Fatty acid composition and mechanisms of the protective effects of myrtle berry seed aqueous extract in alcohol-induced peptic ulcer in rat

Amino acid HPLC-FLD analysis of spirulina and its protective mechanism against the combination of obesity and colitis in wistar rats

Objective

The cafeteria diet (CD), designed as an experimental diet mimicking the obesogenic diet, may contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This study delves into the influence of spirulina (SP) on obesity associated with colitis in Wistar rats.

Methods

The amino acids composition of SP was analyzed using HPLC-FLD. Animals were equally separated into eight groups, each containing seven animals and treated daily for eight weeks as follows: Control diet (SD), cafeteria diet (CD) group, CD + SP (500 mg/kg) and SD + SP. Ulcerative colitis was provoked by rectal injection of acetic acid (AA) (3 % v/v, 5 ml/kg b.w.) on the last day of treatment in the following groups: SD + AA, SD + AA + SP, CD + AA, and CD + AA + SP.

Results

Findings revealed that UC and/or CD increased the abdominal fat, weights gain, and colons. Moreover, severe colonic alteration, perturbations in the serum metabolic parameters associated with an oxidative stress state in the colonic mucosa, defined by overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased levels of plasma scavenging activity (PSA). Additionally, obesity exacerbated the severity of AA-induced UC promoting inflammation marked by the overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Significantly, treatment with SP provided notable protection against inflammation severity, reduced histopathological alterations, attenuated lipid peroxidation (MDA), and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, and GPX) along with non-enzymatic antioxidants (GSH and SH-G).

Conclusions

Thus, the antioxidant effects and anti-inflammatory proprieties of SP could be attributed to its richness in amino acids, which could potentially mitigate inflammation severity in obese subjects suffering from ulcerative colitis. These results imply that SP hold promise as a therapeutic agent for managing of UC, particularly in individuals with concomitant obesity. Understanding SP's mechanisms of action may lead novel treatment strategies for inflammatory bowel diseases and hyperlipidemia in medical research.

Myrtle Berries Seeds Prevent Dyslipidemia, Inflammation, and Excessive Cardiac Reactive Oxygen Species Production in Response to High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity

Anthocyanins are the major polyphenols in myrtle berries seeds aqueous extract (MBSAE). This study investigates the protective potentials of MBSAE against obesity lipotoxicity and inflammation induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). It also describes the underlying mechanisms involved in its protective effects, with special attention to myocardial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Male Wistar rats were fed HFD for 6 weeks to induce obesity. MBSAE (100 mg/kg, b.w., p.o.) was orally administered to HFD-fed rats. Anti-obesity effects were triggered by the inhibitory action of the MBSAE against the weights of the body, its relative heart and the total abdominal fat. Treatment with MBSAE also restored the lipid profile to baseline compared with the HFD rats and lowered also the white blood cells count, including neutrophils, lymphocytes, and basophils number as well as cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin [IL]-6, and IL-1β) levels in the rats serum, thus improving the tissue inflammatory status associated with obesity. Exposure of rats to HFD during 6 weeks induces a myocardial oxidative stress as assessed by deleterious effects on lipoperoxidation state, antioxidant enzyme (SOD, CAT, and GPx) activities as well as sulfhydryl groups and GSH rates. Of importance, our study shows also that HFD provokes a heart ROS (H2O2, OH•, and O2•-) overload. Of interest, all these oxidative heart disturbances were clearly ended by MBSAE treatment. Therefore, consumption of MBSAE as a natural extract may be a potential therapeutic strategy to treat obesity-associated diseases.

Myrtle: a versatile medicinal plant

Myrtus, commonly called myrtle, is a genus of flowering plants in the Myrtaceae family. This study aimed to review myrtle's pharmaceutical, food, and other uses. The pharmacological effects of myrtle for antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory activities, reduction of COVID-19 symptoms, anti-diabetic in the animal model, hepatoprotective in the rat model, antihypertensive, control of intestinal helminthiasis in mice model, inhibition of glucosyltransferase activity, protective effect on oxidative metabolism in the hypothyroidism model, and reducing the damage caused by skin burns are reviewed. In addition, the food uses of this plant such as improving the oxidative and microbial stability of products containing salmon, antimicrobial activity in meat and dairy products, flavoring in sea salt, microbial improvement of fresh fruits during post-harvest storage, animal nutrition, and bio-oil production are summarized.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41110-023-00194-y.

Recent Studies on Berry Bioactives and Their Health-Promoting Roles

Along with the increased knowledge about the positive health effects of food bioactives, the eating habits of many individuals have changed to obtain higher nutritional benefits from foods. Fruits are among the most preferred food materials in this regard. In particular, berry fruits are important sources in the diet in terms of their high nutritional content including vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds. Berry fruits have remedial effects on several diseases and these health-promoting impacts are associated with their phenolic compounds which may vary depending on the type and variety of the fruit coupled with other factors including climate, agricultural conditions, etc. Most of the berries have outstanding beneficial roles in many body systems of humans such as gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems. Furthermore, they are effective on some metabolic disorders and several types of cancer. In this review, the health-promoting effects of bioactive compounds in berry fruits are presented and the most recent in vivo, in vitro, and clinical studies are discussed from a food science and nutrition point of view.

