Chook Chui Yiu Bamboo, Chen Francis M, Tse Gary, Leung Fung Ping, Wong Wing Tak
School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT Hong Kong SAR.
State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Food Prod Process Nutr. 2021;3(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s43014-021-00066-w. Epub 2021 Aug 3.
Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of mortality in diabetic patients due to the heightened oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory state in vascular tissues. Effective approaches targeting cardiovascular health for diabetic patients are urgently needed. Crocodile blood, an emerging dietary supplement, was suggested to have anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro, which have yet to be proven in animal models. This study thereby aimed to evaluate whether crocodile blood can protect vascular function in diabetic mice against oxidation and inflammation. Diabetic mice and their counterparts mice were treated daily with crocodile blood soluble fraction (CBSF) or vehicle via oral gavage for 4 weeks before their aortae were harvested for endothelium-dependent relaxation (EDR) quantification using wire myograph, which is a well-established functional study for vascular function indication. Organ culture experiments culturing mouse aortae from C57BL/6 J mice with or without IL-1β and CBSF were done to evaluate the direct effect of CBSF on endothelial function. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in mouse aortae were assessed by dihydroethidium (DHE) staining with inflammatory markers in endothelial cells quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). CBSF significantly improved deteriorated EDR in diabetic mice through both diet supplementation and direct culture, with suppression of ROS level in mouse aortae. CBSF also maintained EDR and reduced ROS levels in mouse aortae against the presence of pro-inflammatory IL-1β. Under the pro-inflammatory state induced by IL-1β, gene expressions of inflammatory cytokines were downregulated, while the protective transcripts UCP2 and SIRT6 were upregulated in endothelial cells. Our study suggests a novel beneficial effect of crocodile blood on vascular function in diabetic mice and that supplementation of diet with crocodile blood may act as a complementary approach to protect against vascular diseases through anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation in diabetic patients.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43014-021-00066-w.
由于血管组织中氧化应激和促炎状态加剧，心血管疾病是糖尿病患者死亡的主要原因。迫切需要针对糖尿病患者心血管健康的有效方法。鳄鱼血作为一种新兴的膳食补充剂，在体外被认为具有抗氧化和抗炎作用，但尚未在动物模型中得到证实。因此，本研究旨在评估鳄鱼血是否能保护糖尿病小鼠的血管功能免受氧化和炎症的影响。将糖尿病小鼠及其对照小鼠通过口服灌胃每日给予鳄鱼血可溶性部分（CBSF）或赋形剂，持续4周，然后采集它们的主动脉，使用线肌张力测定仪进行内皮依赖性舒张（EDR）定量，这是一种用于评估血管功能的成熟功能研究。进行器官培养实验，用或不用白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）和CBSF培养C57BL/6J小鼠的主动脉，以评估CBSF对内皮功能的直接影响。通过二氢乙锭（DHE）染色评估小鼠主动脉中的活性氧（ROS）水平，并用定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）对内皮细胞中的炎症标志物进行定量。CBSF通过饮食补充和直接培养显著改善了糖尿病小鼠恶化的EDR，并抑制了小鼠主动脉中的ROS水平。在存在促炎IL-1β的情况下，CBSF还维持了小鼠主动脉的EDR并降低了ROS水平。在IL-1β诱导的促炎状态下，内皮细胞中炎症细胞因子的基因表达下调，而保护性转录本解偶联蛋白2（UCP2）和沉默信息调节因子6（SIRT6）上调。我们的研究表明鳄鱼血对糖尿病小鼠的血管功能具有新的有益作用，并且在饮食中补充鳄鱼血可能作为一种补充方法，通过抗氧化和抗炎作用来预防糖尿病患者的血管疾病。
在线版本包含可在10.1186/s43014-021-00066-w获取的补充材料。
