Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Biofunctionality of Secondary Plant Compounds, Weinbergweg 22 (Biozentrum), 06120, Halle/Saale, Germany.
Phytother Res. 2015 Jun;29(6):894-901. doi: 10.1002/ptr.5330. Epub 2015 Mar 31.
The lignan pinoresinol is a constituent of flaxseed, sesame seeds and olive oil. Because of different molecular effects reported for this compound, e.g. antioxidative activity, pinoresinol is suggested to cause positive effects on humans. Because experimental data are limited, we have analysed the effects of the lignan on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: in spite of a strong antioxidative capacity detected in an in vitro assay, no antioxidative effects were detectable in vivo. In analogy to this result, no modulation of the sensitivity against thermal stress was detectable. However, incubation with pinoresinol caused an enhanced nuclear accumulation of the transcription factor DAF-16 (insulin/IGF-like signalling pathway). Using a strain with an enhanced oxidative stress level (mev-1 mutant), we clearly see an increase in stress resistance caused by this lignan, but no change in reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of pinoresinol on the life span of the nematode, but no modulation was found, neither in wild-type nor in mev-1 mutant nematodes. These results suggest that pinoresinol may exert pharmacologically interesting effects via modulation of the insulin-like signalling pathway in C. elegans as well as in other species like mammals due to the evolutionary conservation of this signalling pathway.
木脂素松脂醇是亚麻籽、芝麻和橄榄油的成分。由于该化合物具有不同的分子效应，例如抗氧化活性，因此松脂醇被认为对人体有积极影响。由于实验数据有限，我们分析了木脂素对秀丽隐杆线虫的影响：尽管在体外测定中检测到很强的抗氧化能力，但在体内没有检测到抗氧化作用。与这一结果类似，也没有检测到对热应激敏感性的调节。然而，松脂醇孵育导致转录因子 DAF-16（胰岛素/IGF 样信号通路）的核积累增加。使用氧化应激水平增强的菌株（mev-1 突变体），我们清楚地看到这种木脂素引起的应激抗性增加，但活性氧没有变化。此外，我们研究了松脂醇对线虫寿命的影响，但在野生型和 mev-1 突变型线虫中均未发现调节作用。这些结果表明，松脂醇可能通过调节胰岛素样信号通路在秀丽隐杆线虫以及其他类似哺乳动物的物种中发挥药理学上有趣的作用，因为这种信号通路在进化上是保守的。
