Themed collection Food & Function HOT Articles 2025

Aberrant fatty acid metabolism promotes cardiovascular disease via oxidative stress, inflammation, and vascular dysfunction. Targeting key pathways and optimizing lipid intake offers promising strategies for prevention and treatment.

Polysaccharides from echinoderms show diverse structures with unique functional properties. Their bioactivities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticoagulant effects, highlight their potential in health and functional food applications.

Different nutrients and metabolites affect appetite signals and the feed desire.

In vivo studies disclose biomarkers of fried food intake, via MS-based metabolomics.

Starch and phenolic acids, two common plant-based food components, can interact to form complexes during food processing, thus improving the functional properties of both starch and phenolic acids.

The combination of bioactive peptides from various food sources and iron enhances their therapeutic effect on iron deficiency anemia.

Maize (Zea mays L.), as a globally significant food and economic crop, has attracted considerable attention from both the academic and industrial sectors due to its rich nutrient components and wide-ranging application value.

Plant polyphenols show good potential for preventing chronic metabolic diseases, especially resveratrol, by reducing insulin resistance and fat synthesis linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Interventions targeting ferroptosis are summarized from the perspective of dietary patterns, food and nutrients.

Bifidobacterium infantis YLGB-1496 alleviates pathological damage in neonatal mice with necrotizing enterocolitis, enriches beneficial gut bacteria, suppresses TLR-4-driven inflammatory responses, and modulates systemic tryptophan metabolite levels.

Glycolysis inhibition by 2-deoxy-D-glucose could ameliorate allergic reaction by suppressing Th2-type immune response and mast cell function in OVA-allergic mice.

Different black teas exhibited distinct effects on colitis in mice. Keemun and Lapsang alleviated inflammation by enhancing gut barrier function, restoring gut microbiota, and regulating gene expression, whereas Dianhong showed no effect.

A one-week low-calorie diet rapidly remodeled human plasma exosomal miRNAs. Thirty-two miRNAs highlight metabolic and vascular pathways, offering a signature for early intervention tracking.

The microbiomes of regular consumers of fruits and vegetables show variable ability to degrade specific fiber and produce SCFA.

CGA promoted LR post-ACM intoxication by alleviating hepatic oxidative stress via activating Nrf2. Nrf2 activation also triggered PGC-1α expression, which strengthened PPARα-mediated fatty acid β-oxidation, thereby supplying sufficient energy for LR.

Dietary fibers can modulate carotenoid bioaccessibility by several factors, including increased viscosity and emulsion stabilization, bile salt binding and carotenoid entrapment, among other. Not necessarily these impact bioaccessibility negatively.

8-Hydroxy-dihydromyricetin exhibits superior protection against diabetes-associated neurometabolic dysfunction compared to dihydromyricetin in zebrafish.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) contains various bioactive organosulfur compounds, including recently identified species with a 3,4-dimethylthiolane ring structure.

L. plantarum ZGS521 from fermented pickles was identified by genome sequencing, possessed excellent probiotic properties and exerted anti-inflammatory effect by modulating intestinal epithelial proliferation and differentiation and gut microbiota.

Tea intake raised risks of gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma, while fiber intake was protective. Significant diet–gene interactions were found for Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Urinary methanol emerges as a potential biomarker of protective diet–microbiome–host interactions, linked to microbial pectin degradation. (The graphical abstract was created with BioRender: Klier, K. (2025), https://BioRender.com/z74y577).

Hispidulin, a dietary flavonoid occurring naturally in brown algae, has attracted considerable interest owing to its functions in modulating inflammatory responses and neutralizing reactive oxygen species.

Dietary plant protein intake is associated with lower bone mass. The beneficial association between dietary animal protein intake and bone mass can be partly explained by changes in the abundance of several gut microbes.

Higher adherence to the EAT-Lancet reference diet is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, and their co-occurrence.

