Green barley mitigates cytotoxicity in human lymphocytes undergoing aggressive oxidative stress, via activation of both the Lyn/PI3K/Akt and MAPK/ERK pathways.

Oxidative stress plays a critical role in numerous diseases. Therefore, the pursuit of compounds with antioxidant activity remains critical. Green barley young leaves aqueous extract (GB) was tested for its capacity to ameliorate cellular oxidative stress, and its potential cytoprotective mechanism was partially elucidated. Through Folin-Ciocalteau and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) colorimetric assays, GB total phenolic content and free radical scavenging activity were found to be 59.91 ± 2.17 mg/L and 110.75 µg/ml (IC), respectively. Using a live cell-based propidium iodide dye exclusion assay and flow cytometry, GB was found to display significant cytoprotection activity on three human lymphocytic cell lines exposed to an aggressive HO-induced oxidative stress. The molecular mechanism for GB cytoprotection activity was assessed via bead-based xMAP technology on the Luminex platform and western blot analysis. GB treatment resulted in activation of Lyn, Akt, and ERK1/2, suggesting that GB is able to mitigate the HO-induced oxidative stress via activation of both the Lyn/PI3K/Akt and ERK/MAPK pathways. Our findings support the notion that GB extract has the potential to be a valuable therapeutic agent and may serve to establish a strategy to discover potential compound(s) or biological extracts/mixtures to be incorporated as a treatment to prevent oxidative stress-related diseases.