Affiliations: Health Technology Research Center, National Institute
of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Ikeda, Osaka,
Japan | Department of Agrobioscience, Graduate School of
Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan | Department of Medical Life Systems, Faculty of Medical
and Life Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyotanabe, Kyoto, Japan
Abstract: 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^{TM}) 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 μmol.
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.
