In vitro Study of Inflammatory Gene Expression Suppression of Strawberry and Blackberry Extracts

FRANCO VAN DE VELDE; DEBORA ESPOSITO; MARÍA ÉLIDA PIROVANI; MARY ANN LILA

Amsterdam

Congreso; ICFSNH 2018 : 20th International Conference on Food Science, Nutrition and Health; 2018

World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

The physiology of various inflammatory diseases is a complex process mediated by inflammatory and immune cellssuch as macrophages and monocytes. Chronic inflammation, as observed in many cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders,occurs when the low-grade inflammatory response fails to resolve with time. Because of the complexity of the chronicinflammatory disease, major efforts have focused on identifying novel anti-inflammatory agents and dietary regimes thatprevent the pro-inflammatory process at the early stage of gene expression of key pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines.The ability of the extracts of three blackberry cultivars (?Jumbo?, ?Black Satin? and ?Dirksen?), and one strawberry cultivar(?Camarosa?) to inhibit four well-known genetic biomarkers of inflammation: inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS),cyclooxynase-2 (Cox-2), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in an in vitro lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine RAW264.7 macrophage model were investigated. Moreover, the effect of latter extracts on the intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production was assessed. Assay was conducted with 50 µg/mL crude extract concentration, anamount that is easily achievable in the gastrointestinal tract after berries consumption. The mRNA expression levels of Cox-2and IL-6 were reduced consistently (more than 30%) by extracts of ?Jumbo? and ?Black Satin? blackberries. Strawberry extractsshowed high reduction in mRNA expression levels of IL-6 (more than 65%) and exhibited moderate reduction in mRNAexpression of Cox-2 (more than 35%). The latter behavior mirrors the intracellular ROS production of the LPS stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages after the treatment with blackberry ?Black Satin? and ?Jumbo?, and strawberry ?Camarosa? extracts,suggesting that phytochemicals from these fruits may play a role in the health maintenance by reducing oxidative stress. Onthe other hand, effective inhibition in the gene expression of IL-1β and iNOS was not observed by any of blackberry andstrawberry extracts. However, suppression in the NO production in the activated macrophages among 5?25% was observed by?Jumbo? and ?Black Satin? blackberry extracts and ?Camarosa? strawberry extracts, suggesting a higher NO suppressionproperty by phytochemicals of these fruits. All these results suggest the potential beneficial effects of studied berries asfunctional foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory roles. Moreover, the underlying role of phytochemicals from thesefruits in the protection of inflammatory process will deserve to be further explored.