Antioxidative Effects of Thymus quinquecostatus CELAK through Mitochondrial Biogenesis Improvement in RAW 264.7 Macrophages

Abstract

Oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies have reported that mitochondrial dysfunction is a leading cause of the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress. Mitochondrial changes play an important role in preventing oxidative stress. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence supporting this hypothesis. Thymus quinquecostatus CELAK (TQC) extract is a plant from China belonging to the thymus species, which can mediate the inflammatory response and prevent cell damage through its antioxidant activities. This study examines whether TQC can scavenge excess ROS originating from the mitochondria in RAW 264.7 macrophages. We used lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce inflammation and oxidative stress in RAW 264.7 macrophages and performed an immunocytochemistry dot blot of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and real-time PCR to analyze the expression levels of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism. TQC was found to significantly reduce the intensity of immunostained MitoSOX and 8-OHdG levels in the total genomic DNA within the mitochondria in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The HO-1 and Nrf2 mRNA levels were also significantly increased in the TQC groups. Therefore, we verified that TQC improves mitochondrial function and attenuates oxidative stress induced by LPS. Our results can provide reference for the effect of TQC to develop new therapeutic strategies for various diseases.

Suppression of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory and Oxidative Response by 5-Aminolevulinic Acid in RAW 264.7 Macrophages and Zebrafish Larvae

“…Although the increase in mitochondrial mass is believed to have contributed to the improvement in mitochondrial function against oxidative stress caused by the inflammatory response ( Mills and O’Neill 2016 ; Skuratovskaia et al ., 2020 ), further studies on related mechanisms, including energy metabolism are needed. Nevertheless, our results are in good agreement with the results of previous studies showing that various natural products or drugs with anti-inflammatory effects improved mitochondrial function in LPS-activated macrophages ( Afrin et al ., 2018 ; Hong et al ., 2020 ; Yu et al ., 2020 ).…”

“…For Nrf-2 present in the cytoplasm to act as a transcription factor, it must be liberated from Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1, a negative regulator of Nrf2, and phosphorylated before translocation to the nucleus ( Loboda et al ., 2016 ; Saha et al ., 2020 ). Interestingly, the improvement in mitochondrial biogenesis by the activation of HO-1 was found to be essential for blocking inflammatory and oxidative reactions by LPS in RAW 264.7 macrophages ( Shi et al ., 2019 ; Hong et al ., 2020 ). In this study, ALA increased LPS-induced HO-1 protein levels, and the degree of phosphorylation of Nrf-2 was also markedly increased in cells co-treated with ALA and LPS, indicating that the activity of Nrf-2 as a transcription factor was improved.…”

Insecticidal and Repellent Activity of Thymus quinquecostatus Celak. Essential Oil and Major Compositions against Three Stored‐Product Insects

“…At present, T. quinquecostatus is widely used to treat stroke, cold, dyspepsia, toothache, acute gastroenteritis, hypertension, chronic eczema and other diseases as folk medicines and was used alone or in combination with other herbal medicines for cancer treatment [15,16] . T. quinquecostatus has antioxidative effects that can mediate the inflammatory response and prevent cell damage through its antioxidant activities [17] . Hyun evaluated the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antidiabetic activities of methanol extract of T. quinquecostatus [18] .…”

Neurotherapeutic Effect of Inula britannica var. Chinensis against H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cortical Neurons

“…In addition, we examined whether IBC enhances mitochondrial biogenesis-related genes (based on mRNA levels) using real-time PCR ( Figure 6 C–G). Previous studies have reported that heme oxygenase-1 ( HO-1 ) is an antioxidant enzyme that is an important regulator of angiogenesis, mitochondria biogenesis, and neurogenesis by increasing the protein expression of NRF-1 , PGC1 , and TFAM [ 25 ]. The expression levels of mitochondrial biogenesis-related genes, including HO-1 , PGC1α , and TFAM , were detected with qRT-PCR analysis.…”