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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Immunity and Disease Prevention Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #287986
Title: Sweet bing cherries lower circulating concentrations of markers for chronic inflammatory diseases in healthy humans

Author
item Kelley, Darshan
item Adkins, Yuriko
item REDDY, AUROSIS - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item WOODHOUSE, LESLIE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item MACKEY, BRUCE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item ERICKSON, KENT - University Of California

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/27/2012
Publication Date: 1/23/2013
Citation: Kelley, D.S., Adkins, Y.C., Reddy, A., Woodhouse, L.R., Mackey, B.E., Erickson, K.L. 2013. Sweet bing cherries lower circulating concentrations of markers for chronic inflammatory diseases in healthy humans. Journal of Nutrition. DOI: 10.3945/jn.112.171371.

Interpretive Summary: Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk for several chronic inflammatory diseases. Cherries are one such fruit that are rich in polyphenols which reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. We as well as other investigators have previously reported that consuming fresh or frozen cherries or products derived from cherries reduced limited markers of inflammation in human studies. Results of above studies suggest that consumption of cherries may reduce the incidence of human chronic diseases. However, all previous studies were limited in scope because each examined only a select number of response variables. With the recent advances in the gene arrays and proteomics technologies, it is now possible to examine the effects of dietary or pharmaceutical interventions on changes of global or targeted gene expression. The purpose of this report was to determine the changes in concentrations of multiple biomarkers in plasma samples from all subjects individually by using a targeted proteomic approach. Eighteen men and women supplemented their diets with Bing sweet cherries (280 g/d, 28 d). Fasting blood samples were taken before start of consuming cherries (study d7), 28 d after the initiation of cherry supplementation (d 35), and 28 d after the discontinuation (d 64). We used the Human Multiple Analyte Panel 1.6 (MAP1.6) by Myriad Rules Based Medicine (Myriad RBM, Austin, TX) for determining concentrations for 89 biomarkers for inflammation, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and other chronic diseases in plasma samples from our previous study with sweet Bing cherries. Cherries consumption for 28 d decreased plasma concentrations of markers for several chronic inflammatory diseases when compared with the corresponding concentrations before the start of consuming cherries, and also increased the concentration of one anti-inflammatory marker. These changes in plasma markers included decreases in receptor for advanced glycation end products (EN-RAGE; 29.0%), ferritin (20.3%), C-reactive protein (CRP; 19.8%), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1; 19.9%), tumor necrosis factor-alpha'(TNF-alpha; 14.4), endothelin-1 (ET-1; 13.7%), epidermal growth factor (EGF;13.2%), and interleukin-18 (IL-18; 8.1), and an increase in interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra; 27.9%). With the exception of ferritin, concentrations of none of the biomarkers on study d 64 were significantly different than those on d 7. The changes in the plasma concentrations of those biomarkers caused by consumption of cherries suggest potential reduction in inflammation (CRP, Ferritin, IL-18, TNF-alpha, IL-1Ra, ET-1, EN-RAGE, PAI-1), decreased risk for arthritis (CRP, TNF-alpha, IL-18, IL-1Ra), diabetes and CVD (CRP, ferritin, ET-1, EN-RAGE, PAI-1, Il-18), cancer (ET-1, EGF) and hypertension (ET-1). These are risk factors for different diseases but they are all affected by increased oxidative stress and inflammation, which were prevented by the polyphenols in cherries. Thus, cherry consumption may reduce the incidences of arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and hypertension.

Technical Abstract: A limited number of studies have demonstrated that some modulators of inflammation can be altered by the consumption of sweet cherries. We have taken a proteomics approach to determine the effect of dietary cherries on targeted gene expression. The purpose was then to determine changes in the concentration of multiple biomarkers for several chronic inflammatory diseases found in plasma of healthy human subjects after sweet cherry consumption. Eighteen men and women supplemented their diets with Bing sweet cherries (280 g/d, 28 d). Fasting blood samples were taken before start of consuming cherries (study d7), 28 d after the initiation of cherry supplementation (d 35), and 28 d after the discontinuation (d 64). Cherries consumption for 28 d decreased plasma concentrations of EN-RAGE (29.0%), ferritin (20.3%), C-reactive protein (19.8%), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (19.9%), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha; 14.4),endothelin-1 (13.7%), epidermal growth factor (13.2%), and interleukin-18 (8.1), and increased that of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (27.9%) when compared with corresponding values on study d 7. With the exception of ferritin, concentrations of none of the biomarkers on study d 64 were significantly different than those on d 7. Of the other 89 biomarkers assessed, 66 were not altered and 14 were below the limits of detection. As the subjects in this study were healthy, no clinical pathology end points were measured. However, results from the present study demonstrate that cherry consumption selectively reduced biomarkers associated with inflammatory diseases. Alteration of those factors could reduce risk for arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and hypertension.