti-inflammatory potential of BP and its related bioactive components remain unclear. This study used solvent extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to isolate and identify the active fractions and compounds in BP. BP was extracted with 95% ethanol (BP-95E) and partitioned with an ethyl acetate (EA) and water mixture to obtain the BP-95E-EA and BP-95E-H₂O fractions. The BP-95E-EA fractions were further partitioned with n-hexane (Hex) and methanol (MeOH) mixtures to obtain BP-95E-EA-Hex and BP-95E-EA-MeOH subfractions, and the BP-95E-H₂O fractions were partitioned with n-butanol (BuOH) to obtain BP-95E-H₂O-BuOH subfractions and the H₂O residual. The results show that the BP-95E-H₂O-BuOH subfractions exhibited the most potent inhibition of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) secretion while down-regulating inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. In this active subfraction, five non-polyphenol compounds were identified, namely, 5-hydroxyethyl furfural (5-HMF), guaiol, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and oleamide. 5-HMF, guaiol, and oleamide were the most effective at suppressing IL-6 and TNF-α secretion. The in vivo immunomodulatory action of BP was evaluated in an LPS-induced endotoxemia model of BALB/c mice. Oral administration of BP-95E-H₂O-BuOH extracts (42 and 166 mg/kg b.w.) for two weeks lowered the serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α and normalized the activated T-cell population, as evidenced by an increase in CD₃CD₆₉ and decrease in IFN-γ/IL-4 (Th1/Th2) in mice with systemic inflammation. Our findings reveal that BP exhibits anti-inflammatory and T-cell immunomodulatory effects that may contribute to delaying endotoxemia-associated disorders.