The Inhibition Effect of the Seaweed Polyphenol, 7-Phloro-Eckol from <i>Ecklonia Cava</i> on Alcohol-Induced Oxidative Stress in HepG2/CYP2E1 Cells

• Main Authors: Liyuan Lin, Shengtao Yang, Zhenbang Xiao, Pengzhi Hong, Shengli Sun, Chunxia Zhou, Zhong-Ji Qian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Marine Drugs
• Subjects: 7-phloro-eckol; HepG2/CYP2E1 cells; oxidative stress; apoptosis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/19/3/158

The liver is vulnerable to oxidative stress-induced damage, which leads to many diseases, including alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Liver disease endanger people’s health, and the incidence of ALD is increasing; therefore, prevention is very important. 7-phloro-eckol (7PE) is a seaweed polyphenol, which was isolated from <i>Ecklonia cava</i> in a previous study. In this study, the antioxidative stress effect of 7PE on HepG2/CYP2E1 cells was evaluated by alcohol-induced cytotoxicity, DNA damage, and expression of related inflammation and apoptosis proteins. The results showed that 7PE caused alcohol-induced cytotoxicity to abate, reduced the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), and effectively inhibited DNA damage in HepG2/CYP2E1 cells. Additionally, the expression levels of glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and Akt increased, while γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), Bcl-2 related x (Bax), cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and JNK decreased. Finally, molecular docking proved that 7PE could bind to BCL-2 and GSH protein. These results indicate that 7PE can alleviate the alcohol-induced oxidative stress injury of HepG2 cells and that 7PE may have a potential application prospect in the future development of antioxidants.