A growing interest has emerged in the beneficial effects of plant-based diets for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. The Mediterranean diet, one of the most widely evaluated dietary patterns in scientific literature, includes in its nutrients two fluid foods: olive oil, as the main source of fats, and a low-to-moderate consumption of wine, mainly red, particularly during meals. Current mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet include a reduction in inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, improvement in lipid profile, insulin sensitivity and endothelial function, as well as antithrombotic properties. Most of these effects are attributable to bioactive ingredients including polyphenols, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Polyphenols are a heterogeneous group of phytochemicals containing phenol rings. The principal classes of red wine polyphenols include flavonols (quercetin and myricetin), flavanols (catechin and epicatechin), anthocyanin and stilbenes (resveratrol). Olive oil has at least 30 phenolic compounds. Among them, the main are simple phenols (tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol), secoroids and lignans. The present narrative review focuses on phenols, part of red wine and virgin olive oil, discussing the evidence of their effects on lipids, blood pressure, atheromatous plaque and glucose metabolism.

Wolf (PCW) is an edible, pharmaceutical mushroom with remarkable biological properties including anti-tumor, anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-ageing, and anti-diabetic effects. In the current study, we investigated the effects of PCW extract on hepatic steatosis under in vitro and in vivo conditions, and elucidated the underlying mechanisms. In this study, a mixture of HepG2 cells treated with free fatty acid (FFA)-palmitic and oleic acid-and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice were used; in this background, the triglyceride (TG) levels in HepG2 cells and mice liver were measured, and the expression levels of genes associated with lipogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and autophagy were determined. Treatment of HepG2 cells with FFA enhanced intracellular TG levels in HepG2 cells, but co-treatment with PCW significantly attenuated the TG levels. Notably, PCW significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) in FFA-treated HepG2 cells. PCW downregulated the expression of lipogenesis-related genes, but upregulated the expression of genes associated with fatty acid oxidation. Further, PCW inhibited FFA-induced expression of ER stress markers and induced autophagy proteins. However, inhibition of AMPK significantly attenuated the beneficial effects of PCW in HepG2 cells. Moreover, PCW efficiently decreased HFD-induced hepatic TG accumulation in vivo and increased the phosphorylation of hepatic AMPK. Three compounds present in PCW including poricoic acid, pachymic acid, and ergosterol, significantly decreased FFA-induced increase in intracellular TG levels, consistent with increased AMPK phosphorylation, suggesting that poricoic acid, pachymic acid, and ergosterol are responsible for PCW-mediated amelioration of hepatic steatosis. Taken together, these results demonstrated that PCW ameliorates hepatic steatosis through the regulation of lipid metabolism, inhibition of ER stress, and activation of autophagy in an AMPK-dependent manner. This suggested that PCW can be potentially used for the treatment of hepatic steatosis.

The improvement of living standards has led to increases in the prevalence of hypokinetic diseases. In particular, multifactorial complex diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, are becoming more prevalent. Currently, developing effective methods to combat or prevent metabolic syndrome is of critical public health importance. Thus, we conducted a systematic review to evaluate the existing literature regarding the effects of Wuqinxi exercise on reducing risk factors related to metabolic syndrome.Both English- and Chinese-language databases were searched for randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of Wuqinxi on these outcomes. Meanwhile, we extracted usable data for computing pooled effect size estimates, along with the random-effects model.The synthesized results showed positive effects of Wuqinxi exercise on systolic blood pressure (SBP,= 0.62, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.85,<0.001,= 24.06%), diastolic blood pressure (DBP,= 0.62, 95% CI 0.22 to 1.00,<0.001,= 61.28%), total plasma cholesterol (TC,= 0.88, 95% CI 0.41 to 1.36,<0.001,= 78.71%), triglyceride (TG,= 0.87, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.24,<0.001,= 67.22%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C,= 1.24, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.72,<0.001,= 78.27%), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL,= 0.95, 95% CI 0.43 to 1.46,<0.001,= 82.27%). In addition, regression results showed that longer-duration Wuqinxi intervention significantly improved DBP (= 0.00016,= 5.72, df = 1,= 0.02), TC (= -0.00010,= 9.03, df = 1,= 0.01), TG (= 0.00012,= 6.23, df = 1,= 0.01), and LDL (= 0.00011,= 5.52, df = 1,= 0.02).Wuqinxi may be an effective intervention to alleviate the cardiovascular disease risk factors of metabolic syndrome.