After In Vitro Digestion, Jackfruit Flake Affords Protection against Acrylamide-Induced Oxidative Damage

Dietary Exposure to Acrylamide Has Negative Effects on the Gastrointestinal Tract: A Review

Changing eating habits and an increase in consumption of thermally processed products have increased the risk of the harmful impact of chemical substances in food on consumer health. A 2002 report by the Swedish National Food Administration and scientists at Stockholm University on the formation of acrylamide in food products during frying, baking and grilling contributed to an increase in scientific interest in the subject. Acrylamide is a product of Maillard's reaction, which is a non-enzymatic chemical reaction between reducing sugars and amino acids that takes place during thermal processing. The research conducted over the past 20 years has shown that consumption of acrylamide-containing products leads to disorders in human and animal organisms. The gastrointestinal tract is a complex regulatory system that determines the transport, grinding, and mixing of food, secretion of digestive juices, blood flow, growth and differentiation of tissues, and their protection. As the main route of acrylamide absorption from food, it is directly exposed to the harmful effects of acrylamide and its metabolite-glycidamide. Despite numerous studies on the effect of acrylamide on the digestive tract, no comprehensive analysis of the impact of this compound on the morphology, innervation, and secretory functions of the digestive system has been made so far. Acrylamide present in food products modifies the intestine morphology and the activity of intestinal enzymes, disrupts enteric nervous system function, affects the gut microbiome, and increases apoptosis, leading to gastrointestinal tract dysfunction. It has also been demonstrated that it interacts with other substances in food in the intestines, which increases its toxicity. This paper summarises the current knowledge of the impact of acrylamide on the gastrointestinal tract, including the enteric nervous system, and refers to strategies aimed at reducing its toxic effect.

Changes in Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Jackfruit) Pulp during In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion

An in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model was applied to investigate the effect of digestion on the phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (jackfruit) pulp. The total phenol content (TPC) was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method, and the antioxidant activities were evaluated by DPPH and ABTS assays. Phenolic compounds were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization, followed by quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS). The results showed that TPC was significantly higher after gastric digestion. Thirty phenolic compounds (hydroxybenzoic acids and derivatives, hydroxycinnamic acids and derivatives, and flavonoids) were identified. The antioxidant activities of the digested samples varied with the TPC, and there was a correlation between antioxidant activity and TPC. The present study implies that gastrointestinal digestion may improve TPC and increase the amount of free phenolic compounds, mainly related to changes in pH value and digestive enzymes.

Protective Effects of Wine Polyphenols on Oxidative Stress and Hepatotoxicity Induced by Acrylamide in Rats

In recent years, it has been increasingly suggested that the consumption of natural polyphenols, in moderate amounts, is beneficial for health. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a red wine (the administered dose of 7 mL/kg/day being equivalent to ~16.5 mg/kg/day total polyphenols) compared to a white wine (the administered dose of 7 mL/kg/day being equivalent to ~1.7 mg/kg/day total polyphenols), on the prevention of acrylamide-induced subacute hepatic injury and oxidative stress in Wistar rats. Hepatic damage due to acrylamide intoxication (the administered dose being 250 µg/kg body weight, for 28 days, by intragastric gavage) was assessed by employing biochemical parameters (aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)) and by histopathological studies. Markers of oxidative damage were measured in terms of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), hepatic Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) and glutathione (GSH) levels, and liver antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)) activities. Regarding hepatic enzyme activities, treatment with red wine significantly decreased the AST values (p < 0.05), while for the ALT values only a normalization tendency was observed. Treatment with red wine and white wine, respectively, significantly prevented the increase in MDA and TBARS levels (p < 0.05), as well as the depletion of GSH (p < 0.05). Red wine treatment normalized the activities of the antioxidant enzymes CAT and SOD in rats intoxicated with acrylamide, while supplementing the diet with white wine did not produce significant differences in the antioxidant enzyme activities. Histopathological findings revealed a moderate protective effect of red wine after four weeks of daily consumption. Our findings provide evidence that red wine, having a higher phenolic content than white wine, has a significant protective effect on oxidative stress and liver injury induced by acrylamide in rats, through its antioxidative activity.

