In Vivo and In Vitro Genotoxic and Epigenetic Effects of Two Types of Cola Beverages and Caffeine: A Multiassay Approach.

Marcos Mateo-Fernández,Ángeles Alonso-Moraga,Miguel Moreno-Millán,Tania Merinas-Amo,Sebastián Demyda-Peyrás

doi:10.1155/2016/7574843

Abstract

The aim of this work was to assess the biological and food safety of two different beverages: Classic Coca Cola™ (CCC) and Caffeine-Free Coca Cola (CFCC). To this end, we determined the genotoxicological and biological effects of different doses of lyophilised CCC and CFCC and Caffeine (CAF), the main distinctive constituent. Their toxic/antitoxic, genotoxic/antigenotoxic, and chronic toxicity (lifespan assay) effects were determined in vivo using the Drosophila model. Their cytotoxic activities were determined using the HL-60 in vitro cancer model. In addition, clastogenic DNA toxicity was measured using internucleosomal fragmentation and SCGE assays. Their epigenetic effects were assessed on the HL-60 methylation status using some repetitive elements. The experimental results showed a slight chemopreventive effect of the two cola beverages against HL-60 leukaemia cells, probably mediated by nonapoptotic mechanisms. Finally, CCC and CAF induced a global genome hypomethylation evaluated in LINE-1 and Alu M1 repetitive elements. Overall, we demonstrated for the first time the safety of this famous beverage in in vivo and in vitro models.

Highlights

Diet may modify cancer risk and tumor behavior since nongenotoxicological modulation as epigenetic regulatory processes may be susceptible to changes caused by environmental factors
Toxicity assays showed that Coca Cola6 (CCC), CaffeineFree Coca Cola (CFCC), and CAF are not toxic to D. melanogaster larvae (Table 2, simple treatment)
We demonstrated that CCC increased both lifespan and healthspan, whereas CFCC in general decreased both longevity indexes

Summary

Introduction

Diet may modify cancer risk and tumor behavior since nongenotoxicological modulation as epigenetic regulatory processes may be susceptible to changes caused by environmental factors. Constituents in food and dietary supplements could be involved in changes in the gene expression, increasing the risk of developing some type of cancer all over the life inducing epigenetic changes [1, 2]. Developed as medical supplements, cola-based drinks and several beverages such as beer and wine were proposed as medicinal substances [4, 5]. In spite of the worldwide importance and spread of cola beverages, studies assessing their effects on health and wellbeing are quite scarce [9]. Caffeine (CAF), which is a key ingredient in cola beverages as well as in coffee, tea, and some medicines, is one of the most investigated substances, probably due to the lack of consistent results over time [10,11,12]. In D. melanogaster, CAF has been related to a positive lifespan increase [13], but the results were contradictory when apoptotic and DNA-programmed fragmentation effects were studied [14, 15]

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