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Obesity in aged population have surges the occurrence of various metabolic disorders including Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Apoptosis in the liver is one of the causative factors for NAFLD-induced liver damage. Plants derived bioactive peptides have been shown as an alternative treatment approach for the treating NAFLD due to its less toxicity. Moderate exercise has been reported to improve cellular physiological function prevent age associated metabolic disorders. In the present study, we evaluate the effects of bioactive dipeptide (IF) derived from alcalase potato-protein hydrolysates and swimming exercise in preventing High Fat Diet (HFD)-induced liver damage in senescence accelerated mouse-prone 8 (SAMP8) mice model. Mouse were fed with HFD for 6 weeks followed by oral IF administration or swimming exercise and both for 8 weeks. HFD induces significant structural changes in liver of HFD fed SAMP8 mouse. Both IF administration and exercise prevent the structural abnormalities induced by HFD, however, combined IF treatment and exercise offer better protection. Combined IF treatment and exercise activate PI3K/Akt cell survival protein and effectively inhibit Fas-FADD-induced apoptosis in HFD fed aged mouse. Oral supplementation of bioactive peptide IF combined with moderate swimming exercise effectively alleviate HFD-induced hepatic injury in aged mice.

Chronic high-glucose exposure results in the production of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) leading to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which contributes to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. PKCδ activation leading to ROS production and mitochondrial dysfunction involved in AGE-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis was reported in our previous study. Diallyl trisulfide (DATS) is a natural cytoprotective compound under various stress conditions. In this study, the cardioprotective effect of DATS against rat streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mellitus (DM) and AGE-induced H9c2 cardiomyoblast cell/neonatal rat ventricular myocyte (NRVM) damage was assessed. We observed that DATS treatment led to a dose-dependent increase in cell viability and decreased levels of ROS, inhibition of PKCδ activation, and recuded apoptosis-related proteins. Most importantly, DATS reduced PKCδ mitochondrial translocation induced by AGE. However, apoptosis was not inhibited by DATS in cells transfected with PKCδ-wild type (WT). Inhibition of PKCδ by PKCδ-kinase-deficient (KD) or rottlerin not only inhibited cardiac PKCδ activation but also attenuated cardiac cell apoptosis. Interestingly, overexpression of PKCδ-WT plasmids reversed the inhibitory effects of DATS on PKCδ activation and apoptosis in cardiac cells exposed to AGE, indicating that DATS may inhibit AGE-induced apoptosis by downregulating PKCδ activation. Similar results were observed in AGE-induced NRVM cells and STZ-treated DM rats following DATS administration. Taken together, our results suggested that DATS reduced AGE-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by eliminating ROS and downstream PKCδ signaling, suggesting that DATS has potential in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) treatment.

Neferine (Nef), a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid from lotus seed embryo has a wide range of pharmacological activities. Possible molecular mechanism for the cytoprotective action of Nef during hypoxic stress has not been explored till now. Hence, this is an attempt to elucidate the molecular mechanism involved in the Nef mediated cytoprotection on hypoxia-induced cell injury. Cytoprotective dose of Nef in muscle cells (Human rhabdomyosarcoma cells) exposed to hypoxia was determined by MTT assay. Nef at 500 nM offered better cytoprotection and was used for all the experiments. ROS, intracellular calcium accumulation and mitochondrial membrane (ΔψM) potential were measured using fluorescent probes. Further, we evaluated the effect Nef on hypoxia induced inflammatory and apoptotic responses by FACS and analyzing the expression patterns of NF-κB, COX-2, HIF-1α, caspase-3, caspase-9, Bcl2, and Bax. The results of this study revealed that pretreatment of the cells with Nef significantly decreased the ΔψM and ROS in the cells subjected to hypoxia. Further, Nef inhibited NF-κB there by inhibiting the expression of its downstream regulator COX-2, while it induced the functional HIF-1α expression. The results also indicate that Nef significantly inhibited the ROS dependent mitochondrial mediated apoptosis induced during hypoxia. The cytoprotection elicited by Nef in a model of hypoxia induced cell death involves both anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic response. These results suggest that Nef may be used as prophylactic agent against the hypoxic challenge. © 2016 BioFactors, 42(4):407-417, 2016., (© 2016 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.)

