Abstract
Rosemary is abundant with phytochemicals and has recently been approved as an antioxidant food preservative in the European Union. The safety of rosemary is well established, however, the benefits on gastrointestinal health are less known. Our overall hypothesis is that the phytochemicals in rosemary including carnosol have the potential to promote gastrointestinal health by activation of the antioxidant sestrin-2 when consumed in our diet. Colon cells HCT116 and SW480 were treated with carnosol and evaluated by MTT, immunofluorescence, ELISA, and Western blot analysis to understand the modulation of the PERK/Nrf2/Sestrin-2 pathway. Carnosol was found to modulate PERK and increase the concentration of nuclear Nrf2. Furthermore, a downstream marker of Nrf2 expression, Sestrin-2 was shown to be upregulated. Based on these observations carnosol modulates the PERK and Nrf2 pathways along with increased expression of sestrin-2, a known stress inducible antioxidant.
Highlights
A significant amount of research from in vitro studies to epidemiological studies have reported on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet [i.e. low saturated fats, high poly unsaturated fatty acids, increased raw fruit and vegetable intake and herbs including rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)] in promoting overall health [1,2,3]
Carnosol reduced cell viability and induced apoptosis on colon cancer cells Using an MTT assay we evaluated the impact of carnosol on cell viability and observed that carnosol decreased HCT116 and SW480 cell viability in a dose dependent manner (Figure 1A)
The effect was not as pronounced in SW480 cells which are known to have the oncogenes that have been associated with preventing apoptosis
Summary
A significant amount of research from in vitro studies to epidemiological studies have reported on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet [i.e. low saturated fats, high poly unsaturated fatty acids, increased raw fruit and vegetable intake and herbs including rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)] in promoting overall health [1,2,3]. Rosemary extracts standardized to the diterpenes carnosic acid and carnosol have been approved in the European Union (EU) as an antioxidant food preservative and in the United States as a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status as a food ingredient [4,7]. Within rosemary there are many phytochemicals, carnosic acid and carnosol have been reported to contribute to 90% of the antioxidant activity [9]. Our overall hypothesis is that the phytochemicals in rosemary including carnosol have the potential to promote gastrointestinal health by activation of the antioxidant sestrin-2 when consumed in our diet
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