Recent advances in nuclear receptors-mediated health benefits of blueberry.

BACKGROUND

Blueberry is rich in bioactive substances and has anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, and other activities. Blueberry has been shown to treat diseases by mediating the transcription of nuclear receptors. However, evidence for nuclear receptor-mediated health benefits of blueberry has not been systematically reviewed.

PURPOSE

This review aims to summarize the nuclear receptor-mediated health benefits of blueberry.

METHODS

This study reviews all relevant literature published in NCBI PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar by January 2022. The relevant literature was extracted from the databases with the following keyword combinations: "biological activities" OR "nuclear receptors" OR "phytochemicals" AND "blueberry" OR "Vaccinium corymbosum" as well as free-text words.

RESULTS

In vivo and in vitro experimental results and clinical evidence have demonstrated that blueberry has health-promoting effects. Supplementing blueberry is beneficial to the treatment of cancer, the alleviation of metabolic syndrome, and liver protection. Blueberry can regulate the transcription of PPARs, ERs, AR, GR, MR, LXRs, and FXR and mediate the expressions of Akt, CYP 1Al, p53, and Bcl-2.

CONCLUSION

Blueberry can be targeted to treat various diseases by mediating the transcription of nuclear receptors. Nevertheless, further human research is needed.