Abstract
Background and aim
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease and previous studies have demonstrated
that anthocyanin inhibits atherosclerosis. In the present study, we explored the effects
of anthocyanins on inflammatory cytokines in hypercholesterolemic adults and cell
lines.
Methods and results
A total of 150 subjects with hypercholesterolemia consumed a purified anthocyanin
mixture (320 mg/d) or a placebo twice a day for 24 weeks in a randomized, double-blind
trial. Anthocyanin consumption significantly decreased the levels of serum high sensitivity
C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (−21.6% vs. −2.5%, P = 0.001), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) (−12.3% vs. 0.4%, P = 0.005) and plasma IL-1β (−12.8% vs. −1.3%, P = 0.019) compared to the placebo. We also found a significant difference in the LDL-cholesterol
(−10.4% vs. 0.3%, P = 0.030) and HDL-cholesterol level changes (14.0% vs. −0.9%, P = 0.036) between the two groups. In cell culture assays in vitro, purified anthocyanin
mixture, delphinidin-3-Ο-β-glucoside (Dp-3g) and cyanidin-3-Ο-β-glucoside (Cy-3g)
inhibited IL-6 and IL-1β-induced CRP production (P < 0.05) in HepG2 cell line and LPS-induced VCAM-1 secretion (P < 0.05) in porcine iliac artery endothelial cell line respectively in a dose-dependent
manner. In addition, the reduction of inflammatory cytokines associated with anthocyanin
mixture was stronger when compared with the effects of Dp-3g and Cy-3g separately
(P < 0.05).
Conclusions
Anthocyanin mixture reduced the inflammatory response in hypercholesterolemic subjects.
In addition, different anthocyanin compounds were found to have additive or synergistic
effects in mediating anti-inflammatory responses in vitro cell culture assays.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 20, 2012
Accepted:
June 2,
2012
Received in revised form:
May 28,
2012
Received:
November 15,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
