Department of Bioscience and Laboratory Medicine, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 66-1 Hon-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8564, Japan.
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8561, Japan.
Molecules. 2019 Mar 31;24(7):1259. doi: 10.3390/molecules24071259.
Phytoestrogens are plant-derived chemicals that are found in many foods and have estrogenic activity. We previously showed that blackcurrant extract (BCE) and anthocyanins have phytoestrogenic activity mediated via estrogen receptors (ERs), and anthocyanins may improve vascular function. BCE contains high levels of anthocyanins, but their health-promoting effects are unclear. This study examined the effects of BCE on the regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in human endothelial cells as key regulators in cardiovascular disease. The results showed that eNOS mRNA levels were significantly upregulated in BCE- or anthocyanin-treated human vascular endothelial cells but decreased in cells treated with fulvestrant, an ER antagonist. These results corresponded with NO levels, suggesting that BCE and anthocyanin may regulate NO synthesis via eNOS expression. Thus, the phytoestrogenic effects exerted by BCE via ERs influenced eNOS mRNA expression and NO synthesis. In vivo, we investigated whether anthocyanin-rich BCE upregulated eNOS protein expression in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, a widely used animal model of menopause. Our results showed that anthocyanin-rich BCE significantly upregulated eNOS mRNA levels and NO synthesis through phytoestrogenic activity and therefore promoted blood vessel health in OVX rats as a postmenopausal model.
植物雌激素是存在于许多食物中的植物源性化学物质，具有雌激素活性。我们之前的研究表明，黑加仑提取物（BCE）和花青素通过雌激素受体（ER）具有植物雌激素活性，并且花青素可能改善血管功能。BCE 含有高水平的花青素，但它们的健康促进作用尚不清楚。本研究检测了 BCE 对人血管内皮细胞中内皮型一氧化氮合酶（eNOS）表达和一氧化氮（NO）合成的调节作用，eNOS 是心血管疾病的关键调节因子。结果表明，BCE 或花青素处理的人血管内皮细胞中 eNOS mRNA 水平显著上调，而 ER 拮抗剂氟维司群处理的细胞中 eNOS mRNA 水平下调。这些结果与 NO 水平相对应，表明 BCE 和花青素可能通过 eNOS 表达来调节 NO 合成。因此，BCE 通过 ER 发挥的植物雌激素作用影响 eNOS mRNA 表达和 NO 合成。在体内，我们研究了富含花青素的 BCE 是否在上皮细胞切除（OVX）大鼠中上调 eNOS 蛋白表达，OVX 大鼠是一种广泛使用的绝经后动物模型。我们的结果表明，富含花青素的 BCE 通过植物雌激素活性显著上调 eNOS mRNA 水平和 NO 合成，从而促进绝经后模型 OVX 大鼠的血管健康。
