Nutraceutical activity of bioactive molecules obtained from vegetal compounds

The most recent experimental results have identified neuroinflammation as the main causes of the development of chronic degenerative diseases in the central nervous system (CNS), such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The aim of complementary medicine is to provide support to traditional pharmacology by limiting disease progression through anti-inflammatory as well as anti-oxidant treatments. We have recently demonstrated the presence of wheat-derived bioactive compounds capable of polarizing LPS-stimulated microglial cells toward an anti- inflammatory phenotype. We evaluated the nutraceutical activity of durum wheat extracts obtained from the ancient cultivar “Senatore Cappelli” on microglial polarization by analyzing the mRNA expression of M1 and M2 markers such as iNOS, COX2, ARG-1 and CD206 and pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 by real-time PCR. Experiments were carried on BV2 microglia cells pretreated with extracts derived from the ancient cultivar “Senatore Cappelli” at the concentrations chosen from the cytotoxicity curves in the presence or absence of LPS. Through immunofluorescence experiments, we evaluated the ability of durum wheat extracts to reverse the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype into the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. In addition, cytotoxicity and mRNA expression analyses of anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines of extracts derived from samples of “Tomato variety Pera D'Abruzzo” and “Tomato variety Riccio di Parma.” are also underway. Our preclinical studies underscore the possibility of isolating bioactive compounds from waste products of agricultural and industrial processing. The molecules we have analyzed so far have shown to possess phytochemical and nutraceutical properties to counteract inflammation in the CNS.