eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2026-10-29 14 10 195 203 10.12691/jfnr-14-10-1 JFNR202614101 article Der-An Tsao huoy@isu.edu.tw, sc095@fy.edu.tw 1 Kuei-Ling Huang 2 Yu-Hsin Wang 2 Chuang Yi Lin 3 Fang-Tsu Liao 4 Ching-Hsiao Lee 4 Cheng-Kuang Wang 4 Huoy-Rou Chang huoy@isu.edu.tw, sc095@fy.edu.tw 5 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Biotechnology, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taiwan Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pingtung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan Department of Medical Technology, Jen-teh Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Taiwan Department of Biomedical Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Lead is an environmental contaminant that impairs human organ and tissue function. The goal of this study is to employ natural compounds to reduce the damage that lead causes to human organ and tissue function. HEK293T cells were used in this study's research on proliferation, Annexin V, DNA fragmentation, cellular oxidative stress, reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western blot. Caenorhabditis elegans were used in vivo to investigate behavioral and developmental status. The results showed that vanillic acid (Alpinia galanga extract) can reduce cell apoptosis and the oxidative stress induced by lead exposure in HEK293T cells. In HEK293T cells exposed to lead, vanillic acid decreased NF-¦ÊB gene and protein expression while increasing ¦Â-catenin protein expression. Following lead exposure, vanillic acid improved the Caenorhabditis elegans development trend. Vanillic acid can protect cells from lead-induced inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative responses while also regulating gene transcription factors to improve cell state. It can also enhance the growth performance of lead-exposed Caenorhabditis elegans, restoring growth rate and health condition during the developing stage. Both in vivo and in vitro test findings show that vanillic acid has the capacity to protect organisms from the harmful effects of lead exposure. https://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/14/10/1/jfnr-14-10-1.pdf Alpinia galangal vanillic acid lead acetate HEK293T cells Caenorhabditis elegans