Resveratrol Reverts Epigenetic and Transcription Changes Caused by Smoke Inhalation on Bone-Related Genes in Rats

Resveratrol reverses male reproductive damage in rats exposed to nicotine during the intrauterine phase and breastfeeding

BACKGROUND

Nicotine leads to reproductive changes culminating in male infertility and subfertility. Resveratrol, a polyphenol, is a biological modulator. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) protein can positively act on male reproduction, and its expression can be affected by nicotine and modulated by resveratrol.

OBJECTIVES

The capability of resveratrol to reverse the reproductive damage in adult male offspring, which was nicotine-exposed during the intrauterine phase and breastfeeding, was investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four groups were established with male offspring born from nicotine-exposed and non-exposed rat dams during pregnancy and lactation. Forty-eight male Wistar rats were distributed into four groups: sham control (SC), resveratrol (R), nicotine (N), and nicotine + resveratrol (NR). Rat dams of the N and NR offspring were exposed to nicotine (2 mg/kg/day) during pregnancy and lactation using a subcutaneously implanted minipump. The offspring of the R and NR groups received resveratrol (300 mg/kg of body weight, gavage) for 63 days from puberty. At 114 days of age, the male rats were euthanized.

RESULTS

Nicotine did not alter the body weight, biometry of reproductive organs, or quantitative sperm parameters of adult offspring but caused an evident worsening of all sperm qualitative parameters studied. Daily treatment with resveratrol from puberty up to adulthood improved all qualitative sperm parameters significantly, leading some of them close to the control values. Resveratrol also improved the morphological integrity and expression of SIRT1 in the seminiferous epithelium of nicotine-exposed offspring.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

Resveratrol reversed the male reproductive damage caused by nicotine. Nicotine crosses the blood-placental membrane and is present in the breast milk of mothers who smoke. Resveratrol restored the altered reproductive parameters in the male adult offspring that were nicotine-exposed during intrauterine life and breastfeeding. The epigenetic modulating action of resveratrol can be involved in this nicotine damage reversion. Resveratrol may be a promising candidate to be investigated regarding the adjuvant strategies in the treatment of male infertility.

Impact of resveratrol in the reduction of the harmful effect of diabetes on peri-implant bone repair: bone-related gene expression, counter-torque and micro-CT analysis in rats

OBJECTIVE

Investigate the impact of resveratrol (RESV) on peri-implant repair and its effect on bone-related markers in rats with induced diabetes mellitus (DM).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Ninety rats were divided into: DM + RESV (n = 18); DM + placebo (PLAC) (n = 18); DM + insulin (INS) (n = 18); DM + RESV + INS (n = 18); Non-DM (n = 18). Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin. One screw-shaped titanium implant was inserted in each tibiae of animals. Treatments were administered during 30 days. After, one of the implants was removed for counter-torque and the peri-implant tissue was collected for mRNA quantification of BMP-2, OPN, Runx2, Lrp-5, Osx, β-catenin, Dkk1, OPG, and RANKL by Real-time PCR. The other tibia was submitted to MicroCT analysis to measure: bone volume (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and bone-implant contact (BIC).

RESULTS

Higher counter-torque values were observed for implant removal in DM + RESV, DM + RESV + INS and Non-DM groups when compared to DM + PLAC (p < .05). Augmented Tb.Th was observed in DM + RESV and Non-DM when compared to DM + PLAC group (p < .05), whereas higher BIC was detected in DM + RESV, DM + RESV + INS and Non-DM animals when compared to DM + PLAC (p < .05). Levels of RANKL were downregulated by the RESV and/or INS therapy, whereas only the association of RESV and INS upregulated the levels of Runx2 (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The therapy with RESV may favour peri-implant bone repair improving bone formation around implants.

Epigenetics, Maternal Diet and Metabolic Programming

Background:

The maternal environment influences embryonic and fetal life. Nutritional deficits or excesses alter the trajectory of fetus/offspring’s development. The concept of “developmental programming” and “developmental origins of health and disease” consists of the idea that maternal diet may remodel the genome and lead to epigenetic changes. These changes are induced during early life, permanently altering the phenotype in the posterior adult stage, favoring the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperinsulinemia, and metabolic syndrome. In this review, it is aimed to overview epigenetics, maternal diet and metabolic programming factors and determine which of these might affect future generations.

Scope and Approach:

Nutrients interfere with the epigenome by influencing the supply and use of methyl groups through DNA transmethylation and demethylation mechanisms. They also influence the remodeling of chromatin and arginine or lysine residues at the N-terminal tails of histone, thus altering miRNA expression. Fats, proteins, B vitamins and folates act as important cofactors in methylation processes. The metabolism of carbon in the methyl groups of choline, folic acid and methionine to S-Adenosyl Methionine (SAM), acts as methyl donors to methyl DNA, RNA, and proteins. B-complex vitamins are important since they act as coenzymes during this process.

Key Findings and Conclusion:

Nutrients, during pregnancy, potentially influence susceptibility to diseases in adulthood. Additionally, the deficit or excess of nutrients alter the epigenetic machinery, affecting genes and influencing the genome of the offspring and therefore, predisposing the development of chronic diseases in adults.

Differential distribution of the epigenetic marker 5-hydroxymethylcytosine occurs in hair follicle stem cells during bulge activation

BACKGROUND

Hair follicle (HF) cycling is dependent upon activation and differentiation of an epithelial subpopulation of cells with stem-like characteristics. These cells express cytokeratin 15 (CK15) and are sequestered within a specialized niche termed the follicular bulge. The pathways that mediate bulge activation are poorly understood, although growing evidence suggests a role for epigenetic events.

METHODS

Here we investigated murine and human HFs to determine whether a recently described epigenetic hydroxymethylation marker, 5-hmC, known to mediate cell growth and differentiation, may play a role in bulge activation.

RESULTS

We found the bulge region of murine HFs to show variable 5-hmC distribution within the nuclei of CK15-positive stem cells during early anagen, a pattern that was not associated with resting stem cells of telogen follicles, which did not express 5-hmC. Moreover, during phases of early anagen that were induced in an organ culture model, spatial alterations in bulge stem cell 5-hmC reactivity, as assessed by dual labeling, were noted.

CONCLUSIONS

These preliminary findings suggest that 5-hmC may play a dynamic role in bulge activation during anagen growth, and provide a foundation for further experimental inquiry into epigenomic regulation of HF stem cells.