Cartilage endplate stem cells inhibit intervertebral disc degeneration by releasing exosomes to nucleus pulposus cells to activate Akt/autophagy.

Degeneration of the cartilage endplate (CEP) induces intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Nucleus pulposus cell (NPC) apoptosis is also an important exacerbating factor in IVDD, but the cascade mechanism in IVDD is not clear. We investigated the apoptosis of NPCs and IVDD when stimulated by normal cartilage endplate stem cell (CESC)-derived exosomes (N-Exos) and degenerated CESC-derived exosomes (D-Exos) in vitro and in vivo. Tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) was used to induce inflammation of CESCs. The bioinformatics differences between N-Exos and D-Exos were analyzed using mass spectrometry, heat map, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. NPC apoptosis was examined using TUNEL staining. The involvement of the AKT and autophagy signaling pathways was investigated using the signaling inhibitor LY294002. Magnetic resonance imaging, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining were used to evaluate the therapeutic effects of N-Exos in rats with IVDD. TBHP effectively induced inflammation and the degeneration of CEP in rat. N-Exos were more conducive to autophagy activation than D-Exos. The apoptotic rate of NPCs decreased obviously after treatment with N-Exos compared to D-Exos. N-Exos inhibited NPCs apoptosis and attenuated IVDD in rat via activation of the AKT and autophagy pathways. These results are the first findings to confirm that CEP delayed the progression of IVDD via exosomes. The therapeutic effects of N-Exos on NPC apoptosis inhibition and the slowing of IVDD progression were more effective than D-Exos due to activation of the PI3K/AKT/autophagy pathway, which explained the increase in the incidence of IVDD after inflammation of the CEP.

Punicalagin Inhibits Tert-Butyl Hydroperoxide-Induced Apoptosis and Extracellular Matrix Degradation in Chondrocytes by Activating Autophagy and Ameliorates Murine Osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent articular disorder and has no entirely satisfactory treatment. Punicalagin (PUG) is a polyphenol which has shown multiple pharmacological effects on various diseases. However, the role of PUG in the treatment of OA has not been well defined. METHODS: The effects of PUG on anti-oxidative stress, anti-apoptosis, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and autophagy were evaluated in chondrocytes through Western blot and immunofluorescence (IF) staining. Meanwhile, the effects of PUG on destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) model were also assessed in vivo by performing histopathologic analysis and IF staining. RESULTS: In vitro, PUG treatment not only increased the level of HO-1 and SOD1 against oxidative stress but also suppressed the expression of apoptotic proteins and inhibited ECM degradation. Meanwhile, PUG treatment activated autophagy and restores autophagic flux in chondrocytes after tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) insult, inhibition of autophagy by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) partly abrogated the protective effects of PUG on chondrocytes. In vivo, degeneration of the articular cartilage following DMM was also ameliorated by PUG treatment. CONCLUSION: PUG prevents the progression of OA through inhibition of apoptosis, oxidative stress and ECM degradation in chondrocytes, which mediated by the activation of autophagy.

Isoflavone biochanin A, a novel nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-antioxidant response element activator, protects against oxidative damage in HepG2 cells.

Isoflavones are one group of the major flavonoids and possess multiple biological activities due to their antioxidant properties. However, a clear antioxidant mechanism of dietary isoflavones is still remained to be answered. In this study, the effects of isoflavones on the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-antioxidant response element (ARE) signaling pathway and the underlying molecular mechanisms were investigated. Results showed that isoflavones are potential Nrf2-ARE activators while their activities were structure dependent. Biochanin A (BCA), an O-methylated isoflavone with low direct antioxidant activity, can effectively protect HepG2 cells against tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced oxidative damage via activation of the Nrf2 signaling, and thereby the induction of downstream cytoprotective enzymes including NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase-1, heme oxygenasae-1, and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit. A molecular docking study revealed that BCA could directly bind into the pocket of Kelch-like erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology (ECH)-associated protein 1 (Keap1), a cytoplasmic suppressor of Nrf2, to facilitate Nrf2 activation. The upstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways were also involved in the activation of Nrf2 signaling. These findings indicate that the protective actions of dietary isoflavones against oxidative damage may be at least partly due to their ability to enhance the intracellular antioxidant response system by modulating the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway.

