Olive oil hydroxytyrosol reduces toxicity evoked by acrylamide in human Caco-2 cells by preventing oxidative stress

Humans are exposed to dietary acrylamide (AA) during their lifetime, it is therefore necessary to investigate the mechanisms associated with AA-induced toxic effects. Accumulating evidence indicates that oxidative stress contributes to AA cytotoxicity, thus, dietary antioxidants might have a protective role in colonic cells against AA toxicity. We have recently reported that hydroxytyrosol (HTy), a natural antioxidant abundant in olive oil, is able to enhance the cellular antioxidant defence capacity, thereby protecting cells from oxidative stress. In this study, we evaluate the protective role of HTy on alterations of the redox balance induced by AA in Caco-2 intestinal cells. AA cytotoxicity was counteracted by HTy by powerfully reducing ROS generation, recovering the excited enzyme antioxidant defences and decreasing phospho-Jun kinase concentration and caspase-3 activity induced by AA. Therefore, AA-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis are closely related to oxidative stress in Caco-2 cells and the olive oil natural dietary antioxidant HTy was able to contain AA toxicity by improving the redox status of Caco-2 cells and by partly restraining the apoptotic pathway activated by AA.