Aging, a natural biological/physiological phenomenon, is accelerated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and identified by a progressive decrease in physiological function. Several studies have shown a positive relationship between aging and chronic heart failure (HF). Cardiac apoptosis was found in age-related diseases. We used a traditional Chinese medicine, Alpinate Oxyphyllae Fructus (AOF), to evaluate its effect on cardiac anti-apoptosis and pro-survival. Male eight-week-old Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were segregated into five groups: normal control group (NC), d-Galactose-Induced aging group (Aging), and AOF of 50 (AL (AOF low)), 100 (AM (AOF medium)), 150 (AH (AOF high)) mg/kg/day. After eight weeks, hearts were measured by an Hematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) stain, Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-assays and Western blotting. The experimental results show that the cardiomyocyte apoptotic pathway protein expression increased in the d-Galactose-Induced aging groups, with dose-dependent inhibition in the AOF treatment group (AL, AM, and AH). Moreover, the expression of the pro-survival p-Akt (protein kinase B (Akt)), Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2), anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-xL) protein decreased significantly in the d-Galactose-induced aging group, with increased performance in the AOF treatment group with levels of p-IGFIR and p-PI3K (Phosphatidylinositol-3' kinase (PI3K)) to increase by dosage and compensatory performance. On the other hand, the protein of the Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) pathway expression decreased in the aging groups and showed improvement in the AOF treatment group. Our results suggest that AOF strongly works against ROS-induced aging heart problems.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is the best anticancer agent that has ever been used, but acquired tumor resistance and dose limiting toxicity are major road blocks. Concomitant use of natural compounds is a promising strategy to overcome this problem. Neferine, a proven anticancer agent is found in green embryos of lotus seed. The study demonstrates that neferine acts as an effective enhancer of DOX-induced cell death in A549 cells through ROS mediated apoptosis with MAPK activation and inhibition of NF-κB nuclear translocation. Cotreatment of cells with neferine significantly enhanced intracellular DOX-accumulation. Neferine and DOX in combination also triggered oxidative stress through intracellular Ca(2+) accumulation and dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential in addition to significant loss of cellular antioxidant pool. The MAPK inhibitor effectively decreased the cell-death induced by neferine and DOX. Pretreatment of cells with glutathione reversed the apoptosis induced by combined regimen and recovered the Bcl2/Bax ratio. Moreover, neferine treatment significantly increased the cell viability of DOX-treated cardiomyocytes indicating a possible protective role of neferine towards DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Taken together, our results suggest that a strategy of using neferine and DOX in combination could be helpful to increase the efficacy of DOX and to achieve anticancer synergism by curbing the toxicity., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ochratoxin (OTA) is one of the most abundant food contaminating mycotoxins and is commonly present in the food chain. Many of the effects associated with OTA, appear to be mediated through oxidative stress. Although the toxicity of OTA is fairly well characterized, antidotes for alleviating the toxicity are sparsely reported. Dietary antioxidants have gained much importance in the recent years for their antioxidative and therapeutic properties. In the present study the therapeutic strategy was directed towards use of quercetin, a dietary antioxidant to combat OTA-induced toxicity in Vero cell line. Our results demonstrate that quercetin pre-treatment suppressed OTA-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress. It modulated OTA-induced alteration on the antioxidant defence through activation of Nrf2 pathway. Morphological studies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cell cycle analysis indicated that quercetin prevented OTA-induced apoptosis. It also inhibited the activation of caspase cascade that leads to DNA fragmentation. Quercetin also exhibited antigenotoxic potential by attenuating OTA-induced DNA damage and micronucleus (MN) formation. The results of the study demonstrate for the first time that quercetin pre-treatment prevents OTA-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in Vero cell line., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Anthocyanins are known cyto-protective agents against various stress conditions. In this study cardio-protective effect of anthocyanins from black rice against diabetic mellitus (DM) was evaluated using a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DM rat model. Five-week-old male Wistar rats were administered with STZ (55 mg kg−1, IP) to induce DM; rats in the treatment group received 250 mg oral anthocyanin/kg/day during the 4-week treatment period. DM and the control rats received normal saline through oral gavage. The results reveal that STZ-induced DM elevates myocardial apoptosis and associated proapoptotic proteins but down-regulates the proteins of IGF1R mediated survival signaling mechanism. Furthermore, the functional parameters such as the ejection-fraction and fraction-shortening in the DM rat hearts declined considerably. However, the rats treated with anthocyanins significantly reduced apoptosis and the associated proapoptotic proteins and further increased the survival signals to restore the cardiac functions in DM rats. Anthocyanin supplementation enhances cardiomyocyte survival and restores cardiac function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neferine is the major bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the seed embryo of a traditional medicinal plant Nelumbo nucifera (Lotus). Epidemiological studies have revealed the therapeutic potential of lotus seed embryo. Although several mechanisms have been proposed, a clear anticancer action mechanism of neferine on lung cancer cells is still not known. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the world, and the patients with advanced stage of nonsmall lung cancer require adjunct chemotherapy after surgical resection for the eradication of cancer cells. In this study, the effects of neferine were evaluated and characterized in A549 cells. Neferine induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner with the hypergeneration of reactive oxygen species, activation of MAPKs, lipid peroxidation, depletion of cellular antioxidant pool, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and intracellular calcium accumulation. Furthermore, neferine treatment leads to the inhibition of nuclear factor kappaB and Bcl2, upregulation of Bax and Bad, release of cytochrome C, activation of caspase cascade, and DNA fragmentation. In addition, neferine could induce p53 and its effector protein p21 and downregulation of cell cycle regulatory protein cyclin D1 thereby inducing G1 cell cycle arrest. These results suggest a novel function of neferine as an apoptosis inducer in lung cancer cells. © 2013 BioFactors, 40(1):121-131, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium sp., and is known to elicit pro-inflammatory responses in the cell. The cells exposed to DON undergo apoptosis as a mechanism to shut down the inflammation. In this study, we tested the cytoprotective effect of the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) on DON-induced toxicity in HT-29 cells. EGCG prevented DON-induced cytotoxicity to HT-29 cells in a dose–response manner. Even the lowest concentration (5μM) of EGCG showed protection against the highest concentration of DON tried (3.38μM=1000ng/ml). Our study also demonstrates that IC20 value of DON in HT 29 cells were 250ng/ml and pre-treatment with 20μM EGCG yielded 99% cell viability. EGCG also protected against oxidative stress, up regulation of nuclear factor-kB (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and caspase-3 activated apoptosis. These results suggest that EGCG acts as cytoprotective agent against DON-induced toxicity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]