Botanicals and Metabolic Syndrome

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请是为了更新我们的膳食补充剂研究中心，重点是植物药物。我们的植物研究中心是路易斯安那州立大学（LSU）系统彭宁顿生物医学研究中心和罗格斯大学农业与环境生物技术中心的合作成果。中心主题为“植物药与代谢综合征”。“代谢综合征”定义了一种人类状况，其主要特征包括肥胖、胰岛素抵抗、2型糖尿病的发展和心血管疾病的加速。随着代谢综合征在世界范围内的流行程度达到流行病的程度，代谢综合征已经并将继续成为社会面临的最重要的公共卫生问题之一。我们的植物研究中心将由三(3)个研究项目组成，一个综合生物学核心，一个植物学核心和一个行政核心。每个研究项目都将评估特定的植物药物，并评估其对细胞机制的影响，这些机制可能有助于代谢综合征的病理生理和发展。项目1的研究人员将开展研究，评估青蒿提取物在动物和早期人类研究中调节胰岛素受体信号和胰岛素敏感性的作用机制。项目2的研究人员将重点研究选定的青蒿提取物和贯叶连翘（St. John’s Wort）影响脂肪细胞发育、脂肪因子和胰岛素作用的机制。项目3的研究人员将评估淫羊藿如何调节控制食欲和能量消耗的中枢机制，从而改善整体能量平衡和体重。我们建议使用包括代谢组学分析、蛋白质组学评估和生物可及性测定在内的尖端技术。因此，我们中心的科学目标是对特定的、令人信服的关于分子、细胞和生理机制的假设进行全面的评估，通过这些假设，植物药物可以调节代谢综合征的潜在病理生理机制的发展，并减轻代谢综合征的发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for a renewal of our Dietary Supplement Research Center focusing on Botanicals. Our Botanical Research Center is a collaborative effort between the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of the Louisiana State University (LSU) System and the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment of Rutgers University. The theme of the Center is "Botanicals and Metabolic Syndrome". The "metabolic syndrome" defines a human condition whose major features consist of obesity, insulin resistance, development of Type 2 diabetes and accelerated cardiovascular disease. As the prevalence of metabolic syndrome is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide, metabolic syndrome has been, and will continue to be, one of the most important public health problems facing society. Our Botanical Research Center will consist of three (3) research projects, an Integrative Biology Core, a Botanical core and an Administrative core. Each of the research projects will evaluate specific botanicals and assess the effect on cellular mechanisms proposed to contribute to the pathophysiology and development of the metabolic syndrome. Project 1 investigators will conduct studies to evaluate mechanisms of action by which selected extracts of Artemisia sp. modulate insulin receptor signaling and insulin sensitivity in both animal and in early phase human studies. Project 2 investigators will focus on mechanisms by which selected Artemisia sp. extracts and Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's Wort) effect adipocyte development, adipokines, and insulin action. Project 3 investigators will evaluate how Asclepias incarnata modulates central mechanisms controlling appetite and energy expenditure as a means to improve overall energy balance and weight. We propose to use cutting-edge technologies that include metabolomic profiling, proteomic assessments, and bioaccessibility determinations. Thus, the scientific goal of our Center is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of specific, compelling hypotheses about the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms by which botanicals can modulate the development of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms of, and attenuate the development to, metabolic syndrome.