Nutmeg — a spice that can intoxicate you in larger doses?

Aim of the study: With the advancement of scientific knowledge and global awareness, there is a trend toward using natural resources, such as herbal and medicinal plants, to prevent and treat disease. Myristica fragrans, from the Myristicaceae family, offers various medicinal benefits.

Results: However, when used carefully, it has significant therapeutic potential. This article also focuses on industrial applications of M. fragrans as a medicine, a cosmetic agent, and a food ingredient for its aroma and functional properties. However, more clinical research is needed to validate these findings and optimize its effective and safe use in clinical applications.

Aim of the study: Nutmeg is a Traditional Chinese Medicine used to treat gastrointestinal diseases. Some reports have indicated that nutmeg has hepatoprotective activity.

Results: Gene expression analysis showed that the hepatoprotective effect of NME was achieved by modulating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) and reducing oxidative stress. NME could not protect Ppara-null mice from TAA-induced liver injury, suggesting that its protective effect depended on PPARα. Myrislignan, a representative neolignan in nutmeg, showed strong protective activity against TAA-induced liver toxicity. These data show that nutmeg alleviates TAA-induced liver injury by modulating PPARα, and that lignan compounds in nutmeg, such as myrislignan, partly contribute to this effect.

Aim of the study: Colon cancer is the most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in humans. Using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, the current study revealed the accumulation of four uremic toxins (cresol sulfate, cresol glucuronide, indoxyl sulfate, and phenyl sulfate) in the serum of mice with colon cancer caused by a mutation in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene.

Results: These uremic toxins, likely generated by the gut microbiota, were associated with increased expression of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 and a disorder of lipid metabolism. Nutmeg, which has antimicrobial activity, reduced the levels of uremic toxins and decreased intestinal tumor development in Apc(min/+) mice. Nutmeg-treated Apc(min/+) mice had lower IL-6 levels and normalized dysregulated lipid metabolism, suggesting that uremic toxins are partly responsible for the metabolic disorders that occur during tumor development. These studies show a potential biochemical link between gut microbial metabolism, inflammation, and metabolic disorders, and suggest that changing the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism through diet or drugs may be effective in strategies to prevent colon cancer.