title: Nutraceutical properties of chestnut flours: beneficial effects on skeletal muscle atrophy.
abstract: Plants contain a wide range of non-nutritive phytochemicals, many of which have protective or preventive properties for human diseases. The aim of the present work has been to investigate the nutraceutical properties of sweet chestnut flour extracts obtained from fruits collected from 7 geographic areas of Tuscany (Italy), and their ability in modulating skeletal muscle atrophy. We found that the cultivars from different geographic areas are characterized by the composition and quantity of various nutrients and specific bioactive components, such as tocopherols, polyphenols and sphingolipids. The nutraceutical properties of chestnut sweet flours have been evaluated in C2C12 myotubes induced to atrophy by serum deprivation or dexamethasone. We found that the pretreatment with both total extracts of tocopherols and sphingolipids is able to counterbalance cell atrophy, reducing the decrease in myotube size and myonuclei number, and attenuating protein degradation and the increase in expression of MAFbx/atrogin-1 (a muscle-specific atrophy marker). By contrast, polyphenol extracts were not able to prevent atrophy. Since we also found that γ-tocopherol is the major form of tocopherol in sweet flour and its content differs depending on the procedure of sweet flour preparation, the mechanisms by which γ-tocopherol as well as sphingolipids affect skeletal muscle cell atrophy have been also investigated. This is the first evidence that chestnut sweet flour is a natural source of specific bioactive components with a relevant role in the prevention of cell degeneration and maintenance of skeletal muscle mass, opening important implications in designing appropriate nutritional therapeutic approaches to skeletal muscle atrophy.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Experimental Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, Unit of Biochemical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 50, 50134 Florence, Italy. elisabetta.meacci@unifi.it.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frati
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gianni
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Migliorini
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pierucci
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia-Gil
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meacci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D029962:Fagaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D005433:Flour / Q000032:analysis*; D007558:Italy; D051379:Mice; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000494:pharmacology; D059748:Proteolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000494:pharmacology; D024505:Tocopherols / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D059808:Polyphenols; D013107:Sphingolipids; D003907:Dexamethasone; D024505:Tocopherols