Kefir is a fermented beverage with renowned probiotics that coexist in symbiotic association with other microorganisms in kefir grains. This beverage consumption is associated with a wide array of nutraceutical benefits, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, and anti-hypercholesterolemic effects. Moreover, kefir can be adapted into different substrates which allow the production of new functional beverages to provide product diversification. Being safe and inexpensive, there is an immense global interest in kefir's nutritional potential. Due to their promising benefits, kefir and kefir-like products have a great prospect for commercialization. This manuscript reviews the therapeutic aspects of kefir to date, and potential applications of kefir products in the health and food industries, along with the limitations. The literature reviewed here demonstrates that there is a growing demand for kefir as a functional food owing to a number of health-promoting properties.
The mechanosensitive Piezo1 channel is widely distributed in the central nervous system (CNS), expressed by neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, neural stem and progenitor cells, retinal ganglion and photoreceptor cells and, moreover, neurovascular and lymphatic endothelial cells, implicating an important role for the Piezo1 channel in the CNS physiology and disease. Indeed, recent studies have disclosed that the Piezo1 channel plays a vital part in mediating or modulating numerous CNS functions, ranging from brain development, synapse function, neurogenesis, axonal (re)generation, axonal pathfinding, astrocyte-neuron communication, axonal myelination, immune response, brain vasculature modelling to cerebrospinal fluid drainage. There is also increasing evidence to indicate critical engagement of the Piezo1 channel in the pathogenesis and progression of multiple debilitating CNS conditions, exemplified by spinal cord injury, stroke and related ischemia/reperfusion brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases, and age-related macular degeneration. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding and highlight the unanswered questions regarding the roles and mechanisms of the Piezo1 channel in CNS functions and diseases, presenting the Piezo1 channel as an attractive therapeutic target to intervene CNS damage and diseases.