Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki International University.
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki International University.
J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2020;66(3):284-288. doi: 10.3177/jnsv.66.284.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays important roles in synaptic plasticity and neuronal differentiation. The neurotrophic hypothesis of depression, which suggests that reduced BDNF in the hippocampus underlies depression, has attracted increasing attention. Stress, a major cause of depression, leads to decreased BDNF levels, and administration of BDNF into the hippocampus shows an antidepressant effect. BDNF is synthesized in peripheral tissues as well as in the brain. Since BDNF crosses the blood-brain barrier, intake of food ingredients that elevate BDNF in peripheral tissues may be useful for the prevention and treatment of depression. However, no screening method for BDNF up-regulators in peripheral tissues has been reported. In this study, we revealed that ACHN human kidney adenocarcinoma cells secreted BDNF. In addition, we demonstrated that the methanol extract of foxtail millet up-regulated BDNF levels in ACHN cells. Our results indicate that ACHN cells could be useful in the screening for peripheral-BDNF up-regulators, and that foxtail millet may have the potential to elevate BDNF levels in peripheral tissues.
脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）在突触可塑性和神经元分化中发挥重要作用。抑郁症的神经营养假说表明，海马体中 BDNF 的减少是抑郁症的基础，这一假说引起了越来越多的关注。压力是抑郁症的主要原因之一，会导致 BDNF 水平下降，而将 BDNF 注入海马体则显示出抗抑郁作用。BDNF 不仅在大脑中合成，也在周围组织中合成。由于 BDNF 可以穿过血脑屏障，因此摄入能提高周围组织中 BDNF 水平的食物成分可能有助于预防和治疗抑郁症。然而，目前尚未报道外周组织中 BDNF 上调物的筛选方法。在这项研究中，我们发现 ACHN 人肾腺癌细胞分泌 BDNF。此外，我们还证明，谷子的甲醇提取物能上调 ACHN 细胞中的 BDNF 水平。我们的结果表明，ACHN 细胞可用于筛选外周 BDNF 上调物，谷子可能有潜力提高外周组织中的 BDNF 水平。
