An in vitro evaluation of anti-aging effect of guluronic acid (G2013) based on enzymatic oxidative stress gene expression using healthy individuals PBMCs

Abstract Background Aging is usually associated with increased levels of oxidants, and may result in damages caused by oxidative stress. There is a direct relationship between aging and increased incidence of inflammatory diseases. The present research intended to study the anti-aging and anti-inflammatory effects of the drug G2013 (guluronic acid) at low and high doses on the genes expression of a number of enzymes involved in oxidative stress (including SOD2, GPX1, CAT, GST, iNOS, and MPO) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy individuals under in vitro conditions. Methods Venous blood samples were taken from 20 healthy individuals, the PBMCs were isolated and their RNAs extracted and their cDNAs were synthesized, and the genes expression levels were measured using the qRT-PCR technique. Results Our results indicated that this drug could, at both low and high doses, significantly reduce the expression of the genes for SOD2, GPX1, CAT, and GST compared to the LPS group ( p < 0.0001). Moreover, it was noticed that the drug is able to significantly reduce gene expression levels at the high dose and at both doses (low and high), for iNOS and MPO compared to the LPS group ( p < 0.0001), respectively. Conclusions The present research showed that G2013, as a novel NSAID drug with immunomodulatory properties, could modulate the expression levels of the genes for SOD2, GPX1, CAT, GST, iNOS, and MPO, to the level of healthy gene expression, and possibly it might reduce the pathological process of aging and age-related inflammatory diseases.