Alleviation of microcystin-leucine arginine -induced hepatotoxicity: An updated overview

OBJECTIVES

Contamination of surface waters is a major health threat for all living creatures. Some types of blue-green algae that naturally occur in fresh water, are able to produce various toxins, like Microcystins (MCs). Microcystin-leucine arginine (MC-LR) produced by Microcystis aeruginosa is the most toxic and abundant isoforms of MCs, and it causes hepatotoxicity. The present article reviews preclinical experiments examined different treatments, including herbal derivatives, dietary supplements and drugs against MC-LR hepatotoxicity.

METHODS

We searched scientific databases Web of Science, Embase, Medline (PubMed), Scopus, and Google Scholar using relevant keywords to find suitable studies until November 2023.

RESULTS

MC-LR through Organic anion transporting polypeptide superfamily transporters (OATPs) penetrates and accumulates in hepatocytes, and it inhibits protein phosphatases (PP1 and PP2A). Consequently, MC-LR disturbs many signaling pathways and induces oxidative stress thus damages cellular macromolecules. Some protective agents, especially plants rich in flavonoids, and natural supplements, as well as chemoprotectants were shown to diminish MC-LR hepatotoxicity.

CONCLUSION

The reviewed agents through blocking the OATP transporters (nontoxic nostocyclopeptide-M1, captopril, and naringin), then inhibition of MC-LR uptake (naringin, rifampin, cyclosporin-A, silymarin and captopril), and finally at restoration of PPAse activity (silybin, quercetin, morin, naringin, rifampin, captopril, azo dyes) exert hepatoprotective effect against MC-LR.

Carotenoids and Some Other Pigments from Fungi and Yeasts

Carotenoids are an essential group of compounds that may be obtained by microbiological synthesis. They are instrumental in various areas of industry, medicine, agriculture, and ecology. The increase of carotenoids' demand at the global market is now essential. At the moment, the production of natural carotenoids is more expensive than obtaining their synthetic forms, but several new approaches/directions on how to decrease this difference were developed during the last decades. This review briefly describes the information accumulated until now about the beneficial effects of carotenoids on human health protection, their possible application in the treatments of various diseases, and their use in the food and feed industry. This review also describes some issues that are linked with biotechnological production of fungal and yeasts carotenoids, as well as new approaches/directions to make their biotechnological production more efficient.

Antioxidants in Fish Sperm and the Potential Role of Melatonin

In recent years, the effects of novel antioxidants have played an important role in the research focusing on fish cell protection. As food demand grows, aquaculture production becomes more intensive, and fish are more exposed to oxidative stress conditions, like high densities, temperature shifting, frequent fish handling and samplings, and prophylactic or disease treatments, which expose fish to a different environment. Particularly in reproduction, germ cells lose antioxidant capacity with spermatogenesis, as spermatozoa are more prone to oxidative stress. Antioxidants have been used in a variety of fish physiological problems including in reproduction and in the establishment of cryopreservation protocols. From the most used antioxidants to natural plant food and herbs, and endogenously produced antioxidants, like melatonin, a review of the literature available in terms of their effects on the protection of fish spermatozoa is presented here in a classified structure. Several direct and indirect approaches to improve gamete quality using antioxidants administration are mentioned (through feed supplementation or by adding in cryopreservation media), as well as factors affecting the efficiency of these molecules and their mechanisms of action. Special attention is given to the unclear melatonin pathway and its potential scavenger activity to prevent and counteract oxidative stress damage on fish spermatozoa.

Lycopene in protection against obesity and diabetes: A mechanistic review

Lycopene, a natural pigment that mainly exists in the mature fruit of tomatoes, has gained increasing attention due to its protective effects against obesity and diabetes. The aim of this review is to summarize the potential mechanisms in which lycopene exerts protection against obesity and diabetes, along with highlighting its bioavailability, synthesis and safety. Literature sources used in this review were from the PubMed Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, National Science and Technology Library, Wanfang Data, and the Web of Science. For the inquiries, keywords such as lycopene, properties, synthesis, diabetes, obesity, and safety were used in various combinations. About 200 articles and reviews were evaluated. Lycopene exhibits anti-obesity and anti-diabetic activities in different organs and/or tissues, including adipose tissue, liver, kidney, pancreas, brain, ovaries, intestine, and eyes. The underlying mechanism may be attributed to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and through its ability to regulate of AGE/RAGE, JNK/MAPK, PI3K/Akt, SIRT1/FoxO1/PPARγ signaling pathways and AchE activity. The epidemiological investigations support that lycopene consumption may contribute to lowering the risk of obesity and diabetes. The cis-isomers of lycopene are more bioavailable and better absorbed than trans-lycopene, and mainly distribute in liver and adipose tissue. Lycopene exhibits a good margin of safety and can be obtained by plant extraction, chemical synthesis and microbial fermentation. In summary, lycopene consumption beneficially contributes to protecting against diabetes and obesity in animal studies and epidemiological investigations, which supports the potential of this compound as a preventive/therapeutic agent against these disorders. Well-designed, prospective clinical studies are warranted to evaluate the potential therapeutic effect of lycopene against common metabolic diseases.

