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From the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research, April, 2009.
Several disparate diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes, vascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, and many others may have common mechanisms for how they start. Each of these diseases may arise from chronic inflammation.
One of the common threads emerging from current berry research is that phytochemicals -- like anthocyanins and other polyphenols responsible for the varied pigmentation of berries -- have a role in changing cell activities and genes associated with inflammation responses.
Some Facts and Research Progress
-
inflammation is a double-edged sword -- when you have a cut
or other wound, it is a strong defense, but chronic, “dysregulated” inflammation can increase disease risk.
- studies led by ARS molecular biologist Dr. Daniel Hwang
are yielding new clues to this complex puzzle. His experiments
with cells cultured in the laboratory have uncovered probable
modes of action by phytochemicals.
- phytochemicals
can interfere with the normal flow of chemical signals sent to and from cells.
- The cells of particular interest to
Hwang are those involved in unhealthful inflammation.
The messages they send are in the form of proteins.
Black mulberry (Morus spp.), rich in anthocyanins
Read a Berry Doctor's review on berries
and inflammation from 2007 here, click!
Disease Onset?
Dr. Hwang's team is identifying that inflammation can
interfere with messages that would travel between proteins in adjacent cells.
If unimpeded, such messages easily reach and
activate “pro-inflammatory genes.” As their name
implies, these genes trigger an inflammatory response.
How Berry Polyphenols May Help
Dr. Hwang’s studies indicate that some polyphenols, like anthocyanins, protect
us by disrupting established inflammation pathways.
When they do that, they
block activation of pro-inflammatory genes.
Different phytochemicals may have different
ways of interfering with inflamed proteins.
Interested in more detail?
Read a previous Berry Doctor report on how anthocyanins
may interrupt inflammatory processes, click!
The Special Case of Resveratrol
Resveratrol interferes with molecules
that help
convey signals to and from inflamed proteins.
When resveratrol interacts
with these proteins, the effect is somewhat like that
of a traffic light slowing or stopping the flow of vehicles on a busy street.
Dark grapes contain resveratrol in their skins and seeds.
Hint: try the darkest seeded grapes and chew the seeds to get extra resveratrol!
Help From Omega Fatty Acids
Omega-3s found in some marine fish and in edible seeds of berries (alpha-linolenic acid), inhibit certain inflamed proteins,
whereas saturated fats, like those in red meat and butter, activate them.
Combining berries and omega-3 sources
in your diet may compound defenses
against inflammation and onset mechanisms
of various diseases!
