Protective effects of anthocyanins against oxidative stress induced by acrylamide in human MDA‐MB‐231 cells

Abstract

Acrylamide (AA) occurrs in many cooked starchy foods and has caused widespread concern as a possible carcinogen. Anthocyanins are the most abundant flavonoid constituents in fruits and vegetables. The aim of this study is to investigate whether cyanidin‐3‐glucoside (Cy‐3‐glu) and malvidin‐3‐glucoside (Mv‐3‐glu) possess protective effects on oxidative stress induced by in human MDA‐MB‐231 (adenocarcinoma) cells. Cells were incubated with 0–100 μM Cy‐3‐glu or Mv‐3‐glu for 4 h at 37°C, 5% CO2, followed by incubation with 5.0 mM AA for 20 h, and cytotoxicity assays, determination of antioxidant enzymes activities and immunoblot analysis were performed. Compared to cells treated with AA alone, Cy‐3‐glu and Mv‐3‐glu significantly (p < 0.05) reduced ROS generation, recovered glutathione (GSH) depletion (15%–34%) and decreased the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (98%–189%) and glutathione S‐transferase (GST) (94%–166%). Moreover, the expression levels of GST and gamma‐glutamyl cysteine synthase (γ‐GCS) were enhanced, and cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) expression activated by AA was suppressed. Cy‐3‐glu and Mv‐3‐glu present the protective role against oxidative stress induced by AA in MDA‐MB‐231 cells. The consumption of anthocyanins could mitigate health risk caused by the dietary intake of AA. Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 81102152).