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. 2017 Jul 14;9(7):758.
doi: 10.3390/nu9070758.

Dietary Phytochemicals Promote Health by Enhancing Antioxidant Defence in a Pig Model

Sophie N B Selby-Pham  1   2 , Jeremy J Cottrell  3 , Frank R Dunshea  4 , Ken Ng  5 , Louise E Bennett  6 , Kate S Howell  7
Affiliations

Dietary Phytochemicals Promote Health by Enhancing Antioxidant Defence in a Pig Model

Sophie N B Selby-Pham et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Phytochemical-rich diets are protective against chronic diseases and mediate their protective effect by regulation of oxidative stress (OS). However, it is proposed that under some circumstances, phytochemicals can promote production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vitro, which might drive OS-mediated signalling. Here, we investigated the effects of administering single doses of extracts of red cabbage and grape skin to pigs. Blood samples taken at baseline and 30 min intervals for 4 hours following intake were analyzed by measures of antioxidant status in plasma, including Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. In addition, dose-dependent production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) by the same extracts was measured in untreated commercial pig plasma in vitro. Plasma from treated pigs showed extract dose-dependent increases in non-enzymatic (plasma TEAC) and enzymatic (GPx) antioxidant capacities. Similarly, extract dose-dependent increases in H₂O₂ were observed in commercial pig plasma in vitro. The antioxidant responses to extracts by treated pigs were highly correlated with their respective yields of H₂O₂ production in vitro. These results support that dietary phytochemicals regulate OS via direct and indirect antioxidant mechanisms. The latter may be attributed to the ability to produce H₂O₂ and to thereby stimulate cellular antioxidant defence systems.

Keywords: Landrace; glutathione peroxide; grape; hydrogen peroxide; piglet; plant extracts; porcine; reactive oxygen species; red cabbage; total antioxidant capacity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
“Functional fingerprints” of plant extracts predicting absorption in humans based on the PCAP model [41] and the LC-MS method [42]. Functional fingerprints of (a) red cabbage; and (b) grape skin extracts. Tmax, the time required for phytochemicals to reach their maximal plasma concentration.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of oral consumption of red cabbage extract on the plasma antioxidant status of pigs. Pigs consumed red cabbage extract at four doses in mg gallic acid equivalent/kg body weight: 0 (black circle), 2.22 (white circle), 4.44 (black triangle), and 11.11 (white triangle). Plasma antioxidant status was measured as: (a) plasma Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC); and (b) plasma glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activiy. Data points labelled “*” are significantly different from baseline at time 0 (p ≤ 0.05, Tukey’s test). Results represent the mean and error bars represent standard error of the mean (N = 3).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of oral consumption of grape skin extract on the plasma antioxidant status of pigs. Pigs consumed grape skin extract at four doses in mg gallic acid equivalent/kg body weight: 0 (black circle), 2.22 (white circle), 4.44 (black triangle), and 11.11 (white triangle). Plasma antioxidant status was measured as: (a) plasma Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC); and (b) plasma glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activiy. Data points labelled “*” are significantly different from baseline at time 0 (p ≤ 0.05, Tukey’s test). Results represent the mean and error bars represent standard error of the mean (N = 3).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Total plasma antioxidant capacity and glutathione peroxidase activity of pig plasma as a function of phytochemical dose and H2O2 production efficacy. Means across all pig plasma sampling time points (0.5 h interval for 4 h) of plasma TEAC versus (a) phytochemical doses and (b) H2O2 production efficacy. Means across all pig plasma sampling time points of plasma GPx activity versus (c) phytochemical doses and (d) H2O2 production efficacy. The H2O2 production (nmol/kg body weight) was calculated based on the yield of H2O2 production (nmol/µmol GAE) of the plant extracts in vitro (Table 1). Data points labelled “*” are significantly different from dose 0 (p ≤ 0.05, Tukey’s test). Data points labelled “#” are significantly different from the previous dose (p ≤ 0.05, Tukey’s test). Results represent the mean and error bars represent standard error of the mean (N = 27).
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