Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes
Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) is an orphan crop that is widely grown in East Africa, primarily in Ethiopia as a staple crop. It is becoming popular in the Western world owing to its nutritious and gluten-free grains and the forage quality of its biomass. Tef is also considered to have a hi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Antioxidants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/12/8/1561 |
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| author | Christopher J. Cotter Allison J. Wright Anastasia V. Romanov Tyler N. Graf Eric D. Whisnant Laura Flores-Bocanegra Megan S. Doldron Nicholas H. Oberlies Zhenquan Jia Ayalew Ligaba-Osena |
| author_facet | Christopher J. Cotter Allison J. Wright Anastasia V. Romanov Tyler N. Graf Eric D. Whisnant Laura Flores-Bocanegra Megan S. Doldron Nicholas H. Oberlies Zhenquan Jia Ayalew Ligaba-Osena |
| author_sort | Christopher J. Cotter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) is an orphan crop that is widely grown in East Africa, primarily in Ethiopia as a staple crop. It is becoming popular in the Western world owing to its nutritious and gluten-free grains and the forage quality of its biomass. Tef is also considered to have a high antioxidant capacity based on cell-free studies. However, the antioxidant activity of tef has never been validated using a physiologically relevant cell model. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity of tef grain extracts using a mammalian cell model. We hypothesized that the tef grain extracts are capable of modulating the cellular antioxidant response via the modulation of glutathione (GSH) biosynthetic pathways. Therefore, we evaluated the antioxidant activity of purified tef grain extracts in the human acute monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cell line. Our findings revealed that the organic fraction of grain extracts increased the cellular GSH level, which was more evident for brown-colored tef than the ivory variety. Moreover, a brown-tef fraction increased the expressions of GSH-pathway genes, including γ-glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic (<i>GCLC</i>) and modifier (<i>GCLM</i>) subunits and glutathione reductase (<i>GR</i>), an enzyme that plays a key role in GSH biosynthesis, suggesting that tef extracts may modulate GSH metabolism. Several compounds were uniquely identified via mass spectrometry (MS) in GSH-modulating brown-tef samples, including 4-oxo-β-apo-13-carotenone, γ-linolenic acid (methyl ester), 4,4′-(2,3-dimethyl-1,4-butanediyl)bis-phenol (also referred to as 8,8′-lignan-4,4′-diol), and (3β)-3-[[2-[4-(Acetylamino)phenoxy]acetyl]oxy]olean-12-en-28-oic acid. Tef possesses antioxidant activity due to the presence of phytochemicals that can act as direct antioxidants, as well as modulators of antioxidant-response genes, indicating its potential role in alleviating diseases triggered by oxidative stresses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report revealing the antioxidant ability of tef extracts in a physiologically relevant human cell model. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:10:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b71d3f3606e348a7a77c0c46fe7ba5c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3921 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:10:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antioxidants |
| spelling | doaj.art-b71d3f3606e348a7a77c0c46fe7ba5c62023-11-19T00:01:53ZengMDPI AGAntioxidants2076-39212023-08-01128156110.3390/antiox12081561Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 MonocytesChristopher J. Cotter0Allison J. Wright1Anastasia V. Romanov2Tyler N. Graf3Eric D. Whisnant4Laura Flores-Bocanegra5Megan S. Doldron6Nicholas H. Oberlies7Zhenquan Jia8Ayalew Ligaba-Osena9Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USADepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USALaboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USADepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USALaboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USADepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USALaboratory of Molecular Toxicology, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USADepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USALaboratory of Molecular Toxicology, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USALaboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USATef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) is an orphan crop that is widely grown in East Africa, primarily in Ethiopia as a staple crop. It is becoming popular in the Western world owing to its nutritious and gluten-free grains and the forage quality of its biomass. Tef is also considered to have a high antioxidant capacity based on cell-free studies. However, the antioxidant activity of tef has never been validated using a physiologically relevant cell model. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity of tef grain extracts using a mammalian cell model. We hypothesized that the tef grain extracts are capable of modulating the cellular antioxidant response via the modulation of glutathione (GSH) biosynthetic pathways. Therefore, we evaluated the antioxidant activity of purified tef grain extracts in the human acute monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cell line. Our findings revealed that the organic fraction of grain extracts increased the cellular GSH level, which was more evident for brown-colored tef than the ivory variety. Moreover, a brown-tef fraction increased the expressions of GSH-pathway genes, including γ-glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic (<i>GCLC</i>) and modifier (<i>GCLM</i>) subunits and glutathione reductase (<i>GR</i>), an enzyme that plays a key role in GSH biosynthesis, suggesting that tef extracts may modulate GSH metabolism. Several compounds were uniquely identified via mass spectrometry (MS) in GSH-modulating brown-tef samples, including 4-oxo-β-apo-13-carotenone, γ-linolenic acid (methyl ester), 4,4′-(2,3-dimethyl-1,4-butanediyl)bis-phenol (also referred to as 8,8′-lignan-4,4′-diol), and (3β)-3-[[2-[4-(Acetylamino)phenoxy]acetyl]oxy]olean-12-en-28-oic acid. Tef possesses antioxidant activity due to the presence of phytochemicals that can act as direct antioxidants, as well as modulators of antioxidant-response genes, indicating its potential role in alleviating diseases triggered by oxidative stresses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report revealing the antioxidant ability of tef extracts in a physiologically relevant human cell model.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/12/8/1561<i>Eragrostis tef</i>grain extractsantioxidant activityglutathione-pathway genesphytochemicals |
| spellingShingle | Christopher J. Cotter Allison J. Wright Anastasia V. Romanov Tyler N. Graf Eric D. Whisnant Laura Flores-Bocanegra Megan S. Doldron Nicholas H. Oberlies Zhenquan Jia Ayalew Ligaba-Osena Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes Antioxidants <i>Eragrostis tef</i> grain extracts antioxidant activity glutathione-pathway genes phytochemicals |
| title | Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes |
| title_full | Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes |
| title_short | Evaluating the Antioxidant Properties of the Ancient-Crop Tef (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Grain Extracts in THP-1 Monocytes |
| title_sort | evaluating the antioxidant properties of the ancient crop tef i eragrostis tef i grain extracts in thp 1 monocytes |
| topic | <i>Eragrostis tef</i> grain extracts antioxidant activity glutathione-pathway genes phytochemicals |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/12/8/1561 |
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