Anti-Inflammatory Activity and ROS-Inhibitory Effect of Gomphrenin-Enriched Preparations

Background/Objectives: Betanidin glycosides (betacyanins) are plant dietary pigments with reported significant benefits on human health. Betacyanin research has largely focused on betanin common in some plant foods like beets, amaranth, quinoa, cacti fruits, whereas the biological properties of structurally diverse gomphrenin derivatives remain insufficiently characterized. Gomphrenin-type betacyanin dietary source is predominantly Malabar spinach (Basella alba L.) but its health-promoting and disease-preventing properties remain understudied. This study investigated whether differences in the composition of gomphrenin-rich preparations influence their effects on inflammatory and oxidative cellular responses.

Methods

Betacyanin-rich preparations were obtained from Basella alba f. rubra fruits and Gomphrena globosa L. flowers using chromatographic purification. Their betacyanin profiles were characterized by LC-DAD-ESI-MS and total betacyanin contents were determined spectrophotometrically. The biological effects of crude and purified preparations (1-100 μg/mL) were evaluated in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells and human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN). IL-8 secretion in Caco-2 cells, TNF-α, IL-8, and IL-1β secretion in LPS-stimulated PMN, ROS generation in f-MLP-stimulated PMN, and cell viability were assessed.