British Journal of Nutrition

Table of Contents - 14 March 2011 - Volume 105, Issue 05  

Molecular Nutrition

Grape juice concentrate prevents oxidative DNA damage in peripheral blood cells of rats subjected to a high-cholesterol diet

Odair Aguiara1, Andréa Pittelli Boiago Gollückea2, Bárbara Bueno de Moraesa1, Gabriela Pasquinia1, Rodrigo Ramos Catharinoa3, Maria Francesca Riccioa3, Silvia Saiuli Miki Iharaa4 and Daniel Araki Ribeiroa1a4 c1

a1 Departamento de Biociências, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Avenida Ana Costa, 95 Vila Mathias, Santos 11060-001, SP, Brazil

a2 Hexalab and Nutrition Department, Catholic University of Santos, Santos, Brazil

a3 Department of Clinical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

a4 Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

The goal of the present study was to investigate whether subchronic treatment with grape juice concentrate is able to protect liver and peripheral blood cells against cholesterol-induced injury in rats. The effects of the grape juice concentrate treatment on histopathological changes, immunohistochemistry for cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2), and basal and oxidative DNA damage induced by H2O2 using a single-cell gel (comet) assay were evaluated. Male Wistar rats (n 18) were divided into three groups: group 1 – negative control; group 2 – cholesterol at 1 % (w/w) in their diet, treated for 5 weeks; group 3 – cholesterol at 1 % in their chow, treated for 5 weeks, and grape juice concentrate at 222 mg/d in their drinking-water in the final week only. The results indicated that the treatment with grape juice concentrate did not show remarkable differences regarding liver tissue in group 3 compared with group 2. However, grape juice concentrate was able to decrease oxidative DNA damage induced by H2O2 in peripheral blood cells, as depicted by the tail moment results. COX-2 expression in the liver did not show statistically significant differences (P>0·05) between groups. Taken together, the present results suggest that the administration of subchronic grape juice concentrate prevents oxidative DNA damage in peripheral blood cells.

(Received May 17 2010)

(Revised September 09 2010)

(Accepted September 24 2010)

(Online publication February 17 2011)

Key Words:

Correspondence:

c1 Professor D. A. Ribeiro, fax +55 1332232592, email daribeiro@unifesp.br; daribeiro@pesquisador.cnpq.br

Footnotes

Abbreviations: COX, cyclo-oxygenase; ESI, electrospray ionisation