Supplementation with a punicalagin-rich pomegranate extract may protect skeletal muscle against an acute inflammation. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Pomegranate extract prevents skeletal muscle of mice against wasting induced by acute TNF-α injection.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Nov 2. Epub 2016 Aug 2. PMID: 27804206
Julie Rodriguez
SCOPE: We investigated whether punicalagin-rich pomegranate extract (PE) protects skeletal muscle of mice against inflammation induced by an acute injection of TNF-α.
RESULTS: Mice fed with PE or standard chow during six weeks were injected with TNF-α (100 ng/g) or vehicle and sacrificed six hours later. Prior supplementation with PE prevented the loss of tibialis anterior mass induced by TNF-α. In skeletal muscle, the activation of the NF-κB signaling and the induction of cytokines mRNA were reduced in mice having received PE. In those mice, the activity of the Akt/mTORC1 pathway and the protein synthesis were maintained after TNF-α injection whereas markers involved in the ubiquitin proteasome pathway were less activated. As urolithin A was the only punicalagin metabolite detectable in plasma of mice supplemented with PE, we performed in vitro experiments using a murine cell line (C2C12) to provide evidence that urolithin A is likely the active compound protecting skeletal muscle against TNF-α-induced inflammation.
CONCLUSION (FOCUS ON NUTRITIONAL RELEVANCE): These results suggest that supplementation with a punicalagin-rich pomegranate extract may protect skeletal muscle against an acute inflammation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.