Alfalfa saponins plays protective roles in oxidative stress-induced apoptotic cells

Background: As is known, alfalfa saponin can be used as a feed additive in the pig’s diet. And the addition of alfalfa saponin to the pig’s diet could improve animal antioxidant capacity. However, the mechanism by which alfalfa saponins exerts their antioxidant effects has not been studied. To address this issue, H2O2-induced rat intestinal epithelial cell was used to explore the protective mechanism of alfalfa saponins in this study. Results: Alfalfa saponin could rescue the cell proliferation activity, elevate the amount of antioxidant enzymes and downregulate the release of MDA and LDH in H2O2-induced cells. The results indicated that the antioxidant activity of alfalfa saponin was achieved by restoring GSH homeostasis. Further results demonstrated that alfalfa saponin could inhibit cell apoptosis through activating MAPK signaling pathway. Conclusions: The mechanism by which alfalfa saponins exerts their antioxidant effects was elucidated. Therefore, alfalfa saponin could function as cellular oxidative damage inhibitor, green feed additive or potential drug candidate, providing new strategy for inhibiting cell apoptosis induced by oxidative stress in monogastric animals.