Attività chemioprotettiva di estratti di spinacio (Spinacia oleracea L.)

It is well known that Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) has a variety of biological functions, such as antitumor and chemoprotective activity, but little is known about the modulation of secondary metabolites induction by abiotic stress (i.e. hypoxia) and it’s correlation to human health. In this study I demonstrate that 24 h hypoxia alter the production of secondary metabolites in spinach. In vitro studies on human colon adenocarcinoma HT-29 cell line of different spinach aqueous extracts,show different antioxidant and antiproliferative activities, depending on the concentrations of antioxidants present in each extract. When the antioxidant content increased over a defined threshold the antioxidant activity is reduced or lost, likely due to a prooxidant activity of such molecules in the biological system. Ultimately, spinach provides a valuable contribution to the field of chemoprevention and prevention of chronic degenerative diseases due to its antioxidant and antiproliferative properties. Furthermore, it is presented the paper in preparation resulting from my period of research in France at the UFR de Médecine, Caen (France) on the study of the biological activity of a new demethylating compound.