Modified citrus pectin confers a preventative effect on cancer-related pathways in CdCl2-treated C. elegans

Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) is a toxic compound found as a pollutant in the environment due to agricultural and industrial sources. Exposure to Cd2+ is known to promote malignant tumors such as lung cancer and leukemia. While the current medications for cadmium toxicity focus on treatments to promote the excretion from the body, treatments to improve health after cadmium exposure are less well studied. Modified citrus pectin (MCP) is a polysaccharide derived from citrus peels that has been shown to induce natural killer cell activity in myeloid leukemia cells and also act as a natural chelation agent to help excrete toxic metals from healthy human subjects. We hypothesized that MCP might have a counteracting effect against CdCl2 toxicity through cancer-related pathways. This study investigates the effects of MCP on CdCl2 toxicity in C. elegans, which shares a number of cancer-related pathways with mammals. The results indicated that MCP was able to significantly counter the toxic effects of CdCl2 on C. elegans lifespan and development. Our studies suggest that the beneficial effects of MCP may result from its ability to mitigate the effects of CdCl2 on gene expression, particularly in conserved pathways associated with apoptosis, tumor induction and suppression and inflammation-related pathways

Cranberry arabino-xyloglucan and pectic oligosaccharides induce lactobacillus growth and short-chain fatty acid production

Numerous health benefits have been reported from the consumption of cranberry-derived products, and recent studies have identified bioactive polysaccharides and oligosaccharides from cranberry pomace. This study aimed to further characterize xyloglucan and pectic oligosaccharide structures from pectinase-treated cranberry pomace and measure the growth and short-chain fatty acid production of 86 Lactobacillus strains using a cranberry oligosaccharide fraction as the carbon source. In addition to arabino-xyloglucan structures, cranberry oligosaccharides included pectic rhamnogalacturonan I which was methyl-esterified, acetylated and contained arabino-galacto-oligosaccharide side chains and a 4,5-unsaturated function at the non-reducing end. When grown on cranberry oligosaccharides, ten Lactobacillus strains reached a final culture density (ΔOD) ≥ 0.50 after 24 h incubation at 32 °C, which was comparable to L. plantarum ATCC BAA 793. All strains produced lactic, acetic, and propionic acids, and all but three strains produced butyric acid. This study demonstrated that the ability to metabolize cranberry oligosaccharides is Lactobacillus strain specific, with some strains having the potential to be probiotics, and for the first time showed these ten strains were capable of growth on this carbon source. The novel cranberry pectic and arabino-xyloglucan oligosaccharide structures reported here combined with the Lactobacillus strains that can metabolize cranberry oligosaccharides and produce short-chain fatty acids, have excellent potential as health-promoting synbiotics