Effect of Chitosan-(Poly)Nitroxides on Normal and Tumor Cells under Conditions of Induced Oxidative Stress.

The cytotoxicity and antioxidant effects of chitosan-(poly)nitoxides of different molecular weights containing a nitroxide radical of the piperidine structure were studied on tumor (HeLa, A172, and HepG2) and normal (Vero) cell lines. The chitosan-(poly)nitroxides exhibited low cytotoxicity. Under conditions of oxidative stress induced with tert-butyl hydroperoxide, the most pronounced decrease in ROS levels in the presence of chitosan-(poly)nitroxides was observed in normal cells. In cell homogenates, the decrease in malondialdehyde levels was observed only in the presence of low-molecular-weight chitosan-(poly)nitroxide irrespective of the cell line. Our data demonstrate that the cell-specific antioxidant properties of chitosan-(poly)nitroxides are related to their penetration into cells and interaction with intracellular membranes.

Metabonomic analysis of the therapeutic effect of exendin-4 for the treatment of tBHP-induced injury in mouse glomerulus mesangial cells.

Although previous studies have reported the protective effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in diabetes nephropathy, the molecular mechanism such as nephroprotection remains elusive. In this study, we explored the molecular mechanism of exendin-4 as an GLP-1 receptor agonist for the treatment of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced injury in mouse glomerulus mesangial cells (SV40 MES 13 cells) via an NMR-based metabonomic analysis. We found that exendin-4 protected mesangial cells from t-BHP-mediated toxicity, decreased the percentage of t-BHP-treated cells undergoing apoptosis, and restored glucose consumption in the t-BHP-treated group. A supervised partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed that the metabolic profiles could be distinguished between the control, t-BHP-treated, and exendin-4-pretreated groups. Our findings indicate that exendin-4 pretreatment can cause distinct changes in energy, glycerol phospholipid, and amino acid metabolism. Our study provides novel insight into the metabolic mechanism of exendin-4-mediated nephroprotective effects.

Monotropein promotes angiogenesis and inhibits oxidative stress-induced autophagy in endothelial progenitor cells to accelerate wound healing.

Attenuating oxidative stress-induced damage and promoting endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) differentiation are critical for ischaemic injuries. We suggested monotropein (Mtp), a bioactive constituent used in traditional Chinese medicine, can inhibit oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and stimulate bone marrow-derived EPC (BM-EPC) differentiation. Results showed Mtp significantly elevated migration and tube formation of BM-EPCs and prevented tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP)-induced programmed cell death through apoptosis and autophagy by reducing intracellular reactive oxygen species release and restoring mitochondrial membrane potential, which may be mediated viamTOR/p70S6K/4EBP1 and AMPK phosphorylation. Moreover, Mtp accelerated wound healing in rats, as indicated by reduced healing times, decreased macrophage infiltration and increased blood vessel formation. In summary, Mtp promoted mobilization and differentiation of BM-EPCs and protected against apoptosis and autophagy by suppressing the AMPK/mTOR pathway, improving wound healing in vivo. This study revealed that Mtp is a potential therapeutic for endothelial injury-related wounds.

ROS-induced cleavage of NHLRC2 by caspase-8 leads to apoptotic cell death in the HCT116 human colon cancer cell line.

Excess production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is known to cause apoptotic cell death. However, the molecular mechanisms whereby ROS induce apoptosis remain elusive. Here we show that the NHL-repeat-containing protein 2 (NHLRC2) thioredoxin-like domain protein is cleaved by caspase-8 in ROS-induced apoptosis in the HCT116 human colon cancer cell line. Treatment of HCT116 cells with the oxidant tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) induced apoptosis and reduced NHLRC2 protein levels, whereas pretreatment with the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine prevented apoptosis and the decrease in NHLRC2 protein levels seen in tBHP-treated cells. Furthermore, the ROS-induced decrease in NHLRC2 protein levels was relieved by the caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. We found that the thioredoxin-like domain of NHLRC2 interacted with a proenzyme form of caspase-8, and that caspase-8 cleaved NHLRC2 protein at Asp580 in vitro. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated knockdown of caspase-8 blocked the ROS-induced decrease in NHLRC2 protein levels. Both shRNA and CRISPR-Cas9-mediated loss of NHLRC2 resulted in an increased susceptibility of HCT116 cells to ROS-induced apoptosis. These results suggest that excess ROS production causes a caspase-8-mediated decrease in NHLRC2 protein levels, leading to apoptotic cell death in colon cancer cells, and indicate an important role of NHLRC2 in the regulation of ROS-induced apoptosis.

