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Cocoa Flavanols Protect Human Endothelial Cells from Oxidative Stress

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Abstract

Oxidative stress may cause functional disorders of vascular endothelia which can lead to endothelial apoptosis and thus alter the function and structure of the vascular tissues. Plant antioxidants protect the endothelium against oxidative stress and then become an effective option to treat vascular diseases. Cocoa flavanols have been proven to protect against oxidative stress in cell culture and animal models. In addition, epidemiological and interventional studies strongly suggest that cocoa consumption has numerous beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. The objective of this study was to test the chemo-protective effect of realistic concentrations of a cocoa phenolic extract and its main monomeric flavanol epicatechin on cultured human endothelial cells submitted to an oxidative challenge. Both products efficiently restrained stress-induced reactive oxygen species and biomarkers of oxidative stress such as carbonyl groups and malondialdehyde, and recovered depleted glutathione, antioxidant defences and cell viability. Our results demonstrate for the first time that a polyphenolic extract from cocoa and its main flavonoid protect human endothelial cells against an oxidative insult by modulating oxygen radical generation and antioxidant enzyme and non-enzyme defences.

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Abbreviations

CPE:

cocoa polyphenolic extract

CVD:

cardiovascular disease

DCF:

2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein

DCFH:

2′,7′-dichlorohydrofluorescein

DMEM:

Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium

DMSO:

dimethyl sulfoxide

DNPH:

dinitrophenylhydrazone

EC:

epicatechin

FBS:

foetal bovine serum

GPx:

glutathione peroxidase

GR:

glutathione reductase

GSH:

reduced glutathione

LDL:

low density lipoprotein

MDA:

malondialdehyde

NADPH:

nicotine adenine dinucleotide phosphate reduced salt

NO:

nitric oxide

OPT:

o-phthaldialdehyde

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

t-BOOH:

tert-butylhydroperoxide

TEP:

1,1,3,3-tetraethoxypropane

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Acknowledgements

Tatiane Ferreira-Martins is a fellow of the University of São Paulo. D. Álvarez-Cilleros is a FPI fellow from the predoctoral program of MINECO (BES-2016-076721).

Availability of data and material (data transparency).

Not applicable.

Code availability (software application or custom code).

Not applicable.

Funding

This work was supported by the grant AGL 2015–67087-R (MINECO/FEDER, UE) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil

    Tatiane Ferreira Martins

  2. Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Olga M. Palomino

  3. Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Institute of Science and Food Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN – CSIC), José Antonio Novais 10, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    David Álvarez-Cilleros, María Angeles Martín, Sonia Ramos & Luis Goya

  4. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain

    María Angeles Martín

Authors
  1. Tatiane Ferreira Martins
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  2. Olga M. Palomino
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  3. David Álvarez-Cilleros
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  4. María Angeles Martín
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  5. Sonia Ramos
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  6. Luis Goya
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Contributions

TFM and LG carried out most of the experimental and data analysis. OP carried out and analyzed MDA assay. SR carried out and analyzed data from carbonyl groups. DAC and MAM contributed to the critical revision of the manuscript. LG conceived and designed the study and wrote the manuscript with significant contributions from all other authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis Goya.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Martins, T.F., Palomino, O.M., Álvarez-Cilleros, D. et al. Cocoa Flavanols Protect Human Endothelial Cells from Oxidative Stress. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 75, 161–168 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-020-00807-1

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