Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil.
Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2020 Jun;75(2):161-168. doi: 10.1007/s11130-020-00807-1.
Oxidative stress may cause functional disorders of vascular endothelia which can lead to endothelial apoptosis and thus alter the function and structure of the vascular tissues. Plant antioxidants protect the endothelium against oxidative stress and then become an effective option to treat vascular diseases. Cocoa flavanols have been proven to protect against oxidative stress in cell culture and animal models. In addition, epidemiological and interventional studies strongly suggest that cocoa consumption has numerous beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. The objective of this study was to test the chemo-protective effect of realistic concentrations of a cocoa phenolic extract and its main monomeric flavanol epicatechin on cultured human endothelial cells submitted to an oxidative challenge. Both products efficiently restrained stress-induced reactive oxygen species and biomarkers of oxidative stress such as carbonyl groups and malondialdehyde, and recovered depleted glutathione, antioxidant defences and cell viability. Our results demonstrate for the first time that a polyphenolic extract from cocoa and its main flavonoid protect human endothelial cells against an oxidative insult by modulating oxygen radical generation and antioxidant enzyme and non-enzyme defences.
氧化应激可能导致血管内皮的功能障碍，从而导致内皮细胞凋亡，进而改变血管组织的功能和结构。植物抗氧化剂可以保护内皮细胞免受氧化应激，因此成为治疗血管疾病的有效选择。可可黄烷醇已被证明可以在细胞培养和动物模型中抵抗氧化应激。此外，流行病学和干预研究强烈表明，可可消费对心血管健康有许多有益的影响。本研究的目的是测试现实浓度的可可酚提取物及其主要单体黄烷醇表儿茶素对培养的人内皮细胞在氧化应激下的化学保护作用。这两种产品都能有效地抑制应激诱导的活性氧和氧化应激标志物，如羰基和丙二醛，并恢复耗竭的谷胱甘肽、抗氧化防御和细胞活力。我们的研究结果首次证明，可可中的多酚提取物及其主要类黄酮通过调节氧自由基生成和抗氧化酶和非酶防御来保护人内皮细胞免受氧化损伤。
