Antioxidant effects of Lactobacillus plantarum via activation of transcription factor Nrf2

The present study was undertaken to investigate antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects, as well as its molecular mechanism of wild Lactobacillus plantarum FC225 isolated from fermented cabbages. The scavenging activities of superoxide anion radical, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical were enhanced by FC225 treatment. The strain FC225 also attenuated hyperlipidemic status, decreased lipid peroxidation, plasma cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in high fat diet-fed mice. Meanwhile, FC225 therapy could significantly elevate the activities of superoxidase dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and decrease the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver homogenates, whereas there was no change in catalase activity in high fat diet-fed mice. In addition, compared with the control group, FC225 markedly elevated the gene expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which was in parallel with the increased value of CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the FC225-treated hyperlipidemic mice. The results demonstrated that the strain FC225 confers hypolipidemic and antioxidant protective effects which may be attributable to Nrf2 signal pathway mediated antioxidant enzyme expression.