Macrophages are the core effector cells of the innate immune system. The dysregulation of amino acid, glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism in macrophages has a profound impact on inflammatory pathways. A comprehensive analysis of metabolites in macrophages can identify inflammatory metabolic biomarkers, elucidate inflammatory metabolic pathways, and provide a deep understanding of inflammation. Metabolomics technology, as a high-throughput detection method for analyzing small molecule metabolites in the body, can reveal the relationship of metabolic networks by detecting changes in the metabolites of macrophages. Therefore, this review summarizes the application of metabolomics in macrophages, comprehensively elaborates the metabolic network within macrophages, and aims to provide a new perspective for the discovery of potential inflammatory biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Natural remedies are often used as standalone treatments or as complementary approaches to modern medicine for controlling type 2 diabetes. Gardenia jasminoides, a substance used in both food and medicine, has been clinically employed in traditional Chinese medicine to treat hyperglycemia. Here, we first identified crocetin as the compound responsible for the primary hypoglycemic activity of G. jasminoides and revealed that G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5) is the key target through which crocetin improves glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance. To identify the bioactive components in G. jasminoides, we conducted high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis and bioactivity-guided fractionation, confirming that crocetin is the primary bioactive constituent. We demonstrated the direct binding of crocetin to GRK5 via cellular thermal shift (CETSA) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays. Further knockdown experiments confirmed the essential role of GRK5 in enhancing crocetin-mediated improvements in glucose metabolism. Additionally, we explored direct downstream targets of GRK5 and demonstrated for the first time that AKT2 is a novel GRK5-interacting protein. Collectively, these findings reveal that crocetin is a promising glucose-regulating phytochemical that targets GRK5 to phosphorylate AKT2, thereby improving glucose homeostasis.

Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc., a valuable Chinese medicine resource, has a long clinic utilization history. In recent years, more research focus on the chemical composition and pharmacological activity of C. officinalis which was used as health foods and drugs. This paper summarized the active ingredients, pharmacological activities and molecular mechanisms of C. officinalis in recent 5 years to provide reference for the development and utilization of C. officinalis. A total of 149 active constituents of C. officinalis were summarized, including iridoids (64), flavonoids (18), lignin (17), tannins (16), organic acids and phenolic acids (14), triterpenes (11) and others (9), which were further subdivided according to their pharmacological effects. It was found that the pharmacological effects of C. officinalis were very extensive, mainly including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, neuroprotective and other biological activities. Among these activities, the anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic mechanisms showed multi-pathway and multi-target characteristics, which were elaborated systematically. However, there are still many compounds in C. officinalis that have not been studied for biological activity, which means that it still has potential pharmacological activity to be further studied. C. officinalis not only has high medicinal value, but also has a potential edible resource. However, limited by people’s understanding of the nutritional value of C. officinalis, few product types and incomplete processing technology, people’s acceptance of the edible value of C. officinalis is not high, and it needs to be further developed and utilized.

Time-temperature indicators (TTI) are smart labels designed to indicate the shelf life of foods. The match between TTI and objects to be detected is critical for its application. The optimal fitting model between TTI and objects to be detected varies with different reaction mechanisms between them. In the traditional matching process, unified models and parameters are often used, reducing the goodness of fit of the models. In this study, a contour-based TTI matching method having good model compatibility is proposed based on the equivalent transformation of quality changes at a certain time interval at different temperatures. The TTI matching method’s general applicability for various chemical kinetic models and microbial growth models is confirmed by formula derivation. These models are successfully combined, forming a multi-model matching method. Besides, the stability of equivalent transition ratio (ETR) and the feasibility of the multi-model matching method are validated based on chemical reactions in the changing process of the firmness of Muscat grapes and microbial growth in tilapia. These results will help with multi-model matching of TTI with different working mechanisms based on various chemical kinetic models and microbial growth models in a simple and intuitive manner, which will promote the application and popularization of TTI.

Rosmarinus officinalis contains diterpene phenols and diterpene quinones, such as carnosic acid and carnosol, exhibiting a wide range of biological activities. This paper reviews the latest papers about the diterpenoid compounds isolated from R. officinalis, and summaries the activities and mechanisms of them. It is found that 40 out of 62 diterpenoids in R. officinalis have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and neuroprotective effects. For them, the anti-oxidant involves the signaling pathway of Nrf2-HO-1/NQO-1, while the anti-inflammatory involves NF-κB, MAPK and Nrf2, the anti-tumor mechanisms involves Bcl-2, Akt/IKK/NF-κB and ATG, the neuroprotection involves PINK1/parkin and SIRT1/p66shc pathways. This will benefit to the full utilization of R. officinalis in the human health protection.

Hyperlipidemia is a kind of lipid metabolism disease, whose pathogenesis is complex and diverse, mainly related to abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as insulin resistance and other characteristics. Because of their low toxic and side effects along with clear medicinal effects, the food and medicinal homological resources are widely used in the regulation of blood lipids in recent years. The State Administration for Market Regulation website and various databases have been searched for the use of food and medicinal homological materials in functional food products, the categories and frequency in food and medicinal homological resources, the lipid-lowering active ingredients and their mechanisms. The results showed that 53 kinds of food and medicinal homological resources were used to regulate blood lipids, of which Crataegus pinnatifida Bge., Cassia obtusifolia L., Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Morus alba L. and Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi were used most frequently. The main active ingredients are triterpenes and their glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids and polysaccharides, etc., they regulated blood lipid levels and cholesterol metabolism by activating AMPK and PPARγ.