Research

16 pages, 42393 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Malvidin-3-O-Glucoside Ameliorates Cadmium-Mediated Cell Dysfunction in the Estradiol Generation of Human Granulosa Cells

by Shuer Liang, Xusheng Li, Ruijing Liu, Jun Hu, Yue Li, Jianxia Sun and Weibin Bai

Nutrients 2023, 15(3), 753; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu15030753 - 02 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1776

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is a frequent environmental pollutant associated with biological toxicity that can harm female reproduction. Anthocyanins have been reported to reduce the toxicity of Cd. In the present study, the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of malvidin-3-O-glucoside (M3G) against the [...] Read more.

Cadmium (Cd) is a frequent environmental pollutant associated with biological toxicity that can harm female reproduction. Anthocyanins have been reported to reduce the toxicity of Cd. In the present study, the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of malvidin-3-O-glucoside (M3G) against the toxicity of Cd on female reproduction in KGN cells (human ovarian granulosa-like tumor cells) were investigated. After treating cells with 10 µmol/L cadmium chloride, the results showed that M3G lessened Cd-induced KGN cell cytotoxicity better than malvidin and malvidin-3,5-O-diglucoside. Additionally, M3G significantly decreased the Cd-induced generation of reactive oxygen species, inhibited the Cd-induced arrest of the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, and increased estradiol (E2) production. According to transcriptomic results, M3G reduced the abnormal expression of genes that responded to estrogen. Additionally, M3G promoted the endogenous synthesis and secretion of E2 by controlling the expression of CYP17A1 and HSD17B7. The current findings indicated that M3G is of great potential to prevent Cd-induced female reproductive impairment as a dietary supplement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploration and Discovery of Natural Plant Pigments’ Benefits to Human Health)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

15 pages, 4038 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chlorophyll Inhibits the Digestion of Soybean Oil in Simulated Human Gastrointestinal System

by Xiao Wang, Yuanyuan Li, Suxia Shen, Zhaotian Yang, Haifeng Zhang and Yan Zhang

Nutrients 2022, 14(9), 1749; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu14091749 - 22 Apr 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1939

Abstract

Nowadays, much available processed and highly palatable food such as cream products and fried and convenient food, which usually showed a high energy density, had caused an increase in the intake of dietary lipids, further leading to significant growth in the prevalence of [...] Read more.

Nowadays, much available processed and highly palatable food such as cream products and fried and convenient food, which usually showed a high energy density, had caused an increase in the intake of dietary lipids, further leading to significant growth in the prevalence of obesity. Chlorophyll, widespread in fruits and vegetables, was proven to have beneficial effects on alleviating obesity. This study investigated the effects of chlorophyll on the digestive characteristics of lipids under in vitro simulated adult and infant gastrointestinal systems. Chlorophyll decreased the release rate of free fatty acid (FFA) during in vitro adult and infant intestinal digestion by 69.2% and 60.0%, respectively. Meanwhile, after gastrointestinal digestion, chlorophyll changed the FFA composition of soybean oil emulsion and increased the particle size of oil droplets. Interestingly, with the addition of chlorophyll, the activity of pancreatic lipase was inhibited during digestion, which may be related to pheophytin (a derivative of chlorophyll after gastric digestion). Therefore, the results obtained from isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular docking further elucidated that pheophytin could bind to pancreatic lipase with a strong affinity of (4.38 ± 0.76) × 10⁷ M⁻¹ (K_a), while the binding site was amino acid residue Trp253. The investigation not only explained why chlorophyll inhibited digestive enzyme activity to reduce lipids digestion but also provided exciting opportunities for developing novel chlorophyll-based healthy products for dietary application in preventing obesity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploration and Discovery of Natural Plant Pigments’ Benefits to Human Health)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 4818 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ellagic Acid Alleviates Diquat-Induced Jejunum Oxidative Stress in C57BL/6 Mice through Activating Nrf2 Mediated Signaling Pathway

by Xiangyu Zhang, Shilan Wang, Yujun Wu, Xiaoyi Liu, Junjun Wang and Dandan Han

Nutrients 2022, 14(5), 1103; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nu14051103 - 05 Mar 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2483

Abstract

Ellagic acid (EA) is the main constituent found in pomegranate rind, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. However, whether EA can alleviate diquat-induced oxidative stress is still unknown. Here, the effects and mechanisms of EA on jejunum oxidative stress induced by diquat was [...] Read more.

Ellagic acid (EA) is the main constituent found in pomegranate rind, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. However, whether EA can alleviate diquat-induced oxidative stress is still unknown. Here, the effects and mechanisms of EA on jejunum oxidative stress induced by diquat was investigated. Oxidative stress was induced in mice by administrating diquat (25 mg/kg body weight) followed by treatment with 100 mg/kg body weight EA for 5 days. Results showed that oral administration of EA significantly ameliorated diquat-induced weight loss and oxidative stress (p < 0.05) evidenced by reduced ROS production in the jejunum. Furthermore, EA up-regulated the mRNA expression of the antioxidant enzymes (Nrf2, GPX1 and HO-1) when mice were challenged with diquat, compared with the diquat group (p < 0.05). Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of Nrf2 by ML385 counteracted the EA-mediated alleviation of jejunum oxidative stress, as evidence by body weight and ROS production. Also, immunohistochemistry staining confirmed the markedly decreased jejunal Nrf2 expression. The up-regulated effect on NQO1 and HO-1 mRNA expression induced by EA was diminished in mice treated with ML385 (p < 0.05). Together, our results demonstrated that therapeutic and preventative EA treatment was effective in reducing weight loss and oxidative stress induced by diquat through the Nrf2 mediated signaling pathway. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploration and Discovery of Natural Plant Pigments’ Benefits to Human Health)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Exploration and Discovery of Natural Plant Pigments’ Benefits to Human Health

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (3 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI