Peptide Isolated from Noni Seeds Confers Gastroprotective Effect by Improving Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Mice

• DOI: 10.1007/s10989-022-10440-y
• Publication Date: 2022-07-22T09:03:08Z
• Authors: Francisca Cristia...; Andréa Santos Costa; Dyély de Carvalho...; Rodolpho Glauber ...; Álvaro Xavier Franco; Pedro Marcos Gome...; Raquel de Oliveir...; Renan Oliveira Si...; Nylane Maria Nune...; Marcellus Henriqu...; Hermógenes David ...
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; 3. Good health

Abstract Plant molecules are continuously investigated to prevent and treat inflammatory and ulcerative disorders associated with the gastrointestinal tract, such as gastritis, colitis, mucositis, and ulcer. However, most of the work published is devoted to investigating the therapeutic properties of secondary plant metabolites. This work investigated the gastroprotective activity of a lipid transfer protein isolated from Morinda citrifolia L., named McLTP1, when orally administered to mice, from the perspective of its use as a novel peptide-based drug for the prevention and treatment of ulcerative gastric lesions. Pretreatment with McLTP1 at different doses (4, 8, or 16 mg/kg) reduced ethanol-induced gastric lesions (p < 0.05) in 40%, 84%, and 88%, respectively. In ethanol-induced gastric lesions, it was demonstrated alterations in levels of GSH (↑100%; p < 0.05) and a reduction by 45% in the levels of MDA (p < 0.05) after McLTP1 administration (8 mg/kg). McLTP1 showed an anti-inflammatory effect through the modulation of the cytokines IL- 10 (↑33%) and TNF-α (↓54%) and was able to reduce MPO levels (↓95%) in the gastric tissue. Besides, the gastroprotective of McLTP1 also involves the production of nitric oxide. The present findings reveal that McLTP1 has a gastroprotective effect dependent, at least in part, on its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.