Prehypertension

Phytochemicals Content and Health Effects of Cultivated and Underutilized Species of the Cucurbitaceae Family

Cucurbitaceae represents a large plant family with more than 120 genera and 800 species, among which many significant cultivated vegetable species are included, such as watermelon, melon, cucumber and cucurbits (squash, pumpkin and zucchini). These species are usually consumed for their edible fruits, however several other uses have been reported for the various plant parts, including medicinal and therapeutic ones among others. The present chapter will demonstrate the most common vegetable species in terms of their chemical composition and health effects, as well as their edible, medicinal and industrial uses, based on the phytochemical content of the various plant parts. Special focus will be given on cucurbitacins which are an important group of phytochemicals present in the Cucurbitaceae family, since several studies have confirmed its bioactive properties and multiple health effects. Finally, selected less known species of this family (gourds) will be presented, considering their important health effects and their use in vegetable grafting. In conclusion, future perspectives for further valorization of these species will be highlighted, especially for the ones that are less commonly used.

Herbal Remedies for Atherosclerosis: From Back to the Future

Cardiovascular disorders are the most important reason of mortality all over the world. Atherosclerosis is the inflammation of the blood vessels, especially large muscular arteries, which is caused by a series of pathological conditions including hyperlipidemia, hypertension, some types of infection and diabetes mellitus. Despite the available chemical drugs to manage the disease, researchers are widely working on other approaches like herbal medicine for the management of atherosclerosis. Alone or as complementary therapy with chemical drugs, medicinal plants have shown beneficial effects for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular problems. In this chapter, we firstly introduce herbal remedies traditionally used for the treatment of atherosclerosis-associated disorders in ethnomedicine of different nations throughout the world, and then we discuss clinical evidence on the most relevant medicinal plants as well as the isolated phytochemicals used for the management of atherosclerosis.

Proteomics in the Characterization of New Target Therapies in Pediatric Obesity Treatment

Adipose tissue (AT) with a central role in body weight homeostasis, inflammation and insulin resistance, is a highly orchestrated tissue involving receptor and second messenger pathways with steps and passes that influence hyperplasia, hypertrophy, adipocyte differentiation, turnover, lipolysis, free-fatty acid (FFA) metabolism, lipogenesis and the secretome profile. Due to the limitations of the classical molecular biological methods only pieces of the puzzle have been studied, with studies failing to consider the global, time-resolved changes that are evident in this highly plastic organ. “Proteomics”, first coined in 1995 is a large-scale characterization of the entire protein profile of a cell line, tissue, or organism not only from the perspective of expression but also post-translational modifications. As such proteomic technologies offer powerful tools for identifying key components of the adipose proteome, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity. In this review, we plan to address the recent advances in the proteomic characterization of pediatric obesity, in particular the newly identified proteins that potentially play relevant roles and offer targets for novel therapies.

Metabolic Syndrome and Bioactive Compounds

Metabolic syndrome is defined as a set of coexisting metabolic disorders that increase an individual’s likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, among other chronic diseases.

In Chapter 9 of this same book, we have already explained in detail, the main concepts about Mediterranean diet and bioactive compounds and diabetes.

In this chapter, we update the evidence about dietary bioactive compounds with potential in preventing / treating the Metabolic Syndrome. We will only focus on the studies where the evidence is relevant, not on the multiple studies in vivo, very interesting indeed, but with no current clinical relevance.

Bioactive compounds should be of the greatest interest because of their multiple positive effects on health, prevention of Metabolic Syndrome related diseases or lowering their complications.