Optimized Self-Nanoemulsifying Delivery System Based on Plant-Derived Oil Augments Alpha-Lipoic Acid Protective Effects Against Experimentally Induced Gastric Lesions

Peptic ulcer disease is an injury of the alimentary tract that leads to a mucosal defect reaching the submucosa. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), a natural potent antioxidant, has been known as a gastroprotective drug yet its low bioavailability may restrict its therapeutic efficacy. This study aimed to formulate and optimize ALA using a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) with a size of nano-range, enhancing its absorption and augmenting its gastric ulcer protection efficacy. Three SNEDDS components were selected as the design factors: the concentrations of the pumpkin oil (X1, 10–30%), the surfactant tween 80 (X2, 20–50%), and the co-surfactant polyethylene glycol 200 (X3, 30–60%). The experimental design for the proposed mixture produced 16 formulations with varying ALA-SNEDDS formulation component percentages. The optimized ALA-SNEDDS formula was investigated for gastric ulcer protective effects by evaluating the ulcer index and by the determination of gastric mucosa oxidative stress parameters. Results revealed that optimized ALA-SNEDDS achieved significant improvement in gastric ulcer index in comparison with raw ALA. Histopathological findings confirmed the protective effect of the formulated optimized ALASNEDDS in comparison with raw ALA. These findings suggest that formulation of ALA in SNEDDS form would be more effective in gastric ulcer protection compared to pure ALA.

Role of Anti-Inflammatory, Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging Activity and Nematicidal Properties of Myrtle Berry Seeds on Helminthiasis Treatment

This study was undertaken to investigate the involvement of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and proinflammatory cytokine production in the pathogenicity of gastrointestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus in mice and also the protective effect of myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) berry seeds aqueous extract (MBSAE). With this aim, Swiss Albino mice were divided into four groups of 10 animals each: control, helminthiasis, helminthiasis + MBSAE, and helminthiasis + Albendazole. The animals were infected with infective third larval stage (L3) of H. polygyrus by oral administration. Mice were treated with bidistilled water, MBSAE (100 mg/kg, b.w., p.o.) or Albendazole (100 mg/kg, b.w., p.o.). We have demonstrated that MBSAE (100 mg/kg, b.w., p.o.) significantly reduced the total mean adult worms compared with the infected and nontreated group. Moreover, hematological parameters, intestinal ROS such as hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), hydroxyl radical (OH^•), and superoxide anion (O₂^•-), as well as serum cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 were analyzed. We have shown that H. polygyrus infection has disrupted all these biochemical parameters and that MBSAE treatment has significantly corrected these disturbances. The effect of plant extract was comparable to the standard drug albendazole. Therefore, MBSAE appeared to be a promising agent for the control of intestinal helminthiasis.

Protective effect of silkworm pupa oil on hydrochloric acid/ethanol-induced gastric ulcers

BACKGROUND

Silkworm pupae are a traditional Chinese food, rich in various saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids have a certain protective effect against oxidative damage. The present study used an animal model to determine the protective effect of silkworm pupa oil on hydrochloric acid / ethanol-induced gastric ulcer.

RESULTS

Silkworm pupa oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, including palmitoleic acid 63.4 g kg^-1 , oleic acid 249.1 g kg^-1 , linoleic acid 47.0 g kg^-1 , and linolenic acid 337.8 g kg^-1 , whereas its unsaturated fatty acid content is 700 g kg^-1 . Compared to a gastric ulcer control group, high and low doses of pupa oil reduced gastric ulcer area and gastric secretion, whereas gastric pH increased. It also increased serum antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels, somatostatin (SST), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) levels, and reduced serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), motilin (MTL), and gastrin (GT) levels. RT-qPCR and western blot analyses indicated that silkworm pupa oil significantly increased CAT, GSH-Px, epidermal growth factor (EGF), Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, and NF-kappa-B inhibitor-α (IκB-α) expression and lowered nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression.

CONCLUSION

Silkworm pupa oil treatment reduced oxidative damage and inflammation in mice, and high-dose silkworm pupa oil was superior to low-dose silkworm pupa oil, following ranitidine. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Ethnobotanical, phytochemical and therapeutic effects of Myrtus communis L. berries seeds on gastrointestinal tract diseases: a review

Medicinal plants have always had an important place in the therapeutic arsenal of humanity and particularly in the treatment of gastrointestinal tract diseases. Myrtus communis L., known as common myrtle, is native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The different parts of this plant are used as antiinflammatory, antiulcer, antidiabetic, urinary antiseptic, and to treat the respiratory and digestive systems diseases. For the first time, an exhaustive bibliographic research of the seeds of myrtle berries has been carried out. As a result, it has been found that this plant is very rich in biologically active compounds such as phospholipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and phenolic compounds. This has made it effective in the treatment of digestive diseases. In order to emphasize the importance of myrtle berries seeds, this review has been established by discussing its botanical, morphological, phytochemical, ethnomedicinal studies as well as its effect on digestive tract diseases.

