Protective Effects of Dietary Supplements Containing Probiotics, Micronutrients, and Plant Extracts Against Lead Toxicity in Mice.

Qixiao Zhai,Jianxin Zhao,Fengwei Tian,Liu Yang,Wei Chen,Hao Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.02134

Qixiao Zhai, Jianxin Zhao + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02134

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Abstract

Lead (Pb) intoxication is a serious food safety issue, and the development of relevant dietary strategies is an area of ongoing research. In this study, two different dietary supplements were designed and evaluated for their effects against Pb toxicity in mice. Dietary supplement A contained grape seed extract, tea polyphenols and Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM8661, and dietary supplement B contained vitamin C, calcium carbonate, zinc acetate, and L. plantarum CCFM8661. The results showed that both dietary supplements could effectively decrease Pb levels, protect aminolevulinic acid dehydratase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and recover glutathione, zinc protoporphyrin and malondialdehyde levels in tissues and blood of mice. A step-through passive avoidance task confirmed that the dietary supplements could recover the learning and memory capacities of Pb-exposed mice. The protective effects of both dietary supplements to alleviate oxidative stress and cognitive impairments were superior to the chelator treatment. Administration of the dietary supplements during Pb exposure offered more significant protection than administration after Pb exposure. Animal safety evaluation also indicated that these dietary supplements barely induced side effects in the mice. This study provides evidence that dietary supplements containing probiotics, micronutrients, and plant extracts can be considered a new dietary strategy against Pb toxicity.

Highlights

Lead (Pb) is a pollutant widely distributed in the environment and food chain
Grape seed extract was purchased from Jianfeng Natural Product Research and Development Company (Tianjin, China)
Kits used to measure the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), albumin (ALB), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), total cholesterol (TCHO), triglyceride (TG), and total protein (TP) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ALT, and glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (AST) were purchased from the Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute (Nanjing, China)

Summary

Introduction

Lead (Pb) is a pollutant widely distributed in the environment and food chain. Once accumulated in the human body, Pb and its compounds induce oxidative stress and disrupt the metabolism of essential metals (Gurer and Ercal, 2000; Dobrakowski et al, 2017), which in turn leads to acute or chronic toxic effects on the nervous (Winder et al, 1982; Cecil et al, 2008), hematic (Redig et al, 1991; Ho and Ho, 1997), hepatic (Farmand et al, 2005; Xia et al, 2010), urinary (LoghmanAdham, 1997; Fels et al, 1998), and cardiovascular systems (Freeman, 1965). A Pb water pollution incident occurring in Flint, MI, United States in 2015 led to a sharp increase in the blood Pb levels of local children (Hannaattisha et al, 2016). Another populationbased study showed that the blood Pb levels of children living in Guiyu, one of the most seriously heavy metal-polluted regions of China, have reached 7.06 mg/dL (Guo et al, 2014)

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