Antioxidant Biofactor Research Articles

P-208 - Inhibition of secretory sphingomyelinase by epicatechin-3-O-gallate and other antioxidants

Objective Secretory sphingomyelinase (sSMase) is one of the key enzymes involved in oxidative stress-related diseases [Biol. Pharm. Bull, 2013]. The elevation of its activity resulted in an increase of ceramide that is the bioactive lipid inducing cellular apoptosis, proliferation, and differentiation. In this study, we searched for novel sSMase inhibitors during some antioxidants which are expected to ameliorate oxidative stress-related diseases. Methods Each of several antioxidants was incubated with and sSMase derived from rats in the assay mixture (pH 5.0) and analyzed their inhibitory activity by using HPLC. Results Epicatechin 3-O-gallate (ECg) significantly inhibited sSMase activity as compared with non-gallate type catechins. In addition, Anti-Oxidant Biofactor (AOB) extract that is the mixture of fermented grain foods and catechins, markedly inhibited sSMase activity. Conclusion ECg and some gallate type catechins had a strong inhibitory effect on sSMase in a physiological plasma concentration (IC50=1.7–25.7 µM). This inhibition may be due to their specific structures such as galloyl residue, and it depends on the reducing activity. Moreover, antioxidant mixture such as AOB might inhibit synergistically sSMase. It will be further discussed.

Antioxidant action of fermented grain food supplement: Scavenging of peroxyl radicals and inhibition of plasma lipid oxidation induced by multiple oxidants

Unregulated oxidative modification of biological molecules induced by multiple oxidants in vivo has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Accordingly, the role of antioxidants contained in foods in the maintenance of health and prevention of diseases has received much attention. The efficacy of antioxidants against oxidative stress depends on the nature of oxidants. In the present study, the antioxidant action of fermented grain food supplement, Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB), for scavenging peroxyl radical and inhibition of plasma lipid oxidation induced by multiple oxidants was measured. The antioxidant efficacy against lipid oxidation was assessed by the level of lipid hydroperoxides produced using diphenyl-1-pyrenylphosphine, which is not fluorescent per se but reacts with lipid hydroperoxides stoichiometrically to yield highly fluorescent diphenyl-1-pyrenylphosphine oxide. AOB acted as a potent peroxyl radical scavenger and suppressed lipid oxidation induced by peroxyl radical, peroxynitrite, hypochlorite, and singlet oxygen, but not by 15-lipoxygenase.

Manipulation of DNA damage checkpoint signaling in cancer cells by antioxidant biofactor (AOB)

Antioxidant biofactor (AOB) is one of the fermented grain food supplements commercially available in Japan and other countries. Herein, we investigated the effect of AOB on the UVC (254 nm) induced DNA damage in A549 cells. Both distilled water and MeOH extracts of AOB did not show any significant cell toxicity. However, the UV (25-75 J m(-2)) induced cell death was amplified in the presence of these extracts, especially the MeOH extract. When the DNA damage was evaluated by comet assay, the AOB water extract prevented the UV induced DNA damage at the initial stage but significantly inhibited the repair process, especially in the cells exposed to a high dose of UV. The retardation of DNA repair was significantly higher in the presence of the MeOH extract, concentrating such components as caffeine and polyphenols, and thus the damage was enhanced both in the cells irradiated by low and high doses of UV. The DNA damage profile was consistent with the inhibitory profile of ATR, a key kinase of DNA damage checkpoint signaling. The AOB MeOH extract markedly reduced the phosphorylation level of the checkpoint proteins activated by UV, such as p53, SMC1 and Chk1, together with ATR. The inhibitory effect of the AOB water extract was less effective as compared to the MeOH extract, but was dose-dependent both in the cells irradiated with high and low doses of UV. The dual role of AOB as an antioxidant and a checkpoint modulator suggests its beneficial use in complementary medicine as a potential sensitizer of anticancer treatment.

Antioxidant effects of antioxidant biofactor on reactive oxygen species in human gingival fibroblasts

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of antioxidant biofactor (AOB) on reactive oxygen species (ROS). Generation of superoxide radical (O2•−) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) was determined using an electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trapping method. AOB was added at different concentrations to these free radical generating systems. The generation of both O2•− and •OH was scavenged by the addition of AOB in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that AOB has strong antioxidant properties against these radicals. We further investigated the anti-oxidative effect of AOB on human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs). HGFs were treated for 3 h with α-MEM containing a combination of AOB and H2O2 (AOB + H2O2 group), containing H2O2 (H2O2 group), or containing AOB alone (AOB group). Non-stimulated HGFs were used as a control group. The number of surviving cells was in the order of the AOB group > control group > AOB + H2O2 group > H2O2 group. The level of expression of type I collagen mRNA and production of collagen were also in the order of the AOB group > control group > AOB + H2O2 group > H2O2 group. In conclusion, our results suggest that AOB may protect HGFs against oxidative stress by reducing stress-induced ROS.