Antioxidant Activity of Myrtus communis L. and Myrtus nivellei Batt. & Trab. Extracts: A Brief Review

Myrtus communis L. (myrtle) and Myrtus nivellei Batt. & Trab. (Saharan myrtle) have been used in folk medicine for alleviating some ailments. M. communis is largely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin, whereas M. nivellei is confined in specific zones of the central Saharan mountains. The chemical composition and antioxidant activity of berry and leaf extracts isolated from myrtle are deeply documented, whereas those isolated from Saharan myrtle extracts are less studied. In both species, the major groups of constituents include gallic acid derivatives, flavonols, flavonol derivatives, and hydroxybenzoic acids. In coloured berries, anthocyanins are also present. In M. nivellei extracts are reported for some compounds not described in M. communis so far: 2-hydroxy-1,8-cineole-β-d-glucopyranoside, 2-hydroxy-1,8-cineole 2-O-α-l-arabinofuranosyl (1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside, rugosin A, and rugosin B. Berries and leaves extracts of both species had antioxidant activity. Comparative studies of the antioxidant activity between leaf and berry myrtle extracts revealed that leaf extracts are best antioxidants, which can be assigned to the galloyl derivatives, flavonols, and flavonols derivatives, although the ratio of these groups of compounds might also have an important role in the antioxidant activity. The anthocyanins present in myrtle berries seem to possess weak antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of sample extracts depended on various factors: harvesting time, storage, extraction solvent, extraction type, and plant part used, among other factors. Leaf extracts of myrtle revealed to possess anti-inflammatory activity in several models used. This property has been attributed either to the flavonoids and/or hydrolysable tannins, nevertheless nonprenylated acylphloroglucinols (e.g., myrtucommulone and semimyrtucommulone) have also revealed a remarkable role in that activity. The biological activities of myrtle extracts found so far may direct its use towards for stabilizing complex lipid systems, as prebiotic in food formulations, and as novel therapeutic for the management of inflammation.

Myrtle berries seeds aqueous extract abrogates chronic alcohol consumption-induced erythrocytes osmotic stability disturbance, haematological and biochemical toxicity

BACKGROUND

This study examined the effects of chronic alcohol consumption in the rat erythrocytes membrane as well as the involvement of reactive oxygen species and proinflammatory cytokines in its pathogenicity in rats and evaluated the ameliorating effects of myrtle berries seeds aqueous extract (MBSAE).

METHODS

Fifty adult male Wistar rats were equally divided into five groups and treated daily for two months as follows: control, ethanol (3 g kg^- 1 b.w., p.o.), and ethanol + MBSAE (25, 50 and 100 mg kg^- 1, b.w., p.o.).

RESULTS

Exposure of rats to alcohol caused significant changes of some haematological parameters, enhanced erythrocytes hemolysis as well as an overproduction of reactive oxygen species such as H₂O₂, OH^• radical and superoxide anion, hence the increase of lipoperoxidation and the depletion of antioxidant enzymes activity as well as non-enzymatic antioxidant (-SH groups and GSH) levels. On the other hand, ethanol intoxication caused the increase of serum TNFα, IL-8, IL-6 and 1Lβ, markers of tissue inflammation. However, treatment with MBSAE alleviated all the deleterious effects of alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

MBSAE possess active compounds, which exert marked protective effects in chronic alcohol intoxication, possibly by regulating the erythrocytes osmotic stability as well as antioxidant and inflammatory mediators.

Modulatory effect of silymarin on nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 regulated redox status, nuclear factor-κB mediated inflammation and apoptosis in experimental gastric ulcer

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) consumption has been commonly associated with gastric mucosal lesions including gastric ulcer. Silymarin (SM) is a flavonoid mixture with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities which explain its protective role against hepatic and renal injuries. However, its impact on gastric ulcer has not yet been elucidated. Thus we went further to investigate the potential protective effects of SM against indomethacin-induced gastric injury in rats. Pretreatment with SM (50 mg/kg orally) attenuated the severity of gastric mucosal damage as evidenced by decreasing ulcer index (UI) and ulcer score, improvement of disturbed histopathologicl features to be insignificant with those induced by the reference anti-ulcer drug. Pretreatment with SM also suppressed gastric inflammation by decreasing myeloperoxidase activity, tumer necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) and interleukin 6 (IL6) levels along with nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NF-κB) expression. Meanwhile, SM prevent gastric oxidative stress via inhibition of lipid peroxides formation, enhancement of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase activities and up-regulation of nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), the redox-sensitive master regulator of oxidative stress signaling. In conclusion, the results herein revealed that SM has a gastro-protective effect which is mediated via suppression of gastric inflammation, oxidative stress, increased the anti-oxidant and the cyto-protective defense mechanisms.