Clinical Study attributes
The overall goal of this project is to determine the inflammation lowering impact of anthocyanin-rich Aronia berries. Inflammation is an underlying mechanism driving the development of several diseases. While an elevation in immune signals in the systemic circulation is commonly attributed to adipose tissue, inflammation is not present in all obese individuals. Adipose tissue must become inflamed, and the inflammation trigger may come from other sources. Microorganisms (microbiome), host tissues, and immune cells residing in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are a key source of pro-inflammatory signals that may cause the host organism to become inflamed. Anthocyanins are bioactive compounds with established anti-inflammatory and microbiome altering properties. We hypothesize that the GIT microbiome is a key determinant of host inflammation than can be manipulated by anthocyanins-rich berries to lower inflammation. We assembled a cohort of Low-INF and High-INF individuals and characterize their GIT microbiome and performed anthropometric measurements, basal measures of metabolism and metabolic health, and triglyceridemic, metabolomic, and inflammation responses to a high-fat meal challenge. Following this clinical trial, germ-free mice will be humanized with fecal microbial transplants from humans with distinct inflammation phenotypes to determine the impact of Aronia supplementation on the gut microbiome, metabolism, and inflammation.
