Toxicological Studies of Czech Beers and Their Constituents

Abstract

Background: Czech beers are unique because they are brewed using specific technology at a particular latitude and for being entirely produced in the area of the Czech Republic. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of toxicological effects of a variety of freeze-dried Czech beers, their raw materials (malts, hops and yeast) and processed-beer (wort, hopped wort and young beer). Methods: In vivo assays to evaluate the safety and protective effects in the Drosophila melanogaster eukaryotic system, and the in vitro evaluations of chemopreventive and DNA damage activity using the HL-60 tumour human cell line were carried out. Results: The safe effects for all the analysed substances and general protective effects against H2O2 were shown both at the individual and genomic level in the Drosophila animal model, with some exceptions. Moreover, all the substances were able to inhibit the tumour cell growth and to induce DNA damage in the HL-60 cells at different levels (proapoptotic, single/double strands breaks and methylation status). Conclusions: The promising effects shown by freeze-dried Czech beers due to their safety, protection against a toxin, chemopreventive potential and the induction of DNA damage in tumour cells, allow the proposition of Czech beer as a beverage with nutraceutic potential.

Toxicological and Epigenetic Studies of Two Types of Ale Beer, Tyrosol and Iso-Alpha Humulone

“…There are no data available on the in vivo antigenotoxic activity of iso-alpha humulone. Although similar previous studies carried out with two types of hops in Drosophila showed both no genotoxic or antigenotoxic activities against the H 2 O 2 effects in the SMART test [29], our work showed the in vivo ability to protect DNA from oxidative damage of toxins for the first time. As we mentioned above, the antigenotoxic activity of hops could be due to the scavenging activity shown by this single molecule.…”

“…Nevertheless, these antimicrobial activities can be considered as an added value to beer properties. A study with two types of hops (saazer and sladek) showed nontoxic effects in the Drosophila model organism as the 50% lethal dose (LD 50 ) was never reached at the assayed concentrations [29]. The present results of iso-alpha humulone showed, in part, that it is the molecule responsible for the hops lack of toxicity.…”

“…In fact, it is antitoxic and protects against the oxidative toxin H 2 O 2 due to its polyphenol content. A previous study by Merinas-Amo et al [29] with two types of hops support the antioxidant power that this beer's raw materials have on Drosophila when they are combined with a toxic agent.…”

“…Previous in vivo and in vitro studies with two types of hops in model organisms support the beneficial claims that this substance is safe, nutraceutical and chemopreventive [29]. In addition to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects, the hop bitter acids also exhibit Gram-positive antibacterial activity [30].…”

The Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables

“…Other studies suggest that freeze-dried Czech beers have no severe potential adverse effects [6]. Moreover, all the substances were able to inhibit tumor cell growth and induce DNA damage in the HL-60 cells at different levels (proapoptotic, single/double strand breaks and methylation status).…”