Synergistic Antioxidant Effect of Prebiotic Ginseng Berries Extract and Probiotic Strains on Healthy and Tumoral Colorectal Cell Lines

Abstract

Oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS, O2•−, HO•, and H2O2) affects the aging process and the development of several diseases. A new frontier on its prevention includes functional foods with both specific probiotics and natural extracts as antioxidants. In this work, Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer berries extract was characterized for the presence of beneficial molecules (54.3% pectin-based polysaccharides and 12% ginsenosides), able to specifically support probiotics growth (OD600nm > 5) with a prebiotic index of 0.49. The administration of the extract to a probiotic consortium induced the production of short-chain fatty acids (lactic, butyric, and propionic acids) and other secondary metabolites derived from the biotransformation of Ginseng components. Healthy and tumoral colorectal cell lines (CCD841 and HT-29) were then challenged with these metabolites at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, and 1 mg/mL. The cell viability of HT-29 decreased in a dose-dependent manner after the exposition to the metabolites, while CCD841 vitality was not affected. Regarding ROS production, the metabolites protected CCD841 cells, while ROS levels were increased in HT-29 cells, potentially correlating with the less functionality of glutathione S-transferase, catalase, and total superoxide dismutase enzymes, and a significant increase in oxidized glutathione.

Positive modulation of a new reconstructed human gut microbiota by Maitake extract helpfully boosts the intestinal environment in vitro

“…L. plantarum is the most abundant bacterium in the only probiotic and the whole community experiments, while E. coli is dominant over BC, CS, and FP, and it is the second most present in the complete microbiota condition. Interestingly, L. plantarum biotransforms and grows on polyphenols present in natural extracts, releasing additional molecules [25,33,34], which in the presence of Maitake are quinoline [57] and hydrocinnamic acid, derived from cinnamic acid [58]. LP could be also correlated to lactic acid because it has an optional heterofermentative metabolism leading to the production of large quantities of the molecule in anaerobiosis [14].…”

“…Interestingly, L . plantarum biotransforms and grows on polyphenols present in natural extracts, releasing additional molecules [ 25 , 33 , 34 ], which in the presence of Maitake are quinoline [ 57 ] and hydrocinnamic acid, derived from cinnamic acid [ 58 ]. LP could be also correlated to lactic acid because it has an optional heterofermentative metabolism leading to the production of large quantities of the molecule in anaerobiosis [ 14 ].…”

“…The bacterial strains used in this study are reported in a previous work [ 34 ] and listed in Table 2 . The probiotics were kindly supplied by Roelmi HPC (Origgio, Italy) [ 35 ], while the minimal core microbiota strains belong to BEI Resources, NIAID, NIH collection, as part of the Human Microbiome Project.…”

“…The routine growth conditions consisted of De Man, Rogosa, and Sharp medium (MRS) (Conda Lab, Madrid, Spain) supplemented with 0.03% L-cysteine (Merck, Milano, Italy) for Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains maintenance [ 34 ]; Reinforced Clostridia Medium (RCM) (Conda Lab, Madrid, Spain), supplemented with 0.03% L-cysteine, and 0.01 g/L of hemin (Hemin chloride, Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) for the minimal core microbiota [ 14 ].…”

“…The extraction of bacterial metabolites was performed after acidification (until pH 2 with 6 M HCl) of the collected cultural broths. Ethyl acetate (Merck, Milano, Italy) was used as a solvent for the extraction in a 1:1 ratio to the acidic broth culture, and the extraction was conducted as reported in De Giani et al [ 34 ].…”