College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 5333 Xi'an Road, Changchun 130062, China.
Food Funct. 2020 Oct 21;11(10):9252-9262. doi: 10.1039/d0fo01223h.
Ongoing groundwater arsenic contamination throughout China was first recognized in the 1960s. Groundwater arsenic contamination is a high risk for human and animal health worldwide. Apart from drinking water, diet is the second pathway for arsenic to enter the human body and eventually cause liver injury. Natural astaxanthin extracted from the green algae Haematococcus pluvialis has dominated the nutraceutical market for potential health benefits. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism underlying the protective effect post astaxanthin against arsenic-induced hepatotoxicity remains largely obscure. In this study, we investigate the effect of natural astaxanthin (derived from Haemotococcus pluvialis) on oxidative stress and liver inflammatory response in rats after the cessation of chronic arsenic exposure. Wistar rats were given astaxanthin (250 mg kg-1) daily for 2 weeks after the cessation of exposure to sodium arsenite (300 μg L-1, drinking water, 24 weeks) by intragastric administration. The results showed that post treatment with astaxanthin attenuated liver injury induced by long-term exposure to arsenic in rats. Most importantly, post treatment with astaxanthin decreased the increasing of inflammatory cytokine NF-κB, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, oxidative stress level, and total arsenic content in livers of rats exposed to arsenic. In addition, post treatment with astaxanthin reversed the increasing of protein levels of alpha-smooth muscle actin and collagen Iα1, which are the activation markers of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Collectively, these data demonstrate that post astaxanthin treatment attenuates inflammation response in the liver after the cessation of chronic arsenic exposure via inhibition of cytokine-mediated cell-cell interactions. Daily ingestion of natural astaxanthin might be a potential and beneficial candidate for the treatment of liver damage after the cessation of chronic exposure to sodium arsenite.
中国的地下水砷污染问题自 20 世纪 60 年代开始出现。地下水砷污染是全球范围内人类和动物健康的高风险因素。除了饮用水，饮食是砷进入人体并最终导致肝损伤的第二条途径。天然虾青素从绿藻雨生红球藻中提取，在具有潜在健康益处的营养保健品市场中占据主导地位。然而，虾青素对砷诱导的肝毒性的保护作用的分子机制在很大程度上仍不清楚。在这项研究中，我们研究了天然虾青素（源自雨生红球藻）对停止慢性砷暴露后大鼠氧化应激和肝炎症反应的影响。Wistar 大鼠通过灌胃给予虾青素（250mg/kg），每天一次，持续 2 周，停止暴露于亚砷酸钠（300μg/L，饮用水，24 周）。结果表明，虾青素治疗可减轻大鼠长期暴露于砷引起的肝损伤。最重要的是，虾青素治疗可降低炎症细胞因子 NF-κB、肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-1β、氧化应激水平和砷含量在暴露于砷的大鼠肝脏中的增加。此外，虾青素治疗可逆转α-平滑肌肌动蛋白和胶原 Iα1 蛋白水平的增加，这是肝星状细胞（HSCs）活化的标志物。总之，这些数据表明，虾青素治疗可通过抑制细胞间细胞因子介导的相互作用，减轻慢性砷暴露停止后肝脏的炎症反应。每天摄入天然虾青素可能是治疗慢性亚砷酸钠暴露停止后肝损伤的一种有潜力和有益的候选药物。
