Dietary wolfberry upregulates carotenoid metabolic genes and enhances mitochondrial biogenesis in the retina of db/db diabetic mice.

SCOPE: Our aim was to investigate whether dietary wolfberry altered carotenoid metabolic gene expression and enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in the retina of diabetic mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: Six-week-old male db/db and wild-type mice were fed the control or wolfberry diets for 8 weeks. At study termination, liver and retinal tissues were collected for analysis by transmission electron microscopy, real-time PCR, immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and HPLC. Wolfberry elevated zeaxanthin and lutein levels in the liver and retinal tissues and stimulated expression of retinal scavenger receptor class B type I, glutathione S-transferase Pi 1, and ß,ß-carotene 9',10'-oxygenase 2, and induced activation and nuclear enrichment of retinal AMP-activated protein kinase α2 (AMPK-α2). Furthermore, wolfberry attenuated hypoxia and mitochondrial stress as demonstrated by declined expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1-α, vascular endothelial growth factor, and heat shock protein 60. Wolfberry enhanced retinal mitochondrial biogenesis in diabetic retinas as demonstrated by reversed mitochondrial dispersion in the retinal pigment epithelium, increased mitochondrial copy number, elevated citrate synthase activity, and upregulated expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α, nuclear respiratory factor 1, and mitochondrial transcription factor A. CONCLUSION: Consumption of dietary wolfberry could be beneficial to retinoprotection through reversal of mitochondrial function in diabetic mice.

Dietary wolfberry ameliorates retinal structure abnormalities in db/db mice at the early stage of diabetes.

Hyperglycemia-linked oxidative stress and/or consequent endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are the causative factors of pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. Dietary bioactive components which mitigate oxidative stress may serve as potential chemopreventive agents to prevent or slow down the disease progression. Wolfberry is a traditional Asian fruit consumed for years to prevent aging eye diseases in Asian countries. Here we report that dietary wolfberry ameliorated mouse retinal abnormality at the early stage of type 2 diabetes in db/db mice. Male mice at six weeks of age were fed the control diet with or without 1% (kcal) wolfberry for eight weeks. Dietary wolfberry restored the thickness of the whole retina, in particular the inner nuclear layer and photoreceptor layer, and the integrity of the retinal pigment epithelia (RPE), and the ganglion cell number in db/db mice. Western blotting of whole retinal cell lysates revealed that addition of wolfberry lowered expression of ER stress biomarkers binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP), protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and caspase-12, and restored AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), thioredoxin, Mn superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD) and forkhead O transcription factor 3 α (FOXO3α) activities. To determine if our observations were due to the high contents of zeaxanthin and lutein in wolfberry, additional studies using these carotenoids were conducted. Using the human adult diploid RPE cell line ARPE-19, we demonstrated that both zeaxanthin and lutein could mimic the wolfberry preventive effect on activation of AMPK, thioredoxin, Mn SOD, FOXO3α activities, normalize cellular reactive oxygen species and attenuate ER stress in ARPE-19 cells exposed to a high glucose challenge. The zeaxanthin preventive effect was abolished by small interfering RNA knockdown of AMPKα. These results suggested that AMPK activation appeared to play a key role in upregulated expression of thioredoxin and Mn SOD, and mitigation of cellular oxidative stress and/or ER stress by wolfberry and zeaxanthin and/or lutein. Taken together, dietary wolfberry on retinal protection in diabetic mice is, at least partially, due to zeaxanthin and/or lutein.

Wolfberry Water Soluble Phytochemicals Down-Regulate ER Stress Biomarkers and Modulate Multiple Signaling Pathways Leading To Inhibition of Proliferation and Induction of Apoptosis in Jurkat Cells.

Phytochemicals have received much recent attention in cancer prevention through simultaneous targeting multiple pathways in the disease progression. Here we determined that wolfberry phytochemicals was chemopreventive on the leukemic Jurkat cell. The water soluble wolfberry fractions (i.e., wolfberry phytochemicals) were enriched in carbohydrates (73.4 ± 4.5 % (w/w)), polyphenolics (1555 ± 112 mg quercetin equivalent/100 g freeze dry powder, including 213 mg rutin/100 g freeze dry powder), and had enhanced antioxidant activity (7771 ± 207 µM Trolox equivalent/100 g freeze dry powder). Wolfberry phytochemicals, but not purified wolfberry polysaccharide fractions, inhibited Jurkat cell proliferation, induced cycle arrest at the G2/M phase in a dose dependent manner starting at 1 mg/ml for 48 h. Wolfberry phytochemicals eliminated cellular reactive oxygen species, declined expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress biomarkers, including glucose regulated protein 78, inositol-requiring protein 1(IRE1), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK), and c/EBP-homologous protein, and induced activation of AMP activated protein kinase, stabilization of ß-catenin, and inhibition of NFκB, and AKT activity. Simultaneous siRNA knockdown of ATF6, IRE1 and PERK caused inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis. Data suggested that ER stress and multiple survival/apoptosis signaling pathways were modulated by wolfberry phytochemicals during the apoptotic progression. Consumption of wolfberry could be an efficacious dietary strategy for preventing leukemia.