Valutazione dei meccanismi coinvolti nell'effetto biologico delle antocianine ottenute da Vaccinium myrtillus L. utilizzando Caenorhabditis elegans come modello.

This study was carried out in the laboratory of Prof. Celestino Santos-Buelga, at the Nutrition and Bromatology Unit of the Pharmacy Faculty (University of Salamanca, Spain), in the ambit of Erasmus+ program in which Federica Pellati is the coordinator at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.Anthocyanins are a class of crucial phenolic compounds that are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables. In addition to their fundamental importance in the plant kingdom as natural colorants, they are widely used for their numerous beneficial effects on human health. Factors affecting stability, mode of action and storage are extensively detailed in studies nowadays for the possible applications of anthocyanins in various sectors. Anthocyanins are abundantly known for their antioxidant power against reactive oxygen species (ROS) including free radicals, singlet oxygen and peroxides that are generated in the body. ROS are useful for explaining body functions in normal health conditions however if they are produced in excess they can provoke cellular damage, leading to degenerative diseases such as inflammation, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and aging. A diet rich in antioxidant compounds with intracellular antioxidant defences can allow the maintenance of an adequate antioxidant balance in the body. For this purpose, numerous studies have been carried out to investigate the potential use of anthocyanin-rich food. In this context previous studies carried out in the same laboratory have demonstrated that anthocyanins increase the oxidative resistance of the model organism C. elegans.The aim of this work concerns the study of the potential mechanism of action with which an anthocyanin extract from Vaccinium myrtillus is able to exert its antioxidant capacity in C. elegans. “Appennino Modenese e Tosco-Emiliano” is the area where the samples of bilberries employed in this research were harvested and where they grow as wild plants. Since previous study carried out in the laboratory had confirmed the uptake of the extract by the nematode, C. elegans was used for checking out the increase of the resistance to thermal stress through the exposure to 35 °C for 6 and 8 hours. In particular, to hypothesize the possible mechanism of action of the extract, tests were carried out using mutant strains of hsf-1 and daf-16 nematodes, both without transcription factors involved in the insulin pathway. These mutants were chosen because previous studies have shown that the action mediated by the anthocyanins may involves the DAF-2 pathway (IIS) in C. elegans however their precise mechanisms of action have not been yet elucidated. At the moment it can be hypothesized that more pathways can be involved in the overall effect mediated by anthocyanins, demonstrating greater importance than the general mechanism mediated by their properties as antioxidants and radical scavenging.