Inhibitory effect of wheat bran feruloyl oligosaccharides on oxidative DNA damage in human lymphocytes

The present work assessed the protective effect of feruloyl oligosaccharides (FOs), the ferulic acid ester of oligosaccharides from wheat bran, against oxidative DNA damage in normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes induced by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The DNA damage was measured by using the single cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay). Lymphocytes were subjected to DNA damage by exposure to a range of H₂O₂ concentrations (10–200 μmol/l). H₂O₂, at a concentration of 200 μmol/l, resulted in nearly all cells being highly damaged. FOs showed no cytotoxicity and genotoxicity to normal human lymphocytes at the tested concentrations (10–500 μmol/l). In addition, DNA damage in human lymphocytes induced by 100 μmol/l H₂O₂ was inhibited by FOs in a concentration-dependent fashion with 91.1% inhibition of lymphocyte DNA damage at 500 μmol/l as compared with the control. The results suggest that water-soluble FOs from wheat bran are able to enhance the ability of human lymphocytes to resist H₂O₂ induced oxidative damage.