Assam Down Town University

Honey is an ancient natural sweetener and a traditional remedy for many illnesses. It has also been the subject of scientific interest as a functional food with diverse therapeutic uses. This review summarizes and critically evaluates the current knowledge on four widely studied medicinal honeys of diverse botanical origins, namely Manuka, Acacia, Tualang and Gelam, focusing on the relationship between their composition, biological functions and biomedical importance. The first part provides a comparative analysis of the physicochemical characteristics, nutrition and major bioactivity of these honeys, including sugars, enzymes, phenolic compounds and some specific biomarkers such as methylglyoxal. The next section summarizes in vitro and in vivo studies that report their antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, wound repair and anticancer effects, along with the underlying molecular pathways. Finally, it discusses their potential applications in patents and highlights existing limitations, such as variation in composition, need for standardization and lack of rigorously designed clinical trials, which remain barriers to clinical translation. This review builds on the currently scattered literature and outlines a pathway for future research imperative to the development of honey-based therapeutic and nutraceutical applications.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) comprises a cluster of interrelated metabolic abnormalities, including obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and hypertension, mainly driven by chronic low-grade inflammation. Among innate immune pathways, the Nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has emerged as a critical molecular link between metabolic stress and inflammatory signalling, promoting caspase-1 activation, interleukin (IL)-1β/IL-18 maturation and pyroptosis across metabolically active organs such as adipose tissue, liver and pancreas. Persistent NLRP3 activation, triggered by mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, ionic imbalance and impaired autophagy, contributes directly to insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, β-cell dysfunction and cardiometabolic complications, highlighting natural products as promising multi-target modulators capable of attenuating NLRP3-driven metabolic inflammation. The literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus to identify recent studies investigating phytochemical-mediated modulation of NLRP3 inflammasome signalling in MetS from 2020 to December 2025. Eligible studies were screened for mechanistic relevance, with particular emphasis on NLRP3-centred pathways. The consolidated evidence demonstrates that diverse classes of natural products, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, terpenoids and other bioactive compounds, effectively attenuate NLRP3 activation by suppressing NF-κB-dependent priming, limiting mitochondrial ROS generation, stabilising lysosomal integrity, enhancing AMPK-SIRT signalling and promoting autophagy. Several plant extracts and complex formulations exhibit coordinated metabolic and anti-inflammatory benefits across adipose, hepatic, vascular, neural and renal models of MetS. In addition to summarising their regulatory effects on key inflammatory and metabolic pathways, the review also addresses available toxicity and safety data, thereby providing a more comprehensive perspective on their therapeutic relevance. Overall, this review presents an integrated synthesis of mechanistic and preclinical evidence highlighting natural products as multi-target modulators of NLRP3-mediated metabolic inflammation.

Metabolically Dysfunctional-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) is increasingly recognised as a gut-liver axis disorder driven by sustained activation of pro-inflammatory signalling networks, particularly the NF-κB pathway. Flavonoids, a diverse class of dietary polyphenols, have emerged as promising modulators of NF-κB-mediated gut-liver crosstalk due to their capacity to restore intestinal homeostasis and suppress hepatic inflammation. This review synthesises recent preclinical evidence identifying NF-κB as a central mechanistic target underlying flavonoid actions in MASLD. A structured literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect to identify studies published between 2020 and February 2026. Accumulating evidence indicates that flavonoids remodel the gut microbiota toward beneficial taxa. Several flavonoids also modulate upstream regulators, thereby converging on NF-κB to mitigate MASLD. To improve translational interpretation, animal experimental doses were contextualised using established human-equivalent dose conversion methods, alongside reported dietary sources and estimated achievable intake levels. Although the present work highlights the considerable potential of flavonoids as functional food-derived modulators of the gut microbiota NF-κB axis in MASLD, their clinical translation remains constrained by limited bioavailability and heterogeneity across experimental models, highlighting the need for standardised dosing strategies, integrated host microbiota analyses, and well-designed human studies to substantiate clinical applicability.

Inflammation is a tightly regulated physiological process essential for host defence; however, its chronic dysregulation contributes to a wide range of non-communicable diseases. Growing concerns regarding the long-term toxicity and limited target specificity of conventional anti-inflammatory drugs have intensified interest in plant-derived agents with multi-target actions and improved safety profiles. The genus Pogostemon, Lamiaceae, comprising over 80 species, has a long-standing ethnomedicinal history in the management of inflammation-related disorders in traditional Chinese medicine and across Southeast Asia. Although Pogostemon species have been reported to exhibit diverse pharmacological activities, anti-inflammatory effects represent the most extensively investigated biological property of the genus in preclinical studies. However, the existing evidence remains dispersed across individual species, compounds, and experimental models, and a comprehensive, integrative, genus-wide synthesis of anti-inflammatory findings is currently lacking. Accordingly, this review addresses the research question of whether the accumulated phytochemical and pharmacological evidence supports Pogostemon as a mechanistically substantiated genus for anti-inflammatory drug discovery. A systematic literature search was conducted across Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, SciFinder, and Scopus up to December 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. The review integrates data from ethnomedicinal use, in vitro assays, and in vivo experimental models. Among the genus, P. cablin (Blanco) Benth. and its major constituents, particularly patchouli alcohol, pogostone, and pachypodol, are the most extensively studied. Reported mechanisms involve modulation of NF-κB, MAPK, NLRP3 inflammasome, COX/LOX, iNOS, TLR4, MyD88, and SIRT1 pathways, leading to reduced cytokine production, suppression of oedema, attenuation of pyroptosis, and regulation of immune-cell infiltration. Despite substantial preclinical evidence, clinical validation remains lacking. This review provides a systematic and critical synthesis of anti-inflammatory evidence to guide future mechanistic and translational research.

Abstract This article critically examines uranium mining as a global public and environmental health crisis, rather than merely a technical or industrial activity. It discusses how extractive operations produce cumulative, long-term harms ranging from radioactive exposure and ecological degradation to intergenerational health risks that fall most heavily on communities already marginalised by social and political inequalities. Drawing on the secondary sources of data and illustrative case studies, including those from Indigenous territories, it maps the deeply uneven distribution of risks and benefits across the uranium supply chain. These cases reveal how uranium extraction magnifies environmental injustice by (re)producing inequitable exposures, limiting community participation and denying recognition to affected peoples. We also interrogate the ethical pressure at the heart of contemporary sustainability debates: the promotion of nuclear energy as a climate solution while ignoring the toxic material realities on which it depends. As both a critical synthesis and a call for systemic reform, we argue for justice-oriented policies grounded in public health equity, environmental responsibility and genuinely participatory governance. Ultimately, rethinking uranium mining requires more than technological improvements; it demands confronting the structural injustices rooted in extractive economies and centring the lived experiences, rights and knowledge systems of the communities who bear the greatest burdens.