Protective effects of glycoglycerolipids extracted from spinach on 5-fluorouracil induced intestinal mucosal injury

Glycoglycerolipids are mostly found in plants, however the beneficial effects of the glycoglycerolipids on mammalian body have not been understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of glycolipid extracts from spinach, which highly contained glycoglycerolipids, on mucosal injury induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in rats. Preadministration of glycolipid extracts from spinach (20 mg/kg body weight) prevented villous atrophy, misaligned crypts, and increased inflammatory cytokines in rat jejunum treated with 5-FU (300 mg/kg body weight) compared with the extracts from soybean. The glycolipid extracts from spinach highly contained monogalactosyl-diacylglycerol (MGDG) and diglactosyl-diacylglycerol (DGDG). In Caco-2 cells, MGDG and DGDG inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species induced by phorbol ester. We concluded that glycolipid extracts from spinach has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, and the extract may be useful for prevention of drug-induced mucosal injury and other inflammatory diseases.