Antioxidant Properties of Green Coffee Extract

An infusion of green coffee is a commonly consumed beverage, famous for its health-promoting properties. Green coffee owes its properties to the richness of active phytochemicals. The aim of this study was to determine the components of green coffee bean extracts and their properties. The scope of research included gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) spectroscopy; the electrochemical determination of the behavior of green coffee extract; and the determination of antioxidant properties by colorimetric spectroscopic methods (ABTS, DPPH, FRAP and CUPRAC). Water and ethanol extracts from green coffee were characterized by significant antioxidant properties and a high capacity to reduce transition metal ions. Voltammetric tests showed that the solution has good antioxidant properties in view of it contains many polyphenolic compounds that oxidize in the potential range tested.

Endosulfan toxicity in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and the use of lycopene as an ameliorative agent

OBJECTIVES

Endosulfan is a broad-spectrum organochlorine insecticide that has been commercially in use for decades to control insect pests and has been found to pollute the aquatic environment. The current study was carried out to investigate the toxic effects of endosulfan, an organochlorine pesticide, on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), a freshwater fish, and the alleviating effects of lycopene on the induced toxicity.

METHODS

Four treatment groups of fish were investigated (3 replicates of 15 fish for each group): (1) a control group, (2) a group exposed to endosulfan, (3) a group that was fed on a basal diet supplemented with lycopene, and (4) a group that was fed on a basal diet supplemented with lycopene and exposed to endosulfan. The experiment was carried out over a 4-week period.

RESULTS

Endosulfan negatively affected liver function, including liver enzymes and plasma proteins. Endosulfan affected blood parameters of fish and reduced the counts of red blood cells (RBCs) and white blood cells (WBCs), as well as affected immunological parameters. Endosulfan caused oxidative stress, as it decreased the values of antioxidants catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and glutathione (GSH), and increased the level of lipid peroxide malondialdehyde (MDA). Additionally, endosulfan increased cytochrome P450 (CYP450) levels, while it decreased glutathione S-transferase (GST) mRNA transcript levels and distorted the normal histological structure of the liver, gills, and spleen of affected fish. Conversely, lycopene partially restored the aforementioned parameters when administered concomitantly with endosulfan.

CONCLUSION

The results showed the beneficial effects of supplementing fish diets with lycopene as a natural antioxidant for ameliorating the toxicity caused by endosulfan.

Lipid/detergent mixed micelles as a tool for transferring antioxidant power from hydrophobic natural extracts into bio-deliverable liposome carriers: the case of lycopene rich oleoresins

Lipid/detergent mixed micelles promote and modulate the incorporation of carotenoids from natural oleoresins into bio-deliverable liposome carriers.

Isolation, characterization, spectroscopic properties and quantum chemical computations of an important phytoalexin resveratrol as antioxidant component from Vitis labrusca L. and their chemical compositions

In this study, isolation and characterization of trans-resveratrol (RES) as an antioxidant compound were carried out from VLE, VLG and VLS. Furthermore, antioxidant activities were evaluated by using six different methods. Finally, total phenolic, flavonoid, ascorbic acid, anthocyanin, lycopene, β-carotene and vitamin E contents were carried out. In addition, the FT-IR, (13)C and (1)H NMR chemical shifts and UV-vis. spectra of trans-resveratrol were experimentally recorded. Quantum chemical computations such as the molecular geometry, vibrational frequencies, UV-vis. spectroscopic parameters, HOMOs-LUMOs energies, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), natural bond orbitals (NBO) and nonlinear optics (NLO) properties of title molecule have been calculated by using DFT/B3PW91 method with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set in ground state for the first time. The obtained results show that the calculated spectroscopic data are in a good agreement with experimental data.

Chlorpyrifos-induced changes in oxidant/antioxidant status and haematological parameters of Cyprinus carpio carpio: ameliorative effect of lycopene

The present study was carried out to investigate the potential ameliorative effects of lycopene against chlorpyrifos (CPF) toxicity in carp. The fish were divided into 7 different experimental groups and received the following treatments: Group 1, control; Group 2, orally administered corn oil; Group 3, oral lycopene (10 mg kg(-1) body weight); Group 4, exposure to 0.040 mg L(-1) CPF; Group 5, exposure to 0.040 mg L(-1) CPF plus oral administration of 10 mg kg(-1) lycopene; Group 6, exposure to 0.080 mg L(-1) CPF; and Group 7, exposure to 0.040 mg L(-1) CPF plus oral administration of 10 mg kg(-1) lycopene. Treatment was continued for 14 d and samples of the blood and tissue (liver, kidney, and gill) were collected at the end of the experiment and analysed for their oxidant-antioxidant status, including the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity. The samples were also measured for changes in the haematological parameters, such as the red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts, the haemoglobin concentration (Hb), the haematocrit (Ht) level, and the erythrocyte indices: the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), the mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The findings of this study demonstrated that CPF had a negative effect on the haematological parameters and the antioxidant enzyme activities of the fish; this toxic effect was neutralised by the administration of lycopene. The present results suggest that lycopene (10 mg kg(-1)) can be effective in the protection of CPF-induced toxicity in fish.