Premium
Tart Cherry Intake Reduces Gouty Inflammation in Rats
Author(s) -
Seymour E,
Kirakosyan Ara,
Wolforth Janet,
McNish Robert,
Kondoleon Nickolas,
Bolling Steven
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.608.12
Subject(s) - gout , uric acid , chemistry , inflammation , pouch , medicine , endocrinology , biochemistry , surgery
Tart cherry is purported to reduce the number and duration of gout flares by anecdotal evidence and epidemiology studies. In gout, excessive serum uric acid combined with local tissue injury causes the uric acid crystal formation and local inflammation in joint synovial membranes. We showed in vitro that tart cherry phytochemicals like cyanidin‐3‐rutinoside and peonidin‐3‐glucoside can affect the activity of xanthine oxidase (which reduces uric acid synthesis) and cyclooxygenase‐2 (which reduces pro‐inflammatory prostaglandins). Tart cherry could then impact several features of gout. The air pouch model of gout is established for pharmaceuticals, but is not used for functional food studies. This model involves injecting air dorsally under the skin to create an environment modeling a synovial membrane; the pouch lining is irritated and develops granulation tissue consisting mainly of fibroblasts, macrophage and mast cells, modeling a gout flare. For three weeks, male Wistar rats (age 12 weeks) were fed either 1% whole tart cherry powder/99% AIN‐93M diet or AIN‐93M. After 6 days of skin distention, monosodium urate (10 mg/ml in PBS) or PBS was injected in the pouch, and serum and pouch tissue were harvested 24 hours later. Qualitatively, tart cherry significantly reduced the pouch size and formation of urate crystals in pouch tissue. Quantitatively, these effects correlated with reduced tissue NFκB activity and mRNA for pro‐inflammatory cytokines. Serum cytokines were unaffected by the air pouch and by tart cherry, but cherry non‐significantly reduced serum uric acid (‐23%, p=0.11). To our knowledge, this is the first animal study to demonstrate gout flare reduction by tart cherry; findings support clinical observations. Funding provided by the Cherry Marketing Institute.