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Inhibition of angiogenesis and inflammation by a xanthohumolenriched
beer in a rat skin-wound healing model
Costa R. 1 , Magalhães P.J. 2 , Duarte D. 1 , Taveira T. 1 , Mendanha M. 1 , Soares R. 1 and Negrão
R. 1
1 Department of Biochemistry (U38/FCT), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal
2 REQUIMTE – Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal
Xanthohumol (XN), the principal flavonoid of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus L.) and a
constituent of beer, has been suggested to have potential cancer chemopreventive activities [1].
Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, in adulthood is
localized and self-limited in time, as happens in tissue regeneration, and it is closed related
with inflammatory process [2]. It is well known that most cancer chemopreventive agents show
antiangiogenic properties in vitro and in vivo, a concept we termed “angioprevention” [3].
Our aim was to evaluate the effects of a XN-enriched beer on angiogenesis and inflammation,
in the skin-wound healing process.
For skin wound-healing assay, two full skin-thickness longitudinal incisions were created on
the dorsal skin of Wistar rats, after the consumption of a stout beer enriched with 10 mg XN /L
and a control stout beer (without XN) during 30 days. Beverages consumption was maintained
until day 7 after skin incisions. The number of vessels formed in the incision area (vWF
staining), and the nitric oxide (NO) release , N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) activity and IL-
1β content in serum were measured. Statistical difference between various groups was
evaluated by ANOVA followed by the Bonferroni test. Student’s t-test was used for
comparison between two groups. Differences were considered significant whenever p< 0.05.
The consumption of XN-enriched beer led to decreased number of vessels formed and decrease
NAG activity, NO released as well as IL-1β content. The in vivo modulation of angiogenic and
inflammatory effects by XN occurred in accordance with our previous in vitro results and also
occurred when XN is topically administered in the same in vivo model.
The nutritional supplementation of beer with XN manifested anti-angiogenic and antiinflammatory
properties. These findings emphasize the cross-talk between angiogenesis and
inflammation and, provide clues to the development of useful therapeutic agents against
inflammation- and angiogenesis-associated pathologies. These findings also suggest that these
polyphenols may affect wound healing process, in what concerns inflammation and
angiogenesis, by gastrointestinal administration. These health-promoting properties of XN can
be interesting to the brewing community, concerning the production of XN-enriched beers.
Supported by FCT (SFRH/BD/41888/2007 and SFRH/BD/27834/2006), iBeSa (P10-08) and
University of Porto/Santander Totta.
References:
[1] P.J. Magalhães, D.O. Carvalho, J.M. Cruz, L.F. Guido, A.A. Barros, Nat. Prod. Communications, 4
(2009), 591-610.
[2] C. Costa, J. Incio, R. Soares, Angiogenesis 10 (2007), 149-66.
[3] A. Albini, R. Dell’Eva, R. Vené, N. Ferrari, D.R. Buhler, D.M. Noonan, G. Fassina, The FASEB
Journal, 20 (2006) 527-529.
284 3 rd meeting of young researchers at UP