Abstract
In this study, the effects of mixed corn peptides and synthetic pentapeptide (QLLPF) on hepatocyte apoptosis induced by ethanol were investigated in vivo. QLLPF, was previously characterized from corn protein hydrolysis, which had been shown to exert good facilitating alcohol metabolism activity. Mice were pre-treated with the mixed corn peptides and the pentapeptide for 1 week and then treated with ethanol. After treatment of three weeks, the biochemical indices and the key ethanol metabolizing enzymes, the serum TNF-α, liver TGF-β1 concentrations and the protein expressions related to apoptosis were determined. We found that the Bcl-2, Bax and cytochrome c expressions in the intrinsic pathway and the Fas, FasL and NF-κB expressions in the extrinsic pathway together with higher TNF-α and TGF-β1 concentrations were reversed compared with the model group by both the mixed corn peptides and the pentapeptide. The activation of caspase3 was also suppressed. Additionally, apoptosis was further confirmed with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and the TUNEL assay demonstrated peptides suppressed hepatocyte apoptosis. Our results suggest that apoptosis induced by ethanol is alleviated in response to the treatment of corn peptides, potentially due to reversing the related protein expression.
Highlights
Chronic excessive ethanol intake has been known as a main cause of alcoholic liver disease which is one of the most serious liver disorders [1]
QLLPF and the mixed corn peptides increased during the treatment with ethanol
The present study investigated the effects of the pentapeptide QLLPF and the mixed corn peptides on ethanol-induced hepatocellular apoptosis in mice
Summary
Chronic excessive ethanol intake has been known as a main cause of alcoholic liver disease which is one of the most serious liver disorders [1]. Alcohol consumption can lead to cell apoptosis in liver [2], which has been observed in an alcoholic liver injury experiment [3] and in a clinical experiment [4]. There are two main signaling pathways of apoptosis: extrinsic pathway which is mediated by death receptors and Bcl-2-controlled intrinsic pathway [5]. The intrinsic pathway is often called mitochondria-mediated death pathway [6,7,8]. Results of another study support that ethanol induces apoptosis via two different pathways: MPT and up-regulation of the expression of CD95-Fas ligand [10], suggesting that apoptosis induced by ethanol is related with both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways
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