Maltol is a naturally occurring organic compound that is flavour enhancer and flavouring agent[1]. Maltol is also an antioxidant agent and a metal ion chelator[2][3]. Maltol is usually be used in the field of catalysis, food chemistry, and medicine[4][5].
In vitro, treatment of B16F10 cells with Maltol (5 or 10μg/ml in medium; 72h) reduced melanin contents, tyrosinase activity, and expression levels of tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein 1, suppressed the proliferative capacity, induced cell cycle arrest, increased apoptotic rates by elevating cleaved caspase-3 and PARP, and demonstrated a synergistic effect with cisplatin in inhibiting growth and promoting apoptosis[6].
In vivo, Oral treatment of D-galactose-induced liver and kidney aging and injury mice with Maltol (50 or 100mg/kg/day; 4 weeks） activated aging-associated proteins including p53, p21, and p16 followed by inhibiting malondialdehyde (MDA)'s over-production and increasing the levels of antioxidant enzymes[7]. Oral gavage of Maltol (15 or 30mg/kg; twice a week) for 12 weeks in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) mice inhibited the degradation of ECM and inflammatory response by suppressing the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis, increased anabolic protein expression, decreased catabolic protein expression, and reduced the secretion of inflammatory mediators such as IL-18 and IL-1β[8].
References:
[1] Han, Y., Xu, Q., Hu, J. N., Han, X. Y., Li, W., & Zhao, L. C. (2015). Maltol, a food flavoring agent, attenuates acute alcohol-induced oxidative damage in mice. Nutrients, 7(1), 682–696.
[2] Guo, N., , Li, C., , Liu, Q., , Liu, S., , Huan, Y., , Wang, X., , Bai, G., , Yang, M., , Sun, S., , Xu, C., , & Shen, Z., (2018). Maltol, a food flavor enhancer, attenuates diabetic peripheral neuropathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Food & function, 9(12), 6287–6297.
[3] Yang, Y., Wang, J., Xu, C., Pan, H., & Zhang, Z. (2006). Maltol inhibits apoptosis of human neuroblastoma cells induced by hydrogen peroxide. Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology, 39(2), 145–149.
[4] Krishnakumar, V., Barathi, D., Mathammal, R., Balamani, J., & Jayamani, N. (2014). Spectroscopic properties, NLO, HOMO-LUMO and NBO of maltol. Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy, 121, 245–253.
[5] Thompson, K. H., Barta, C. A., & Orvig, C. (2006). Metal complexes of maltol and close analogues in medicinal inorganic chemistry. Chemical Society reviews, 35(6), 545–556.
[6] Han, N. R., Park, H. J., Ko, S. G., & Moon, P. D. (2023). Maltol has anti-cancer effects via modulating PD-L1 signaling pathway in B16F10 cells. Frontiers in pharmacology, 14, 1255586.
[7] Sha, J. Y., Li, J. H., Zhou, Y. D., Yang, J. Y., Liu, W., Jiang, S., Wang, Y. P., Zhang, R., Di, P., & Li, W. (2021). The p53/p21/p16 and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways are involved in the ameliorative effects of maltol on D-galactose-induced liver and kidney aging and injury. Phytotherapy research : PTR, 35(8), 4411–4424.
[8] Gong, Y., Qiu, J., Jiang, T., Li, Z., Zhang, W., Zheng, X., He, Z., Chen, W., Wang, Z., Feng, X., Wang, M., & Hong, Z. (2023). Maltol ameliorates intervertebral disc degeneration through inhibiting PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway and regulating NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis. Inflammopharmacology, 31(1), 369–384.