Search

The aim of this work is the evaluation of a green extraction technology to exploit winery waste byproducts. Specifically, a solid⁻liquid extraction technology (Naviglio Extractor) was used to obtain polyphenolic antioxidants from the grape marc. The extract was then chemically characterized by spectrophotometric analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry, revealing a total polyphenol content of 4.00 g/L ± 0.05, and the presence of anthocyanins, one of the most representative groups among the total polyphenols in grapes. To investigate potential biological activities of the extract, its ability to counteract hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress and cell death was assessed in primary human endothelial cells. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test, used to assess potential extract cytotoxicity, failed to show any deleterious effect on cultured cells. Fluorescence measurements, attained with the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) probe 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H₂DCF-DA), revealed a strong antioxidant potential of the marc extract on the used cells, as indicated by the inhibition of the hydrogen peroxide-induced ROS generation and the counteraction of the oxidative-induced cell death. Our results indicate the Naviglio extraction, as a green technology process, can be used to exploit wine waste to obtain antioxidants which can be used to produce enriched foods and nutraceuticals high in antioxidants.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease characterized by an exacerbated fibrotic response. Although molecular and cellular determinants involved in the onset and progression of this devastating disease are largely unknown, an aberrant remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature appears to have implications in IPF pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrated for the first time that an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation induced by sera from IPF patients drives both collagen type I deposition and proliferation of primary human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (HPASMCs). IPF sera-induced cellular effects were significantly blunted in cells exposed to the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium (DPI) proving the causative role of ROS and suggesting their potential cellular source. Contrary to IPF naive patients, sera from Pirfenidone-treated IPF patients failed to significantly induce both ROS generation and collagen synthesis in HPASMCs, mechanistically implicating antioxidant properties as the basis for the in vivo effect of this drug. Other information Published in: Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/2639081

Cardiovascular (CV) benefits of Natural Antioxidant (NA) supplementation are contradictory. Endothelial Cells (EC) are pivotal player on CV diseases onset/progression and thus represent a good model to study the NA impact on vascular pathophysiology. We show that two NA, coumaric acid and resveratrol, affect intracellular ROS levels and cell physiology in human EC. While at lower doses both compounds were antioxidant, at mildly high doses they became pro-oxidant, eliciting cell death by apoptosis and phospho-Akt inhibition. Pro-oxidant effects were counteracted by diphenyleneiodonium, hinting a role for flavin oxidases in NA-induced toxicity. ECs treatment with the mitochondrial permeability transition pore inhibitor prevented oxidative cell damage indicating mitochondrial involvement in NA-induced ECs impairment. Pro-oxidant effects were also hindered by sulfaphenazole (SPZ), suggesting a role for CYP2C9 in NA-induced toxicity. SPZ also prevented NA-induced p-Akt down-regulation and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) impairment indicating that Akt works downstream of CYP2C9 in mediating cellular responses to NA. Stimulation of p-Akt by insulin, counteracted NA-induced MMP impairment and cell death, an effect abolished by Akt inhibitors further suggesting that Akt regulates cell survival in response to NA-induced stress. Our study show that mildly high-doses of NA induce mitochondria-dependent cell damage mediated by CYP2C9 and the Akt pathway in a human vascular model.