Serum Metabolomics Profiling of Commercially Mixed Functional Foods—Effects in Beta-Amyloid Induced Rats Measured Using 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Functional foods such as pomegranate, dates and honey were shown by various previous studies to individually have a neuroprotective effect, especially in neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this novel and original study, an 1H NMR spectroscopy tool was used to identify the metabolic neuroprotective mechanism of commercially mixed functional foods (MFF) consisting of pomegranate, dates and honey, in rats injected with amyloid-beta 1-42 (Aβ-42). Forty-five male albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: NC (0.9% normal saline treatment + phosphate buffer solution (PBS) solution injection), Abeta (0.9% normal saline treatment + 0.2 µg/µL Aβ-42 injection), MFF (4 mL/kg MFF treatment + PBS solution injection), Abeta–MFF (4 mL/kg MFF treatment + 0.2 µg/µL Aβ-42 injection) and Abeta–NAC (150 mg/kg N-acetylcysteine + 0.2 µg/µL Aβ-42 injection). Based on the results, the MFF and NAC treatment improved the spatial memory and learning using Y-maze. In the metabolic analysis, a total of 12 metabolites were identified, for which levels changed significantly among the treatment groups. Systematic metabolic pathway analysis found that the MFF and NAC treatments provided a neuroprotective effect in Aβ-42 injected rats by improving the acid amino and energy metabolisms. Overall, this finding showed that MFF might serve as a potential neuroprotective functional food for the prevention of AD

Assessment of cytotoxicity potency of paclitaxel in combination with Clinacanthus Nutans extracts on human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

Clinacanthus nutans (C. nutans) leaf extracts have been widely used by cancer patients in Malaysia and local practice claims a cure to cancer. There were several studies done to determine the cytotoxicity potency of C. nutans extracts on various types of cells. However, there is still lacking on the knowledge regarding the combination effect of C. nutans with anticancer drugs. Thus, the study was carried out to determine the cytotoxicity potency of C. nutans extracts and paclitaxel (PTX) alone and, in combination on MDA-MB-231 cells. The cells were treated with 100% ethanol extract of C. nutans (CNE) and water extract of C. nutans (CNA), PTX and combination of both extracts and PTX for 72 hours and the cytotoxic activity was determined using SRB assay. Result showed that CNE had little cytotoxic activity, whereas CNA showed no cytotoxic activity on MDA-MB-231 cells. For combination treatment of C. nutans extracts and PTX, only CNE showed significant enhanced PTX-induced cytotoxicity (p < 0.05), meanwhile CNA inhibited PTX-induced cytotoxicity significantly (p < 0.05). As a conclusion, CNE was able to increase PTX potency to inhibit the viability of MDA-MB-231 cells

Serum metabolomics profiling of commercially mixed functional foods—effects in Beta-amyloid induced rats measured using 1H NMR spectroscopy

Functional foods such as pomegranate, dates and honey were shown by various previous studies to individually have a neuroprotective effect, especially in neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this novel and original study, an 1H NMR spectroscopy tool was used to identify the metabolic neuroprotective mechanism of commercially mixed functional foods (MFF) consisting of pomegranate, dates and honey, in rats injected with amyloid-beta 1-42 (Aβ-42). Forty-five male albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: NC (0.9% normal saline treatment + phosphate buffer solution (PBS) solution injection), Abeta (0.9% normal saline treatment + 0.2 µg/µL Aβ-42 injection), MFF (4 mL/kg MFF treatment + PBS solution injection), Abeta-MFF (4 mL/kg MFF treatment + 0.2 µg/µL Aβ-42 injection) and Abeta-NAC (150 mg/kg N-acetylcysteine + 0.2 µg/µL Aβ-42 injection). Based on the results, the MFF and NAC treatment improved the spatial memory and learning using Y-maze. In the metabolic analysis, a total of 12 metabolites were identified, for which levels changed significantly among the treatment groups. Systematic metabolic pathway analysis found that the MFF and NAC treatments provided a neuroprotective effect in Aβ-42 injected rats by improving the acid amino and energy metabolisms. Overall, this finding showed that MFF might serve as a potential neuroprotective functional food for the prevention of AD

Neuroprotection of Tropical Fruit Juice Mixture via the Reduction of iNOS Expression and CRH Level in β-Amyloid-Induced Rats Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

This study aimed to determine the effects of tropical fruit juice mixture (pomegranate, white guava, and Roselle) on biochemical, behavioral, and histopathological changes of β-amyloid- (Aβ-) induced rats. Formulation 8 (F8) of tropical fruit juice mixture was chosen for this present study due to its high phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. Forty Wistar male rats were divided into five groups: dPBS (sham-operated control), dAβ (Aβ control), JPBS (F8 and PBS), JAβ (F8 and Aβ), and IBFAβ (ibuprofen and Aβ). F8 (5 ml/kg BW), and ibuprofen (10 ml/kg BW) was given orally daily for four weeks before the intracerebroventricular infusion of Aβ for two weeks. Histological analysis and neuronal count of hippocampus tissue in the Cornu Ammonis (CA1) region showed that supplementation with F8 was able to prevent Aβ-induced tissue damage and neuronal shrinkage. However, no significant difference in locomotor activity and novel object recognition (NOR) percentage was detected among different groups at day 7 and day 14 following Aβ infusion. Only effect of time differences (main effect of day) was observed at day 7 as compared to day 14, where reduction in locomotor activity and NOR percentage was observed in all groups, with F (1, 7) = 6.940, p<0.05 and F (1, 7) = 7.152, p<0.05, respectively. Besides, the MDA level of the JAβ group was significantly lower (p<0.01) than that of the dPBS group. However, no significant changes in SOD activity were detected among different groups. Significant reduction in plasma CRH level (p<0.05) and iNOS expression (p<0.01) in the brain was detected in the JAβ group as compared to the dAβ group. Hence, our current findings suggest that the tropical fruit juice mixture (F8) has the potential to protect the rats from Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in brain hippocampus tissue possibly via its antioxidant properties and the suppression of iNOS expression and CRH production