The expression of ERK and JNK in patients with an endemic osteochondropathy, Kashin-Beck disease.

Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is a chronic, endemic osteochondropathy. Its etiopathogenesis is still obscure until now. Epidemiological observation has shown that low selenium play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of KBD. Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) and C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) superfamily, play an important role in cell proliferation and differentiation. Nuclear factor-ĸB (NF-ĸB), an important signaling mediator for inflammatory and immune responses, is involved in the regulation of osteoclastogenesis. In the present study, we investigated the expression of ERK and JNK signal molecular, as well as nuclear factor-ĸB in the pathogenesis of Kashin-Beck disease, evaluated the effect of selenium on ERK signal pathway. The expression levels of ERK and JNK signal pathway, as well as nuclear factor-ĸB were investigated for 218 patients and 209 controls by immunoblot analysis in whole blood. Evaluated the effect of selenium on ERK signal pathway by Na2SeO3 treatment. The protein levels of pRaf-1, pMek1/2 and pErk1/2 decreased significantly in KBD patients, p-JNK and NF-ĸB increased in KBD patients. Furthermore, Na2SeO3 treatment improved the reduction of proteins in ERK signal pathway. These findings indicated that ERK and JNK signaling pathways, as well as the expression level of NF-κB signaling molecular are important contributor to the pathogenesis of KBD. Selenium stimulates the phosphorylation of the ERK signaling pathway.

Asiatic acid enhances Nrf2 signaling to protect HepG2 cells from oxidative damage through Akt and ERK activation.

Asiatic acid (AA), a natural triterpene isolated from the plant Centella asiatica, have antioxidative potential, but the molecular mechanism of AA against oxidative stress remains unclear. Our study was performed to investigate the antioxidative effect of AA against oxidative stress and the antioxidative mechanism in tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) -stimulated the HepG2 cells. The results showed that AA suppressed t-BHP-induced cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Additionally, AA activated the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signal, which was closely related to induction Nrf2 nuclear translocation, reduction the expression of Keap1 and up-regulation the activity of the antioxidant response element (ARE). Meanwhile, activation of Nrf2 signal upregulated the protein expressions of antioxidant genes, including heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H: quinone oxidase (NQO-1), and glutamyl cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC). Excitingly, Knockout of Nrf2 almost abolished AA-mediated antioxidant activity and cytoprotection against t-BHP. Further studies showed the mechanism underlying that AA induced Nrf2 activation in HepG2 cells via Akt and ERK signal activation. We found Akt and ERK inhibitors treatment attenuated AA-mediated Nrf2 nuclear translocation. Furthermore, treatment with either Akt or ERK inhibitor also decreased AA-mediated cytoprotection against t-BHP-induced cellular damage. Collectively, these results presented in this study indicate that AA has the protective effect against t-BHP-induced cellular damage and oxidative stress by modulating Nrf2 signaling through activating the signals of Akt and ERK.

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Tetramethylpyrazine Derivatives as Potential Neuroprotective Agents.

Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in neurological diseases, resulting in excessive production of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. In this work, we designed and synthesized a series of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) derivatives and investigated their abilities for scavenging free radicals and preventing against oxidative stress-induced neuronal damage in vitro. Among them, compound 22a, consisted of TMP, caffeic acid and a nitrone group, showed potent radical-scavenging activity. Compound 22a had broad neuroprotective effects, including rescuing iodoacetic acid-induced neuronal loss, preventing from tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced neuronal injury. Compound 22a exerted its neuroprotective effect against t-BHP injury via activation of the phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway. Furthermore, in a rat model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion, compound 22a significantly improved neurological deficits, and alleviated the infarct area and brain edema. In conclusion, our results suggest that compound 22a could be a potential neuroprotective agent for the treatment of neurological disease, particularly ischemic stroke.

