MTOR and metabolic disease: Our previous studies revealed that HAS can activate the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathways to ameliorate glucose, lipid and protein metabolic disorders in diabetic rats (You et al. 2015; Ren et al. 2017a, b); activate the Shh/Ptch1/Smo signaling pathway to alleviate cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease model mice (Li et al. 2024a, b); and improve intestinal health in IR model mice (Xu et al. 2022a, b).