Chlorogenic Acid Alleviated AFB1-Induced Hepatotoxicity by Regulating Mitochondrial Function, Activating Nrf2/HO-1, and Inhibiting Noncanonical NF-κB Signaling Pathway

Qianqian Wang; Tianxu Liu; Matthew Koci; Yanan Wang; Yutong Fu; Mingxin Ma; Qiugang Ma; Lihong Zhao

doi:10.3390/antiox12122027

Chlorogenic Acid Alleviated AFB1-Induced Hepatotoxicity by Regulating Mitochondrial Function, Activating Nrf2/HO-1, and Inhibiting Noncanonical NF-κB Signaling Pathway

Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Nov 22;12(12):2027. doi: 10.3390/antiox12122027.

Authors

Qianqian Wang¹, Tianxu Liu¹, Matthew Koci², Yanan Wang¹, Yutong Fu¹, Mingxin Ma¹, Qiugang Ma¹, Lihong Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, Poultry Nutrition and Feed Technology Innovation Team, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, No. 2. West Road Yuanming Yuan, Beijing 100193, China.
² Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.

Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a kind of mycotoxin, imposes acute or chronic toxicity on humans and causes great public health concerns. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a natural phenolic substance, shows a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect. This study was conducted to investigate the effect and mechanism of CGA on alleviating cytotoxicity induced by AFB1 in L-02 cells. The results showed that CGA (160 μM) significantly recovered cell viability and cell membrane integrity in AFB1-treated (8 μM) cells. Furthermore, it was found that CGA reduced AFB1-induced oxidative injury by neutralizing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activating the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signaling pathway. In addition, CGA showed anti-inflammatory effects as it suppressed the expression of inflammation-related genes (IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) and AFB1-induced noncanonical nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation. Moreover, CGA mitigated AFB1-induced apoptosis by maintaining the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and inhibiting mRNA expressions of Caspase-3, Caspase-8, Bax, and Bax/Bcl-2. These findings revealed a possible mechanism: CGA prevents AFB1-induced cytotoxicity by maintaining mitochondrial membrane potential, activating Nrf2/HO-1, and inhibiting the noncanonical NF-κB signaling pathway, which may provide a new direction for the application of CGA.

Keywords: aflatoxin B1; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; chlorogenic acid; hepatotoxicity; mitochondrial function.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31972604), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Program No. 2021YFC2103003), and the Youth Elite Development Program (Grade A) of the College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University.