High-Consumption Lipophilic Dietary Compounds for the Prevention and Treatment of Metabolic Syndrome: Analysis of their Mechanisms of Action
José Antonio Estefes-Duarte, Gabriel Betanzos-Cabrera, Ana Karen Zaldivar-Ortega, Eduardo Fernández-MartínezIntroduction/Objective:
Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) encompasses several conditions, including central adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and fatty liver. In recent years, extensive research has been conducted on new non-pharmacological treatments for each of these conditions. This work analyzes the beneficial effects of the main dietary lipophilic compounds and the digestive, cellular, and molecular mechanisms they elicit, and also briefly reviews adverse effects reported in some outstanding current studies to provide an overview of their nutraceutical potential in the context of MetS.
Methods:
Databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect were searched for English- language publications from all years that reported beneficial anti-obesogenic, hypolipidemic, antisteatogenic, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive effects; and their proposed mechanisms of action of common dietary lipophilic compounds. Some articles from the reference list were used to gather additional information, and a total of 135 articles were used.
Results:
Dietary fats, oils, and fiber are sources of high levels of lipophilic bioactive compounds, including short-chain fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, and vitamin E. Therefore, the amounts ingested of these compounds may be sufficient to confer health benefits in MetS. Lipophilic compounds may exert their therapeutic effects through various mechanisms, ranging from modifying the digestion of specific nutrients to reducing oxidative stress and inflammation to altering gene expression.
Conclusion:
Although current scientific evidence supports the therapeutic effects of these compounds, some studies indicate that not all bioactive lipophilic compounds are effective in treating the full spectrum of MetS, raising questions that require more analysis and discussion.