Wine phenolic antioxidants inhibit AP-1 transcriptional activity.

Some of the beneficial effects of moderate wine consumption may be related to the antioxidant properties of polyphenolic compounds containing tannins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. Cellular actions have recently been reported and may involve the modulation of transcriptional factors such as AP-1 (activator protein-1), which controls the expression of various genes implicated in inflammation processes, cell differentiation, and proliferation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the modulation of AP-1 activity by the phenolic acids (gallic, caffeic, protocatechic, paracoumaric, sinapic, and ferulic acids) that are present in wine and to compare their modulating pathways to those of lipophilic or hydrophilic "chain-breaking" antioxidants (such as DL-alpha-tocopherol or trolox) vitamin C, nitric oxide, and reduced glutathione.

Inhibition of chemiluminescence in human PMNs by monocyclic phenolic acids and flavonoids.

Flavonoids are metabolized in vivo to monocyclic phenolic acids. We investigated whether 18 phenolic acids of the benzoic, phenylacetic, phenylpropanoic or cinnamic series-known or potential metabolites of flavonoids-inhibit reactive oxygen species (ROS) released by human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). Chemiluminescence was measured after PMN stimulation with three agents (N-fMetLeuPhe, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), or opsonised zymosan) using two probes (lucigenin or luminol) with or without horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in order to derive specificity profiles for each test compound.

Cellular protein kinase C activity in asthma.

Protein kinase C (PKC) is a primary group of enzymes mediating signal transduction for a wide variety of functions in many different cell types. Its activation has been implicated in various inflammatory diseases. In asthma, inflammatory cells, such as alveolar macrophages (AM) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), are primed and activated compared with those obtained from control subjects.

Enhancement of reactive oxygen species formation in stable and unstable asthmatic patients.

There is increasing evidence to suggest that human blood polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and monocytes play an important role in the inflammatory processes of asthma. In asthmatic patients, PMNs and monocytes were shown to be activated more than in healthy subjects. We investigated the capacity of these two cell populations to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in stable and unstable asthmatic patients.

Imaging reactive oxygen species in asthma.

Inflammatory processes in asthma are characterized by an infiltration of inflammatory cells including mononuclear phagocytes. It has been observed that mononuclear phagocytes, alveolar macrophages and blood monocytes, release higher quantities of reactive oxygen species in asthmatic patients than in healthy subjects. Chemiluminescence assays were developed to measure the superoxide anion and the other reactive oxygen species.