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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #151457
Title: CONSUMPTION OF CHERRIES LOWERS PLASMA URATE IN HEALTHY WOMEN

Author
item JACOBS, ROBERT - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
item SPINOZZI, GIOVANNA - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
item SIMON, VICKY - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
item KELLEY, DARSHAN - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
item Prior, Ronald
item HESS-PIERCE, BETTY - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
item KADER, ADEL - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/2003
Publication Date: 4/15/2003
Citation: JACOBS, R.A., SPINOZZI, G.M., SIMON, V.A., KELLEY, D.S., PRIOR, R.L., HESS-PIERCE, B., KADER, A.A. CONSUMPTION OF CHERRIES LOWERS PLASMA URATE IN HEALTHY WOMEN. JOURNAL OF NUTRITION. 2003. v.133. p. 1826-1829.

Interpretive Summary: Consumption of cherries and its products has been reported to be health-promoting, particularly to alleviate arthritic pain and gout. Clinical case reports of patients with gout have shown that consumption of one-half pound of cherry products daily for 3 d to 3 mo reduced plasma urate (the metabolite in plasma largely responsible for gout) to normal levels and alleviated attacks of gouty arthritis. It is not known what compounds in cherries might be responsible for these alleged actions. Moreover, the putative anti-gout and anti-inflammatory properties of cherries have not been assessed in controlled experimental studies. The present study was conducted to determine the extent of these effects in healthy women consuming an acute dose of Bing sweet cherries. We measured plasma urate, antioxidant, and inflammatory markers in ten healthy women fed Bing sweet cherries. The women, age 22-40 y, consumed two servings (280 g) of cherries after an overnight fast. Blood and urine samples were taken before the cherry dose, and at 1.5, 3, and 5 h postdose. Plasma urate decreased at 5 h postdose, and urinary urate increased post-dose compared to baseline. Plasma markers of inflammation decreased marginally at 3 h postdose. The decrease in plasma urate following cherry consumption supports the anti-gout reputation of cherries. The trend toward decreased inflammatory indices to in vitro evidence that compounds in cherries may inhibit inflammatory pathways.

Technical Abstract: To assess the physiologic effects of cherry consumption, we measured plasma urate, antioxidant, and inflammatory markers in ten healthy women fed Bing sweet cherries. The women, age 22-40 y, consumed two servings (280 g) of cherries after an overnight fast. Blood and urine samples were taken before the cherry dose, and at 1.5, 3, and 5 h postdose. Plasma urate decreased at 5 h postdose, mean ± SEM = 183 ± 15 µmol/L compared to predose baseline of 214 ± 13 µmol/L (p<0.05). Urinary urate increased post-dose, with peak excretion of 350 ± 33 µmol/mmol creatinine at 3 h postdose compared to 202 ± 13 at baseline (p<0.01). Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations decreased marginally at 3 h postdose (p<0.1) while plasma albumin and TNF-alpha were unchanged. The vitamin C content of the cherries was solely as dehydroascorbic acid, but postdose increases in plasma ascorbic acid indicated that dehydroascorbic acid in fruits is bioavailable as vitamin C. The decrease in plasma urate following cherry consumption supports the anti-gout reputation of cherries. The trend toward decreased inflammatory indices CRP and NO adds to in vitro evidence that compounds in cherries may inhibit inflammatory pathways.