Long-term management of hepatitis C-seropositive subjects with AntiOxidant Biofactor (AOB), a fermented food supplement.

The efficacy of AntiOxidant Biofactor (AOB) for the management of apparently healthy subjects with chronic hepatitis C infection was investigated. A total of 60 subjects (35 males, 25 females) participated in the trial. AOB was given orally in 2 packs (3 g per pack) 3 times per day. 17 subjects had taken AOB for 3 years, 31 subjects up to 2 years, and 41 subjects up to one year. The initial mean (SD) serum alamine aminotransferase (ALT) level was 46.3+/-35.4 IU/L, and significant (p0.05, paired t-test) reductions in the mean serum ALT levels were observed at 6 months (38.6+/-21.5 IU/L), 18 months (31.9+/-18.1 IU/L), 2 years (31.2+/-14.6 IU/L), and 3 years (28.0+/-15.9 IU/L). Those presenting with high serum ALT levels (30 subjects) demonstrated significant levels (p0.05, paired t-test) of reduction in the mean serum ALT levels at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of treatment. No side effects were observed and the AOB treatment was well tolerated by all subjects.

Effect Of AOB (Antioxidant Biofactor) on the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species and Degranulation by High Affinity IgE Receptor Stimulation of Human Basophils

Effect Of AOB (Antioxidant Biofactor) on the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species and Degranulation by High Affinity IgE Receptor Stimulation of Human Basophils

Assessment of the antioxidant capacity of a fermented grain food product, Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB), by using pyranine and pyrogallol red as a combined probe

The role of antioxidants contained in foods, beverages, and supplements against oxidative stress has received much attention. The capacity of antioxidants has been assessed by various methods. In this study, the antioxidant capacity of a complex mixture of fermented grains has been assessed by using two probes, pyranine and pyrogallol red (PGR). A supplement commercialised as Antioxidant Biofactor, AOB, was used as a substrate. The extracts from AOB obtained with water and dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) inhibited the free radical-induced consumption of pyranine and PGR in a concentration-dependent manner. They also suppressed the free radical-induced oxidation of human plasma. It was estimated that 1 g of AOB contained, as Trolox equivalent, roughly 0.13 and 0.24 mmol (2.5 and 4.7 wt%) antioxidants, which could be extracted by water and DMSO, respectively. This study shows that the combination of the above two probes is useful for assessing the total content and activity of antioxidants contained in complex mixtures.

Antioxidant biofactor, a processed grain food, inhibits iron nitrilotriacetate–induced renal tumorigenesis, hyperproliferative response, and oxidative damage

We have evaluated the effect of dietary antioxidant, antioxidant biofactor (a processed grain food), on iron nitrilotriacetate-induced renal tumorigenesis, hyperproliferative response, and oxidative damage. In tumorigenesis studies, iron nitrilotriacetate alone treatment resulted in a development of 75% renal cell tumor incidence, whereas, in the group of animals fed with antioxidant biofactor diet and treated with iron nitrilotriacetate, only 43% of renal cell tumor incidence was observed. In oxidative damage studies, the decrease in the level of renal glutathione and antioxidant enzymes induced by iron nitrilotriacetate was significantly reversed by antioxidant biofactor diet pretreatment in a dose-dependent manner (18-71% recovery, P < 0.05). Antioxidant biofactor diet pretreatment also resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition (35-49% inhibition, P < 0.05) of iron nitrilotriacetate-induced lipid peroxidation as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances formation in renal tissues. Similarly, in hyperproliferation studies, antioxidant biofactor diet pretreatment showed a strong inhibition of iron nitrilotriacetate-induced renal ornithine decarboxylase activity (18-54% inhibition, P < 0.05). In addition, antioxidant biofactor fed diet pretreatment also protected the kidney tissues against observed histopathological alterations. From this data, it can be concluded that antioxidant biofactor diet can abrogate the toxic and tumor promoting effects of iron nitrilotriacetate and can serve as a potent chemopreventive agent to suppress oxidant-induced tissue injury and tumorigenesis.

