Sichuan pepper attenuates H2O2-induced apoptosis via antioxidant activity and up-regulating heme oxygenase-1 gene expression in primary rat hepatocytes

Heme Oxygenase-1 Is Involved in the Repair of Oxidative Damage Induced by Oxidized Fish Oil in Litopenaeus vannamei by Sulforaphane

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which could be highly induced under the stimulation of oxidative stress, functions in reducing the damage caused by oxidative stress, and sulforaphane (SFN) is an antioxidant. This study aims to investigate whether HO-1 is involved in the repair of oxidative damage induced by oxidized fish oil (OFO) in Litopenaeus vannamei by sulforaphane (SFN). The oxidative stress model of L. vannamei was established by feeding OFO feed (OFO accounts for 6%), and they were divided into the following four groups: control group (injected with dsRNA-EGFP and fed with common feed), dsRNA-HO-1 group (dsRNA-HO-1, common feed), dsRNA-HO-1 + SFN group (dsRNA-HO-1, supplement 50 mg kg-1 SFN feed), and SFN group (dsRNA-EGFP, supplement 50 mg kg-1 SFN feed). The results showed that the expression level of HO-1 in the dsRNA-HO-1 + SFN group was significantly increased compared with the dsRNA-HO-1 group (p < 0.05). The activities of SOD in muscle and GPX in hepatopancreas and serum of the dsRNA-HO-1 group were significantly lower than those of the control group, and MDA content in the dsRNA-HO-1 group was the highest among the four groups. However, SFN treatment increased the activities of GPX and SOD in hepatopancreas, muscle, and serum and significantly reduced the content of MDA (p < 0.05). SFN activated HO-1, upregulated the expression of antioxidant-related genes (CAT, SOD, GST, GPX, Trx, HIF-1α, Nrf2, prx 2, Hsp 70), and autophagy genes (ATG 3, ATG 5), and stabilized the expression of apoptosis genes (caspase 2, caspase 3) in the hepatopancreas (p < 0.05). In addition, knocking down HO-1 aggravated the vacuolation of hepatopancreas and increased the apoptosis of hepatopancreas, while the supplement of SFN could repair the vacuolation of hepatopancreas and reduce the apoptosis signal. In summary, HO-1 is involved in the repair of the oxidative damage induced by OFO in L. vannamei by SFN.

Piperine as a neuroprotective functional component in rats with cerebral ischemic injury

Long pepper (Piper longum L.) and black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) plants are commonly used as spices around the world and have also been postulated to have medicinal effects. Piperine, as the major alkaloid of P. nigrum and P. longum, has gained wide attention of the medical community and culinary enthusiasts. This study seeks to determine the effects of piperine on neuronal apoptosis in peri-infarcted cerebral cortices of rats with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) injury. Evaluation of the different behavioral components was conducted after pMCAO. 2, 3, 5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) was used to evaluate the area of cortical ischemia. Gross histopathological changes, as well as microscopic neuronal changes, were observed in brain tissue samples. The protein expression of Caspase-3, Caspase-9, Bax, Bcl-2, and Cytochrome C (Cyt-c) was analyzed using western blotting. The findings reveal that rats that received piperine treatment show markedly decreased neurological deficit, less ischemia-induced cellular damage, as well as smaller areas of cerebral infarction, with less severe macro and microcellular cerebral structural changes. Western blotting analysis reveals that piperine administration inhibits Bax, while enhancing Bcl-2 expression. The protein expression of Caspase-3, Caspase-9, and Cyt-c was also found to be significantly inhibited. We conclude that piperine may provide several beneficial neuroprotective effects that warrant further investigation.