title: Monascus-fermented dioscorea enhances oxidative stress resistance via DAF-16/FOXO in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Monascus-fermented products are mentioned in an ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia of medicinal food and herbs. Monascus-fermented products offer valuable therapeutic benefits and have been extensively used in East Asia for several centuries. Several biological activities of Monascus-fermented products were recently described, and the extract of Monascus-fermented products showed strong antioxidant activity of scavenging DPPH radicals. To evaluate whether Monascus-fermented dioscorea products have potential as nutritional supplements, Monascus-fermented dioscorea's modulation of oxidative-stress resistance and associated regulatory mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We examined oxidative stress resistance of the ethanol extract of red mold dioscorea (RMDE) in C. elegans, and found that RMDE-treated wild-type C. elegans showed an increased survival during juglone-induced oxidative stress compared to untreated controls, whereas the antioxidant phenotype was absent from a daf-16 mutant. In addition, the RMDE reduced the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species in C. elegans. Finally, the RMDE affected the subcellular distribution of the FOXO transcription factor, DAF-16, in C. elegans and induced the expression of the sod-3 antioxidative gene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that the RMDE acts as an antioxidative stress agent and thus may have potential as a nutritional supplement. Further studies in C. elegans suggest that the antioxidant effect of RMDE is mediated via regulation of the DAF-16/FOXO-dependent pathway.
authors: Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Yeu-Ching
authors: YC
authors: Shi
authors: Chan-Wei
authors: CW
authors: Yu
authors: Vivian Hsiu-Chuan
authors: VH
authors: Liao
authors: Tzu-Ming
authors: TM
authors: Pan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D027742:Dioscorea / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation / Q000502:physiology*; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D032741:Monascus / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C108831:daf-16 protein, C elegans