Inhibition by Teriflunomide of Erythrocyte Cell Membrane Scrambling Following Energy Depletion, Oxidative Stress and Ionomycin.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Teriflunomide, an inhibitor of pyrimidine synthesis and thus proliferation of activated T and B lymphocytes, is successfully used for treatment of inflammatory disease. Teriflunomide has further been shown to trigger apoptosis of tumor cells and has thus been considered for the treatment of malignancy. In analogy to apoptosis of nucleated cells, erythrocytes may enter suicidal death or eryptosis, which is characterized by cell shrinkage and phospholipid scrambling of the cell membrane with translocation of phosphatidylserine to the erythrocyte surface. Triggers of cell membrane scrambling include energy depletion, oxidative stress and increase of cytosolic Ca2+ activity ([Ca2+]i). The present study explored whether teriflunomide modifies eryptosis. METHODS: Flow cytometry was employed to estimate phosphatidylserine abundance at the erythrocyte surface from annexin-V-binding, cell volume from forward scatter, and [Ca2+]i from Fluo3 fluorescence. RESULTS: Oxidative stress (60 min exposure to 0.3 mM tert-butylhydroperoxide), energy depletion (removal of glucose for 48 hours), and exposure to the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin (1 µM, 60 min) all increased annexin-V-binding, decreased forward scatter and enhanced Fluo3 fluorescence. Teriflunomide (5 µg/ml) did not significantly influence Fluo3 fluorescence, forward scatter and annexin-V-binding under control conditions but significantly blunted the increase of annexin-V-binding following oxidative stress, energy depletion and ionomycin exposure. Teriflunomide further blunted the increase of Fluo3 fluorescence following energy depletion, but did not significantly interfere with increase of Fluo3 fluorescence following oxidative stress and ionomycin exposure. CONCLUSION: Teriflunomide is a novel inhibitor of suicidal erythrocyte death.

Mitochondrial dysfunction-associated OPA1 cleavage contributes to muscle degeneration: preventative effect of hydroxytyrosol acetate.

Mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the development of muscle disorders, including muscle wasting, muscle atrophy and degeneration. Despite the knowledge that oxidative stress closely interacts with mitochondrial dysfunction, the detailed mechanisms remain obscure. In this study, tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP) was used to induce oxidative stress on differentiated C2C12 myotubes. t-BHP induced significant mitochondrial dysfunction in a time-dependent manner, accompanied by decreased myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression at both the mRNA and protein levels. Consistently, endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction triggered by carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoromethoxy) phenylhydrazone (FCCP), a mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation inhibitor, was accompanied by decreased membrane potential and decreased MyHC protein content. However, the free radical scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) efficiently reduced the ROS level and restored MyHC content, suggesting a close association between ROS and MyHC expression. Meanwhile, we found that both t-BHP and FCCP promoted the cleavage of optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) from the long form into short form during the early stages. In addition, the ATPase family gene 3-like 2, a mitochondrial inner membrane protease, was also markedly increased. Moreover, OPA1 knockdown in myotubes was accompanied by decreased MyHC content, whereas NAC failed to prevent FCCP-induced MyHC decrease with OPA1 knockdown, suggesting that ROS might affect MyHC content by modulating OPA1 cleavage. In addition, hydroxytyrosol acetate (HT-AC), an important compound in virgin olive oil, could significantly prevent t-BHP-induced mitochondrial membrane potential and cell viability loss in myotubes. Specifically, HT-AC inhibited t-BHP-induced OPA1 cleavage and mitochondrial morphology changes, accompanied by improvement on mitochondrial oxygen consumption capacity, ATP productive potential and activities of mitochondrial complex I, II and V. Moreover, both t-BHP- and FCCP-induced MyHC decrease was sufficiently inhibited by HT-AC. Taken together, our data provide evidence indicating that mitochondrial dysfunction-associated OPA1 cleavage may contribute to muscle degeneration, and olive oil compounds could be effective nutrients for preventing the development of muscle disorders.

Antioxidant activities of 5-hydroxyoxindole and its 3-hydroxy-3-phenacyl derivatives: the suppression of lipid peroxidation and intracellular oxidative stress.

The antioxidant activities of 5-hydroxyoxindole (1) and newly synthesized 3,5-dihydroxy-3-phenacyl-2-oxindole derivatives against rat liver microsome/tert-butylhydroperoxide system-induced lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide-induced intracellular oxidative stress were investigated. Compound 1 and its derivatives showed significant suppression of lipid peroxidation and an intracellular oxidative stress. The effects of the more lipophilic derivatives tended to be greater than that of the original compound 1. The cytotoxicity of all of the oxindole derivatives on human promyelocytic leukemia HL60 cells was lower than that of 2,6-di(tert-butyl)-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT), a widely used phenolic antioxidant. These results show that compound 1 and its 3-substituted derivatives could be good lead candidates for future novel antioxidant therapeutics.

Antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of five eggplant varieties.

Eggplant is consumed throughout the world and varies in fruit color, shape, and size. In this study, five varieties of eggplant (purple colored moderate size, white-green colored moderate size, long green, green striped moderate size and pale-green colored small size, respectively, called SM1-SM5) were evaluated for total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity and hepatoprotection against cytotoxicity of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH) in human hepatoma cell lines, HepG2. Total phenolic content found in methanol extracts of SM1-SM5 ranged from 739.36 ± 1.59 to 1116.13 ± 7.30 gallic acid equivalents mg/100g extract and total flavonoid content from 1991.29 ± 6.32 to 3954.20 ± 6.06 catechin equivalents mg/100 g extract. SM1 and SM2 which contained high total phenolic and flavonoid had better antioxidant activities than the other varieties. Pretreatment of HepG2 cells with 50 and 100 µg/mL of SM1-SM5 significantly increased the viability (p<0.05) of t-BuOOH-exposed HepG2 cells by 14.49 ± 1.14% to 44.95 ± 2.72%. The antioxidant activities of the eggplant were correlated with the total amounts of phenolic and flavonoid (r = 0.5310-0.7961). Significant correlation was found between hepatoprotective activities and total phenolic/flavonoid content (r = 0.6371-0.8842) and antioxidant activities (r = 0.5846-0.9588), indicating the contribution of the phenolic antioxidant present in eggplant to its hepatoprotective effect on t-BuOOH-induced toxicity.

Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of neuroprotection of celastrol analogues in PC12 cells.

A series of celastrol analogues were synthesized, and their neuroprotective effect against t-BHP-induced cytotoxicity was investigated in neuronal PC12 cells. Their effects on Hsp70 protein expression were quantified by Western blot analysis. The study found that compound CL12 is more effective than the parent celastrol against t-BHP-induced cytotoxicity. CL12 up-regulates Hsp70 protein expression dose-dependently. These results suggest that CL12 is a potential candidate for the intervention of neurodegenerative diseases.

Protective mechanisms of Aralia continentalis extract against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced hepatotoxicity: in vivo and in vitro studies.

In the present work, we investigated the protective effects of the ethanol extract of Aralia continentalis roots (AC) on tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced hepatotoxicity in a cultured Hepa1c1c7 cell line and in mouse liver. Pretreatment with AC prior to the administration of t-BHP significantly prevented the increase in serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers (ALT, AST) and lipid peroxidation and reduced oxidative stress, as measured by glutathione content, in the liver. Histopathological evaluation of the livers also revealed that AC reduced the incidence of liver lesions. The in vitro study showed that AC significantly reduced t-BHP-induced oxidative injury in Hepa1c1c7 cells, as determined by cell cytotoxicity, intracellular glutathione content, lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and caspase-3 activation. Also, AC up-regulated phase II genes including heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H:quinone reductase, and glutathione S-transferase. Moreover, AC induced Nrf2 nuclear translocation and ERK1/2 and p38 activation, pathways that are involved in inducing Nrf2 nuclear translocation. Taken together, these results suggest that the protective effects of AC against t-BHP-induced hepatotoxicity may, at least in part, be due to its ability to scavenge ROS and to regulate the antioxidant enzyme HO-1 via the ERK1/2 and p38/Nrf2 signaling pathways.

Pre- and co-treatment with xanthophyll enhances the anti-leukemic activity of adriamycin.