Gastrointestinal stress significantly influences the functionality and survival of food-derived probiotics after ingestion.

Camellia seed oil (CSO), extracted from Camellia seeds, contains numerous beneficial bioactive components.

Capsiate, a non-pungent capsaicin analog, promotes stress resilience and longevity in C. elegans via TRP channel-dependent activation of DAF-16/FoxO and SKN-1/Nrf2, offering mechanistic insights into its pro-longevity effects.

Background diet and adherence are key challenges in randomized clinical trials in nutrition. Using data from a sub-cohort of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), we show how biomarker-based analyses improve outcome estimate.

(Poly)phenols of Piquillo pepper were extensively metabolized before urinary excretion, showing a strong influence of gut microbiota and a great interindividual variability.

Vanillin alleviates neuronal pyroptosis induced in rats by isoproterenol via SIRT/NOX4/ROS/TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling.

Hydroxyproline-containing tripeptide-rich collagen peptides (CTP) enhance skin collagen synthesis by modulating the gut microbiota and activating the TGF-β signaling pathway via the gut–immune–skin axis.

The strong effect of protein digestion products on gastrointestinal hormone release is well recognized.

2'-FL regulates the composition of gut microbiota and promotes the generation of SCFAs, thereby enhancing VN afferent activity, inhibiting Aβ deposition and neuroinflammatory response, and alleviating spatial and recognition memory impairment in AD.

Disrupted skin barrier drives Th2-mediated epicutaneous food allergy, while low-dose oral allergen intake alleviates symptoms by boosting Treg and Th1 responses.

Tarhana, a traditional fermented food, was studied for its gut health benefits. Variations in flour and fermentation methods shaped microbial diversity and metabolite output, highlighting its prebiotic potential.

6-wk intake of freeze-dried grape powder improved grip strength and reduced time to complete the gait speed test in postmenopausal women. Irisin level changes positively correlated with grip strength, suggesting a potential mechanistic link.

The activation of microglia is an important cause of central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory cell infiltration and inflammatory demyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS).

B. longum BL300 can protect against colitis by activating IgA production immune network to reshape gut microbiota, which could further maintain the integrity of the intestinal mechanical barrier and mucus layer.

Mechanisms of 6-S for inhibiting the migration and invasion ability in PC-3 and DU145 cells.

Several meta-analyses have summarized the associations between dietary factors and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Pregnancy and lactation provide several opportunities for maternal dietary interventions to confer health benefits to newborns.

Crocin extends lifespan, enhances stress resistance, reduces lipid accumulation, and elevates oleic acid levels in the model organism C. elegan through the DAF-16/FOXO pathway.

Moderate consumption of dietary cholesterol at dinner rather than breakfast was associated with a lower risk of CBD mortality in a nonlinear manner.

Pterostilbene modulated the gut microbiota composition and bile acid profile in CDI mice. This modulation activated intestinal FXR signaling, thereby mitigating colonic inflammation and attenuating liver oxidative stress.

The synbiotic combination of 2′-Fucosyllactose and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 supports gut microbiota homeostasis, enhances fecal SCFA levels, and mitigates neurodevelopmental abnormalities in ASD mice.

Over the last decade, research has emphasized the role of the microbiome in regulating cardiovascular physiology and disease progression.

This study investigates the exacerbating effects of polyphenol oxidase cross-linked whey protein on systemic food allergic reactions.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus LC-STH-13 ameliorates the progression of SLE in MRL/lpr mice by modulating the gut microbiota and inhibiting the TLR9/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Bifidobacterium bifidum CCFM1359 remodels intestinal nerves, dreduces intestinal inflammation through BDNF-TrkB pathway, and improves intestinal microecology to alleviate intestinal motility disorders (created with BioGDP.com).

Preparation of walnut peptide calcium chelates and their calcium translocation and absorption.

Prior experimental investigations have highlighted the beneficial effects of flavonoid consumption on renal function.