Worsening of Oxidative Stress, DNA Damage, and Atherosclerotic Lesions in Aged LDLr^-/- Mice after Consumption of Guarana Soft Drinks

Abstract

Background. Excessive consumption of soft drinks (SD) has become a health problem worldwide due to its association with related cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the possible impacts associated with the consumption of Brazilian guarana (normal and zero) SD in dyslipidemic mice, thus mitigating potential clinical confounders such as poor-quality diet, lifestyle, body composition, and/or comorbidities. Methods. Sixteen-month-old LDLr-/- mice were divided into the following groups: (1) control; (2) GSD: normal guarana SD; and (3) Z-GSD: zero guarana SD. All were fed ad libitum, and blood pressure was measured noninvasively. After 8 weeks, aorta, blood, liver, and stomach samples were collected for histological and biochemical analyses. Results. Guarana soft drinks increased atherosclerosis (~60%) and were associated with hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, oxidative stress, DNA fragmentation, and apoptosis (~2-fold) of blood cells, besides presenting an increase in liver and gastric damage even in normoglycemia. Interestingly, Z-GSD did not cause the aforementioned changes, except in hemodynamic and renal parameters. Conclusions. Chronic administration of GSD is prooxidative, compromising the cardiovascular, gastric, and hepatic systems; the effects are due at least in part to free sugar consumption but not to guarana extract per se.

The Emerging Scenario of the Gut–Brain Axis: The Therapeutic Actions of the New Actor Kefir against Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…Although physiological low oxidant exposure normally requires redox control and cell signaling, supraphysiological concentrations address unspecific targets and lead to the inhibition of mitochondrial functions and structural modification of lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and not the least, damage to DNA [ 74 , 89 , 101 , 102 , 103 ]. For example, lipid peroxidation triggered by ROS culminates in crescent loss of membrane fluidity accompanied by an increase in permeability to Ca 2+ and a membrane potential drop.…”

“…Currently, oxidative stress is researched by traditional indirect methods and is also explored in neurodegenerative diseases by evaluating products of lipid peroxidation (e.g., malondialdehyde [ 106 , 107 ] and 4-hydroxynonenal [ 108 ]), products of oxidized proteins (e.g., advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP)) [ 40 ], and by “comet assay”, an efficient tool to measure DNA breaks at the single-cell level [ 101 , 103 , 109 , 110 , 111 ]. Furthermore, direct methods of detection were adopted using confocal and live-cell imaging, flow cytometry, and/or HPLC methods (for more details, see Dikalov et al, 2014 [ 112 ]), enabling the investigation of the distinct participation of O 2 •− , H 2 O 2 and •OH/OONO •− species [ 40 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 ]. Since these assays show high analytical sensitivity and precision, indirect and direct methods are complementary tools to investigate possible therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerative diseases, as discussed later.…”

Gut Microbiota, Diet, and Chronic Diseases: The Role Played by Oxidative Stress

“…The translational original paper presented by L. A. Chisté et al [6] is related with novel insights about the prooxidative and genotoxic effect of sugar-sweetened soft drinks (but not zero soft drinks) and other questions that remain to be addressed concerning the consumption of commercial beverages. This innovative investigation conducted in the laboratory of Pereira and Campagnaro, using a mouse model of dyslipidemia, may effectively provide a basis for further experimental and clinical studies to explore the association between the consumption of soft drinks and metabolic diseases.…”