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

Abstract

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.

Reactivity of Acrylamides Causes Cytotoxicity and Activates Oxidative Stress Response

“…35,83 For the acrylamides tested in this study, the activation of the oxidative stress response via the Nrf-2/Keap-1 pathway was probably triggered by the intracellular formation of ROS as well as a disturbance of the redox balance by the reduction of the intracellular GSH level. 77 This adverse outcome pathway (AOP) 84 has already been shown for different adverse effects, such as hepatotoxicity 85 and neurotoxicity 76 of acrylamides. However, for some chemicals, the oxidative stress response can also be triggered by direct binding of the test chemicals to Keap-1, which has been identified as a molecular initiating event for skin sensitization, 79 but direct reactions with Keap-1 and acrylamides have not yet been demonstrated.…”

Targeting Oxidative Stress with Polyphenols to Fight Liver Diseases

“…However, the ease of access to some phytochemicals (natural products from plants) and their use in the form of extracts and as nutraceuticals (food and/or food components with potential medicinal use) without laborious pharmaceutical syntheses have attracted the attention of scientists for the therapeutic use of natural products [ 103 ]. Many biological activities associated with natural products have already been reported, such as antibiotic [ 102 ], antiparasitic [ 105 ], antifungal [ 106 ], antioxidant [ 107 ], anti-inflammatory [ 108 ], antitumorigenic [ 109 ], and hepatoprotective activities [ 110 ]. Thus, it is an important direct and indirect source for the development of new drugs.…”

Assessment of Bioactive Phenolic Compounds in Musts and the Corresponding Wines of White and Red Grape Varieties

“…Grapevine is one of the major fruit crops that is cultivated on large areas all over the world [8,9], with the resulting grapes and wines containing important amounts of phytochemicals and nutrients that provide numerous health benefits [10,11]. Polyphenols represent the most important phytochemicals in grapes and the corresponding wines as they are associated with numerous biological activities and health benefits [12,13] due to polyphenols antioxidant properties and their ability to eliminate free radicals [14,15]. Of these, we mention the reduction in the incidence of diseases such as cardiovascular and neurological diseases, atherosclerosis and high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, cancer, and type 2 diabetes [16,17].…”