Research

An iron-based beverage, HydroFerrate fluid (MRN-100), alleviates oxidative stress in murine lymphocytes in vitro

Mamdooh Ghoneum^1* , Motohiro Matsuura² and Sastry Gollapudi^3*

¹  Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Department of Otolaryngology, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA

²  Jichi Medical University, School of Medicine, Department of Infection and Immunity, Tochigi, 329-0498, Japan

³  University of California, Irvine, Division of Basic and Clinical Immunology, Irvine, California 92697, USA

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

Nutrition Journal 2009, 8:18doi:10.1186/1475-2891-8-18

Published:	2 May 2009

Abstract

Background

Several studies have examined the correlation between iron oxidation and H₂O₂ degradation. The present study was carried out to examine the protective effects of MRN-100 against stress-induced apoptosis in murine splenic cells in vitro. MRN-100, or HydroFerrate fluid, is an iron-based beverage composed of bivalent and trivalent ferrates.

Methods

Splenic lymphocytes from mice were cultured in the presence or absence of MRN-100 for 2 hrs and were subsequently exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) at a concentration of 25 μM for 14 hrs. Percent cell death was examined by flow cytometry and trypan blue exclusion. The effect of MRN-100 on Bcl-2 and Bax protein levels was determined by Western blot.

Results

Results show, as expected, that culture of splenic cells with H₂O₂ alone results in a significant increase in cell death (apoptosis) as compared to control (CM) cells. In contrast, pre-treatment of cells with MRN-100 followed by H₂O₂ treatment results in significantly reduced levels of apoptosis.

In addition, MRN-100 partially prevents H₂O₂-induced down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-2 and upregulation of the pro-apoptotic molecule Bax.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that MRN-100 may offer a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in lymphocytes.