The Protective Effects of Carrageenan Oligosaccharides on Intestinal Oxidative Stress Damage of Female Drosophila melanogaster

Carrageenan oligosaccharides (COS) have been reported to possess excellent antioxidant activities, but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, H2O2 was applied to trigger oxidative stress. The results showed that the addition of COS could effectively extend the lifespan of female Drosophila, which was associated with improvements by COS on the antioxidant defense system, including a decrease in MDA, the enhanced activities of SOD and CAT, the reduction of ROS in intestinal epithelial cells, and the up-regulation of antioxidant-relevant genes (GCL, GSTs, Nrf2, SOD). Meanwhile, the axenic female Drosophila fed with COS showed almost no improvement in the above measurements after H2O2 treatment, which highlighted the antioxidant mechanism of COS was closely related to intestinal microorganisms. Then, 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing was applied and the result showed that the addition of COS in diets contributed to the diversity and abundance of intestinal flora in H2O2 induced female Drosophila. Moreover, COS significantly inhibited the expression of gene mTOR, elevated its downstream gene 4E-BP, and further inhibited autophagy-relevant genes (AMPK alpha, Atg1, Atg5, Atg8a) in H2O2 induced female Drosophila. The inhibition of the mTOR pathway and the activation of autophagy was probably mediated by the antioxidant effects of COS. These results provide potential evidence for further understanding of COS as an intestinal antioxidant.

Automated summary

Carrageenan oligosaccharides (COS) have been found to extend the lifespan of female Drosophila by improving antioxidant defense system. Additionally, COS contributes to the diversity and abundance of intestinal flora in H2O2-induced female Drosophila. The antioxidant mechanism of COS may be closely related to intestinal microorganisms and involve inhibition of the mTOR pathway and activation of autophagy.