Xanthophyll (lutein) is one of the most potent known antioxidants. It has been shown that dietary intake of xanthophyll helps to prevent age-related macular degeneration and the development of cataracts. It may also reduce the risk of developing various types of cancer. Here we showed that xanthophyll efficiently scavenged the stable free radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) with an IC50 of 0.5mM and effectively countered the cytotoxic effect of tert-butylhydroperoxide (tBuOOH) on various leukemic cell lines. In contrast, oxidized xanthophyll did not have these effects. We then examined whether dietary intake of xanthophyll inhibited leukemic tumor growth in mice injected subcutaneously with the leukemic cell line L1210. After one month, treatment with 13mg/kg xanthophyll had inhibited tumor growth by about 20%. Xanthophyll also enhanced the anti-leukemic activity of adriamycin in the L1210 mouse model as it extended the duration of adriamycin-induced suppression of tumor growth. Moreover, the two agents together reduced tumor volume by about 50% whereas treatment with adriamycin alone only stalled growth for a few days. Oxidized xanthophyll did not have any anti-leukemic effects on its own or in combination with adriamycin. Thus, the radical scavenging activity of the food supplement xanthophyll prevents oxidative stress, inhibits leukemic tumor growth, and enhances the anti-leukemic activities of a common chemotherapeutic agent in a synergistic manner.

Protective effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester on tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced oxidative hepatotoxicity and DNA damage.

Increased oxidative stress and associated high levels of free radical generation have been described to occur during the pathogeneses of various diseases in animal models. In the present work, we investigated the protective effects of the phenethyl ester of caffeic acid (CAPE), an active component of honeybee propolis, on tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced hepatotoxicity in a cultured HepG2 cell line and in rat liver. CAPE was found to significantly reduce t-BHP-induced oxidative injury in HepG2 cells, as determined by cell cytotoxicity, and lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CAPE protected HepG2 cells against t-BHP-induced oxidative DNA damage, as determined by the Comet assay. Consistently, CAPE reduced hydroxyl radical-induced 2-deoxy-d-ribose degradation by ferric ion-nitrilotriacetic acid and H2O2, and also removed the superoxide anion generated by a xanthine/xanthine oxidase system. Our in vivo study showed that pretreatment with CAPE prior to the administration of t-BHP significantly and dose-dependently prevented increases in the serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers (alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase) and reduced lipid peroxidation in rat liver. Moreover, histopathological evaluation of livers consistently revealed that CAPE reduced liver lesion induction by t-BHP. Taken together, these results suggest that the protective effects of CAPE against t-BHP-induced hepatotoxicity may, at least in part, be due to its ability to scavenge ROS and protect DNA from oxidative stress-induced damage.

Protective effect of polysaccharide fractions from Radix A. sinensis against tert-butylhydroperoxide induced oxidative injury in murine peritoneal macrophages.

Three Angelica sinensis polysaccharide fractions (APFs), named APF1, APF2 and APF3, were isolated and purified from Radix A. sinensis and their antioxidant activities were evaluated in isolated mouse peritoneal macrophages by pretreatment with APFs before exposure to 0.2 mM tertbutylhydroperoxide (t-BHP). The results showed that pretreatment of the macrophages with APFs as low as 10 microg/ml could significantly enhance t-BHP-decreased cell survival, intracellular glutathione (GSH) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and also inhibited t-BHP-increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage and malondialdehyde (MDA) formation (p < 0.05), and APF3 was the most active fraction, followed by APF2 and APF1 in decreasing order. Furthermore, we found for the first time that the bound-protein in APF3 was associated closely with the protective effects and the polysaccharide inhibited the excess NO release from t-BHP-activated macrophages to protect host cells.

Quercetin protects C6 glial cells from oxidative stress induced by tertiary-butylhydroperoxide.

The anti-oxidant and cyto-protective activity of quercetin against tertiary-butylhydroperoxide (t-BOOH) induced oxidative stress on C6 glial cells is reported. Exposure of the cells to t-BOOH resulted in a significant increase in cytotoxicity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and lipid peroxidation. There was a significant increase in DNA strand breaks and fall in reduced GSH levels in cells exposed to t-BOOH. A significant increase in calcium ion influx was noticed in cells exposed to t-BOOH. Pre-treatment of cells with quercetin, vitamin C (vit C), Trolox, and deferoxamine (DFO) significantly inhibited t-BOOH induced cytotoxicity and ROS generation. Pretreatment of cells with quercetin, Trolox and DFO inhibited the DNA damage, maintained higher GSH levels and prevented calcium influx significantly. Although vit C protected the cells from cytotoxicity induced by t-BOOH, the intracellular Ca(2+) levels were significantly higher than the control cells. However, anti-oxidants like butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), vitamin E (vit E), N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) did not have significant cytoprotection against t-BOOH induced oxidative injury in C6 glial cells.