The effects of energy beverages on cultured cells.

The popularity and prevalence of energy beverages makes it essential to examine the interactions between the ingredients and their effects on the safety of these beverages. In this study, we used in vitro assays to examine the effects of two energy beverages on mesenchymal, epithelial and neuronal cells. Our results showed that treatment of epithelial and mesenchymal cells with either energy beverage resulted in a dose dependent delay in wound closure, in a scratch wound healing assay. In rat embryonic fibroblasts, treatment with the energy beverages led to decreased lamellipodia formation and decreased proliferation/viability; whereas in MDCK cells, energy beverage treatment resulted in actin disorganization without any effects on cell proliferation. This suggests that the mechanisms underlying delayed wound healing might be different in the two cell types. Interestingly, the delays in both cell types could not be mimicked by treatment of caffeine, taurine and glucose alone or in combinations. Furthermore, treatment of chick forebrain neuronal cultures with energy beverages resulted in a dose dependent inhibition of neurite outgrowth. The cellular assays used in this study provide a consistent, qualitative and quantitative system for examining the combinatorial effects of the various ingredients used in energy beverages.