Acrylamide-Derived Ionome, Metabolic, and Cell Cycle Alterations Are Alleviated by Ascorbic Acid in the Fission Yeast

Acrylamide (AA), is a chemical with multiple industrial applications, however, it can be found in foods that are rich in carbohydrates. Due to its genotoxic and cytotoxic effects, AA has been classified as a potential carcinogen. With the use of spectrophotometry, ICP-OES, fluorescence spectroscopy, and microscopy cell growth, metabolic activity, apoptosis, ROS production, MDA formation, CAT and SOD activity, ionome balance, and chromosome segregation were determined in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. AA caused growth and metabolic activity retardation, enhanced ROS and MDA production, and modulated antioxidant enzyme activity. This led to damage to the cell homeostasis due to ionome balance disruption. Moreover, AA-induced oxidative stress caused alterations in the cell cycle regulation resulting in chromosome segregation errors, as 4.07% of cells displayed sister chromatid non-disjunction during mitosis. Ascorbic acid (AsA, Vitamin C), a strong natural antioxidant, was used to alleviate the negative impact of AA. Cell pre-treatment with AsA significantly improved AA impaired growth, and antioxidant capacity, and supported ionome balance maintenance mainly due to the promotion of calcium uptake. Chromosome missegregation was reduced to 1.79% (44% improvement) by AsA pre-incubation. Results of our multiapproach analyses suggest that AA-induced oxidative stress is the major cause of alteration to cell homeostasis and cell cycle regulation.

Analysis of silymarin-modulating effects against acrylamide-induced cerebellar damage in male rats: Biochemical and pathological markers

BACKGROUND

Acrylamide (ACR) is a well-proven neurotoxin and potential food carcinogen in humans and rodent models. Silymarin (SIL) is a flavonoid mixture isolated from seeds, leaves, and fruits of Silymarin marianum (milk thistle) that possesses a free-radical scavenging effect.

OBJECTIVE

In this work, the primary focus was to investigate the efficacy of SIL to mitigate ACR-induced subacute neurotoxic effects and oxidative changes in rat cerebellum.

METHODS

Adult male rats were treated intraperitoneally with ACR (50 mg/kg) with or without SIL (160 mg/kg). The neuropathology and biochemical parameters viz. lipid peroxidation (measured as levels of malondialdehyde or MDA), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT), dopamine (DA), and cathepsin D (CTSD) in the cerebellum have been evaluated.

RESULTS

The data showed that ACR induced redox disruptions as measured by increased MDA levels and inhibition of CAT, SOD, and GPx antioxidant enzyme activities. Besides, cerebellar monoamine neurotransmitters, 5-HT and DA, were depleted in ACR-treated rats. Furthermore, ACR administration caused a significant elevation of CTSD activity, indicating that ACR could trigger apoptosis or apoptosis-like death. At the tissue level, cerebellar cortex sections from ACR-treated animals were characterized by severe neuronal damage. The administration of SIL to ACR-treated rats remarkably alleviated all the aforementioned ACR-induced effects.

CONCLUSION

SIL has a potent therapeutic effect against ACR-induced cerebellar neurotoxicity in experimental rats via the attenuation of oxidative/antioxidative responses and the inhibition of CTSD-activity.

Acrylamide Decreases Cell Viability, and Provides Oxidative Stress, DNA Damage, and Apoptosis in Human Colon Adenocarcinoma Cell Line Caco-2

Acrylamide (AA) toxicity remains an interesting subject in toxicological research. The aim of the research performed in this paper was to determine mechanisms of cyto- and genotoxic effects of AA on the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2, to estimate the inhibitory concentration (IC)₅₀ values in cell viability assays, to measure the basal and oxidative DNA damage as well as the oxidative stress leading to apoptosis, and to assess the morphological changes in cells using microscopic methods. It has been proven that AA induces cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on Caco-2 cells. Higher cytotoxic activity was gained in the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay compared with the PrestoBlue assay, with IC₅₀ values of 5.9 and 8.9 mM after 24 h exposure, respectively. In the single-cell gel electrophoresis assay, the greatest DNA damage was caused by the highest concentration of acrylamide equal to 12.5 mM (89.1% ± 0.9%). AA also induced oxidative DNA damage and generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), which was concentration dependent and correlated with the depletion of mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis induction. In the microscopic staining of cells, AA in the dosage close to the IC₅₀ induced morphological changes typical for apoptosis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that AA has a pro-oxidative effect on Caco-2 cells, leading to apoptotic cell death.