Comparison between vegetarian versus omnivorous diet patterns on the effect of NRF2 pathway activation on endothelial cells

• Grant number: 15/20669-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2016
• End date: July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Valeria Cristina Sandrim
• Grantee: Naiara da Costa Cinegaglia
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

According to World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the main cause of mortality, responsible for ~31% of death worldwide. Studies involving health and nutrition showed that cardiovascular risk can be strongly modulated by diet, for example, the vegetarian diet. It has been shown that vegetarians have lower cardiovascular risk in comparison with omnivorous, which might be related to high antioxidants levels in this diet. Researches involving oxidative stress/antioxidants' plasmatic biomarkers, revealed an increase in the antioxidants levels of vegetarians. It's possible that the antioxidant's activity in this group may be related to transcription factor NRF2 activation, once it is activated by many phytochemicals. NRF2 modulates genes transcription associated with cellular antioxidants pathways as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPX-1). Furthermore, microRNAs (miRNAs) role have been shown in the regulation of cellular redox through gene expression modulation associated to NRF2 pathway. Knowing that NRF2 pathway is an important endogenous homeostatic mechanism associated to cardiovascular disease protection, the aim of this study is to evaluate whether the plasma of vegetarians could modulate NRF2 pathway in endothelial cells unlike omnivorous plasma. The cells will be grown in optimal conditions and incubated with vegetarians and omnivorous' plasma samples. Then, the genetic and protein expression of NRF2, pro-oxidants molecules, antioxidants, miRNA (let-7 family) and apoptotic process will be verified.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CINEGAGLIA, NAIARA; ANTONIAZZI, LUIZA; ROSA, DANIELA; MIRANDA, DEBORA; ACOSTA-NAVARRO, JULIO; BORTOLOTTO, LUIZ; HONG, VALERIA; SANDRIM, VALERIA. Shortening telomere is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis biomarker in omnivorous but not in vegetarian healthy men. AGING-US, v. 11, n. 14, p. 5070-5080, JUL 31 2019. (15/20669-8)

CINEGAGLIA, NAIARA; ACOSTA-NAVARRO, JULIO; RAINHO, CLAUDIA; ANTONIAZZI, LUIZA; MATTIOLI, SARAH; PIMENTEL, CAROLINE; SANTOS, RAUL D.; SANDRIM, VALERIA. Association of Omnivorous and Vegetarian Diets With Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms in Men. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION, v. 9, n. 12, JUN 16 2020. (15/20669-8, 15/20461-8)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CINEGAGLIA, Naiara da Costa. Comparison of vegetarian versus omnivorous diet patterns on the effect of NRF2 pathway activation on endothelial cells. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Botucatu Botucatu.