Bilberry, the Potent Antioxidants, Researchers Reveal

By Kyle J. Norton

Researchers may have found a natural whole food for the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases with no side effects, according to the studies.

Oxidative stress is a result of long-term overexpression of free radical compared to the levels of antioxidants.

In other words, depletion of antioxidant enzymes produced by the body is no longer can perform the function of neutralizing the free radical expression.

Free radicals are unstable atoms which have an unpaired electron on the outer ring. Therefore, in order to maintain stable, free radicals must donate or intercept an electron from other atoms, causing the domino's reaction that can not be stopped until all single electrons are paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

Antioxidants are stable atoms which inhibit oxidation.

Oxidative stress has been found to induced protein, lipid and alternation of cellular DNA, leading to the incidence of chronic illness and cancers.

Futhermore, although free radicals are a normal byproduct of oxygen metabolism, certain environmental and behavioral factors such as exposure to radiation and toxic chemicals and smoking can dramatically increase the number of free radicals in the body.

Some researchers suggested, maintaining a balanced ratio free radicals and antioxidants are the best way for good health.

Dr. V. Lobo, the lead scientist in the evaluation of the free radicals and antioxidants wrote, " A balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological function. If free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to regulate them, a condition known as oxidative stress ensues. Free radicals thus adversely alter lipids, proteins, and DNA and trigger a number of human diseases".

And, "Hence application of an external source of antioxidants can assist in coping this oxidative stress. Synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole have recently been reported to be dangerous for human health".

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The herbal plant has been used as foods and herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

Scientists with an aim to find a natural remedy for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress investigated the bilberry antioxidant activity in an animal model.

Selected rats were divided into 4 groups: control, rats treated with only gentamicin, with only bilberry, and treated with both gentamicin and bilberry.

By analyzing the oxidative stress markers and levels of antioxidant produced by the host, bilberry (100 mg/kg daily) showed a strong nephroprotective effect by improving the antioxidant status against gentamicin toxicity in rats.

These results clearly suggested that bilberry exerted a significant effect was attributed to the expression of the levels of the polyphenolic content, particularly anthocyanin. 

Dr. after taking into account so and confounders said, " the demonstrated protective activity of bilberry extract matched well with the assessed in vivo and in vitro antioxidant activity as well as with its polyphenolic content, particularly with high anthocyanin levels".

In order to determine the antioxidant activity in bilberry, researchers examined the hepatoprotective effects of anthocyanins from bilberry extract in rats exposed to carbon tetrachloride (CCl4).

Rats selected to the study also were assigned randomly into four groups: Group I (0.9% NaCl-10days), Group II (bilberry extract, 75mg/kg-10days), Group III (0,9% NaCl-9days, and on the tenth day CCl4-2ml/kg), Group IV (bilberry extract, 75mg/kg-10days and on the tenth day CCl4-2ml/kg).

Compared to nontreatment group, bilberry extract group showed a significant decrease in the activity of biochemical parameters in serum associated with liver damage, including the levels of free radicals and lipid peroxidation in the liver.

Furthermore, bilberry extract treatment group IV displayed a strong improvement of antioxidant enzymes produced by the host compared to Group III.

Injection of bilberry extract also showed an increase in the number of apoptotic hepatocytes and the activity of caspase-3 in the liver tissue which has been damaged by the injection of CCl4.

The findings suggested that the anthocyanins from bilberry extract have strong antioxidant properties against the CCl4 induced liver toxicity and oxidative stress.

Taken altogether, bilberry may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and combined with the primary medicine for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, pending to the reconfirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Bilberry: Chemical Profiling, in Vitro and in Vivo Antioxidant Activity and Nephroprotective Effect against Gentamicin Toxicity in Rats by Veljković M1, Pavlović DR2, Stojiljković N1, Ilić S1, Jovanović I3, Poklar Ulrih N4, Rakić V5, Veličković L6, Sokolović D. (PubMed)
(2) Antioxidant and proapoptotic effects of anthocyanins from bilberry extract in rats exposed to hepatotoxic effects of carbon tetrachloride by Popović D1, Đukić D2, Katić V3, Jović Z4, Jović M5, Lalić J6, Golubović I7, Stojanović S8, Ulrih NP9, Stanković M10, Sokolović D. (PubMed)
(3) Free radicals, antioxidants, and functional foods: Impact on human health by V. Lobo, A. Patil, A. Phatak, and N. Chandra. (PubMed)