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Betaine Suppresses Proinflammatory Signaling During Aging: The Involvement of Nuclear Factor-B via Nuclear Factor-Inducing Kinase/IB Kinase and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases

¹ Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, and ²Longevity Life Science and Technology Institutes Pusan National University, Gumjung-ku, Busan, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Physiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Address correspondence to Hae-Young Chung, PhD, Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Pusan National University, San 30, Jang-jun-dong, Gumjung-ku, Busan, 609-735, Korea. E-mail: hyjung{at}pusan.ac.kr

Betaine is an important human nutrient obtained from various foods. In the present study, we assessed the anti-inflammatory effect of betaine on nuclear factor-B (NF-B) during aging. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, ages 7 and 21 months, were used in this study. The older rats were fed betaine. To elucidate the effect of betaine on oxidative stress-induced NF-B and its signaling pathway at molecular levels, YPEN-1 cells were used. Results showed that betaine suppressed NF-B and its related gene expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and intracellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in aged kidney. Furthermore, betaine attenuated oxidative stress-induced NF-B via nuclear factor-inducing kinase/IB kinase (NIK/IKK) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in the YPEN-1 cells. On the basis of these results, we concluded that betaine suppressed the age-related NF-B activities associated with upregulated NIK/IKK and MAPKs that were induced by oxidative stress. Thus, betaine might be useful as a preventive agent against the activation of NF-B induced during inflammation and aging.

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