OBJECTIVE: Short-term cigarette smoke exposure has been associated with acute lung inflammation (ALI) and oxidative damage. We studied mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis infusion) as a possible nutritional resource for ALI.

METHODS: C57BL/6 mice (n = 30) were administered with mate tea orally (150 mg/kg, CSMO), mate tea intraperitonially (150 mg/kg, CSMIP), or the vehicle (CS) and then exposed to cigarette smoke for 5 d (six cigarettes per day). The control group was sham-smoked (n = 30). One day after the final exposure, mice were sacrificed. Bronchoalveolar lavages were performed and lungs removed for biochemical (lung homogenates) and histologic analyses.

RESULTS: Mate tea reduced the increase of alveolar macrophages and neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavages (cells x 10(3)/mL) of the CSMO (214.3 +/- 21.4 and 12.2 +/- 4.9) and CSMIP (248.3 +/- 11.1 and 12.1 +/- 2.3) groups compared with the CS group (425.9 +/- 28.1 and 140.5 +/- 20.1). Mate tea reduced lipid peroxidation (the control group was considered 100%) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (picograms per milliliter) in the CSMO group (61.3 +/- 11.3 and 185.3 +/- 21.8) compared with the CS group (150.0 +/- 18.1 and 242.3 +/- 13.2). Matrix metalloprotease-9 activity was higher in the CS group and lower in the CSMO group. Oxidative and inflammatory markers in the CSMO group were not different from those in the control group.

CONCLUSION: These data imply a potential antioxidant role for mate tea on ALI. Further studies are needed to determine such mechanisms and to explore its potential as an anti-inflammatory and nutritional resource in lung damaged by cigarette smoke exposure.

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is rich in several bioactive compounds that can act as free radical scavengers. Since oxidative DNA damage is involved in various pathological states such as cancer, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of mate tea as well as the ability to influence DNA repair in male Swiss mice. Forty animals were randomly assigned to four groups. The animals received three different doses of mate tea aqueous extract, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg, for 60 days. After intervention, the liver, kidney and bladder cells were isolated and the DNA damage induced by H(2)O(2) was investigated by the comet assay. The DNA repair process was also investigated for its potential to protect the cells from damage by the same methodology. The data presented here show that mate tea is not genotoxic in liver, kidney and bladder cells. The regular ingestion of mate tea increased the resistance of DNA to H(2)O(2)-induced DNA strand breaks and improved the DNA repair after H(2)O(2) challenge in liver cells, irrespective of the dose ingested. These results suggest that mate tea could protect against DNA damage and enhance the DNA repair activity. Protection may be afforded by the antioxidant activity of the mate tea's bioactive compounds.

The aim of present study was to investigate the anti-obesity effect of Ilex paraguariensis extract and its molecular mechanism in rats rendered obese by a high-fat diet (HFD). I. paraguariensis extract supplementation significantly lowered body weight, visceral fat-pad weights, blood and hepatic lipid, glucose, insulin, and leptin levels of rats administered HFD. Feeding I. paraguariensis extract reversed the HFD-induced downregulation of the epididymal adipose tissue genes implicated in adipogenesis or thermogenesis, such as peroxisome proliferators' activated receptor gamma2, adipocyte fatty acid binding protein, sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein-1c, fatty acid synthase, HMG-CoA reductase, uncoupling protein 2, and uncoupling protein 3. Dietary supplementation with I. paraguariensis extract protected rats from the HFD-induced decreases in the phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/AMPK and phospho-acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC)/ACC protein ratio related to fatty acid oxidation in the edipidymal adipose tissue. The present study reports that the I. paraguariensis extract can have a protective effect against a HFD-induced obesity in rats through an enhanced expression of uncoupling proteins and elevated AMPK phosphorylation in the visceral adipose tissue.