A bioprocessed black rice bran glutathione-enriched yeast extract protects rats and mice against alcohol-induced hangovers

Authors: KIM, SUNG PHIL - Str Biotech Co Ltd; LEE, JU RYEONG - Str Biotech Co Ltd; KWON, KI SUN - Str Biotech Co Ltd; JANG, YEO JIN - Str Biotech Co Ltd; KIM, JEANMAN - Str Biotech Co Ltd; YU, KEUN HYUNG - Str Biotech Co Ltd; LEE, SUN YEOP - Str Biotech Co Ltd; Friedman, Mendel

Submitted to: Food and Nutrition Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/12/2021
Publication Date: 3/15/2021
Citation: Kim, S., Lee, J., Kwon, K., Jang, Y., Kim, J., Yu, K., Lee, S., Friedman, M. 2021. A bioprocessed black rice bran glutathione-enriched yeast extract protects rats and mice against alcohol-induced hangovers. Food and Nutrition Sciences. 12:223-238. https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2021.123018.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2021.123018

Interpretive Summary: This paper is intended to stimulate interest in the use of a black rice bran bioprocessed in a mushroom mycelia medium with an added yeast-glutathione extract as a functional food that has the potential to protect against alcohol-induced hangovers. Black rice bran contains biologically active phenolic, flavonoid, and anthocyanin compounds with potential health benefits. In several published studies, we reported on the health-promoting properties of black rice bran bioprocessed (fermented) with mushroom polysaccharides and mycelia. The immuno-stimulating, health-promoting properties include anti-allergic, antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory effects in cells and in mice. These multiple benefits motivated us to consider determining if the developed black rice bran product would also inhibit ethanol-induced hangovers in rats and in mice, the objective of the present study. This turned out to be the case. Because this finding complements the above-mentioned beneficial effects, it is likely that the described new functional food, a black rice bran containing product, might in addition to anti-hangover properties also have potential for use against a broad range of other diseases. We also expect the present study to stimulate clinical trials in humans designed to determine if the black rice bran functional food might also protect against excessive (abusive) alcohol consumption reported to cause liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Technical Abstract: Human and animal alcohol-induced hangovers are caused by adverse effects of acetaldehyde formed in vivo by the enzymatic oxidation of ethyl alcohol, adverse reactions of the neurotransmitter system, and systemic inflammatory reactions. As part of an effort to discover health benefits of black and red rice brans, based on the results of previous studies that reported that bioprocessed black rice bran (BRB-F) modulates the immune response and suppresses the inflammatory response, this study aims to determine the effect of the combination of BRB-F and glutathione-enriched yeast extract (GEYE) on hangovers as tested in rats and mice. Preliminary in vitro results on alcohol and acetaldehyde scavenging activity by mixtures of different ratios of BRB-F and GEYE showed that the best alcohol and acetaldehyde scavenging activity was with a 3:2 ratio. Oral administration of this combination to rats resulted in a concentration-dependent reduction in the blood levels of alcohol and acetaldehyde. Because analysis showed that the content of the biologically active rice bran compound '-oryzanol as well as of the antioxidant reduced glutathione were unaffected during the preparation of tablets containing 100 mg/kg of the bran formulation, the tablets were then administered orally to rats. The results showed decreased blood concentrations of both alcohol and acetaldehyde compared to the control group. Additional behavior experiments using the Rota-rod and wire tests in mice confirmed that the BRB-F and GEYE complex relieved hangover behavior caused by alcohol. It seems that the combination of BRB-F and GEYE can effectively control hangovers in rodents caused by alcohol intake. Mechanistic aspects of the hangover and anti-hangover effects of alcohol-derived acetaldehyde are similar to browning-type reactions between the aldehyde group of glucose and proteins in vitro and in vivo, the antibiotic effects of cinnamaldehyde against pathogenic bacteria, the adverse effects of the heat-induced food toxin acrylamide, and the alkali-induced formation of the unnatural amino acid lysinoalanine. The interrelated mechanisms might help guide future efforts to inhibit hangover-inducing acetaldehyde.