Secció de Fisiologia, Departament de Bioquímica i Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Institut de Recerca en Nutrició i Seguretat Alimentària (INSA-UB), Universitat de Barcelona, 08291 Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain.
Nutrients. 2020 Dec 28;13(1):71. doi: 10.3390/nu13010071.
L. tubers (tiger nuts) contain different compounds with several intestinal health-promoting properties. Here, we studied the capacity of tiger nuts from Valencia, Spain, to prevent epithelial barrier function disruption induced by enteritidis in Caco-2 cell cultures. Paracellular permeability was assessed by transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and tight junction protein immunolocalization. Moreover, the effect of tiger nuts on enteritidis agglutination, oxidative stress, and growth was tested. Compared to controls, tiger nuts partially restored TER in enteritidis-infected cultures, an effect confirmed by immunolocalization of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin. The results also revealed that this protective effect may be associated with the capacity to agglutinate the pathogen, restore TER in TNFα-stimulated cultures, and reduce reactive oxygen species in HO-stimulated cultures. Moreover, they favor growth. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the tiger nut protects epithelial barrier function by reducing bacterial invasion, along with counteracting TNFα and HO effects, thus giving an additional value to this tuber as a potential functional food.
块茎藜麦（虎坚果）含有多种具有多种肠道健康促进特性的化合物。在这里，我们研究了来自西班牙巴伦西亚的虎坚果预防肠致病性大肠杆菌诱导的 Caco-2 细胞培养物上皮屏障功能障碍的能力。通过跨上皮电阻 (TER) 和紧密连接蛋白免疫定位评估旁通透性。此外，还测试了虎坚果对肠致病性大肠杆菌凝集、氧化应激和生长的影响。与对照组相比，虎坚果部分恢复了肠致病性大肠杆菌感染培养物中的 TER，这一效应通过紧密连接蛋白 ZO-1 和闭合蛋白的免疫定位得到了证实。结果还表明，这种保护作用可能与凝集病原体的能力有关，能够恢复 TNFα 刺激培养物中的 TER，并减少 HO 刺激培养物中的活性氧。此外，它们有利于生长。总之，这项研究表明，虎坚果通过减少细菌入侵来保护上皮屏障功能，同时对抗 TNFα 和 HO 的作用，从而使这种块茎作为一种潜在的功能性食品具有额外的价值。
