• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.26-38
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• 2014

To examine the antioxidant activities of 11n selected miscellaneous cereal grains (proso millet, yellow glutinous proso millet, hwanggeumchal sorghum, glutinous sorghum, white glutinous sorghum, yellow glutinous foxtail millet, nonglutinous foxtail millet, green glutinous foxtail millet, golden foxtail millet, barnyard millet, and adlay), the free radical-scavenging activities of 80% ethanol extracts of the individual grains were investigated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) methods. The ethanol extracts of hwanggeumchal sorghum, glutinous sorghum, and barnyard millet grains exhibited more potent free radical-scavenging activities as compared to the other grains. When these three ethanol extracts were sequentially fractionated with n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol, the majority of the antioxidant activities were detected in the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions in which phenolic ingredients were abundant. The ethyl acetate and butanol fractions of hwanggeumchal sorghum and the ethyl acetate fraction of glutinous sorghum showed higher antioxidant activity than that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. Both ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) methods demonstrated that these organic solvent fractions could inhibit lipid peroxidation. The ethyl acetate fractions from hwanggeumchal sorghum, glutinous sorghum, and barnyard millet grains could suppress tertiary-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP)-induced apoptotic events, including sub-G1 peaks, ${\Delta}{\Psi}m$ loss, activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and cleavage of PARP and lamin B, in human HL-60 cells. These results show that the grains of hwanggeumchal sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench cv. Hwanggeumchalsusu), glutinous sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench cv. Chalsusu), and barnyard millet (Echinochloa esculenta) possess efficient antioxidant activity, which could protect cells from oxidative stress-mediated cytotoxicity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1265-1272
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• 2015

Barnyard millet Miryang 3 [Echinochloa esculenta (A. Braun)] grains have recently been acknowledged for beneficial health properties due to phenolic ingredients and dietary fiber. This study has been conducted on the anti-diabetic activity of barnyard millet Miryang 3 which shows the strongest anti-inflammatory activity among barnyard millet inhabiting in South Korea. When 80% ethanol (EtOH) extract of barnyard millet Miryang 3 grains were orally administered into db/db diabetic mice for 8 weeks (600 mg/kg/day), the glucose level in blood following fasting appeared to be improved compared to the control group. The results of glucose tolerance test and blood lipid profile assay were similar to those of the metformin-administered positive control group. In addition, the level of body weight increase (8.54±2.24) was lower than the level of metformin-administered group (10.36±3.15); however, there was no subtle difference with negative and positive control groups in terms of food efficiency rates. In addition, total cholesterol levels of the 80% EtOH extract-administered group (160.7±7.6) were significantly reduced compared to the diabetic control group (229.3±47.8) and metformin-administered group (176.0±25.6). Consequently, these results show that barnyard millet grains alleviates many of the diabetic symptoms in vivo non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and suggest that barnyard millet grains can be applicable in developing new functional food materials.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.197-205
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• 2017

Exposure of Jurkat T cell clone (J/Neo cells) to acacetin (5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavone), which is present in barnyard millet (Echinochloa esculenta (A. Braun)) grains, caused cytotoxicity, enhancement of apoptotic $sub-G_1$ rate, Bak activation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}m$), activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, degradation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and FITC-Annexin V-stainable phosphatidylserine exposure on the external surface of the cytoplasmic membrane without accompanying necrosis. These apoptotic responses were abrogated in Jurkat T cell clone (J/Bcl-xL) overexpressing Bcl-xL. Under the same conditions, cellular autophagic responses, including suppression of the Akt-mTOR pathway and p62/SQSTM1 down-regulation, were commonly detected in J/Neo and J/Bcl-xL cells; however, formation of acridine orange-stainable acidic vascular organelles, LC3-I/II conversion, and Beclin-1 phosphorylation (Ser-15) were detected only in J/Neo cells. Correspondingly, concomitant treatment with the autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine or LY294002) appeared to enhance acacetin-induced apoptotic responses, such as Bak activation, ${\Delta}{\Psi}m$ loss, activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and apoptotic $sub-G_1$ accumulation. This indicated that acacetin could induce apoptosis and cytoprotective autophagy in Jurkat T cells simultaneously. Together, these results demonstrate that acacetin induces not only apoptotic cell death via activation of Bak, loss of ${\Delta}{\Psi}m$, and activation of the mitochondrial caspase cascade, but also cytoprotective autophagy resulting from suppression of the Akt-mTOR pathway. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of the autophagy pathway augments the activation of Bak and resultant mitochondrial damage-mediated apoptosis in Jurkat T cells.