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Anthocyanin‐rich Black Elderberry Extract improves Inflammatory Markers and Insulin Resistance in a High‐Fat Diet‐Induced Obesity Model of Mice
Author(s) -
Farrell Nicholas,
Norris Gregory,
Ryan Julia,
Blesso Christopher
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.402.1
Subject(s) - insulin resistance , obesity , medicine , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , insulin , type 2 diabetes
Despite increased knowledge of healthy eating and exercise habits, obesity continues to be a public health concern in the U.S., resulting in many preventable comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cardiovascular disease (CVD), and premature death. Identifying new prevention and treatment strategies for obesity‐related conditions are a primary interest. Black elderberry has one of the highest concentrations of polyphenols per gram of dry weight of all commercially available foods and may be useful in mitigating the inflammatory effects of obesity. The objective of this study was to determine if anthocyanin‐rich black elderberry extract ( Sambucus nigra ) (BEE) could protect against low‐grade chronic inflammation and insulin resistance in a high‐fat diet induced obesity model using C57BL/6J mice. Mice were fed either a low fat diet (LFD), high‐fat diet (HFD), HFD + 0.25% (w/w) BEE (LBEE), or HFD + 1.25% (w/w) BEE (HBEE) for 16 weeks. After 16 weeks, there were significant reductions in liver weight, fasting triglycerides, fasting insulin, serum monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1), and serum tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNFα) in the LBEE and HBEE groups compared to the HFD group. No differences were observed in body weight or food intake between high‐fat diet groups. The homeostatic model assessment method (HOMA) was used to quantify insulin resistance and the LBEE and HBEE groups were found to have significantly lower values, indicating higher insulin sensitivity. These results suggest that black elderberry may have potential as a natural product to help reduce obesity‐associated chronic disease. [Supported by the UConn Research Foundation].