Tart cherry anthocyanins suppress inflammation-induced pain behavior in rat

Gene expression microarray analysis of the effects of grape anthocyanins in mice: a test of a hypothesis-generating paradigm

The mechanism(s) through which fruits, vegetables, and whole grains favorably affect health is not well established. Using an anthocyanin-rich grape as a model, we examined the ability of an agnostic analytical approach using gene expression microarrays to generate novel testable hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of action of potentially healthful foods and food components. C57BL/6 mice were divided into 2 groups and fed a proatherogenic diet with or without a semipurified anthocyanin extract (70% anthocyanins) incorporated at a level of 0.1 mg/mL into the drinking water. After 6 weeks, compared with control mice, mice supplemented with anthocyanins tended to gain more weight and have increased adipose tissue mass, although these effects did not achieve statistical significance. Anthocyanin-supplemented mice had significantly reduced relative liver weights and heart weights. Serum lipids and inflammatory cytokines were not different between the groups. Gene expression microarray analysis of the liver and skeletal muscle identified a number of molecular pathways significantly affected by anthocyanin treatment. Two distinct clusters emerged. The first cluster included down-regulated pathways in both muscle and liver involving cellular defense, whereas the second included hepatic genes involved in energy metabolism. From these data, 3 hypotheses were developed for future investigation.

Characterization of blackberry extract and its antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory properties

Blackberries are rich in polyphenols, including anthocyanins. Polyphenols are hypothesized to have biological activities that may impact positively on human health. In these studies, an anthocyanin-rich extract from Hull blackberries grown in Kentucky was obtained and fully characterized in terms of total anthocyanin and phenolic content, polymeric color, anthocyanin composition, and total antioxidant capacity. In vitro cell culture studies showed that the blackberry extract inhibited HT-29 colon tumor cell growth in a concentration-dependent manner with 49.2 microg of total anthocyanins/mL inhibiting HT-29 cell growth up to 66% at 72 hours. Likewise, in a concentration-dependent manner, total anthocyanin concentrations in the range of 0-40 microg/mL suppressed both high-dose (10 microg/mL) and low-dose (0.1 microg/mL) lipid A-induced interleukin-12 release from mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. These results suggest that Hull blackberry extract (HBE) has potent antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory activities and that HBE-formulated products may have the potential for the treatment and/or prevention of cancer and/or other inflammatory diseases.

Cultivars of apple fruits that are not marketed with potential for anthocyanin production

The red coloration of apple skin is mainly due to anthocyanins that are reported to possess health benefits. The aim of the present study was to determine the anthocyanin content in three underutilized Malus pumila Mill cultivars, Cranberry, Kerr, and Niedzwetzkyana, and confirm their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Our analysis revealed that the three cultivars studied contained primarily cyanidin-3-O-glucosyl rutinoside (1) at >99%. The anthocyanin was purified by C-18 medium pressure liquid chromatography and characterized by NMR spectral methods. The quantification of anthocyanins in M. pumila cultivars revealed that Cranberry, Kerr, and Niedzwetzkyana contained 1.12, 0.55, and 0.36 mg/g of fresh weight of 1, respectively. The lipid peroxidation (LPO) and cyclooxygenase enzyme (COX) inhibitory activities of 1 in water were compared with the activities of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside (2) and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (3) found in cherries and berries. There is a significant increase in LPO and COX enzyme-inhibitory activities of anthocyanin when tested in water compared to using dimethylsulfoxide as the carrier. The LPO inhibition of anthocyanins 1, 2, and 3 were 53.3, 68.3, and 87.9, respectively, at a 0.25 microM concentration. They inhibited the COX-1 enzyme by 42.7, 45.2, and 50.4 and COX-2 by 52.7, 61.5, and 68.5, respectively, at 5 microM. The LPO inhibitory values for commercial standards, BHA, BHT, and TBHQ, were 85, 89, and 94%, respectively at 1 microM. Similarly, positive controls aspirin, celecoxib, and robecoxib inhibited COX-1 and -2 enzymes by 68.6, 40.7, and 0% and 26.6, 72.2, and 92.4%, respectively, at 60, 26, and 32 nM.

Anthocyanins inhibit airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in a murine asthma model

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease regulated by coordination of T-helper cell type 2 (Th2) cytokines and inflammatory signal molecules. Additionally, oxidative stress may play an important role in airway inflammation such as eosinophilia, mucus hypersecretion, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). In the present report, we investigated whether anthocyanins would reduce airway inflammation in a mouse asthma model immunized and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA). OVA inhalation elicited inflammatory responses characterized by eosinophilia and increased lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, enhanced pause (Penh), increased glycoprotein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expressions in mucus hypersecretion, and an increased expression of various cytokines and cyclooxygenase (COX) 2 in lung tissues. All parameters were attenuated in a dose-dependant manner by the administration of anthocyanins. These results suggest that anthocyanins may attenuate the development of asthma by downregulating Th2 cytokines, proinflammatory cytokines, and COX-2. Our findings suggest that anthocyanins have positive contributions as a dietary supplement for the prevention of asthma.

Efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of muscle damage

BACKGROUND

Numerous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents have been identified in tart cherries.

OBJECTIVE

To test the efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage.

METHODS

This was a randomised, placebo controlled, crossover design. Fourteen male college students drank 12 fl oz of a cherry juice blend or a placebo twice a day for eight consecutive days. A bout of eccentric elbow flexion contractions (2 x 20 maximum contractions) was performed on the fourth day of supplementation. Isometric elbow flexion strength, pain, muscle tenderness, and relaxed elbow angle were recorded before and for four days after the eccentric exercise. The protocol was repeated two weeks later with subjects who took the placebo initially, now taking the cherry juice (and vice versa). The opposite arm performed the eccentric exercise for the second bout to avoid the repeated bout protective effect.

RESULTS

Strength loss and pain were significantly less in the cherry juice trial versus placebo (time by treatment: strength p<0.0001, pain p = 0.017). Relaxed elbow angle (time by treatment p = 0.85) and muscle tenderness (time by treatment p = 0.81) were not different between trials.

CONCLUSIONS

These data show efficacy for this cherry juice in decreasing some of the symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage. Most notably, strength loss averaged over the four days after eccentric exercise was 22% with the placebo but only 4% with the cherry juice.

Consumption of Bing sweet cherries lowers circulating concentrations of inflammation markers in healthy men and women

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of consuming sweet cherries on plasma lipids and markers of inflammation in healthy humans. Healthy men and women (n = 18) supplemented their diets with Bing sweet cherries (280 g/d) for 28 d. After a 12-h fast, blood samples were taken before the start of cherry consumption (study d 0 and 7), 14 and 28 d after the start of cherry supplementation (study d 21 and 35), and 28 d after the discontinuation (study d 64) of cherry consumption. After cherries were consumed for 28 d, circulating concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed, and secreted (RANTES), and NO decreased by 25 (P < 0.05), 21 (P < 0.05), and 18% (P = 0.07) respectively. After the discontinuation of cherry consumption for 28 d (d 64), concentrations of RANTES continued to decrease (P = 0.001), whereas those of CRP and NO did not differ from either d 7 (pre-cherries) or d 35 (post-cherries). Plasma concentrations of IL-6 and its soluble receptor, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 did not change during the study. Cherry consumption did not affect the plasma concentrations of total-, HDL-, LDL-, and VLDL- cholesterol, triglycerides, subfractions of HDL, LDL, VLDL, and their particle sizes and numbers. It also did not affect fasting blood glucose or insulin concentrations or a number of other chemical and hematological variables. Results of the present study suggest a selective modulatory effect of sweet cherries on CRP, NO, and RANTES. Such anti-inflammatory effects may be beneficial for the management and prevention of inflammatory diseases.

Anthocyanins from red wine--their stability under simulated gastrointestinal digestion

The stability of anthocyanins from red wine was assessed using an in vitro digestion system that simulated the physiochemical changes that occur in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Anthocyanins in red wine were stable to gastric conditions whereas there was a small loss in total phenol content. After pancreatic digestion, the total anthocyanins were very poorly recovered compared to the bulk phenols in the IN sample, which was previously described as the "serum-available" fraction, and the majority of the anthocyanins and phenols were recovered in the OUT fraction, previously described as the "colon-available" fraction. Removing alcohol from the wine samples prior to the procedure did not markedly affect this pattern. The composition of anthocyanins in the post gastric, IN and OUT samples was analysed using liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry. The red wine used contained over 20 identifiable anthocyanins of which the main components were 3-O-glucosides of malvidin, peonidin, petundin, delphidin and cyanidin. Coumaroylated-glucoside derivatives of malvidin, petundin, peonidin, and delphinidin were observed and acetylated glucosides of peonidin, petundin and malvidin were also identified. Anthocyanins with modified aglycones similar to vitisin A derivatives of delphinidin, peonidin, petunidin and malvidin were also identified. After the in vitro digestion procedure, only five anthocyanins could be detected in the IN (serum-available) and the OUT (colon-available) fractions, which were confirmed as malvidin-3-O-glucoside and the vitisin A adducts of malvidin-3-O-glucoside, malvidin-3-O-acetylglucoside, malvidin-3-O-coumaroylglucoside and peonidin-3-O-glucoside. Malvidin-3-O-glucoside was recovered at 0.2% in the IN fraction and 0.9% in the OUT fraction. However, the vitisin derivatives were much more stable to pancreatic digestion. Assuming that the vitisin A derivatives display similar biological properties to their parent anthocyanins, their enhanced gastrointestinal stability could lead to enhanced bioavailability and bio-effectiveness in vivo.