NEW FINDINGS What is the central question of this study? Our aim was to examine whether sesamin can prevent a decline in exercise capacity in high-fat diet-induced diabetic mice. Our hypothesis was that maintenance of mitochondrial function and attenuation of oxidative stress in the skeletal muscle would contribute to this result. What is the main finding and its importance? The new findings ar...

Sesamin is a furofuran lignan biosynthesized from the precursor lignan pinoresinol specifically in sesame seeds. This lignan is shown to exhibit anti-hypertensive activity, protect the liver from damages by ethanol and lipid oxidation, and reduce lung tumor growth. Despite rapidly elevating demand, plant sources of lignans are frequently limited because of the high cost of locating and collecti...

Sesamin and sesamolin, abundant lignans found in sesame oil, have been demonstrated to possess several bioactivities beneficial for human health. Excess generation of nitric oxide in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated rat primary microglia cells was significantly attenuated when they were pretreated with sesamin or sesamolin. The neuroprotective effect of sesamin and sesamolin was also observed in v...

We previously demonstrated the preventive effect of sesamin, a lignan from sesame oil, on the development of several experimental models of hypertension. In the present study, we explored the mechanisms underlying the antihypertensive effect of sesamin using the deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt rat hypertensive model. After a 5-week treatment period, aortic superoxide (O2-) production wa...

Sesamin is one of the major lignans found in sesame oil. Although some microbial metabolites of sesamin have been identified, sesamin-metabolic pathways remain uncharacterized at both the enzyme and gene levels. Here, we isolated microorganisms growing on sesamin as a sole-carbon source. One microorganism showing significant sesamin-degrading activity was identified as Sinomonas sp. no. 22. A s...

Metabolism of sesamin by cytochrome P450 (P450) was examined using yeast expression system and human liver microsomes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells expressing each of human P450 isoforms (CYP1A1, 1A2, 2A6, 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C18, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A4) were cultivated with sesamin, and monocatechol metabolite was observed in most of P450s. Kinetic analysis using the microsomal fractions of the...

In this study, we confirmed that sesamin, an active lignan isolated from sesame seed and oil, is a novel skin-tanning compound. The melanin content and tyrosinase activity were increased by sesamin in a dose-dependent manner in B16 melanoma cells. The mRNA and protein levels of tyrosinase were also enhanced after the treatment with sesamin. Western blot analysis revealed that sesamin induced an...

The effects of sesamin, a lignan from sesame oil, on various aspects of cholesterol metabolism were examined in rats maintained on various dietary regimens. When given at a dietary level of 0.5% for 4 weeks, sesamin reduced the concentration of serum and liver cholesterol significantly irrespective of the presence or absence of cholesterol in the diet, except for one experiment in which the pur...

BACKGROUND Sesamin, a major lignan from sesame seeds has been associated with cholesterol reduction in previous reports, but recent studies suggested differences in the response to sesamin intake depending on the model studied as well as the nature of the sesamin preparation used. AIM The effect of pure sesamin epimer on serum lipids was studied in hypercholesterolemic LDL receptor-knockout m...

Moazzami, A.A. 2006. Sesame Seed Lignans Diversity, Human Metabolism and Bioactivity. Doctor’s dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 91-576-7147-8 Sesame seed has been an important oilseed since ancient times. It contains 25% protein and 50% oil. Sesame seed possesses many health promoting effects, some of which have been attributed to a group of compounds called lignans (sesamin, sesamolin, sesam...