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Vitamin C (ascorbic acid; AA) and copper (Cu2+) are well used supplements with many health-promoting actions. However, when they are used in combination, the Fenton reaction occurs, leading to the formation of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals. Given that kidney is vulnerable to many toxicants including free radicals, we speculated that the in vivo administration of AA plus Cu2+ may cause oxidative kidney injury. The purpose of this study was to address this possibility. Mice were administered with AA and Cu2+, alone or in combination, via oral gavage once a day for various periods. Changes in the systemic oxidative status, as well renal structure and functions, were examined. The administration of AA plus Cu2+ elevated protein oxidation in serum, intestine, bladder, and kidney, as evidenced by the increased sulfenic acid formation and decreased level of free sulfhydryl groups (-SH). The systemic oxidative stress induced by AA plus Cu2+ was associated with a significant loss of renal function and structure, as indicated by the increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and urinary proteins, as well as glomerular and tubular cell injury. These effects of AA and Cu2+ were only observed when used in combination, and could be entirely prevented by thiol antioxidant NAC. Further analysis using cultured renal tubular epithelial cells revealed that AA plus Cu2+ caused cellular protein oxidation and cell death, which could be abolished by NAC and catalase. Moreover, coincubation of AA and Cu2+ led to H2O2 production. Collectively, our study revealed that a combined administration of AA and Cu2+ resulted in systemic oxidative stress and renal cell injury. As health-promoting supplements, AA and Cu2+ should not be used together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thiol antioxidants play important roles in cell and body defense against oxidative stress. In body fluid, albumin is the richest source of thiol antioxidants. One recent study showed that the reductive modification of thiol residues in albumin potentiated its antioxidative activity. Given that whey protein (WP) contains albumin and other thiol-active proteins, this property of WP could be exploited to develop novel thiol antioxidants. The aim of this study was to address this possibility. WP was reductively modified with dithiothreitol (DTT). The modified protein exhibited significantly elevated free sulfhydryl groups (-SH) and thiol antioxidative activity. It detoxified H2O2 and prevented H2O2-initiated protein oxidation and cell death in a -SH group-dependent way in vitro. In addition, it reacted with GSH/GSSG and altered the GSH/GSSG ratio via thiol–disulfide exchange. In vivo, oral administration of the reductively modified WP prevented oxidative stress and renal damage in a mouse model of renal injury caused by ischemia reperfusion. It significantly improved renal function, oxidation, inflammation, and cell injury. These protective effects were not observed in the WP control and were lost after blocking the -SH groups with maleimide. Furthermore, albumin, one of the ingredients of WP, also exhibited similar protective effects when reductively modified. In conclusion, the reductive modification of thiol residues in WP transformed it into a potent thiol antioxidant that protected kidneys from ischemia reperfusion injury. Given that oxidative stress underlies many life-threatening diseases, the reductively modified dietary protein could be used for the prevention and treatment of many oxidative-stress-related conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Potentilla anserina L. polysaccharide had been selenizingly modified by nitric acid–selenious acid method with microwave-assistant. The optimal reaction parameters on selenylation modification were time 116min, temperature 63°C, microwave power 190W and the actual value of selenium content was 2690.1±7.2μg/g. The scavenging ability of DPPH, OH and superoxide radicals, the metal chelating ability and reducing power in vitro were compared by antioxidant assay taking the non-modified PAP as a control. The results showed that selenylation modification could significantly enhance the antioxidant activity of SePAP and SePAP could be used as a potential antioxidant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The conventional extraction methods for polysaccharides were time-consuming, laborious and energy-consuming. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique was employed for the extraction of Potentilla anserina polysaccharides (PAPMAE), which is a traditional Chinese functional food. The extracting parameters of PAPMAE were optimized by Box–Behnken design. The optimum conditions were ratio of water to raw material 14.5:1, microwave power 369W, extraction temperature 63.3°C and extraction time 76.8min with an enhanced yield of 13.33%. In microwave heating process, a sharp decrease in M w was detected in SEC-LLS measurement. A d f value of 3.03 indicated that PAPMAE exhibited a compact hard sphere conformation in an aqueous solution. Furthermore, it showed stronger antioxidant activities compared with hot water extraction by evaluating in superoxide radical (), hydroxyl radical ( OH), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, reducing power and metal chelating assay. The data obtained clearly showed that the molecular weights played a more important role in antioxidant activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The conventional extraction methods for polysaccharides were time-consuming, laborious and energy-consuming. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique was employed for the extraction of Artemisia sphaerocephala polysaccharides (ASP), which is a traditional Chinese food. The extracting parameters were optimized by Box-Behnken design. In microwave heating process, a decrease in molecular weight (M w) was detected in SEC-LLS measurement. A d f value of 2.85 indicated ASP using MAE exhibited as a sphere conformation of branched clusters in aqueous solution. Furthermore, it showed stronger antioxidant activities compared with hot water extraction. The data obtained showed that the molecular weights played a more important role in antioxidant activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]