Effect of AOB, a fermented‐grain food supplement, on oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic rats

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB) is a mixture of commercially available fermented grain foods and has strong antioxidant activity. This study investigated the effect of AOB supplementation of standard rat food on markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats with type 2 diabetes. Blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, plasma free fatty acid, triacylglycerol and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were significantly higher in OLETF rats than in non-diabetic control Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats at 29 weeks. AOB (6.5% of diet) was given to rats during 29-33 weeks of diabetic phase in OLETF rats. OLETF rats with AOB supplementation showed decreased blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, triacyglycerol, low density lipoprotein, cholesterol and PAI-1. Mitochondrial ROS production was significantly increased in heart, aorta, liver and renal artery of OLETF rats. Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is known to regulate ROS production. We found aortic UCP2 protein expression increased in OLETF rats, and AOB returned UCP2 expression to normal. Aortic endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) was also increased in OLETF rats more than in LETO rats at 33 weeks. In contrast, phosphorylated vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, an index of the NO-cGMP pathway, was significantly diminished. AOB increased eNOS proteins in LETO and OLETF rats. In conclusion, AOB significantly improved the NO-cGMP pathway via normalizing ROS generation in OLETF rats. The data suggest that dietary supplementation with AOB contributes to nutritional strategies for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Assessment of antioxidative activity of extract from fermented grain food mixture using chemical and cellular systems

Fermented food is a rich source of antioxidants and micronutrients with the potential to prevent various human diseases. The increasing evidence indicates that in addition to its direct action, radical-scavenging antioxidants may modulate the cellular antioxidant system such as glutathione. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidant activity of Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB) extracts, a mixture of commercially available fermented grain food by using chemical and cellular experimental systems. In the former system, the total radical scavenging capacity was assessed from the bleaching of pyranine and pyrogallol red that is induced by free radicals generated from an azo initiator. In this assay system, the radical scavenging capacity per gram of AOB was estimated to be 95 micromol. On the other hand, the cytoprotective effect of AOB was also investigated on the basis of PC12 cell death induced by 6-hydroxydopamine. In this cellular system, AOB extract exhibited a cytoprotective effect only when the cells were pretreated with AOB. This pretreatment resulted in a significant increase in the levels of cellular glutathione as well as regulator of glutathione synthesis, such as the cystine/glutamate exchange transport system (xCT). This evidence suggests that AOB possesses both direct and indirect antioxidant activities to cope with oxidative insults.

A Fermented Grain Food Product Extract Ameliorates Tumor Promoter-Induced Skin Oxidative Stress

We demonstrated that a dietary supplement, Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB®), a fermented grain food, inhibits phorbol ester (TPA)-induced inflammatory responses. Pretreatment of mouse skin with ethyl acetate extract of AOB (0.5mg) significantly attenuated the hydrogen peroxide level in mouse skin without inhibition of edema formation. Also, exposure of AOB extract to differentiated HL-60 cells resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of TPA-induced superoxide generation, which was stronger than those of the raw materials of AOB. Our results suggest that AOB is effective for prevention of skin oxidative stress.

Suppressive activity of a fermented grain food product on dextran sulfate sodium‐induced experimental colitis in mice

Oxidative stress has been shown to play pivotal roles in the onset of inflammatory bowel disease. We evaluated the effects of a dietary anti-oxidant, Antioxidant Biofactor (AOB), a processed grain food, on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Female ICR mice were fed a diet containing 0.1% or 1% AOB for 2 weeks, during which they were given 5% DSS in drinking water for the latter 1 week to induce colitis. A diet containing 1% AOB, but not that with 0.1% AOB, attenuated DSS-induced body weight loss and colon shortening (each, P < 0.05), and dramatically improved colitis histologic scores. In addition, DSS-induced increases in colonic mucosal IL-1beta, but not TNF-alpha, protein levels were significantly abrogated in 1% AOB-fed mice (P < 0.05). Further, 1% dietary AOB abolished the expression of IL-1beta mRNA levels in colonic mucosa (P < 0.01). Our results suggest that AOB is effective for the prevention of DSS-induced colitis in mice.

Fermented grain products, production, properties and benefits to health

Fermented foods such as Japanese traditional food “ miso (fermented soy bean paste)” have been shown to be rich source of micronutrients with the potential to prevent various human diseases. We have introduced effects of a new dietary supplement of fermented grain foods mixture containing extracts from wheat germ, soybeans, rice bran, tear grass, sesame, wheat, citrus lemon, green tea, green leaf extract and malted rice under the trade name of antioxidant biofactor (AOB). Chemical analysis of AOB shows the presence of various phenolic compounds (catechins, rutin, genistin, daidzin, etc.). AOB has strong antioxidant properties and additional biological effects, which might be of importance in context with the prevention of degenerative diseases. This paper focuses on the effect of supplementing AOB in various animal models and humans.

Amelioration of cisplatin toxicity by a fermented grain food product.

