Cyperus esculentus L. Tubers (Tiger Nuts) Protect Epithelial Barrier Function in Caco-2 Cells Infected by Salmonella Enteritidis and Promote Lactobacillus plantarum Growth

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 71
• Main Authors: Moral-Anter, David, Campo-Sabariz, Joan, Ferrer, Ruth, Martín-Venegas, Raquel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28.12.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Agglutination; Antibodies; bacterial agglutination; Caco-2 Cells; Cyperus; Cyperus esculentus; Electrical resistivity; Epithelial Cells; Functional Food; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; H2O2; Health Promotion; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide; Intestine; Lactobacilli; Lactobacillus plantarum; Lactobacillus plantarum - physiology; Nuts; Nuts - chemistry; Occludin; Oxidative Stress; paracellular permeability; Permeability; Permeability - drug effects; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Tubers; Protective Agents - pharmacology; Proteins; Reactive Oxygen Species; Salmonella; Salmonella enteritidis - drug effects; Salmonella Infections - prevention & control; Scanning electron microscopy; Tight Junction Proteins; TNFα; Tubers; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - metabolism; Tumor necrosis factor-α; ZO-1; Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Germany; Spain; bacterial agglutination; TNFα; occludin; ZO-1; H2O2; paracellular permeability
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13010071

L. tubers (tiger nuts) contain different compounds with several intestinal health-promoting properties. Here, we studied the capacity of tiger nuts from Valencia, Spain, to prevent epithelial barrier function disruption induced by enteritidis in Caco-2 cell cultures. Paracellular permeability was assessed by transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and tight junction protein immunolocalization. Moreover, the effect of tiger nuts on enteritidis agglutination, oxidative stress, and growth was tested. Compared to controls, tiger nuts partially restored TER in enteritidis-infected cultures, an effect confirmed by immunolocalization of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin. The results also revealed that this protective effect may be associated with the capacity to agglutinate the pathogen, restore TER in TNFα-stimulated cultures, and reduce reactive oxygen species in H O -stimulated cultures. Moreover, they favor growth. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the tiger nut protects epithelial barrier function by reducing bacterial invasion, along with counteracting TNFα and H O effects, thus giving an additional value to this tuber as a potential functional food.