What is it about?

Mice fed with yam dioscorin (protein) or the dipeptide Asn-Trp (NW) currenet with high-fat diet show to reduce weight gains and improve impaired glucose tolerances compared to those fed high-fat diet only in C57BL/6 mice models.

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Why is it important?

Yam storage protein and its active dipeptide (NW), derived from pepsin hydrolysis in silico, show functional properties in treatment of metabolic syndrome disorders.

Perspectives

Many peptides derived from protein resources have physiological functions other than nutrient supply [1-5]. The yam storage protein of dioscorin, which was different from dioscorine, an alkaloid found in tubers of Dioscorea hirsute, and the hydrolyzed peptides have been proved to have functional activities in enzymatic and animal models, including antioxidant activities [6,7], anti-aging activities [8,9] anti-hypertensive activities [10,11] immunomodulatory activities [12], and dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitory activities for glucose tolerance improvement [13]. Recently, the hot topics of relative abundance of gut microbiota, the Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes, revealed the correlations with the obesity in human and rodents [14,15]. Therefore, the dioscorin and NW intervention might change the gut microbiota of HFD-induced mice, which may result in the reduction of body weight gains and total visceral fats that will need further investigations. Ref (1) Hartmann, R.; Meisel, H. Food-derived peptides with biological activity: from research to food applications. Cur. Opin. Biotechnol. 2007, 18, 163–169 (2) Erdmann, K.; Cheung, B. W. Y.; Schröder, H. The possible roles of food-derived bioactive peptides in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. J. Nutr. Biochem. 2008, 19, 643-654. (3) Fitzgerald, C.; Gallagher, E.; Tasdemir, D.; Hayes, M. Heart health peptides from macroalgae and their potential use in functional foods. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2011, 59, 6829-6836. (4) Lu, Y. L.; Chia, C. Y.; Liu, Y. W.; Hou, W. C. Biological activities and applications of dioscorins, the major tuber storage proteins of yam. J. Tradit. Complemen. Med. 2012, 2, 41-46. (5) Matsui, T.; Sato, M.; Tanaka, M.; Yamada, Y.; Watanabe, S.; Fujimoto, Y.; Imaizumi, K.; Matsumoto. K. Vasodilating dipeptide Trp-His can prevent atherosclerosis in apo E-deficient mice. Br. J. Nutr. 2010, 103, 309-313. (6) Han, C. H.; Liu, J. C.; Fang, S. U.; Hou, W. C. Antioxidant activities of the synthesized thiol-contained peptides derived from computer-aided pepsin hydrolysis of yam tuber storage protein, dioscorin. Food Chem. 2013, 138, 923-930. (7) Han, C. H.; Lin, Y. S.; Lin, S. Y.; Hou, W. C. Antioxidant and antiglycation activities of the synthesised dipeptide, Asn-Trp, derived from computer-aided simulation of yam dioscorin hydrolysis and its analogue, Gln-Trp. Food Chem. 2014, 147, 195-202. (8) Han, C. H.; Lin, Y. F.; Lin, Y. S.; Lee, T. L.; Huang, W. J.; Lin, S. Y.; Hou, W. C. Effects of yam tuber protein, dioscorin, on attenuating oxidative status and learning dysfunction in D-galactose-induced BALB/c mice. Food Chem. Toxicol. 2014, 65, 356-363. (9) Han, C. H.; Lin, Y. S.; Lee, T. L.; Liang, H. J.; Hou, W. C. Asn-Trp dipeptides improve the oxidative stress and learning dysfunctions in D-galactose-induced BALB/c mice. Food & Funct. 2014, 5, 2228-2236. (10) Liu, D. Z.; Liang, H. J.; Han, C. H.; Lin, S. Y.; Chen, C. T.; Fan, M.; Hou, W. C. Feeding trial of instant food containing lyophilized yam powder in hypertensive subjects. J. Sci. Food Agric. 2009, 89, 138-143. (11) Lin, Y. S.; Lu, Y. L.; Wang, G. J.; Liang, H. J.; Hou, W. C. Vasorelaxing and antihypertensive activities of synthesized peptides derived from computer-aided simulation of pepsin hydrolysis of yam dioscorin. Bot. Stud. 2014, 55, 49 (doi:10.1186/s40529-014-0049-3). (12) Liu, Y. W.; Liu, J. C.; Huang, C. Y.; Wang, C. K.; Shang, H. F.; Hou, W. C. Effects of oral administration of yam tuber storage protein, dioscorin, to BALB/c mice for 21-days on immune responses. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2009, 57, 9274-9279. (13) Lin, Y. S.; Han, C. H.; Lin, S. Y.; Hou, W. C. Synthesized peptides from yam dioscorin hydrolysis in silico exhibit dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitory activities and oral glucose tolerance improvements in normal mice. J. Agric. Food. Chem. 2016, 64, 6451-6458. (14) Turnbaugh, P. J.; Ley, R. E.; Mahowald, M. A.; Magrini, V.; Mardis, E. R.; Gordon, J. I. An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest. Nature 2006, 444, 1027-1031. (15) Turnbaugh, P. J.; Hamady, M.; Yatsunenko, T.; Cantarel, B. L.; Duncan, A.; Ley, R. E.; Sogin, M. L.; Jones, W. J.; Roe, B. A.; Affourtit, J. P.; Egholm, M.; Henrissat, B.; Heath, A. C.; Knight, R.; Gordon, J. I. A core gut microbiome in obese and lean twins. Nature 2009, 457, 480-484.

Professor Wen-Chi Hou
Taipei Medical University

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This page is a summary of: 135-Day Interventions of Yam Dioscorin and the Dipeptide Asn-Trp (NW) To Reduce Weight Gains and Improve Impaired Glucose Tolerances in High-Fat Diet-Induced C57BL/6 Mice, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, January 2018, American Chemical Society (ACS),
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b05564.
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