The most noticeable hypothesis regarding the pathogenesis of cisplatin toxicity, seen mainly in kidney and intestine, is oxidative stress, an imbalance between free-radical generating cisplatin and radical scavenging systems. This paper describes the role of the antioxidant system in cisplatin-induced toxicity and the protective effect by a processed grain food (Antioxidant Biofactor: AOB), which has been shown to exhibit strong antioxidant activity. Male Fischer 344 rats were used. They were pre-fed either a basal diet (control, 15 g/day) or the diet supplemented with AOB to provide 6.5% or 20% of total diet throughout the experiment. Cisplatin (5 mg/kg, i.v.) was administered at the start of the experiment, and the animals were sacrificed 5 days later. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and plasma creatinine, NO2(-) and NO3(-) (NOx) were determined from the plasma. The levels of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (a lipid peroxidation product), 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG, an oxidatively modified DNA adduct) and nitrotyrosine were histologically analyzed. The cisplatin administration resulted in a loss of body weight and elevations of BUN, serum creatinine and NOx levels, whereas AOB supplement reversed these effects. The severe morphological damages induced in the kidney and intestine by the cisplatin administration were markedly improved in the AOB group. The levels of lipid peroxidation, 8-OHdG, and nitrotyrosine all paralleled the morphological damage. The AOB effect was dose dependent. In conclusion, the present study suggests that certain food additives like AOB may be of benefit against the side effects of cisplatin.

A processed grain food inhibits hepatic injury in endotoxemic rats.

Although various antioxidants have been tested as therapeutics for endotoxemic subjects, the results of their efficacy are conflicting. Antioxidant biofactor (AOB) is a unique processed grain food that exhibits strong antioxidant activity (Minamiyama et al, J Nutr Sci Vitaminol, 40: 467-477, 1994). The present study was carried out to test the effect of AOB on hepatic injury in rats induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Intravenous administration of LPS induced liver injury with a concomitant increase in hepatic generation of nitric oxide (NO) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) modified proteins in the control group. The administration of AOB significantly inhibited the LPS-induced hepatic injury and generation of HNE-modified proteins and increased the survival rate of endotoxemic rats without affecting NO generation and plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). AOB scavenged superoxide radicals without affecting NO production by LPS-stimulated macrophage cell line J 774.2 cells. AOB also inhibited lipid peroxidation induced by LPS in the cells. These results suggested that AOB might scavenge superoxide radicals and decrease toxic metabolites including HNE, thereby inhibiting liver injury in endotoxemic rats.

Antioxidative effects of a processed grain food.

Antioxidant biofactor: AOB is a unique processed grain food. It is a yellow-green powder. It contains the following extracts: germ extracts, soybean, rice bran, tear grass, sesame, wheat, citron, green tea, green leaf extract, and malted rice. These materials were slowly roasted under a powdered oure at less than 60 degrees C and fermented with Aspergillus oryzae over 3 days to transform each ingredient into low molecular weight substances. These conditions were different by each material, environmental humidity and temperature. It probably contains a variety of substances having antioxidant activity including flavonoids, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin C, and tannins. We investigated its antioxidative properties using electron spin resonance (ESR) and autoxidation of rat brain homogenates. The superoxide, hydroxyl radical, and the stable free radical, diphenyl-p-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity of AOB was investigated using ESR spectrometry. In an in vitro study, a suspension of AOB was added directly to a superoxide generating system (hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase; HX/XO) and investigated using 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) as a spin trapping agent. At final concentrations of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 mg/ml, AOB dose-dependent scavenging activity was observed as 0.103, 0.619, and 1.369 U/ml, respectively. A concentration of 1.0 mg/ml completely scavenged DMPO-OOH signals; 1.0 mg/ml of AOB inhibited the DMPO-OH signal generated by Fenton's reaction, but its inhibitory effect was not competitive, and was inhibition of the Fenton's reaction. 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 mg/ml of AOB were significantly inhibited the DPPH radical. In an in vivo study, rats were fed AOB orally at doses of 1 or 5 g/day for 24 h or for 3 days and the superoxide scavenging activity was measured in plasma. With the administration of 1 g/day for 3 days, the superoxide scavenging activity was about 1.8 times that of the control group fed a basal diet; 1.5 times the control with 5 g/day for 1 day, and 2.6 times the control with 5 g/day for 3 days, all of which represented significant increases in superoxide scavenging activity. AOB strongly inhibited the autoxidation of rat brain homogenates in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. However, each ingredient before roast and fermentation little inhibited lipid peroxidation. Roasting and fermentation with A. oryzae way be important to transform each ingredient into low molecular weight substances. Therefore, it was suggested that AOB possesses strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.