We analysed the metabolic modifications induced by resveratrol treatment in a human hepatoblastoma line, HepG2 cells, using a 1H-NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics approach that allows the simultaneous screening of multiple metabolic pathways.
Results demonstrated that cells cultured in the presence or absence of resveratrol displayed different metabolic profiles: the treatment induced a decreased utilisation of glucose and amino acids for purposes of energy production and synthesis associated to a decreased release of lactate in the culture medium and an increase in succinate utilisation. At the same time, resveratrol treatment slowed the cell cycle in the S phase without inducing apoptosis, and increased Sirt1 expression, also affecting its intracellular localisation.
Our results show that the metabolomic analysis of the exometabolome of resveratrol-treated HepG2 cells indicates a metabolic switch from glucose and amino acid utilisation to fat utilisation for the production of energy, and seem in agreement with an effect mediated via AMPK- and Sirt1-activation.
NMR-based metabolomics has been applied in a hepatocyte cell culture model in relation to resveratrol treatment; such an approach could be transferred to evaluate the effects of nutritional compounds with health impact.