Protective effect of sterols extracted from on ethanol-induced injury in GES-1 cells .

In this study, sterols were isolated from by Soxhlet extraction and saponification and were further characterized by GC-MS analysis. The results showed that the sterols extracted from mainly contained β-sitosterol, fucosterol, and campesterol. Models were established to investigate the protective effects of sterols (LPSs) on ethanol-induced injury in human gastric epithelium (GES-1) cells. The results showed that appropriate concentrations of LPSs and β-sitosterol could protect GES-1 cells from ethanol-induced injury by reducing ROS levels, reducing calcium ion release, increasing antioxidant enzyme activity and maintaining mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blot experiment results also showed that appropriate concentrations of LPSs and β-sitosterol could up-regulate the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and down-regulate the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and caspase-3 in GES-1 cells. Meanwhile, sterol pretreatment groups down-regulated the protein expression levels of p-P38 and p-JNK in ethanol-damaged GES-1 cells and up-regulated the expression level of p-ERK, suggesting that sterols protect GES-1 cells from ethanol-induced damage by regulating the MAPK signaling pathway. Taken together, sterols could effectively prevent gastric cell damage and suggest the potential application of LPSs as bioactive ingredients for healthy foods.